NEW YORK – Cedric Mullins isn’t in tonight’s Orioles lineup for “personal reasons,” according to manager Brandon Hyde.

Hyde didn’t elaborate or confirm whether Mullins is at Yankee Stadium.

Mullins always plays against right-handed starters. And left-handed hitters are slashing .356/.430/.644 against Clarke Schmidt this season.

Not having Mullins atop the order tonight was bound to raise questions.

“It’s probably going to be one day,” Hyde said. “I’m not going to expand on that. It’s for personal reasons right now and we should see him back soon.”

NEW YORK – The Orioles have a chance tonight to win their 12th series in 2023 after posting their 19^th comeback victory last night.

Cedric Mullins is out of the lineup, an unusual occurrence against a right-hander. Ryan McKenna is in center field and Adam Frazier is leading off for the first time this season, but the 387^th of his career.

Frazier will try to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 18 games.

Gunnar Henderson is starting at third base after delivering a pinch-hit, two-run double last night in the seventh inning. He’s batting .306/.324/.611 (11-for-36) in his last 11 games.

Ryan O’Hearn is playing first base and Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter.

NEW YORK – Bumps were forming on the Orioles’ road trip, which began with a three-game sweep in Toronto. The Yankees hit three home runs tonight off Tyler Wells and appeared in control heading into the seventh inning. A nice margin for Nestor Cortes. Another bad finish for his former team.

The 2023 Orioles don’t want to hear it. They just keep coming. Spitting water and breathing fire.

They sent 12 batters to the plate in the seventh and scored eight runs. Adam Frazier hit the foul pole with two runners on base, Gunnar Henderson came off the bench and drove in two with a double to give the Orioles a lead, and a sacrifice fly and two RBI singles followed. Fans booed. It began to rain again.

A club that trailed by four runs suddenly led by four.

It won by three, 9-6, before an announced crowd of 39,455 at Yankee Stadium. It keeps accomplishing what isn’t supposed to happen.

NEW YORK – The Orioles aren’t ready to announce their plans for reliever Dillon Tate, whose 30-day injury rehab assignment has reached its conclusion.

The choices are clear: Reinstate Tate and put him on the active roster, with a corresponding move necessary, or reinstate and option him to Triple-A Norfolk.

“We’re making decisions on that right now,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “I don’t really have anything to report right this minute, but it will be soon.”

Tate didn’t pitch in spring training due to a right elbow flexor strain. He’s made 10 appearances on his injury rehab assignment, the last five with Norfolk, and allowed 13 earned runs (15 total) and 19 hits with five walks in 8 1/3 innings.

The entire weight of the decision doesn’t come just from statistics. A balance exists.

NEW YORK – Joey Ortiz gets the start at third base tonight as the Orioles try to even their series with the Yankees.

Cedric Mullins is leading off against a left-hander, former Orioles Rule 5 pick Nestor Cortes. Six of Mullins’ last nine hits are for extra bases. He has a six-game hitting streak, going 10-for-23 (.435) with four doubles, two home runs, six RBIs and three walks.

James McCann is catching and Adley Rutschman stays in the lineup as the designated hitter.

Adam Frazier, who starts at second base, has a 16-game on-base streak, batting .281/.349/.474 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, 10 RBIs and five walks. His longest career streak is 17 games in 2019.

Tyler Wells has registered a 2.94 ERA and 0.788 WHIP, lowest in the majors, in nine games this season. He faced the Yankees on April 9 and allowed four runs in six innings. Aaron Judge and Franchy Cordero hit home runs.

NEW YORK - Kyle Bradish gave the Orioles five innings last night. Manager Brandon Hyde gave the ball to his relievers to cover the last four.

Mychal Givens retired the Yankees in order in the sixth, on a strikeout and two ground balls. A nice little reminder that he can be a weapon during any stretch of the game.

Also, a reminder that Hyde doesn’t want to use him for more than one inning. Givens threw nine pitches and stayed in the dugout until the handshake line.

Yennier Cano put runners on base in the seventh and eighth and got out of jams. Stranded and straddled.

Félix Bautista struck out three batters in the ninth, but a 12^th save eluded him thanks to Aaron Judge’s game-tying home run with one out. A poorly located splitter. Was supposed to be low and on the outside corner.

NEW YORK – A road trip that is supposed to knock down the Orioles didn't make a dent for the first half of it. Didn't leave a mark.

