Now, it gets real.

Or real important. And really hard.

The other games counted, of course, but the Orioles are set to play four against the Rays beginning tonight at Camden Yards. The team that’s two behind them in the division race. The team with the same lengthy stubborn streak, refusing to let injuries and other impactful issues break its spirit and damage postseason aspirations.

The Orioles returned to their clubhouse last night with their magic number at four to clinch the first playoff birth since 2016. That’s the immediate task, and it could be done in a few days.

An Orioles win reduces the number by one. And so on. That’s the simplest math in an otherwise complicated equation, which induces headaches when also factoring in other teams like the Rangers and Mariners.

The Orioles didn’t send down left-hander Cole Irvin again today based on poor evaluations of his performance. Circumstances beyond his control removed him from the active roster and the clubhouse.

Irvin was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, with Nick Vespi recalled again.

“Because of the six-man rotation right now, as well as, the last four or five starts have been short, so our bullpen has taken a heavy load, that whole Boston series and the first game here against St. Louis,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We just felt like we needed a bullpen arm.”

Irvin has been optioned three times. He could return again but must stay in the minors for a minimum of 15 days unless replacing an injured player.

“We’ll see,” Hyde said.

The Orioles are closing in on clinching their first playoff berth since 2016 with a magic number of four to clinch. They have bigger fish to fry, of course, and want the AL East championship, but clinching a playoff berth will come first.

The players are not yet ready to talk much about that, even with it so close at hand. They are keeping their one-day-at-a-time approach.

“I mean I think we’ve been saying it the whole year, take it game-by-game. We keep doing that, day-by-day and pitch-by-pitch and hopefully this ends with a playoff spot,” Ryan Mountcastle said this afternoon.

I asked Mountcastle today why and how the Orioles have been so good at being in first place. It is kind of a strange question, yes, but since tying for the AL East lead on July 18, they have been in first place every day since.

With their win today at Minnesota, Tampa Bay is 28-14 in the last 42 games. The Orioles are 29-13.

With 20 games to play, the Orioles lead the American League East by three games over the Rays. While the Rays (88-56) play at Minnesota tonight the Orioles (90-52) will host the Cardinals to start a three-game series.

For Baltimore, this opens a weeklong homestand that will see the Birds host the Rays for four games starting Thursday night. This is the second-to-last homestand of the 2023 regular season.

The Orioles saw a seven-game win streak snapped with Sunday’s loss at Boston. Overall they have won seven of eight, nine of 12, 13 of 17 and 16 of the last 21 games. The Orioles are 27-11 (.711) in their past 38 games.

The Birds are 42-26 at home and 36-17 in the second half.

The Cardinals (63-80) are 17 games under .500 but are playing better lately winning five of its past seven, and seven of 11 games. The Cardinals have won their past two series, two to one against both the Braves and the Reds.

West Coast, East Coast. Home or road. American League East or outside of the division. Doesn't seem to matter much. The Orioles' relentless pursuit of winning carried on Friday night at Fenway Park.

The Orioles' 11-2 blowout of the Red Sox improved their record to 89-51 (.636). An 11-11 finish would net them 100 wins, but for now, they are on a 103-win pace.

Two O's teams ever won that many:

* 109 wins in 1969
* 108 wins in 1970

Remember those March over/unders that listed the Orioles at 76.5 wins for this year?

In some ways it was a familiar script for the Orioles. Big plays, big hits and another big win. In other ways it was different.

Different as in they won a big series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. In recent years they haven’t played very many big series there and certainly have won very many series of any kind.

Going into the 2023 season, the Orioles had lost 15 straight series at the Trop. A place where, from the 2020-2022 seasons, they went 3-18. They had last won a series there June 23-25, 2017. But they take three of four this series and leave there with a two-game lead atop the AL East.

With a 6-3 lead in the season series – and the Rays have won six straight season series from the O’s – they need just one win in four games when these clubs meet in September to win this year’s season series. That would be big for tiebreaker purposes. If these teams are tied for the division lead or any playoff spot when the regular season ends, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head play.

From Aug. 25, 2020, through April 10, 2022, the Orioles were 2-27 versus the Rays. The clubs have now played 25 games since that date and the Orioles are 15-10 in those games.

What a night for the Orioles.

