With their eight-game win streak now over, the Orioles look to start a new one tonight as they also continue their pursuit to catch the Tampa Bay Rays atop the American League East. 

Chris Taylor’s grand slam in the sixth last night turned a two-run deficit into a two-run lead, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Orioles 6-4 in the series opener. The O’s led the game 3-0 after two innings and 4-1 after five.

The Dodgers (54-39), who have won six of their past seven series, are 7-1 the last eight games and 15-6 in their past 21. They are now 25-23 on the road, 14-9 versus AL teams and 3-4 against AL East clubs.

They improved to 22-9 in series-opening games with their 22^nd comeback win of 2023. They have an MLB-best 70 come-from-behind wins since the start of the 2022 season.

The Orioles had their season-long win streak snapped; they had outscored their opponents 60-20 during the eight consecutive wins. Every victory during the streak came against a team that entered the game with a .500 or better record. Had that streak reached nine, it would've been the longest win streak for the Birds over .500 or better clubs since taking nine in a row from July 9-17, 1998.

When the Orioles' Anthony Santander launched a two-run shot in the first inning Sunday, it was a big swing for Baltimore. It provided the Orioles an early 3-0 lead, and they would go on to win and sweep Miami.

But it was also a milestone home run for Santander. His 17^th of the year was also the 100^th of his career - a mark he reached in his 526^th MLB game. He becomes the 29^th player in the history of the Orioles, which of course dates to 1954, with 100 homers.

Next up for him on the O’s career list, tied for 27^th all-time with 106 homers are Jonathan Schoop and Gary Roenicke. Tied for 24^th on the list are the trio of J.J. Hardy, Doug DeCinces and Harold Baines with 107 homers in a Baltimore uniform.

Santander has had quite the career for a player that the O’s got via the Rule 5 draft from Cleveland in December of 2016.

“Wow, first of all thank God, all the glory is to him,” Santander said in the O’s clubhouse before the Dodgers series opener. “I’m really happy and proud of myself. I never thought about it but with hard work and consistency I was able to reach that number.

A big stretch of games has arrived for the Orioles. A tough stretch. They started it by sweeping Miami three straight over the weekend. And now their next 17 games are against winning clubs. In order, they play the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, the New York Yankees and Toronto.

This stretch leads up to and goes through the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

The Orioles begin play tonight at 57-35 and one game behind Tampa Bay for the American League East lead, the closest they have been since the second game of the year. They are one game ahead of Tampa Bay in the loss column.

The Orioles have won eight in a row, the longest current win streak in the majors. The Orioles' plus-53 run differential is third-best in the AL, but 40 of that came during the win streak, during which they have outscored opponents 60-20. Baltimore batters went 8-for-25 with runners in scoring position over the weekend against Miami, and they are 31-for-77 (.403) with RISP during the win streak.

In the last four games alone, the Birds have scored 31 runs and hit 11 home runs.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who returns to the big leagues tonight for the Orioles to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, made eight starts this year for Triple-A Norfolk. Colton Cowser, who is starting in left field and batting seventh tonight, was in the Norfolk lineup for five of those games.

He saw Rodriguez return to the farm after going 2-2 with a 7.35 ERA in 10 starts with the Orioles. He saw a pitcher determined to get his command on point and one who did that back at Triple-A for the most part.

Rodriguez is currently ranked as the No. 15 prospect in the top 100 by Baseball America, one step below Cowser, actually, who is No. 14.

“He, I felt like, the thing that really was making it click for him was his fastball command,” Cowser said. “That is one thing I noticed being in center field, he was able to consistently work at the top (of the strike zone). And when he is really working at the top and really commanding it, his off-speed pitches play really well off of it. He was looking really good.

“I feel like he was doing a great job of pitching when he was in hitter's counts. Being able to steal strikes and worked counts well.”

In an effort to get their sixth series sweep and fifth three-game sweep of the year, the O’s sent right-hander Kyle Bradish to the mound today to face the Miami Marlins.

They had to like their chances with Bradish, a pitcher on a roll, who started this day at 5-4 with a 3.32 ERA. Had he enough innings to qualify for league leaders, he would be 10^th in the American League in ERA.

And over his past 11 starts since May 12, he was 4-3 with a 2.52 ERA and .589 opponent OPS. Bradish had not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last five starts.

And his strong pitching continued today as the Orioles got him a quick three-run lead on their way to a 5-4 win and a series sweep of the Marlins (53-42), the team with third-best record in the National League.

Trailing 5-0 to the ninth inning, the Marlins scored four runs off Eduard Bazardo and Danny Coulombe. Coulombe did get Luis Arraez to fly to left for the final out and strand the tying run at second to record his first career big league save.

