By at least one measure, the Orioles' Jorge Mateo is among the best shortstops right now in the American League. When it comes to FanGraphs.com Wins Above Replacement (fWAR), he ranks third right now ahead of players like Carlos Correa, Bo Bichette, Amed Rosario and Bobby Witt Jr.

Boston’s Xander Bogaerts leads all AL shortstops in fWAR at 4.2, and next is Corey Seager of Texas at 3.9 and then Mateo at 2.8.

“I think it’s always really good to hear that you are in those types of conversations. That is something I want to be a part of," Mateo said today with the help of team translator Brandon Quinones. "To hear your name come up like that and to hear you are doing a good job and you are up there among the best is something I am really proud of and take a lot of pride in.”

In 44 games since July 1, Mateo is batting .294/.342/.538 (42-for-143) with nine doubles, four triples, six home runs, 27 runs scored, 25 RBIs, nine walks and nine stolen bases. On Sunday night his three-run double in the eighth broke a 2-2 tie with Boston. Last night his RBI single in the seventh extended the O’s lead over the Chicago White Sox to 5-3.

Since the All-Star break, he is batting .317/.355/.574 (32-for-101) with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs, 20 runs scored, 20 RBIs, five walks and six stolen bases in 29 games. And his .929 OPS since the break ranks 11th in the AL.

The latest save for rookie right-hander Félix Bautista was among his greatest saves of this year. He got save No. 9 last night as the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 in the series opener.

This one required heavy lifting and more blazing fastballs.

Bautista needed to get five big outs and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. He threw one fastball 103.1 mph, making him one of eight pitchers in the Statcast era (since 2015) to throw a pitch at least 103.0 mph.

Since the O's traded closer Jorge Lopez to Minnesota, Bautista is 6-for-6 in save chances with an ERA of 1.74 and 15 strikeouts in 10 1/3.

Before Tuesday's game, O’s manager Brandon Hyde said that since that trade, he’s been quite impressed with how the inexperienced Bautista has both done in the closer’s role and how he has handled the ninth inning challenge.

The Orioles have eight games left in August and 41 remaining in the regular season as they host the Chicago White Sox tonight to continue their homestand, which took a detour Sunday night to Williamsport, Pa.

The Orioles (63-58) won that game 5-2 over the Boston Red Sox to win another series. The Orioles are 19-17-4 in series play in 2022. They have lost five of nine games, but over longer stretches have won 12 of 19 and 28 of the last 42 games. They are 35-23 at home.

The Orioles begin play tonight 2.5 games behind for the final American League wild card playoff spot. Minnesota is three games back of that spot, and the White Sox (62-60) are four games behind.

Of the 41 games the O's have left, 26 are against current winning teams and 15 are against teams with losing records. Of the 26 games with the winning clubs, they will play Toronto 10 times, Houston seven times and three each against the White Sox, Guardians and Yankees. Of the games against opponents now under .500, they will play Boston seven times, meet Oakland and Detroit for three games each, and go to Washington for two.

Of those 41 games, they will play 23 at home and 18 on the road. They have 20 games remaining against AL East opponents and actually more (21) outside of the division. Their next 12 games are versus non-AL East opponents.

Coming off an uplifting win Sunday that provided the Orioles a series victory, for their next test tonight they open a series against the Chicago White Sox and face one of the best pitchers in the sport.

Sox righty Dylan Cease (12-5, 2.09 ERA), 26, ranks second in the American League and the major leagues in ERA to Houston’s Justin Verlander at 1.95. Cease ranks first in the AL in strikeouts per nine innings at 12.0, third in opponent average at .200 and 12^th in WHIP at 1.167.

He faced the Orioles June 26 and was the winning pitcher, going seven innings while allowing one run and four hits and notching a season-high 13 strikeouts.

“It’s always exciting to face the best,” O’s center fielder Cedric Mullins said. “If you are able to come out on top it puts a chip on your shoulder for the next guy you face.”

As he's leading off, Mullins will get the first chance to see Cease tonight. And first chance to start a rally.

If the Orioles decide soon to make the call to bring top prospect Gunnar Henderson to the major leagues for the first time, they’ll be getting a player who has impressed both prospects analysts and his own teammates.

Outfielder Kyle Stowers, who got his own call to rejoin the Orioles on Friday, has been a teammate of Henderson much of this year at Triple-A Norfolk.

He provided a ringing endorsement of the talents and more that Henderson would bring to the Orioles.