Big plays, big pitches, big hits and a big win. One that put them in sole possession of first place in the American League East. They did against a Tampa Bay squad that started this year 13-0 and 27-6.

But while the Orioles (59-37, .615) have now won 10 of their last 12, Tampa Bay (60-40, .600) has lost five in a row and 12 of the last 15. 

In July, the Orioles are 11-5 and the Rays are 3-12. Over the past 33 games, the Orioles are 20-13 while the Rays are 13-20. Tampa Bay is 31-33 its last 64 games.

It was a night where there were more than a few stars. Kyle Gibson provided an excellent start. Gunnar Henderson keyed a three-run inning with a hustle triple and played outstanding defense. Ramon Urias played excellent D and made what might have been a game-saving play with his diving stop that ended the last of the eighth. Rookie Colton Cowser, in his 11th big league game, got behind 0-2 but still hit a go-ahead sac fly in the top of the tenth. And the big man, Félix Bautista, who saved the game Wednesday on 12 pitches, got six big outs on 15 pitches in the ninth and tenth. Remarkable to do that with so few pitches, but he's still probably not available tonight.

The year was 2021. Yes, it was that recently. On their way to an AL East title and a 100-62 record, the Tampa Bay Rays went 18-1 against the Orioles.

“That was rough,” Ryan Mountcastle remembered in the Baltimore clubhouse yesterday morning.

That Orioles team would finish 52-110. Tampa Bay wound up outscoring Baltimore by 79 (150-71) on the year - the second-largest run differential against a single opponent in the divisional era (since 1969), behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers’ +82 mark over the San Diego Padres in 1974.

Things are very different now.

After winning nine of 11 games while the Rays have lost 11 of 14, the teams were tied in the standings as of last night. But the Orioles have the AL East lead by percentage points at .611 (58-37) to the Rays at .606 (60-39).

During a season that has featured a lot of excitement already, this week in Birdland might produce max excitement. The Orioles will play their next seven games versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Dodgers (53-39) had a six-game winning streak snapped by the New York Mets in 10 innings on Sunday.  The Dodgers, the 2020 World Series champions, have won the National League West 10 times in the last 11 seasons, winning 100 games or more four times in that span.

The Rays, who got off to a 13-0 start and a 20-3 start this year, have been leading the AL East wire-to-wire thus far. But after the Orioles win Sunday and Tampa Bay’s loss at Kansas City, their division lead is just one game over the Orioles, who are one game better than Tampa Bay in the loss column.

The Orioles have not been this close to first since the second day of the year. By the third game on April 2, they were 1-2 at Boston and they were two games behind. And have been at least that far back until Friday night when the Rays were rained out and they pulled within 1.5 games. Now the lead is down to a single game in the standings with the Rays 60-36 and the Orioles 57-35.

Before the Orioles and Rays start a four-game series on Thursday at the Trop, the Rays will play three games against Texas. So, while the Orioles will play the NL West leaders the next three days, the Rays will be meeting the AL West leaders.

MINNEAPOLIS - A four-game win streak by the Orioles as the first half is about to end today was a nice response to a 1-6 stretch. Where some feared they could get swept by the Yankees after losing Monday and Tuesday in the Bronx, they are 4-0 since and have outscored their opposition 29-7.

They've won a couple of close games, one in extra innings, gotten four games of clutch hits, had one resounding blowout and one comfortable win and otherwise showed a nice finishing kick. 

They are who you thought they were if you thought that was a solid playoff contender and one with one of MLB's best records. 

Some of Birdland's angst and panic by a few recently was unfounded.

And last night, Atlanta beat Tampa Bay 6-1, handing the Rays a seventh straight loss. The Orioles moved to within two games of first place and the O's and Rays both now have 35 losses. 

The Orioles road trip continues tonight at Tropicana Field as Baltimore begins a two-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays, the American League East leader and the club with the best record in MLB.

The Rays (51-24, .680) are on a pace to win 110 games, while the Orioles (44-27, .620) are on pace for 100 wins. The Rays lead the Orioles by five games atop the division but that margin is just three games in the loss column. While Tampa Bay's record ranks first in MLB, the Orioles are fourth in overall win percentage.

Both teams have won at a lesser pace over recent stretches. The Orioles are 3-4 in their past seven series, going 11-10 in 21 games in that span. But they have also won seven of their past 10.

