The Orioles have enjoyed a range of emotions and results the last two days. First the stunning comeback win in the ninth Sunday at Toronto. And then an 11-0 loss last night in which they were held to just two hits by the last-place Detroit Tigers.

So, the Orioles will try to get back into the win column tonight in the second game of a three-game series and seven-game homestand at the Yard.

The Orioles (76-70) are five games behind Seattle for the final American League wild-card berth and yes, Seattle holds the tiebreaker. The Birds are 5 1/2 games back of Tampa Bay and 6 1/2 behind Toronto.

The Orioles need to finish 6-10 or better to clinch their first winning record since going 89-73 in 2016, when they made the postseason. 

The loss Monday was the O's third in the last four games and ninth in the past 14 games. They went 17-10 in August, their third straight winning month, but are now 8-9 in September.

Fresh off their fourth win this season when trailing after eight innings - they are now 4-61 in such games - the Orioles open a seven-game homestand tonight with the first of three against the Detroit Tigers. Houston will be at Camden Yards for a four-game series beginning Thursday night.

After losing two in Toronto by 6-3 scores, the Orioles went to the top of the ninth yesterday trailing 3-2. But Adley Rutschman’s two-run single with the bases loaded gave them a 4-3 lead, and Jesús Aguilar’s single drove in an important fifth run.

The Orioles won it 5-4 to take the finale of the series and head home at 76-69 with their fifth win in the last 13 games. The Orioles began this day four games behind Seattle for the third American League wild card spot, 5 1/2 behind Tampa Bay for the second and six games behind Toronto for the first one.

As of this writing, the Mariners were leading by seven runs late in their game today against the Angels. 

The Orioles improved to 35-39 on the road and went 5-5 this year at Rogers Centre. They have won nine of their past 14 and 13 of 21 on the road.

It was quite the huddle on an NFL Sunday.

But it was Orioles manager Brandon Hyde leading the huddle this time, with input from pitcher Félix Bautista and catcher Adley Rutschman and some interpreting help from Ramón Urías and Jesús Aguilar.

This was some meeting of the minds. Bautista, trying to protect a 5-3 lead in the last of the ninth Sunday at Rogers Centre, had just given up a booming RBI double to George Springer that almost went out. That made it 5-4.

Now Springer was on second and there was one big out to get. And the Blue Jays had Vlad Guerrero Jr. coming up and Bo Bichette on deck.

Gulp.

Where just a few years ago the Orioles went winless for an entire season at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, the improved 2022 Orioles have tied one four-game series there and won a three-game series.

These are not the 2018 Orioles, who went 0-9 in Toronto and that included losses by 10, six and six runs.

But it didn’t start well for these O’s at Rogers Centre. They didn’t play there until June 13 and then lost the opener of a four-game series by an 11-1 score. It seemed then like same old, same old for the Birds north of the border.

But the next night, Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays homered as the Orioles picked up a big 6-5 win and the following game was a walk-off win for Toronto. But the O’s would split that four-game series when they hammered former Oriole Kevin Gausman for seven runs (five earned) in 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the year.

When the Orioles returned to Rogers Centre last month they won the first two games of that series 7-3 and 4-2 before a loss by 6-1 which kept them from a three-game sweep.

The playoffs begin in several leagues around Minor League Baseball tonight. For the Orioles high Single-A affiliate, the Aberdeen IronBirds, they travel to Brooklyn for Game 1 of a best-of-three league semi-final series in the South Atlantic League.

Aberdeen (78-54) advanced by virtue of winning its division in the first half, going 43-23. Brooklyn (70-62) won the second-half going 40-26. This series winner will play the Rome-Bowling Green winner for the league championship. Aberdeen will host Game 2 with Brooklyn Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at Ripken Stadium and Game 3, if necessary, will be Friday in Aberdeen.

It may not mean much now, but Aberdeen was 13-5 in the regular season against Brooklyn, a New York Mets affiliate.