The Orioles have four three-game sweeps this year - three at Camden Yards - and will try to add to the list today against the Miami Marlins. The O's have posted 5-2 and 6-5 wins to start this series and homestand. 

They now have 33 comeback wins, tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the most in the major leagues. Since the start of 2022, they have 69 wins in games they have trailed, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most in the majors over that period.

The Orioles fell behind 4-0 in the second inning last night, but in the home half cut that to 4-3. Down 5-3, they scored once in the fifth to trail 5-4. They scored twice in the seventh to tie the game and take the lead. A lead they would hold onto.

So that is now a seven-game win streak for the Orioles. That ties their season high from April 16-24. They had a plus-16 run differential in the earlier win streak. It is plus-39 in the current win streak.

The Orioles have outscored their last seven opponents, 55-16.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez has not started for the Orioles since May 26. That stretch will end on Monday night when he will start the series opener for the Orioles against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camden Yards.

Manager Brandon Hyde made that announcement today about Rodriguez, who is 4-0 with a 1.96 ERA in eight Triple-A starts this year.

“Very pleased, and the reports have been awesome about how the command has improved,” said Hyde of Rodriguez, 23. “The stuff has always been there. It’s all about command for him. He’s throwing the ball extremely well with command at Triple-A and we’re excited for him to start tomorrow.”

Rodriguez pitched three scoreless innings July 9 in his last outing, which was a planned shorter one. He has allowed just two earned runs in 19 1/3 his past four Triple-A games.

Will Rodriguez stay in the rotation, or will that be determined start-to-start?

As MLBPipeline.com’s No. 1 prospect, Jackson Holliday moved to Double-A Bowie on Friday for his first game at that level. It was the next challenge for the 19-year-old shortstop that was drafted No. 1 overall by the Orioles almost exactly a year ago today.

But Bowie manager Kyle Moore, while acknowledging the challenges the kid will face hitting Eastern League pitching, also looks at a steady stream of top prospects the last few years that found their way to Bowie and had their bats meet the challenge. In some cases more than meet it.

In 2021 for the Baysox, Adley Rutschman had a .900 OPS in 80 games and Kyle Stowers was at .938 in 66 games. In 2022 at Bowie, Colton Cowser was at 1.037 in 49 games, Gunnar Henderson 1.025 in 47 games, Connor Norby .960 in 64 games and Jordan Westburg had an .817 OPS in 47 games.

This year, on their way up to Triple-A Norfolk, Coby Mayo was at 1.027 in 78 games, Heston Kjerstad .959 in 46 games and César Prieto .882 in 58 games.

“It’s a long list over the last two to three years, and so I think we are all proud of that. I certainly am,” Moore said, throwing some props to his coaches. “It’s the third No. 1 prospect this organization has seen in three years, with Adley and Gunnar and now Jackson. And Grayson Rodriguez was the No. 1 overall pitching prospect, so there is a lot to be proud of. Jackson being on that list now, and a true shortstop and the No. 1 overall pick, we are ecstatic to have him. I just can’t wait to watch him play. Watch a kid that talented go about his business.”

As the season’s second half – the post-All-Star break portion of the schedule – begins tonight in Baltimore, the Orioles resume play at 54-35. They are two games behind Tampa Bay for the American League East lead and hold the No. 1 AL wild card spot, leading by five games for that over Houston and Toronto.

Their win percentage of .607 projects to 98 wins over a full season and is their eighth-best win percentage all-time at the All-Star break.

Here are a few questions that will be answered in the second half:

What will the trade deadline look like for the club?

Well, one guess is that the Orioles will be rumored to have their hand in several potential deals. But the Orioles hold some nice cards here. For one, they have the No. 1 farm in the game and several top 100 prospects at higher levels that are already in the majors, are major league-ready or are close. These are the types of players that are coveted around the sport. The Orioles are loaded in what you could call “prospect capital.”

It has become a barrier for starting pitchers in Major League Baseball. A pitch count that reaches 100. We don’t see it very often anymore. Commonplace back in the day, so to speak, not so much anymore.

In fact there are just six teams that average even 90 or more pitches per night from their starters among the 30 clubs in the major leagues right now.

94.1 - Chicago White Sox
92.1 - Houston
91.1 - Washington
91.0 - Toronto and St. Louis
90.6 - Los Angeles Angels

That is the list. No other team averages more than 90 pitches a game from their starters.

The team ranking last is a shocker. It’s Tampa Bay at 74.1. I imagine that's due in part to the Rays' frequent use of openers.

