TORONTO – The Orioles have played just one of their past six series against an American League East team, but starting tonight, for the first time this year they will play back-to-back series against division opponents. Tonight they play the first of a weekend series in Toronto at Rogers Centre. They'll then head to New York for a series next week at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles (28-16) are 3 1/2 games back of Tampa Bay for first in the AL East. They just completed a 6-4 homestand with Thursday’s 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. The Orioles went 2-1 versus Tampa Bay, 2-1 against Pittsburgh and 2-2 versus the Angels during the homestand. They are now 9-7 in May and 10-3-1 in 14 series for the year.

The Orioles went 6-4 on their last road trip, which took them to Detroit, Kansas City and Atlanta. They are 13-8 on the road for the season and are 5-2 in road series. The Orioles are 12-2 in 2023 in series-opening games, going 7-0 in road series openers.

Serving as the designated hitter on Thursday, Adley Rutschman launched his seventh homer of the season with a 424-foot blast in the seventh inning to give the O’s a 5-4 lead. It marked his second career go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later, joining a solo walk-off homer on April 13 vs. Oakland. Rutschman has hit safely in eight straight starts since May 9, slashing .357/.471/.750 (10-for-28) in those games.

O’s right fielder Anthony Santander tied the game at three with a two-run blast in the fifth inning, his seventh longball of the year. He has homered six times in his last 19 games after homering just once in his first 22. Santander is batting .339/.406/.645 (21-for-62) in May and has hit safely in 13 of 16 games, compared to .213/.280/.362 (20-for-94) in March/April.

TORONTO – No doubt tonight’s Orioles lineup is matchup-based as the club tonight faces Toronto lefty Yusei Kikuchi (5-0, 3.89 ERA) in the opener of a three-game series at Toronto. It starts an important six-game road trip for the Orioles against the Blue Jays and Yankees.

In facing Kikuchi, manager Brandon Hyde had definite reasons for putting Cedric Mullins back atop the order, even with a left-on-left matchup, and for inserting Joey Ortiz at third base.

Ortiz has played 30 big league innings at second base and 18 at shortstop, but none at third, where he will play tonight. He has made eight minor league starts at the hot corner: four in 2021, two in 2022 and two this year with Triple-A Norfolk.

“Well, he got a little bit of time there at Norfolk, played there in college, which is way different then playing there (now)," Hyde said. "I love his defense. I think he can play anywhere on the field, honestly, and he feels comfortable over there. Adding a right-handed bat against Kikuchi. And want (Adam) Frazier in there, and it’s kind of where it fit.”

The Orioles hit Kikuchi well last year, when he went 2-3 with an 8.10 ERA against them and allowed seven homers in 16 2/3 innings with an OPS against of 1.078. Cedric Mullins went 2-for-7 with a triple against Kikuchi in 2022, and has a batting average of .298 and a .953 OPS versus southpaws this year.

TORONTO – The Orioles' latest road trip – an all American League East affair – begins tonight at Rogers Centre as the Toronto Blue Jays (25-19) host the Orioles (28-16) to start a three-game series.

The Orioles just split a four-game series with the Los Angles Angels while Toronto was losing three of four to the New York Yankees at home.

Tonight's lineup shows rookie Joey Ortiz making his first MLB start at third base. Ortiz has eight career starts on the farm at third base, two this year for Triple-A Norfolk, two last year and four in the 2021 season. 

Tampa Bay (32-13) is leading the division by 3 1/2 games over the Orioles, by 6 1/2 over Toronto and New York and by 7 1/2 over Boston.

The Orioles went 2-8 in Toronto in 2021 and 5-5 last year.

The Orioles, who are 10-3 in series this year, open a new one tonight at home versus the Los Angeles Angels. It is a four-game series that will wrap up a 10-game homestand.

The Orioles lost Sunday to Pittsburgh, but took two of three over the weekend and are 9-1 in their last 10 series since April 10, losing a set only to Atlanta.

The Orioles have reached the 40-game mark at 26-14 (.650) and begin play today four games behind Tampa Bay for the best record in the majors. They have the second-best record in the bigs and are playing at a 105-win pace.

