Anthony Bemboom is catching this afternoon and Adley Rutschman is on the bench for the series finale against the Mariners at sunny Camden Yards.

Gunnar Henderson is batting third and playing third base, followed by first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. Aaron Hicks is the designated hitter.

Cedric Mullins is in center field, where he was listed yesterday before switching to DH in his return from a strained groin muscle.

Kyle Bradish is making his 14^th start. He’s registered a 3.88 ERA and 1.262 WHIP in 65 innings.

Bradish faced the Mariners on June 1, 2022 at Camden Yards and allowed two runs and six hits with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. J.P. Crawford hit a solo home run.

The bar is lowered in the aftermath of a 13-1 loss. An at-bat or outing might be lauded only because it wasn’t part of the problem. Sift through the scraps and treat them like gold.

However, manager Brandon Hyde offered lots of legitimate praise for Cionel Pérez after the reliever’s two scoreless innings Friday night.

They were bigger than the game.

Pérez turned in his first clean inning since May 16, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts in the top of the sixth. The nine appearances that followed were marred by runs, hits, walks or a combination, pushing his ERA to 5.55 heading into the Mariners series.

Ty France led off the seventh with a single that concluded a nine-pitch at-bat. He fouled off four and grounded a single into left field.

Flush it.

The best advice that the Orioles could give themselves last night after a 12-run loss. Don’t dwell on the mistakes and the embarrassment. Move on as quickly as possible. Nothing good comes from wallowing in it.

"That's definitely one you need to let go right away and come back tomorrow,” manager Brandon Hyde said after Friday's game.

“It's one of those weird ones where a couple big innings kind of did us in,” said starter Kyle Gibson, “and you've got to be able to flush it and not let one loss turn into two.”

Or a deuce, as it were.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has announced his starters for the next two games.

Kyle Bradish is closing out the series against the Mariners on Sunday, and left-hander Cole Irvin faces the Reds on Monday.

The alignment keeps Bradish on normal rest. Irvin started June 16 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, allowing three solo home runs in the third, and tossed an inning in relief Wednesday afternoon against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Hyde mentioned after the game that the Orioles would give Irvin a start “at some point in the next few days.”

Five days, to be exact.

The Orioles reinstated center fielder Cedric Mullins from the injured list this afternoon. They also recalled left-hander Bruce Zimmermann and optioned reliever Logan Gillaspie and infielder Josh Lester to Triple-A Norfolk.

Mullins finished his rehab assignment with Norfolk after Thursday’s doubleheader and returned to Baltimore. He’s leading off today.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle stayed with the Tides last night. He isn’t included to today’s transactions.

Lester tossed a scoreless ninth inning last night in his professional pitching debut and reached on an error in the bottom half.

Ryan O’Hearn is playing first base again and batting cleanup. Gunnar Henderson is the shortstop. Aaron Hicks moves to right fielid.

While Triple-A Norfolk moves past its first-half title in the International League and keeps posting prospect-studded lineups, outfielder Kyle Stowers is in Sarasota rehabbing an injury to his right shoulder.

The Orioles optioned Stowers for a second time on May 15, after he was hitless in his last 21 at-bats. He’s 2-for-30 in 14 games, with three walks and 12 strikeouts.

Stowers’ last game with Norfolk was May 21. He hasn’t played in more than a month after being shut down with inflammation in his shoulder.

The second stop with the Tides lasted five games, with Stowers going 3-for-18. Work done with hitting coach Brink Ambler was put on hold, for much longer than the seven-day IL period.

“Part of it was he was just trying to get back to what he has done really well. Controlling the strike zone, making sure he’s able to take care of fastballs, things like that,” Ambler said.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde would need his bullpen earlier than he wanted. A 35-pitch second inning from Kyle Gibson wasn’t conducive to a lengthy start. A 34-pitch third finally brought the hook.

Gibson registered his shortest start with the Orioles tonight while allowing five runs, and they dropped the series opener to the Mariners 13-1 before an announced crowd of 16,234 at Camden Yards that waited through a one hour, 40 minute rain delay.

The Rays lead the Orioles by 5 ½ games after their win tonight. The Yankees and Blue Jays lost.

Anthony Santander homered off Logan Gilbert in the seventh inning to break up the shutout bid and give the Orioles their second hit. The Mariners answered with seven runs in the eighth, all charged to Keegan Akin, to make the blowout official.