As the MLB Draft resumed today the Orioles selected University of Washington right-handed pitcher Kiefer Lord in the third round at No. 86 overall. He is the second pitcher the Orioles have taken among their first four picks to start this draft. 

The O’s have nine picks today in rounds three through 10. Their No. 100 overall pick is a compensation pick for not signing a third-round pick last year in pitcher Nolan McLean from Oklahoma State. He was today selected No. 91 overall by the Mets. 

Last night the Orioles selected Vanderbilt outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. with their No. 17 overall pick. They added North Carolina third baseman/outfielder Mac Horvath in round two with pick No. 53. They drafted Florida State pitcher Jackson Baumeister with a competitive balance pick that was No. 63 overall. He becomes the highest-drafted pitcher by overall selection in the now five drafts under executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias.

Click here for more on the Day One picks.

Here are the O’s picks for today with listed slot amount for each.

MINNEAPOLIS – It was just last Tuesday, on the Fourth of July. The New York Yankees beat the Orioles 8-4 and had taken the first two games of a four-game series. After losing two of three last weekend and scoring just three runs in three games versus Minnesota, the Orioles had lost six of their past seven.

The Orioles had fallen six games behind Tampa Bay. Catch the Rays? How about try to hold on to a wild-card spot first. Was the season starting to slip away from the Orioles?

Some in Birdland posed such a question.

It looks like a foolish one this morning. Since that loss the Orioles have won five in a row by a 44-9 score. They hit a barrage of six homers yesterday and won 15-2 against a Minnesota pitching staff that began the weekend leading the majors in team ERA at 3.55 and in rotation ERA at 3.54.

Last weekend in Baltimore the Twins held the Orioles to three runs. This past weekend in Minneapolis they “held” the Orioles to 24.

Whether it is a well pitched game or a game where the offense breaks out or some combination, the Orioles could use it tonight to pick up a much-needed win at Yankee Stadium.

They entered this series at 49-33 and had gone 5-0-1 in their last six American League series, going 12-5 in those games. They were 3-3 this year against the Yankees.

But after losses in the Bronx by 6-3 and 8-4 scores, the Orioles are 49-35 and have now lost six of seven, eight of 12 and 10 of their past 16 games. Since May 26 they are 16-18 (.471) and have gone 4-6-1 their past 11 series.

They begin play tonight, in Game 3 of this four-game series, before they head to Minnesota, six games behind Tampa Bay for the division lead and two games ahead of New York for second place in the division. They hold the top AL wild card spot, leading Houston by 1 1/2 games and New York by two.

The Orioles have scored seven runs on 20 hits in this series in the Bronx, but they have been outhomered 5-2. Over the last five games the Orioles have scored just 10 runs. They have scored three or fewer runs in 14 of the last 25 games, going 3-11 in those 14.

The Orioles need a win this afternoon over the Minnesota Twins to avoid a three-game series sweep. They have not been swept in a series yet this year but have come close a few times.

On May 26-27 they lost the first two games of a home series with Texas but won 3-2 in the series finale to avoid that sweep. June 6-7 they lost two at Milwaukee, but won 6-3 in Game 3 of that series. On June 16-17 they lost two games at Wrigley Field but then beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 in the third game to avoid a sweep.

Now they have 8-1 and 1-0 losses to the Twins, a team that is 16-5 versus Baltimore since the 2019 season and is 27-8 since 2019.

The Orioles have just seven hits this series and only one for extra bases, and that is Adley Rutschman’s sixth-inning homer to right on Friday night. The Birds are 0-for-4 this series with runners in scoring position and have not scored in their last 12 innings.

The Orioles have not been swept three in a row since May 13-15, 2022 at Detroit.

After picking in the top five of the MLB Draft the last four years – and picking No. 2 or higher in three of those four years and selecting No. 1 twice  – the Orioles will find this coming draft very different.

They have the No. 17 pick in round one of the draft, which begins a week from tonight. It will take place over three days and 20 rounds beginning next Sunday evening. 

Along with picking No. 17, the Orioles will also select at No. 53, No. 63, No. 86 and No. 100, so five of the top 100 selections.

“It’s a very deep draft,” Orioles director of draft operations Brad Ciolek said Saturday at Camden Yards. “I would say, in terms of the composition, a lot of folks saw what the power arms did in Omaha (at the College World Series). Whether it’s Hurston Waldrep (of Florida), Paul Skenes (of LSU), Rhett Lowder (Wake Forest). There is a lot to like on that front. The college hitting board is also good as well. I know that’s been our flavor the last few years here. And then the high school infield demographic is very good. Lot of very polished high school hitters in terms of plate discipline.”

The draft prep for the Baltimore scouting staff has been intense as always in the buildup to draft day.