The Orioles beat the Cubs Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep. They have not been swept in a series of at least two games since a three-game set from May 13-15, 2022 at Detroit. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, their streak of 62 consecutive series without being swept is the longest active streak in MLB, ahead of a 36-series streak by Arizona and a 23-series streak by Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay lost the last two games of its recent series with San Diego, and has gone 4-5 over the last nine games. In the last two series, the Rays went 2-2 against Oakland and 1-2 versus San Diego.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson returns to the Orioles lineup and the leadoff spot tonight against the Rays after being scratched Sunday with the stomach flu.

Henderson is the designated hitter.

Ryan O’Hearn is batting cleanup again and playing first base.  

O’Hearn is batting .349 with a 1.003 OPS in 29 games with the Orioles. Only five players have hit .350 or higher in their first 30 games with the Orioles, and seven have registered a 1.000 OPS or higher, per STATS.

Austin Hays is 9-for-17 in his last four games and 12-for-25 in his last six. He’s collected at least two hits in his last four games, the longest streak of multiple-hit games in his career.

Grayson Rodriguez retired the leadoff batter of a game tonight for the first time in his seven major league starts. He needed nine pitches and a 99.1 mph fastball to get a called third strike on Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz. But he did it.

Wander Franco was next, and he launched another fastball to center field for his seventh home run of the season.

Rodriguez keeps experiencing the ups and downs that can nauseate a rookie pitcher. Nothing to do except ride it out.

For longer tonight than any other time with the Orioles.

The defense turned a couple of double plays behind Rodriguez, the offense sprung back to life and the Orioles held on to defeat the Rays 4-2 before an announced crowd of 10,017 at Camden Yards.

As the Orioles continue a stretch of games against some of MLB’s best teams tonight, hosting Tampa Bay in game two of a three-game series, they look for continued strong starting pitching.

O’s starting pitchers have an ERA of 5.31 for the year, ranking 11^th in the American League. And their eight quality starts also ranks 11^th in the AL, well behind the league leaders Toronto (18) and Seattle (17). 

But since facing Atlanta in a series that began on Friday night, O’s starters have pitched to an ERA of 2.86 over the last four games, allowing two earned runs or less in three of four games and throwing two of their eight quality starts. And most of that was against Atlanta, which has a team OPS of .804 – second in the majors only to Tampa Bay at .865. 

But the O’s starters have stepped up in this stretch, even as the Baltimore offense has scored just six runs in the last three games while going 2-for-29 with runners in scoring position. The O’s have been outscored 11-6 during the three-game losing streak.

Now 22-13 on the year, the Orioles remain in second place in the AL East, but are 6.5 games back of Tampa Bay, which sits at 29-7. Toronto is in third place, 7.5 out, with Boston 8.0 back and New York 10.0 games out. The Rays have been so good that the other four AL East teams are all closer to the cellar than to first place at this point.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Gunnar Henderson will see a lot of time at third base after Ramón Urías went on the injured list today with a strained left hamstring. Henderson is at third tonight and batting seventh as the Orioles try to even their series with Tampa Bay.

Urías sustained the injury last night in the ninth inning while running to first base on a single.

“Do not have a firm grasp of the expected length of his IL stay,” said executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. “We hope it’s not going to be an overly significant amount of time, but when you talk about a hamstring, it’s definitely something that we went ahead and put him on the IL and expect him to miss a good bit of time.”

Adley Rutschman is catching and trying to snap an 0-for-18 streak. Adam Frazier is batting fifth and playing second base. Kyle Stowers is batting ninth and starting in right field.

For the Orioles
Cedric Mullins CF
Adley Rutschman C
Anthony Santander DH
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Adam Frazier 2B
Austin Hays LF
Gunnar Henderson 3B
Jorge Mateo SS
Kyle Stowers RF

After a 10-game road trip to Detroit, Kansas City and Atlanta where the Orioles went 6-4, the club returns home tonight to take on American League East leading Tampa Bay. The Rays (28-7) have the best record in the majors, playing .800 ball and lead the Orioles by 5.5 games atop the division.

The Orioles (22-12), after losing two of three in Atlanta, have a .647 win percentage that would have them in first place in four of the other five divisions in MLB. Tonight they open a 10-game homestand with three against Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh followed by a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels.