Orioles pitching has allowed just 16 runs in the last seven games and 25 in the last nine, pitching to a 2.40 ERA in that span. O’s starting pitchers have a 2.26 ERA the past nine games, allowing two earned runs or fewer seven times, with five quality starts in that span.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (2-0, 5.08 ERA) has yet to throw six innings in the majors but came darn close Tuesday against Tampa Bay. He went 5 2/3, allowing seven hits and two runs in one of his best starts this season. He used his fastball just 31 percent of the time in that start, but it had some nice life, averaging 97.4 mph. He threw his changeup 26 percent and cutter 20 percent.

The only other time right-hander Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels has pitched against the Orioles was on Aug. 25, 2021, also at Camden Yards. He would not get a decision but he would allow four runs on five hits, including three homers, over five innings in a game the Orioles won 10-6.

The Orioles were on their way to 110 losses and that night ended a 19-game losing streak. Yep, times have changed around here.

But Cedric Mullins was the leadoff hitter in that game as he will be tonight. In 2021, he hit Ohtani’s first pitch of the game for a home run and went 2-for-3. Anthony Santander went 2-for-2 with a homer and DJ Stewart also homered on the first pitch that night.

“On our side, it was being aggressive,” Mullins remembered of the earlier game against Ohtani. “Being aggressive on the first pitch. Put a great swing on it and sent one out, got the guys on the board early. After that it’s about staying in your zone. He’s a great pitcher and it is one of those days where you are in for a battle and will try to come out on top.”

So yeah, Mullins said the Orioles, who this year are doing a good job working counts and taking pitches with solid plate discipline, may choose to be more aggressive against Ohtani, who is 4-1 with a 2.74 ERA and 12.9 strikeout rate. His .143 opponent average against ranks first in the major leagues. He is fifth in strikeouts and WHIP.

On a night when they twice trailed by a run and didn't score over their first five innings, the Orioles used late offense to beat Pittsburgh 6-3 last night. Tonight they look for a second straight win over the Pirates, which would provide them with yet another series win.

The Orioles (25-13) sit at 3 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay and could pull to within three games of the Rays with a win tonight. Tampa Bay let a 6-0 lead get away at New York today and lost 9-8 to the Yankees to fall to 30-11.

The Orioles have not been as close as three games to first place since April 7.

Center fielder Cedric Mullins provided the headlines on Friday night, producing the seventh cycle in Baltimore Orioles history. He singled in the third, tripled in the fifth, hit a double in the seventh and provided a huge three-run homer in the last of the eighth. That turned a 3-2 lead into a more comfortable 6-2 advantage and, ultimately, a three-run win.

Mullins joins Austin Hays (6/22/22 vs. WSH), Jonathan Villar (8/5/19 vs. NYY), Félix Pié (8/14/09 vs. LAA), Aubrey Huff (6/29/07 vs. LAA), Cal Ripken Jr. (5/6/84 at TEX), and Brooks Robinson (7/15/60 at CWS) as Orioles to hit for the cycle.

His stay here this time could be potentially very short and he is not on the active roster, but infielder Joey Ortiz, one of the Orioles' top 100 prospects, is in the clubhouse today. He is on the taxi squad for tonight’s game with Pittsburgh.

Acting manager Fredi González - working as skipper of the Orioles tonight while Brandon Hyde attends the graduation of his daughter Aria from Syracuse University - explained the situation.

González said reserve outfielder Ryan McKenna is dealing with a back issue. The Orioles are hoping he will not need to go on in the injured list, but if that changes, and with a day game on Sunday, Ortiz is here just in case. It's essentially a 24-hour taxi squad role while the O's gather more info on McKenna.

Earlier today, Ortiz said it’s a thrill to be back in the O’s clubhouse in any role.

“Yeah, it’s great," he said. "Everyone is playing well. They’re winning, and it’s definitely something I want to be part of.”

In going 3-3 in the last two series against the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays, the Orioles won their series-opening game at Atlanta, but lost that series. They lost their series-opening game at home versus Tampa Bay, but won the last two games to take that series.

Baltimore enters a weekend series with Pittsburgh at 24-13 and playing .649 baseball. It is a pace that over a full season would produce 105 wins.