The margin freed Hyde to send Josh Lester to the mound in the ninth for the infielder’s professional pitching debut. He didn’t allow a run after Tom Murphy’s leadoff double, striking out Jarred Kelenic looking at a 62.3 mph “slider.” A walk was mixed in with two popups.

Orioles reliever Mychal Givens will pitch Sunday for Triple-A Norfolk, the firmest update available today on rehabbing players in the organization.

Givens allowed a run and two hits with a walk in two-thirds of an inning yesterday in Game 1 of a doubleheader. He's recovering from right shoulder inflammation.

The club is performing daily evaluations on center fielder Cedric Mullins and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who remain on their injury rehab assignments with Norfolk. Mullins started both games of last night’s doubleheader, while Mountcastle appeared in the opener.

Mullins isn’t in Norfolk’s lineup tonight. Mountcastle is batting second and serving as the designated hitter.

“We’re still kind of taking it day-to-day with both guys, but we’re encouraged that they came out of both those games feeling good,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

Gunnar Henderson is leading off and serving as designated hitter for tonight’s series opener against the Mariners at rainy Camden Yards.

Henderson is batting .358 in June after bringing a .201 average into the month, the third-largest increase in the majors with a minimum 50 at-bats, according to STATS.

The Orioles didn’t reinstate center fielder Cedric Mullins or first baseman Ryan Mountcastle from the injured list.

Mullins started both games of last night’s doubleheader for Triple-A Norfolk, giving him 11 plate appearances on his injury rehab assignment. He’s batting .263/.356/.479 with 12 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 39 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 53 games with the Orioles but hasn’t played since May 29 due to a strained groin.

Mullins’ eventual return also will give the Orioles a player who ranks sixth in the majors with a .432 average with runners in scoring position.

Brink Ambler glances at the lineup card for Triple-A Norfolk and a smile creases his face. And he isn’t filled with joy because of the two Orioles on injury rehab assignments.

Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle would liven up the place if it needed a spark. It does not. The joint was jumping long before their arrivals.

The Tides are the first half International League kings. If you want to crown them, then crown their butts. It’s going to happen anyway, with or without you.

Ambler is the hitting coach whose classroom is filled with valedictorians. On the night in Nashville that they clinched, the Tides had Colton Cowser batting third behind Mullins and Mountcastle, Jordan Westburg in the cleanup spot, Heston Kjerstad fifth and playing left field, Connor Norby sixth at second base and former Cuban batting champion César Prieto seventh at third base.

In MLB Pipeline prospect rankings, that’s No. 2, 3, 4, 7 and 16. Outfielder Hudson Haskin, who’s 13^th, was on the bench.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The roster churn slowed yesterday for the Orioles, who stuck with the same 26 players to close out their road trip. They made it through nine innings without an injury. The flu-like symptoms that have swept through the clubhouse apparently didn’t claim a new victim.

A win achieved on a day that they lost.

At least four players were impacted – Austin Hays, Gunnar Henderson, Danny Coulombe and Keegan Akin – and others might have been ill. The Orioles don’t invite media into the trainers’ room or share dehydration data.

Seven players remain on the injured list, but Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle began their injury rehab assignments last night with Triple-A Norfolk after Tuesday’s rainout in Nashville. Reliever Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate pitched.

Mullins started in center field went 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, and Mountcastle played first base and went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Mountcastle also committed a fielding error.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Rays hurt Tyler Wells today in the second inning.

Wells also hurt himself.

Ganging up on the right-hander prevented the Orioles from sweeping the two-game series.

Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes hit back-to-back home runs to begin the inning, Wells committed two errors that led to a pair of unearned runs, and Tampa Bay defeated the Orioles 7-2 before an announced crowd of 19,493 at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles managed only three hits until Gunnar Henderson's leadoff homer in the ninth and fell to 45-28 with their third loss in five games and fourth in seven. They’re five games behind the Rays again in the American League East.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The question didn’t have anything to do with Austin Hays.

A reporter used manager Brandon Hyde’s pregame media session yesterday to get an opinion on Adley Rutschman receiving the most votes among American League catchers for the All-Star Game. But Hyde was more interested in Hays’ status among the outfielders.

He’d get back to Rutschman shortly. The player who didn’t need hyping.

