The latest off-day for the Orioles is upon them. They’ll take it, of course, but they’d like to trade in a few for later in the summer.

Work it into the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. Trade you two Aprils for an August and September.

On a more realistic note, a few more big decisions are on the horizon. I feel like I’ve typed these words many times since spring training.

It’s true again.

* The Orioles set their rotation for the weekend Diamondbacks series at Camden Yards with Cole Irvin, John Means and Dean Kremer on the bump. Meanwhile, Grayson Rodriguez advanced this week from playing catch to throwing a bullpen session yesterday, his first since going on the injured list April 30 with right shoulder inflammation.

WASHINGTON – Kyle Bradish backed up home plate in the second inning and glanced at his glove, as if checking whether a hole had gone undetected.

That isn't where the leak would spring later in the night.

Trey Lipscomb’s one-hopper made it past Bradish, who reached across his body and rested the glove on his right shoulder as the ball bounced into center field for a run-scoring single.

The Orioles were behind again in D.C. Bradish finished the inning at 44 pitches, stranding two runners by fielding Jacob Young’s high chopper and striking out CJ Abrams. But he’d need to become more economical to get deep in his second start since his reinstatement from the injured list, and the Orioles would need a rally to avoid their first series sweep in the regular season since May 2022.

Anthony Santander hit a game-tying home run in the fourth inning and Gunnar Henderson provided a lead leading off the sixth. Bradish struck out nine batters in five frames and became the pitcher of record. It was setting up ideally until closing again became a major issue.

WASHINGTON – Grayson Rodriguez has advanced his throwing program to today’s bullpen session at Nationals Park.

Rodriguez, on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, was playing catch before the Orioles cleared him to throw off a mound. He totaled about 15 pitches and spun a few rather than going strictly with his fastball.

“It was good. Everything felt good,” he said.

“Very encouraging. Obviously anytime you go on the IL, not good. But to be feeling good like I am, I guess pretty positive.”

The Orioles haven’t laid out the rest of the plan, but Rodriguez is getting back on the mound. He’ll face live hitters soon and a decision will be made whether he needs a brief rehab assignment.

WASHINGTON – Kyle Bradish makes his second start tonight since his reinstatement from the injured list, and the Orioles are attempting to avoid being swept in a regular season series for the first time since May 2022.

The streak of 102 series is on the line.

Bradish allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings Thursday against the Yankees in his 2024 debut. He’s started twice against the Nationals and racked up 14 scoreless innings.

Keibert Ruiz is 3-for-5 against Bradish.

Cedric Mullins moves down to ninth in the lineup tonight against the latest opposing left-handed starter. Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter while James McCann catches.

WASHINGTON - Dean Kremer was following the rotation’s lead of hanging up zeros, being extra stingy Sunday afternoon with only one hit allowed, and the bats broke out to remove any potential drama. A sweep in Cincinnati was a certainty, with only the final score pending.

Anthony Santander provided the game’s first run with his RBI single in the first inning, but he had one more damaging swing in him. It didn’t influence the outcome, but he needed it.

Facing right-hander Emilio Pagán in the ninth, Santander laid into a four-seam fastball and drove it 402 feet to right-center field for his third career grand slam.

Santander had five hits since April 21 before going 3-for-4 to raise his average from .200 to .218 and his OPS from .668 to .722. He was slashing .179/.225/.381 against right-handers before last night, increasing the important of the blow against Pagán.

The only other five-RBI game in Santander’s career was May 5, 2023, against the Braves and he also hit a grand slam.

WASHINGTON – Orioles starting pitchers were bound to do more than just a little bending. Even the tiniest cracks had to form.

The rotation had gone 22 consecutive innings without allowing a run until Joey Meneses’ hit-and-run single tonight in the second that plated Jesse Winker.

Corbin Burnes didn’t surrender another hit or run until the seventh. Light damage that weighed heavier with no offensive support.

The Nationals scored twice in the inning to provide insurance that wasn’t necessary in a 3-0 win over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 29,542.

The Orioles had allowed two runs or fewer in seven straight games, their longest streak since August 1980. But Meneses led off the seventh with a double and scored with one out on Eddie Rosario’s single, and another Nationals stolen base set up Trey Lipscomb’s RBI single and Burnes’ removal at 95 pitches.

WASHINGTON – Grayson Rodriguez is playing catch and reporting no discomfort in the right shoulder that forced him onto the injured list with inflammation on April 30.

“Feeling good,” he said today. “Just wanted to take some time off. Obviously had some shoulder inflammation. So really just missing a start or two and then right back at it.

“Just a little bit of soreness. We wanted to be a little bit on the cautionary side, just make sure it didn’t turn into anything more than what it is.”

Rodriguez is doing some light tossing on flat ground. He doesn’t know whether he’ll require a rehab assignment but is optimistic that he can avoid it, saying, “Personally, I don’t think so, but that’s not for me to decide.”