The Orioles are 2-1 this homestand, and over longer stretches have won 16 of 22, 18 of 25 and 20 of their past 28 games. With Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Tampa Bay they improved to 6-6 in games versus American League East teams and to 2-2 in four AL East series. The Orioles are 9-3 in series for the year, winning eight of their past nine. Their 24-13 record is third-best in the major leagues.

They are 11-1 in series-opening games and play one tonight to begin a three-game set with the Pirates, who are 8-4 in such games.

The Orioles are 11-5 at home and are 8-2 in their past 10 home games. They lost their first home series of the year against the New York Yankees, but have since won four in a row over Oakland, Detroit, Boston and Tampa Bay.

Lefty reliever Nick Vespi spent time on the Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle last year and makes his first trip to Baltimore this year for the Pittsburgh series that begins tonight. He was recalled from Triple-A today and takes the roster spot of lefty Drew Rom, sent back to the Tides.

Vespi’s chances to make the Orioles out of spring training were hindered when he had hernia surgery in early January. It would limit him to three games and three innings in spring training, where he didn’t get into his first game until March 13. But with a 1-0 record and 2.84 ERA in 12 Triple-A games, and with four scoreless appearances his last four games, he’s back in the bigs today.

“Feel good. Felt strong,” he said today of his time with Norfolk. “Coming off the injury and everything, feel back to normal now. Super excited and hopefully I can keep doing what they’ve been doing (out of the bullpen).

“It took a couple of times out on the mound to feel back to normal, but just got my feet wet, started pitching again and feel great,” said Vespi, who has walked five and fanned 17 this year with Norfolk.

He leaves a team with a 26-9 record in the minors to join one that is 24-13 in the majors.

The best news was, yes, the Orioles won a series against a Tampa Bay Rays team that brought a record of 28-7 (.800) into Baltimore on Monday night. The next best news was how they did it: with stunning pitching.

When the O’s began a series in Atlanta Friday, their rotation ERA was 5.65 for the season. But in the six games versus Atlanta and Tampa Bay, the rotation ERA was 2.41, and five times O’s starters allowed two earned runs or fewer.

Right-hander Dean Kremer pitched the first game of the Atlanta series and the last game of the Tampa Bay series and the O’s picked up huge wins in both games. His ERA was 6.67 when he took the mound at Truist Park. It is now 4.97 after he threw six scoreless innings, allowing just four singles in the 2-1 win over the Rays last night.

Just about at the time that some were speculating that his hold on a rotation spot could be shaky, he stepped up with two outstanding performances. He allowed a run in the first inning at Atlanta. Then he put up five scoreless innings after that. And tacked on six more last night.

“Two of the better offensive teams, and right at the right time," manager Brandon Hyde said after last night’s win. "We talked about how well he pitched in Atlanta, and then tonight, even better. He's figuring it out a little bit and learning how to pitch. Got a double play ball when he needed it, used the sinker effectively, he can step on a four-seamer from 96-97 and he does that well. He's got other pitches, as well. That's a tough lineup to navigate through and he did an outstanding job.”

The Orioles offense, while the team has gone 1-1 this weekend in Atlanta, has proven to be a real challenge for one of the best starting rotations in baseball.

Lefty Max Fried took the mound Friday night with a 2-0 record and 0.45 ERA, allowing one run in 20 innings for the season. Right-hander Spencer Strider faced the Orioles last night, entering at 4-0 with a 2.57 ERA.

The Orioles pinned a loss on Fried Friday night but could not quite do it with Strider in last night’s 5-4 loss, a game that turned in Atlanta’s favor on Kevin Pillar’s two-run, pinch-hit homer off Danny Coulombe in the last of the eighth. Pillar, who has a career .704 OPS, is a career .321 hitter with an OPS of .867 against the Orioles. His homer in Saturday's game was his 15^th in 92 games against the club.

But earlier, even while they fanned 10 times against Strider, one of the best strikeout pitchers in the game, the Orioles battled him pretty hard. He was at 95 pitches and out of the game after five innings.