The Orioles have played 62 percent of their games so far on the road, going 9-4 at home and 13-8 away from Oriole Park. The Orioles are 3-1 in home series, losing one to the Yankees and winning the others versus Oakland, Detroit and Boston. The Orioles are 6-1 in their last seven games at Camden Yards.

The best overall records in MLB right now:

.800 – Tampa Bay (28-7)

The Orioles – and everybody else in the American League East – have been looking up in the standings at the Tampa Bay Rays all season. From just about the first pitch of the 2023 year.

The Rays went 13-0 to start the year and began play yesterday at 22-5 (.815) with the best record in baseball. For a while, they were looking like they would pull off a 1984 Detroit Tigers start of 35-5. As of yesterday afternoon, they still could do that, the math was still possible.

And while the Orioles' 17-8 start heading into yesterday was one of their best-ever, they began Saturday’s doubleheader four games out of first place. But their .667 win percentage would be good enough to be first in four of the other five divisions in MLB.

However, in this division, they continue to look up to the Rays.

The Orioles and Rays have something in common beyond getting off to good starts. Both teams play schedules that were and are in April much softer on paper than what they will both face in May.

The Orioles have had a pair of impressive wins over the Tampa Bay Rays and can win this series with a victory tonight. It's the third game of a four-game series and the sixth of a seven-game homestand.

The Orioles (49-48) moved ahead of the Boston Red Sox and into fourth-place with Tuesday's 5-3 comeback win. Ramón Urías hit a two-run homer to take Baltimore from behind by one to ahead by one. It was his first career go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later.

Urías has recorded a hit in eight straight games while batting .419/.419/.903 (13-for-31) with three doubles, four homers, seven runs and 10 RBIs during the stretch. The eight-game streak is one shy of his career-high nine-game streak from May 15 to June 29, 2021.

He has hit .397/.426/.707 (23-for-58) with three doubles, five home runs, 11 runs scored and 18 RBIs in 17 games since being reinstated from the 10-day injured list on July 4. Urías has hit safely in 14 of those 17 games with seven multi-hit efforts. Last night, Ramón and Luis Urías of the Milwaukee Brewers became the first brothers to record game-winning RBIs on the same day since Lourdes (TOR) and Yuli (HOU) Gurriel in 2021.

O's shortstop Jorge Mateo has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games with an at-bat since July 10 - including four multi-hit efforts - hitting .342/.359/.632 (13-for-38) with four doubles, two triples, one home run, seven runs scored, three RBIs and three stolen bases during this stretch. He has also hit safely in seven straight games, and 11 of his last 14 games with an at-bat. The O's are 28-22 when Mateo records a hit, 9-2 when he records multiple hits and 16-4 when he drives in a run. Mateo's 24 stolen bases rank second in MLB behind only Miami's Jon Berti (28 SBs).

Adley Rutschman is batting second tonight as the Orioles attempt to secure another series win against the Rays.

Terrin Vavra has media gathered at his locker this afternoon, but his name isn’t in the lineup. His major league debut remains on hold.

Ramón Urías, who hit the decisive two-run homer last night in the eighth inning, is batting .397/.426/.707 in 17 games this month with three doubles, five home runs and 18 RBIs.

Cedric Mullins hit his 13^th career leadoff home run last night, tying him for second in club history with Don Buford, Al Bumbry and Brian Roberts. Brady Anderson is first with 44.

Tyler Wells is 7-6 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.096 WHIP in 19 starts. He’s allowed 11 runs and 17 hits in his last three starts over 14 2/3 innings.

Ryan McKenna dived across home plate today in the second inning, hopped to his feet with hands clenched into fists, and yelled. The energy that’s been running through this team reaching high voltage.

The unfortunate part of the day for the Orioles was how quickly the Rays flipped the switch. The familiar part was the comeback by a team that stubbornly refuses to submit to its apparent fate.

The Orioles had to settle for another moral victory. They’d rather get the kind that's reflected in the standings.

Rookie Kyle Bradish surrendered four runs in the top of the third inning and two more in the fifth before the Orioles stormed back to tie the game in the sixth. Dillon Tate loaded the bases in the ninth, and Harold Ramírez’s sacrifice fly gave the Rays a 7-6 win at Camden Yards.

A walk, single and hit batter set the stage for Ramírez, who lined to right fielder Trey Mancini.