“Hopefully be ready whenever the 15 days is up,” he said.

WASHINGTON – Ramón Urías gets the start tonight at third base with Jordan Westburg at second to begin a two-game series against the Nationals in D.C.

Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter. Colton Cowser is in left field, with Heston Kjerstad on the bench.

Cedric Mullins is batting eighth.

Corbin Burnes suffered his first loss with the Orioles in his last start after allowing two runs in six innings against the Yankees. He has a 2.61 ERA and 0.919 WHIP in seven games.

Burnes has made five career appearances against the Nats but only two starts, and he’s allowed six runs and 11 hits in 14 2/3 innings. He started in D.C. on July 31, 2023 and surrendered two runs in six innings, and again Sept. 16 in Milwaukee and allowed four runs with nine strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

The rotation received a roundhouse shot in the arm with the Feb. 1 trade for ace Corbin Burnes. It absorbed a couple of blows with the spring training news that Kyle Bradish, the Orioles’ Game 1 starter in the Division series, and former All-Star John Means would begin the season on the injured list, and then lost Tyler Wells last month to elbow inflammation. The unit grew stronger with the returns of Bradish and Means but also lost Grayson Rodriguez to shoulder inflammation.

The calm keeps clashing with the storms, but the Orioles headed into their off-day with the fifth-lowest team ERA in the majors at 3.31. The starters’ ERA fell to 3.18, sixth in the majors and fourth in the American League. The staff’s 1.08 WHIP ranked fourth in the majors and third in the AL.

The Orioles have allowed two runs or fewer in seven consecutive games, their longest single-season streak since Aug. 1-8, 1980, when they reached eight. The ERA is 1.14 during this stretch.

Starters plowed through the Reds’ order over the weekend, failing to surrender a run in 19 1/3 innings. And they did it without Burnes and Bradish, who are on deck in D.C. and trying to extend the starters' streak of six-plus shutout innings to five and tie the club record from Sept. 2-6, 1974 and Sept. 26-Oct. 1, 1995.

How’s that for pitching depth? Wait for Wells and Rodriguez and keep hanging zeros.

The Austin Hays workouts are turning into an injury rehab assignment.

The Orioles announced that Hays will begin playing for Double-A Bowie on Tuesday night against the Akron RubberDucks at Prince George’s Stadium. First pitch is 6:35 p.m.

Hays is on the injured list since April 22 with a left calf strain. He was 5-for-45 with no extra-base hits and a .311 OPS in 19 games.

The recent at-bats were producing more solid contact and he collected a hit in each of his last two games. He tweaked the knee running from first to third base against the Royals on April 20 in Kansas City and decided he couldn’t cover the necessary ground in left field, which led to Colton Cowser as a defensive replacement and a trip to the IL.

Hays ramped up baseball activities Thursday at Camden Yards, sprinting between bases and taking batting practice on the field.

In the unpredictable world of baseball, it’s been fascinating to watch Jorge Mateo go from bubble non-tender guy to trade bait to integral part of the Orioles’ lineup planning.

He has a role on a first-place team and owners of the best record in the American League that for quite some time appeared to have little use for him. Another good reminder of the dangers of rushing to conclusions.

Mateo was groomed and advertised as more of a super-utility guy, with club promises to test him more regularly in the outfield at spring training. It didn’t happen that much, and he’s settled in as a second baseman.

Jackson Holliday eventually will become the everyday player at the position, but he was platooned during his brief stay in the majors and currently is leading off again for Triple-A Norfolk. He went 1-for-3 yesterday with a double, two walks, two strikeouts and a run scored and is batting .278 with a .928 OPS.

Mateo entered yesterday’s series finale against the Reds with home runs in two of his last three games. Before Thursday, he hadn’t hit a ball over the fence since April 30, 2023 in Detroit. He delivered an inside-the-park homer on Aug. 20 in Oakland.

The Orioles are trying for the sweep this afternoon in Cincinnati and Dean Kremer is hoping to keep the pitching staff on its roll.

The team ERA is 1.17 in the last six games and 2.23 in 13. John Means notched the rotation’s seventh scoreless start last night.

The Reds have scored one run in the first two games of the series, and it came against Craig Kimbrel last night in the ninth inning before Yennier Cano recorded the two-out save.

Kremer has registered a 4.19 ERA and 1.078 WHIP in six outings. His eight home runs surrendered are tied for most in the American League.

Kremer tied his season high with seven innings in his last start against the Yankees, with both runs scoring on solo homers. He faced the Reds in 2022 in Cincinnati and allowed six runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.  

The Orioles wrap up their series against the Reds this afternoon, going for the sweep, and I’m unwrapping three more questions that hang in the air. At least where I’m breathing.

The good news is there’s a definite answer to the first one.