In two games this weekend, Fried and Strider have a combined 5.73 ERA versus the Orioles.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles had not been shut out yet this year and ranked fifth in the majors in runs per game at 5.45 coming into this outing. But their offense, which produced 11 runs last night, did not come through for the Orioles tonight.

O’s right-hander Kyle Gibson had been 4-0 this year and the Orioles were 5-1 in his 2023 starts. But he would need run support to win this one and didn’t get it.

Kansas City snapped a 10-game home losing streak, scoring single runs in the fourth and sixth and adding four in the seventh to beat the Orioles 6-0 in front of 10,362 at Kauffman Stadium. 

The time of game was one hour and 59 minutes. 

The Orioles will win a seventh consecutive series if they win the rubber match here on Thursday afternoon.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles can record another series win – it would be their seventh in a row – should they win one of the last two games in the series at Kansas City, with Game 2 tonight. Winning series openers - and the Orioles are now 10-0 in such games - provides the team a chance to rack up series wins.

While the Orioles club record is nine straight series wins, done by the 1968 edition, the last O’s teams to win seven consecutive series within a season were the clubs in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984 and 1986, per STATS.

Last night also produced another game in which the O’s batters did so much better seeing a pitcher for the second time. This year they have a team OPS of .696 when facing a pitcher for the first time, and it’s now .994 when facing him the second time through after last night.

Kansas City lefty Ryan Yarbrough retired every hitter in order to start Monday’s game, so the O’s went 0-for-9 against him the first time up. They went 5-for-6 with a double, homer and three walks the second time through, batting around in a five-run fourth inning. That OPS for the Orioles leads the American League in batting the second time through, by a big margin, with Toronto second at .823 and Tampa Bay third at .782.

Last night the Orioles scored 10 or more runs for the third time this season and tied their season high with 15 hits.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles today acquired catcher Luis Torrens, a veteran of 264 major league games, from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations. He has not yet reported to the team and manager Brandon Hyde said he wasn’t sure what day that would happen. To make 40-man roster room, reliever Joey Krehbiel was designated for assignment.

Hyde said this afternoon that this move is not about the health of either of his two catchers, confirming that both Adley Rutschman and James McCann are fine physically. However, Triple-A catcher Maverick Handley went on the injured list today with a hand contusion. Mark Kolozsvary was seen here this week and it's assumed that he is the taxi-squad catcher for this series. 

For now, the Orioles may be about to again carry three catchers. Hyde was asked if that was the plan.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Haven’t seen much of him (Torrens),” Hyde said during his pregame media update. “Saw him against Seattle last year. But just know that he is a guy that has hit left-handers well in his career (with a .725 OPS) and done a nice job behind the plate. Besides that, don’t know much about him. Looking forward to getting to know him.

KANSAS CITY – On a night when an O’s former American League East nemesis, lefty Ryan Yarbrough, rolled through the Orioles to retire nine straight in the first three innings, the ability to foresee an O’s rally, much less an offensive explosion, might have been challenging.

But these are the 2023 Orioles, a club that rolled off 19 wins in the first 28 games and one that had produced nine comeback wins in that span. Also, a club that had not lost a series-opening game all year, going 9-0.

That streak stayed alive tonight.

Down 3-0 going to the fourth inning, the Orioles use a pair of Ryan Mountcastle two-run homers and Cedric Mullins’ huge two-run single to storm back and beat Kansas City 11-7 tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

They are now 20-9 overall and 10-0 in series-opening games. The Orioles have won five of six, 12 of 14 and 16 of their past 20 games. They improved to 11-5 in road games.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles have played 16 of their last 19 games against teams with current losing records – going 13-3 in those games – and that stretch will continue tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

The Kansas City Royals (7-22) host the Orioles tonight to start a three-game series. After winning 15 of 19 since April 10 against mostly losing-record clubs, outside of the Red Sox, the Orioles face a struggling K.C. team tonight, one that has lost nine in a row at home. In fact, Kansas City is just 1-12 at home this year. They are going to start beating someone soon, and the Orioles just hope that all starts after they leave town Thursday.

But the Royals have really struggled and have a minus-64 run differential, the third-worst currently in the American League. Baltimore's run differential of plus 25 is fifth-best in the AL.