“I feel confident,” Aberdeen manager Roberto Mercado, in his first season as a pro skipper, said yesterday. “We had a chance to see a bunch of their guys they recently added, and they have some good arms, but we’ll be ready for them. It should be a great series.”

Right-hander Jean Pinto (4-6, 3.83 ERA) gets the opening game start for the IronBirds against right-hander Luis Moreno (8-7, 2.84) for the Cyclones. Pinto’s ERA was 1.13 his last six Aberdeen games.

As the Orioles wrap up a four-game series with Toronto tonight, they need a win to split the series. If they can get it, they move back to within 2 1/2 games of Toronto for the final American League wild card spot. A loss would leave them 4 1/2 games out with 25 games to play.

The Orioles offense broke out for a 9-6 win last night. The Orioles scored five runs in the third inning and three in the eighth as they went 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position. They had gone 1-for-14 with RISP in the Monday doubleheader loss and were batting .119 with RISP (8-for-67) over their previous 11 games before Tuesday night.

Baltimore ended a three-game losing streak. The O’s have won five of eight, eight of 13, 13 of 21 and 21 of their last 34 games.

The Orioles improved to 7-5 against Toronto, a year after going 5-14 versus the Blue Jays. They are now 28-31 on the season in AL East games.

Catcher Adley Rutschman had a two-run double last night and is 6-for-12 this series with four runs and four RBIs. He is 9-for-20 during a five-game hitting streak with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs. He moved into third place on the single-season rookie doubles list for the Orioles with No. 28 last night. He trails only Cal Ripken Jr., who had 32 in 1982, and Eddie Murray's 29 in 1977.

BOWIE, Md. – In his second rehab outing tonight, Orioles top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez allowed one run over two innings, throwing 40 pitches for the Double-A Bowie Baysox against Richmond on a cloudy and drizzly night at Prince George’s Stadium.

Rodriguez used all his pitches, with his fastball topping at 96 mph. He reached 98 in the first inning of his outing last week for High-A Aberdeen.

He rolled through the top of the first, getting the Flying Squirrels, a San Francisco affiliate, 1-2-3 on 11 pitches. His outing began with back-to-back strikeouts on secondary pitches. It looked like the first came via a slider and the second a changeup. A groundout to third completed the three-up-and-out inning.

With one out in the Richmond second, third baseman Casey Schmitt hit a breaking ball that was up in the zone out to left for a double. He advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a Rodriguez wild pitch for a 1-0 Richmond lead. Rodriguez then walked two straight batters, as he had in his second inning last week, and then ended the second on a strikeout as he reached the 40-pitch count for the night.

Lefty Cade Povich replaced him to start the Richmond third as Rodriguez threw five more pitches in the Bowie bullpen.

As the Orioles look to get their first win in the four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays they send right-hander Kyle Bradish (3-5, 5.17 ERA) to the mound. Bradish has thrown back-to-back scoreless starts as he gets ready to face this team tonight.

The Orioles (71-64) fell back to 4 1/2 games out of the final AL wild card spot with a doubleheader loss by scores of 7-3 and 8-4 on Monday. The O's have lost three in a row, giving up seven homers and 20 runs in those games. 

Over longer stretches, they have won seven of 12, nine of 15, 12 of 20, 20 of 33 and 24 of their past 40 games.

The Orioles are now 39-27 at home and are 22-10 at home since June 22. 

They were 6-3 this season against Toronto, now 6-5, after going 5-14 with no series wins in the 2021 season series.

The Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays open a huge three-day, four-game series this afternoon with a straight doubleheader at Camden Yards. Toronto (73-59) is in third-place in the American League East, six games out, and holds the third American League wild card by 2 1/2 games over the Orioles (71-62).

Toronto comes to town off a three-game sweep at Pittsburgh, where they won those games by a combined 12-4 score. Toronto has won five of six, 12 of 17 and 28 of its past 45 games.

The Blue Jays are 35-30 on the road, 27-24 versus AL East teams, 16-14 since Aug. 1 and 23-16 since the All-Star break.