The Orioles reached the mathematical halfway point of the 2023 season this afternoon in frustrating fashion. They got a strong pitching performance from starter Kyle Bradish, but for the second day in a row, their offense was shut down.

Minnesota improved to 42-42, blanking the Orioles 1-0 in front of a crowd of 40,012 at Oriole Park that came to get O’s Hawaiian shirts and hoped to see the home team win. They had to settle for 1-for-2 today at the Yard.

The Orioles are 48-33 at the midpoint of the year. That’s a 96-win pace that would likely lead to a playoff berth. But in the short term, they now have their first four-game losing streak of this year.

The Orioles were held to three singles today, going 3-for-30. They were shutout 1-0 for the first time since Sept. 11, 2022 versus Boston. 

They are now 4-6-1 in their past 11 series since May 26, going 15-16 in that span.

After their 10-3 win over Cincinnati on Monday night, the Orioles had a three-game win streak and were 3-1 on this homestand. They were on their way, it looked like, to having a strong nine-game run at Oriole Park. But three losses later, by a combined 22-9 score, the Orioles are 3-4 on the homestand and need two wins the next two days to have a winning run in this stretch at home.

After Monday’s games the Orioles were 19 games over the .500 mark for the first time since the 2014 season. They begin play today at 48-32 (.600) and are 6 1/2 games back of American League East-leading Tampa Bay.

The Birds have lost three in a row, five of eight and seven of their past 12 games. Over a longer stretch, they are 11-8 the past 19 games and finished June with an 8-1 loss to Minnesota last night, completing a record of 13-11 for the month.

Earlier, the Orioles went 1-0 in March, 18-9 in April and 16-12 in May.

The O’s offense over the last six games has scored six, three, 10, one, seven and one run.

It was quite interesting and maybe even a little controversial this week when MLBPipeline.com released an updated top 100 prospects list that elevated O’s prospect Jackson Holliday from No. 2 to the No. 1 prospect in the game.

Holliday leapfrogged Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz to get the top spot, with De La Cruz moving from No. 1 to No. 2. And this was not because De La Cruz, now in the big leagues, could soon lose his prospect eligibility. He still has it. So even while De La Cruz was making a name for himself at the big league level and recently hit for the cycle, the 19-year-old kid playing for the Orioles at High-A Aberdeen is now No. 1.

Baseball America's listing has De La Cruz No. 1 and Holliday No. 2.

This week I talked to MLBPipeline.com senior writer Jim Callis on several topics, including Holliday's ascension to No. 1 on their list.

“We took, as you might suspect, a lot of abuse," Callis said. "'Elly De La Cruz, what are you doing? He’s playing great, the Reds are playing great. His tools are amazing and you see him on a nightly basis.' We did take some abuse on that.

It sure took a while – the game itself lasted two hours and 57 minutes and there were two rain delays totaling an hour and 59 minutes – but the Orioles won another series opener Monday night. On the occasion of Jordan Westburg’s major league debut they beat Cincinnati 10-3. They are now 18-8 in series-opening games and 8-5 when the opener is at home. 

Westburg went 1-for-4, and his bloop single in the fifth was his first big league hit. He also scored his first run and produced his first RBI and played solid defense at second base.

The Orioles had scored just 10 runs over the weekend in taking two of three from Seattle, and then got 10 in one night. They have scored 10 runs or more in a game six times this year.

Because they trailed 1-0 in the first inning, this was technically their 28^th comeback win of the year. When the game began the O’s and Reds were both at 27 comeback victories to tie for the major league lead. Even though the O’s were leading by the second inning and never trailed after that, last night's game is another comeback win officially on their record.

At 48-29 (.623) the Orioles moved to within four games of idle Tampa Bay for the American League East lead. They have the third best record in the majors, behind only Tampa Bay (54-27, .667) and Atlanta (51-27, .654).

Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg will play together in the same infield tonight as Orioles for the first time, with Henderson starting at third base and Westburg at second. But it won’t be nearly the first time they have shared an infield as pro players.

Not even close.

It has happened and often on the Baltimore farm. So, for Henderson to experience Westburg’s big league debut last night and see his good friend go through that was also special for the soon-to-be-22-year-old O’s infielder.

Henderson did not play in the O’s 10-3 win over Cincinnati, but had a pretty good view of Westburg’s night as he went 1-for-4 and got his first major league hit, run and RBI, all in the same game.

“That was really cool. And a pretty eventful night in a sense, yeah his debut, but also the rain delay and wait through all that. Sure, that was eventful in itself. But he went out there and just did what he always does and showed you that it’s more than enough. Let him keep doing that and he’ll continue to flourish,” Henderson said this afternoon.