The Royals have lost four of the last five and 13 of 16 games. They just completed a 3-7 road trip to the Los Angeles Angels, Arizona and Minnesota. They are 1-8 in series play, 0-4 at home.

Kansas City went 65-97 last season and Matt Quatraro was named their new manager on Oct. 30. He was a coach for the last five years for the Tampa Bay Rays.

KANSAS CITY – As the Orioles face the Kansas City Royals tonight to start a three-game series, left fielder Austin Hays is batting leadoff again versus a left-hander.

This will be the ninth time Hays will bat leadoff, and he is batting there for the sixth time in the last 10 games. Former Tampa Bay lefty Ryan Yarbrough (0-3, 6.35 ERA) starts for the Royals. 

Hays' numbers batting leadoff show a .313 batting average and .858 OPS at 10-for-32. They are close to his overall numbers for the year at .312/.900.

“Kind of early in the year and we had trouble with left-handed starters last year. Trying to give us a spark in that way. Tried (Ramón) Urías there in Boston, that didn’t go very well. Think he’s been swinging the bat really well against left-handed pitching, so just rolling with it,” manager Brandon Hyde said of Hays batting No. 1.

He said when he puts a hitter in a spot in the lineup that is different (such as Hays batting at the top), he doesn’t want that hitter to change anything, such as take more pitches or have a different hitting approach.

As the Orioles host Boston tonight in Game 2 of a three-game series, they will send out right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-0, 0.00) to make his third start. Those first two starts came 16 days apart because he was hit by a liner in Texas and went on the injured list between those two.

The second was last Wednesday in Washington. Bradish threw six scoreless innings on five hits and 92 pitches versus the Nationals. So he has pitched 7 2/3 scoreless to begin his year.

A case could be made that Bradish has been the Orioles' best starter since late last July. Going through his last 15 starts, beginning July 29, 2022, Bradish is 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA and the Orioles are 11-4 in those games. He has five quality starts. In 79 innings in that span he has recorded 1.15 WHIP, allowing just a .211 batting average and .597 OPS.

This year, lefty batters are 2-for-16 (.125) against him and right-handers are batting (.308) at 4-for-13.

But Bradish has never recorded a win against an American League East opponent, going 0-7 with a 7.21 ERA and .904 OPS against in 14 games.

For the first time since April 9, the Orioles will face an American League East team tonight. They open a three-game home series versus the Boston Red Sox.

The O’s (14-7) opened the 2023 season at Fenway Park, winning 10-9 before losses by 9-8 and 9-5 scores. They allowed Boston at least nine runs in three consecutive games.

Contrast that with the pitching lately, where the Orioles have allowed just seven runs during a six-game win streak. O’s pitchers have allowed just three runs over their past 54 innings and three runs the last five games, allowing, in order, 0, 0, 1, 1 and 1 against Washington and Detroit.

But Boston (12-11) just took two of three at Milwaukee, and the Red Sox, since beginning this season at 5-8, are 7-3 and have won three of their past four. They are 2-5 versus AL East clubs, going 2-1 against Baltimore but 0-4 against Tampa Bay.

The current AL East standings

At the end of a baseball season, when a team like the Orioles hopes to have enough wins to make the playoffs, victories like Sunday may really seem important. They took a game where they didn’t have a baserunner until the seventh inning and didn’t score until the eighth and they won that game.

Adam Frazier scored the winning run and afterward talked about the importance of turning a potential 1-0 loss into a 2-1 win to sweep the Detroit Tigers.

"Those kinds of wins at the end of the season, they add up," Frazier said Sunday. "That's how you make the playoffs. A lot of good teams can win a series, but to sweep a series is hard to do.”

Frazier pinch-ran for the placed runner at second base to start the bottom of the 10th inning. He advanced to third on a sac bunt and then, with Jorge Mateo batting, scored on a wild pitch thrown by Mason Englert to end the day with the third O’s walk-off win in their past four at home.

“Guy (Eduardo Rodriguez) was throwing a perfect game, so anytime you can steal one like that it means a lot,” Frazier added this afternoon, speaking of the O’s 14^th win. “Those little wins where it looks like you might not win start adding up later in the year.