The Orioles went 5-14 last year against Toronto, losing five series and tying one. This year they are 6-3 against the Blue Jays, winning two series and tying one. Baltimore pitching gave up 44 homers and had an 8.49 ERA and 1.750 WHIP over the 19 games of the 2021 season series, but the O’s staff has allowed 12 homers with a 5.01 ERA and 1.430 WHIP this season against the Blue Jays.

As a team last year, Toronto batters hit .313/.383/.582/.965 versus the O’s and averaged 8.05 runs per game. This season they are batting .294/.336/.459/.796 and have given up an average of 5.00 runs per game in the season series.

As the Orioles begin their huge four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon with a doubleheader, they do so with the knowledge that they have played so much better this year against Toronto.

The Orioles went 5-14 versus the Blue Jays last year and their team ERA was 8.49. Toronto scored 153 runs in those 19 games. This season the Orioles are 6-3 versus Toronto, winning two series and splitting another. The team ERA is 5.01, with 45 runs allowed in the nine games.

“We’ve just pitched them better,” the O’s Ryan Mountcastle said in the clubhouse this morning in sizing up the team’s better play this year in the season series. “I think we put up a decent amount of runs last year against them. They have an insane lineup - top three in baseball, probably - and it was just keeping them in the yard, and I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job of that this year."

The Orioles may have to win some higher-scoring games in this series, and have won games this year against Toronto by scores of 6-5, 7-4 and 6-5.

“They have a great offense and we are going to have to just outscore them," Mountcastle said. "Score some runs, and we've got to have some good approaches today, and hopefully we get a couple today."

For O’s bullpen lefty DL Hall, it is nice to be able to touch 98 mph with his fastball as he did in a scoreless eighth inning on Saturday night at Camden Yards. He can and has hit triple digits with the pitch.

But he said Sunday that is not the pitch that has shown the most improvement for him this year.

“I can lean on my changeup a little bit more this year than last year,” said Hall. “Last year it was still a plus-plus pitch for me, but I feel like this year with getting the reps to throw it throughout a full season, I can rely on it a little bit more. And just have a better feel of it.”

Hall got a popup and strikeouts Saturday of Seth Brown, on a changeup and Shea Langeliers on a 98 mph fastball during his 1-2-3 inning on 15 pitches with 10 strikes. He made quick work of the Oakland No. 3-4-5 hitters.

His fastball averaged 97.8 mph and his changeup averaged 86.3 mph and Hall said a separation of anywhere from eight to 12 mph between those pitches is what he shoots for.

After a series-opening 5-2 win Friday night behind that three-run rally in the last of the eighth, the Orioles host Oakland again tonight in the second of a three-game series. A win tonight would give Baltimore another series win with a chance for a Sunday sweep.

The Orioles (70-61) are nine games over .500 for the first time since May 20, 2017. They have won three in a row, five of seven, seven of 10, 10 of 15 and 22 of their last 35 games.

The Orioles are now 38-24 at home (.613) and 1-0 on this 10-game homestand. They will play 16 of the next 21 games at Oriole Park, where they are 21-7 in the last 28 home games.

Best home records in the AL:

.692 - New York Yankees (45-20)
.683 - Houston (43-20)
.652 - Tampa Bay (43-23)
.613 - Orioles (38-24)

This is kind of a special night for the Orioles’ No. 1 rated farm system. For the first time ever, the top three Baltimore draft picks from the 2019 draft – Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Kyle Stowers – will all be in the starting lineup together for the parent club.

The trio were the first three picks by Mike Elias after he took over as the Orioles' executive vice president and general manager in the fall of 2018. The club took Rutschman with the overall No. 1 pick in June 2019, with Henderson at No. 42 and Stowers at No. 71.

At the end of last season, Rutschman and Stowers shared the Brooks Robinson Award as the Orioles' Minor League co-Players of the Year, and Henderson seems highly likely to win the honor this year.

“It’s really special,” Stowers said this afternoon in the O’s clubhouse. “Coming in together, we were the first three picks of the new front office. The coolest part to see is not only how we have grown so much as baseball players, but we all have become so close. It’s like rooting for your best friends. The fact we get to share the field together, be on a team together and chase after something so special as a playoff race, can’t beat it.”