They just kept winning, in comeback fashion or after taking an early lead. Sometimes, they do both.

Give them a problem and they find a solution – unless it's Aaron Judge, of course.

Adam Frazier had a two-run double in the first inning tonight off Gerrit Cole, Cedric Mullins homered in the third and Gunnar Henderson homered in the fourth. A fast start but not untouchable, with the Yankees storming back to tie the game in the fifth.

The response was immediate. The Orioles twice loaded the bases in the sixth while disposing of Cole, settled for a go-ahead run on Terrin Vavra’s ground ball and turned to their bullpen. A formula that usually works, except Judge homered off Félix Bautista with one out in the ninth to send the Orioles into extras for the third straight game.

NEW YORK – Orioles infielder Ramón Urías is beginning his injury rehab assignment Wednesday night at High-A Aberdeen.

Urías is serving as the designated hitter, according to Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.

The IronBirds are hosting a seven-game series against Jersey Shore, which includes Wednesday’s doubleheader that resulted from an April 22 postponement.

Urías is on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. He hasn’t played since limping off the field following a ninth-inning single on May 8.

Hyde didn’t specify how many days Urías would spend at Aberdeen. Urías has targeted a weekend return to the Orioles, when they host the Rangers.

NEW YORK – The Orioles will try to improve on their 13-2 record in series-opening games tonight when they visit the Yankees in the Bronx. They trail the first-place Rays by three games.

Terrin Vavra gets another start in right field, with Anthony Santander serving as designated hitter.

Adam Frazier is batting fifth again and starting at second base, followed by left fielder Austin Hays.

Pretty standard lineup.

Kyle Bradish’s final start in 2022 came at Yankee Stadium, where he held New York to an unearned run and three hits in five innings but also walked five batters.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde strolled to the mound yesterday in the bottom of the 10^th inning, had a lengthy chat with Austin Voth, and gave the reliever an encouraging slap on the butt. A teammate smacked his chest.

The Orioles were battering Voth more than the Blue Jays.

Whit Merrifield followed Matt Chapman’s strikeout with a run-scoring single into center field to tie a game that would last through the 11^th. A game that might be the defining moment in the 2023 season.

The visitors erupted for five runs in their next turn and won 8-3 to complete the sweep, the first in a three-game series in Toronto since 2005.

So special because it’s a division rival with one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball.

The Orioles finish their series in Toronto this afternoon, enjoy an off-day in New York before playing three games at Yankee Stadium, and don’t return home until Friday, when infielder Ramón Urías hopes to be reinstated from the injured list with the Rangers in town.

Scouts will be watching. Never too early to file reports that could spur a trade or at least initiate talks. And the group will grow in the coming months,

A veteran scout who’s familiar with the Orioles said recently that the infield defense without Urías “is not the same.”

Further evidence that Urías’ value can’t be overstated.

Perhaps a silver lining to losing a Gold Glove winner is the regular starts that Gunnar Henderson is receiving at third base.

The mailbag record for most repeated topic was shattered this weekend.

Relinquishing the top spot is, “How did you get this job?” Followed closely by, “How do you keep this job?”

Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson are in the majors. Baseball’s back-to-back No. 1 prospects. Top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez also arrived. Future No. 1 overall prospect Jackson Holliday won’t make the jump from High-A, but it isn’t the most outrageous idea.

Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg are the new obsessions.

Why aren’t they here? When will they get here? What’s it going to take to get them here? How many fake reports does it take to get them here?

The Orioles are in Canada this weekend and my mailbag returned to the U.S. after getting held up in customs.

That’s why you won’t find me there.

Here’s my vow to you: I’ll go back to Toronto when the Orioles have playoff games at Rogers Centre. Or if Steve Melewski is sick. Or if I’m needed in the MASN broadcast booth, which happened last summer.

But that’s it.

Let’s dive into the mail and risk the paper cuts. You ask and I answer. It isn’t complicated, except for time spent searching for movie sequel titles that I haven't used since this started in 2008.

The Orioles aren’t running away from home. A charter flight to Toronto is coming later today, a much faster mode of transportation. But they’re going to dive back into division competition and miss the splash zone and charged atmosphere at Camden Yards.

They can do without the two Angels superstars who tried to ruin their chance at another series win, and the bullpen breakdowns later in the game, but the rest of it is cherished.