Told that Hays is 15^th in balloting, Hyde immediately responded with, “That’s terrible.”

“We got a campaign going of some sort?” he asked, the tone playful but the disappointment real.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles couldn’t walk inside the dome today until they let the dust settle from the latest roster shakeup.

Make another change in the bullpen. Fiddle again with the backup catcher and 40-man roster.

Listen as the club creates beautiful music. Cover ears when it gets bad. Hold breath until it’s over.

The bats made loud sounds in the first two innings, with home runs by Aaron Hicks and Anthony Santander pushing the Orioles to a big early lead. It almost disappeared while the bullpen was rocked in the sixth, but Yennier Cano got three outs and Félix Bautista the last four for his 20^th save in an 8-6 victory over the Rays before an announced crowd of 20,906 at Tropicana Field that included sections of orange behind the visiting dugout.

They, too, were loud.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde isn’t certain when he can post a lineup with Cedric Mullins in center field and Ryan Mountcastle at first base or as designated hitter. He just knows that it’s getting closer.

That's good enough for now.

The duo is beginning an injury rehab assignment tonight with Triple-A Norfolk, which is playing in Nashville. Mullins is leading off and serving as DH, with Mountcastle right behind him in the order and starting at first base.

The rest of Norfolk’s lineup includes Colton Cowser in right field, followed by shortstop Jordan Westburg, left fielder Heston Kjerstad, second baseman Connor Norby, third baseman César Prieto, center fielder Hudson Haskin and catcher Maverick Handley.

Justin Armbruester, who joined Prieto from Double-A Bowie, is on the mound.

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.

The Orioles return to their division tonight having lost four of their last seven series. However, they’ve won seven of their last 10 games.

They began yesterday tied with the Rangers for the second-best record in the American League and are 5 ½ games ahead of the third-place Yankees, who have lost four in a row. However, they are constantly pressed to prove their resiliency in the face of more adversity, including inflammation of their injured list.

There’s always a back and forth with this team, like the number of wins but also the huge amount of tight margins.  

A two-game series against the Rays begins tonight at Tropicana Field with the Orioles having seven players on the injured list. Backup catcher James McCann is the latest after spraining his left ankle Saturday afternoon.

(Sliding and diving into first base are never recommended. Avoid at all costs.)

Scout David Jennings was on edge long before the Orioles were on the clock again.

The 2019 draft began with the selection of catcher Adley Rutschman. There was no risk of losing the top player on the board. Having the worst record and picking first has its privileges.

Jennings tracked Alabama prep shortstop Gunnar Henderson since the kid was a skinny junior at John T. Morgan Academy in Selma. He saw the room for growth, both in body and skill set. He saw Henderson playing shortstop or third base for a long time, and at a high level.

But would it be with the Orioles?

They had the 42^nd overall pick and lots of time to think about it after Rutschman’s name was announced. Jennings knew the amount of interest in Henderson based on the number of scouts and executives attending his games. This wasn’t a hidden gem. This was a problem.

The Orioles have lost four of their last seven series and will try today to avoid their first three-game sweep since May 13-15, 2022 in Detroit.

Catcher James McCann went on the 10-day injured list this morning with a sprained left ankle, and the Orioles selected catcher José Godoy’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk. Godoy was on the taxi squad in Chicago.

Reliever Reed Garrett was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

McCann is batting .194/.232/.344 with five doubles and three home runs in 31 games.

Godoy, who’s wearing No. 77, was acquired from the Yankees on June 2 in a cash transaction. He’s appeared in 26 major league games over the past two seasons with the Mariners, Twins and Pirates and gone 7-for-57.

Mike Baumann’s baseball life has taken him to many places and into many roles.

The Orioles made the decision in spring training to remove the starter duties and just let him focus on relief. To be more specific, shorter spurts that allow for an uptick in velocity.

There’s no easing into a new responsibility. Not around here. If you put on the uniform and walk to the bullpen, you’re a high-leverage guy who must get big outs.

Clean innings aren’t promised, as Baumann has learned.

Going into Thursday afternoon’s series finale, Baumann was tied with Toronto’s Tim Mayza and the Royals’ José Cuas for the second-most inherited runners in the majors, with 27. The Yankees’ Ron Marinaccio was first with 28, but Mayza moved atop the leader board with his 29th.