In a clubhouse where the Orioles seem to be such a close-knit team, these three are the same way, but their friendship had origins in Sarasota, Bowie and Norfolk.

As the Orioles look to cut into their deficit in the American League wild-card race, they now get to do so for a long stretch at home. Baltimore beat Oakland 5-2 last night and that was just night one of a 10-game homestand.

It started a stretch where the Orioles will play 17 of their next 22 games at home  and they will be home for 20 of their last 32 games starting Friday.

This should be good news throughout Birdland as the team is 38-24 (.613) with one of the best home records in the league. They are 21-7 in their last 28 home games since June 22.

Tied 2-2 in the eighth last night, the O's pulled out a win on Adley Rutschman's pinch-hit bases loaded walk and a Jorge Mateo two-run single.

The Orioles (70-61) improved to nine games over the .500 mark for the first time since May 20, 2017. After starting April this year going 7-14, the Orioles are 63-47 since May 1.

After completing a 4-2 road trip with series wins at Houston and Cleveland against first-place teams, tonight the Orioles begin a home series with the club with the worst record in the American League. They host Oakland (49-83) for the first of a three-game series and 10-game homestand that later includes four games with Toronto and three with Boston.

The Orioles are 37-24 (.607) at Oriole Park, where they now play the next 10 and 17 of the next 22 games. They have 20 of their remaining 32 games at home. They have the fourth-best home winning percentage in the American League. 

The Orioles (69-61) begin tonight 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the third and final AL wild card spot. They are 3 1/2 games back of the second wild card and four games behind the first wild card berth in the league. The Orioles have won seven of 10, 10 of 15, 22 of 35 and 39 of the last 61 games.

In winning four of six games on the road trip, O’s pitching allowed just nine runs and O’s batters scored just 14. The club has pitched back-to-back shutouts, had three in six games on the trip and has 13 on the year. The Orioles take a 21-inning scoreless streak into this Oakland series. The O’s team ERA on the road trip was 1.56. O’s pitching has allowed just 27 runs the last 11 games, yielding three or fewer in eight of those 11. The Baltimore bullpen threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings the past three days.

O’s starting pitchers have seven quality starts the past eight games, with an ERA of 1.70 in that span. They have allowed two earned runs or fewer nine times the last 10 games, pitching to a 1.83 ERA of in that span. Last night, Kyle Bradish became the first Oriole ever to record consecutive scoreless starts while throwing seven innings or more and allowing two hits or fewer.

To say the least, it’s been a strong first two big league games for baseball’s No. 1 prospect, per Baseball America, Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson.

He’s made solid plays at third base and shortstop as O’s pitching posted back-to-back shutouts at Cleveland. At the plate he is 3-for-8 and hit his first big league homer in his first game and second at-bat.

The Orioles have gone 2-0 with Henderson in their lineup. What’s been the best part for the kid during his first two days in the majors?

“Just going out there to accomplish a dream that has been one of mine for a long time," said Henderson, who is batting eighth tonight against Oakland lefty JP Sears and playing at second base. "And especially to have my family there to experience it as well was really awesome. Couldn’t ask for a better day.”

Tonight he plays his first home game at Camden Yards and gets to hear another Baltimore edition of the national anthem.

Coming off Wednesday’s 4-0 win at Cleveland, the Orioles now have a chance to win this series and end their road trip to Houston and Cleveland with a pair of series wins. They will have a 4-2 road trip if they win the series finale tonight.

The Orioles (68-61) were eight games over .500 once this year, after the second game at Houston, and would be eight over with a victory tonight.

They have won four of six, six of nine and nine of the last 15 games. Over longer stretches, they have won 17 of 27, 21 of 34, 33 of 50 and are 44-26 (.620) since June 11. The Orioles are 47-31 (.603) since June 1 and are 61-47 (.565) since May 1.