What the heck happened to Terrin Vavra?

Vavra posted photos recently on his Instagram account with a caption about “the most trying 10 months of my career” and offering thanks for the support he’s received. The first photo showed Vavra in his hospital bed holding one of his children.

Was this a new surgery on his shoulder that would perhaps ruin his chances of playing in 2024, or was he celebrating the end of his rehab from his original labrum procedure last fall?

John Means makes his 2024 debut tonight as the Orioles continue their series in Cincinnati following last night’s 3-0 win. And after Cole Irvin ran his scoreless streak to 20 2/3 innings.

Means hasn’t pitched for the Orioles since Sept. 29 against the Red Sox, when he allowed two runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. He faced teammates in a simulated game at Camden Yards prior to the Division Series and experienced discomfort in his elbow/forearm area that led to his exclusion from the roster, a delayed off-season throwing program and stint on the injured list.

Tonight marks his latest comeback to the rotation, and he’s with a club that’s 21-11, has won 13 of its last 18 games and is one ahead of the Yankees for first place.

The Reds are a new opponent for Means, who’s posted a career 3.97 ERA in 13 starts against the National League.

Jeimer Candelario is 3-for-8 with a double, triple, RBI and walk against him. Santiago Espinal is 2-for-2 with a double and RBI.

The Orioles were forced to wait last night until the rain finally stopped to begin their three-game series in Cincinnati.

The delay also gave the organization time to catch its breath after the barrage of news and updates that hit the media.

To review:

Gunnar Henderson and Colton Cowser are monthly award winners.

I participated in the voting and won’t reveal my ballot, but Henderson and Royals catcher Salvador Perez had really strong cases as I recall. Yeah, really strong.

Heston Kjerstad, who was named the International League’s Player of the Month earlier today, is starting in left field tonight for the series opener against the Reds in Cincinnati.

Colton Cowser is on the bench, whether to rest or to heal from slamming his knee into the outfield wall yesterday and being hit on the foot by a pitch. Either way, he's one of the reserves.

Jorge Mateo gets another start at second base after homering yesterday. Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter.

Cole Irvin hasn’t allowed a run in his last 14 1/3 innings. He stays in the rotation despite Kyle Bradish and John Means leaving the injured list.

Irvin has made three career appearances against the Reds, including one start, and allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings.

The Orioles won three of four games from the Yankees, they lead the division, and they just claimed two monthly awards.

This is a team on a roll.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson was named the American League’s Player of the Month and outfielder Colton Cowser was chosen Rookie of the Month.

Henderson batted .291 (34-for-117) with three doubles, three triples, 10 home runs, 24 RBIs, eight walks, 25 runs scored, six stolen bases and a .624 slugging percentage in 29 games. He’s tied for the major league lead in homers and ranks first in the AL in slugging and total bases. He’s tied for second in triples, extra-base hits and runs scored.

The 10 homers make Henderson the youngest player in history to reach that total before May 1.

Austin Hays grabbed his spikes yesterday and walked out of the Orioles’ clubhouse. He had another box to check.

Hays ran the bases for the first time since landing on the 10-day injured list on April 22 with a strained left calf muscle. He sprinted from third to home and wasn’t favoring the leg.

That was only part of his workout. The Orioles didn’t schedule batting practice but they arranged for Hays to take some swings on the field.

It was significant ramping of baseball activities after Hays had run the last two days, hit in the indoor cage and threw.

“Everything’s been going good,” he said. “I’ve been up to 90 percent of my game speed, so getting really close. Just got to check a couple more boxes, but everything we’ve done so far, there have been no setbacks, nothing negative. I think we’re getting really close.”

The Orioles set their rotation for the series against the Reds in Cincinnati. Albert Suárez isn’t in it.

Cole Irvin starts Friday night and John Means makes his 2024 debut the following night. Dean Kremer gets the ball Sunday afternoon.

Suárez moves to the bullpen. He’s listed today among the relievers after posting a 2.35 ERA in three starts.

“It’s up for grabs right now, so kind of a wait and see,” said manager Brandon Hyde said of Suárez’s role. “I’m interested to see what it looks like in different ways. But he’s also a starter candidate for us if we maybe go with a six-man down the road. All different types of roles. So right now he’s kind of a wild card for us in our bullpen.”

Kyle Bradish is starting this afternoon after his reinstatement from the 15-day injured list. There’s a sense of relief in the organization following his January diagnosis of a sprained ulnar collateral ligament.

Ryan McKenna gets the start in center field this afternoon with the Yankees starting left-hander Carlos Rodón.

Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter for the Orioles and James McCann is behind the plate.

Anthony Santander is starting in right field after beginning last night’s game on the bench. Jorge Mateo is the second baseman, with Jordan Westburg at third.

Colton Cowser stays in left field.

For the Orioles