Shohei Ohtani, quiet since flirting with the cycle on Monday, homered off Tyler Wells in the first inning and Mike Trout lined a two-run shot over the left field wall in the third. The Orioles offered no response until tying the game in the fifth, capped by Anthony Santander’s two-run homer.

Had to get the place loud again.

It erupted in the seventh, after Adley Rutschman took a big cut at Chris Devenski’s fastball and watched it soar to the flag court with Austin Hays at first base to give the Orioles a lead. The groans were audible when an inherited runner scored against Austin Voth in the eighth, and Ohtani broke the tie by reaching on an infield hit with the bases loaded.

The Orioles are attempting today to win their 11th series before flying to Toronto and beginning a two-city road trip.

Mychal Givens threw his bullpen session today and could be activated by the weekend. Manager Brandon Hyde was going to check on Givens after completing his media obligations.

Asked if Givens could accompany the Orioles on their trip, Hyde said, "It is possible. We'll see how it goes today and make a decision on what we're going to do."

A bullpen with the lowest ERA in the majors at 2.89 is gaining a proven veteran setup man.

"Just adds some experience and a guy that's been in the back end of the bullpen for a while now," Hyde said. "We know what Mychal can do. Looking forward to getting him back."

The Orioles finish their 10-game homestand this afternoon and fly to Toronto, returning to division competition that also includes a series in the Bronx.

Let’s start our morning by reading too much or too little into some of the Orioles’ recent decisions.

One of these days we’re gonna get it just right.

Anthony Santander at first base.

It happened in back-to-back games before he was used last night as the designated hitter. Santander hasn't been in right field since Saturday.

A scout who includes the Orioles among the teams he tracks regards Kyle Bradish as a starter capable of winning on a consistent basis in the majors. He grades Bradish highly and agrees to disagree with others in the profession who aren’t quite as sold. They’ve debated it. No two reports are exactly alike.

“He has something,” the scout said this week.

Bradish had more than the Angels could handle tonight.

Facing the team for the first time that drafted and traded him, Bradish allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings in a 3-1 victory over the Angels before an announced crowd of 15,702 at Camden Yards.

Austin Hays homered in the fifth to expand a lead, and the Orioles improved to 28-15 with a chance to win the series Thursday afternoon.

Joey Ortiz is starting at shortstop tonight as the Orioles continue their series against the Angels at Camden Yards.

Jorge Mateo is on the bench after stopping an 0-for-19 skid last night. He’s 5-for-43 this month.

Terrin Vavra remains in right field. Anthony Santander is the designated hitter.

Ryan Mountcastle returns to first base after coming off the bench last night and contributing a double and home run.

Ryan McKenna is 3-for-6 as a pinch-hitter this season.

The swing and the sound provided everything that Dean Kremer needed to know about Mickey Moniak’s at-bat leading off the top of the first inning.

Kremer stood motionless with his arm extended, eyes fixed on home plate, and waited for a new baseball. The one Moniak hit landed 408 feet away in the right-center field bleachers.

The inning must have felt like it was moving in slow motion. Kremer threw 31 pitches, his stay extended when Taylor Ward’s two-out ground ball at 105 mph slammed off Gunnar Henderson’s chest and rolled toward shortstop.

The overall damage to Kremer was minimal, with just the one run scoring. But the game within the game became how quickly he could dispose of the Angels and avoid a short outing after rookie Grayson Rodriguez lasted only 3 1/3 last night.

Kremer earned two wins. He came within a ground ball single of completing the sixth, lessening the strain on the bullpen, and the Orioles defeated the Angels 7-3 before an announced crowd of 13,244 at Camden Yards.

Cole Irvin is in Baltimore to serve as a long reliever. Nothing else to it.

The Orioles don’t have immediate plans to reinsert Irvin into the rotation, but manager Brandon Hyde said, “He’s going to start for us down the road at some point for sure, I just don’t know when that’s going to be.”

“We see him as a starter,” Hyde added, “but right now we needed some length out of our bullpen and he was fully rested. We wanted to bring him back up here at some point anyway.”

Irvin gives the Orioles a long man with Austin Voth unavailable after pitching in back-to-back games. Mike Baumann has done the same and also is down.

“Where the game ended last night, we had to cover quite a few innings out of our bullpen, and we just wanted to bring up somebody that gives us a length option out of the ‘pen,” Hyde said.