They are two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays (70-59) for third place in the American League East. More importantly, they're also two games in back of the Jays for the third AL wild card spot. Toronto is off today and begins a series at Pittsburgh on Friday. On Monday the Orioles and Toronto play a doubleheader at Camden Yards to begin a three-day, four-game series.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish (2-5, 5.63 ERA) will be making his 17^th start in tonight's series finale. On Friday at Houston he pitched what manager Brandon Hyde said was the best game by any O’s starter this year. Over eight innings he blanked the Astros on just two hits with two walks, throwing six strikeouts on 96 pitches.

There can’t be many instances over the years where one organization has called up two prospects during a season and, at the time of the call, both were ranked as Baseball America’s No. 1 prospect. But after Adley Rutschman moved up earlier this season, Gunnar Henderson officially joined the Orioles roster on Wednesday in Cleveland.

That meant that the first three Mike Elias' Orioles draft picks from 2019 - Rutschman (taken No. 1 overall), Henderson (taken No. 42) and Kyle Stowers (No. 71) - were now all on the Baltimore roster.

And what a debut for Henderson in Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Guardians. He hit a 429-foot solo homer to right in the fourth inning and singled in the ninth. He went 2-for-4, driving the homer 107 mph off the bat and the single 101 mph. He even had two loud outs at 91 and 98 mph. So on the night, he produced four of the top 24 exit velocities in that game last night.

When this season began, Henderson told us in Double-A Bowie that he worked hard this spring to improve his plate discipline and swing decisions. He wanted to decrease his swings and misses and make more consistent and better contact on balls at the top of the strike zone. He improved on both counts and had a stunning start with the Baysox, walking more than he struck out. And while those massive numbers he put up at Bowie (1.025 OPS) were harder to produce at Triple-A, he still left the Tides with an .894 OPS.

During an interview in July, with Henderson headed to the All-Star Futures Game, O’s director of player development Matt Blood was asked if Gunnar’s plate discipline gains represented his biggest improvement this year.

ABERDEEN, Md. – Grayson Rodriguez was in good spirits as usual and was his usual friendly and articulate self. Now if he pitches on Thursday as he usually does, he might end his season as it began. Pitching in dominant fashion on a minor league mound.

And that could lead him to end his year on a major league mound.

When he pitches for high Single-A Aberdeen tomorrow, it will mark three months exactly to when we last saw him. He was dominating for Triple-A Norfolk then and closing in on a major league callup.

At the time of his Grade 2 right lat strain June 1, he was 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA and 0.84 WHIP for Norfolk.

“I would say going back and watching tape and reflecting on outings in Norfolk the first two months, I mean that’s, hands down the best I’ve ever thrown a baseball in my life,” Rodriguez told reporters Tuesday at Ripken Stadium. “So really just kind of taking into account what I was doing, how I was pitching to hitters, how I was utilizing certain pitches in certain counts, really just kind of being able to sit there, sit on it (during rehab) and game plan for about two or three months about how to attack hitters coming up.”

Coming off an impressive series win at Houston, the Orioles have moved on to Cleveland, where they will look to keep their momentum going tonight. The Orioles and Guardians will play the opener of a three-game series.

The Orioles are 30-36 on the road this year. But that record looks better when we are reminded that they were 3-10 on the road in April and were 5-14 in early May. Now the Orioles have won two straight road series and three of five, and two of those series were at Toronto and Houston.

The Birds have won four of their past six road games, are 13-9 in the last 22 and are 24-20 on the road since late May. They are 6-6-2 in road series for the year.

The Orioles (67-60) had a three-game win streak snapped Sunday at Minute Maid Park. They have won five of seven, eight of 13, 16 of 25, 20 of 32 and 32 of 48 games. Since June 11, the Orioles are 43-25.

Baltimore got great starting pitching in Houston, where Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer and Austin Voth combined to allow two runs and seven hits over 21 2/3 innings, with five walks to 13 strikeouts. The Astros batted just .104 (7-for-67) against that trio over the weekend. Their combined ERA was 0.83.