“He is a special individual,” Stowers said before Sunday’s game in Williamsport, Pa. “Obviously, his athletic ability is impressive. But also, how strong he is. You know he is a special talent. What I’ve been impressed with and I’ve been around him since 2019 is every time there is a gap when I see him, he comes back leaps and bounds better than he was before. The rate at which he has progressed has been incredible.

“The first time I was actually on a team with him in affiliate ball (was this year) but just so impressed with the talent and even more so how he handles things. Even though they are not as frequent, when he would have a tough game, he is the same guy. Consistently getting himself ready and his prep work is the same every day. He is always in good spirits, and I think it is things like that that make me believe the sky is the limit for him. He is just a guy you want to root for. Such a good kid and so mature for his age.”

The Orioles begin an important three-game weekend series with the Boston Red Sox tonight at Oriole Park. The Birds (61-57) lost 3-2 on Thursday to the Chicago Cubs and they begin play tonight 2.5 games behind Toronto and Tampa Bay for the third American League wild card spot.

The Orioles have lost the past two games, scoring just three runs, and they have scored just 10 runs in their past six losses. But they have scored 41 runs in the last six wins as their offense has been hot and cold lately.

The Orioles were held to six hits yesterday and didn't score until the eighth inning, when they got a Ryan Mountcastle RBI single and a sac fly from Anthony Santander.

After this series the O's end a stretch when they will have played 12 of the last 13 games versus AL East opponents. They are 5-4 in this span heading into the Boston series. 

The Orioles are 25-28 for the year against division opponents and are 15-10 at home versus AL East foes. The Orioles are 8-8-1 in series against the division after going just 3-19-2 last year.

For Orioles outfielder Kyle Stowers this almost feels more official this time. He’s been in the big leagues earlier, but this time is added to the 40-man roster and not as a replacement player, his title for the games where he was with the team in Toronto in mid-June.

Stowers, who shared O’s Minor League Player of the Year honors with Adley Rutschman in 2021, may now be in the big leagues for good. He’s batting fifth and starting in right field tonight, and manager Brandon Hyde said he expects to play Stowers a lot.

“I’d say the little stretch was like my debut and this feels more like the call-up. So I’m excited,” Stowers said this afternoon in the Baltimore clubhouse.

“Super excited. I think it’s a really cool place this team is at, pushing for the playoffs. To get the opportunity to be a part of it and chase after something as special as that, I’m stoked for.

“Yeah, special to play at the home field of the team that drafted you. Although it’s not my debut, it’s my debut here and I’m excited.”

The losses feel more damaging now for the Orioles as Birdland gets used to what it's like to follow a team in a pennant race again. The Orioles' last playoff berth was in 2016.

The Orioles did take the first two games in Toronto as they won a series there for the first time since July 5-7, 2019. They had a chance to complete a sweep in Toronto for the first time since April 2005.

But they saw their first 18 batters retired in order yesterday before Cedric Mullins led off the seventh with their first hit. But even as the Orioles lead the American League in team OPS in August at .778, they have scored just four runs in the last three losses. And they lost 6-1 in the series finale at Rogers Centre Wednesday.

The Orioles come home today to begin a seven-game homestand with a one-game makeup contest against the Chicago Cubs from a Camden Yards rainout of June 8. The Orioles are 3-0 versus the Cubs this year, outscoring them 22-6 in those games.

The Cubs are 49-67 overall, but are 14-10 since the All-Star game. They won the last two games of their series in Washington and have won five of seven and eight of their last 12. The Cubs have won four straight series.

After beating the Toronto Blue Jays just five times all last season and not winning one of the six series the teams played, the Orioles matched that win total against Toronto in 2022 last night with 12 more games to play.

The 2021 Birds went 5-14 and 0-5-1 in series versus the Blue Jays. With last night’s 7-3 win at Rogers Centre the current Birds are now 5-2 against Toronto and are 1-0-1 in series. They will have another series win if they take one of the next two games. They are looking for their first series win in Toronto since July 5-7, 2019.

The Orioles have won their last four games versus Toronto by a combined 30-14 score, scoring 10, seven, six and seven runs in those games.

In last night’s win, outfielder Ryan McKenna went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run and an RBI and recorded his first career three-hit game. Six different Orioles drove in runs and Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run homer in the third inning. It was No. 16 this year for Mountcastle, but he had had just one homer in his previous 31 games.

He continues to torment Toronto pitchers. In seven games against the team this year, Mountcastle is batting .464 (13-for-28) with four doubles, five homers and 12 RBIs. In 32 career games versus Jays pitching he is batting .360 (45-for-125) with six doubles, 14 homers and 28 RBIs.

They have exchanged blowout wins and today the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays play the third and deciding game of their three-game series at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles (59-54) and Rays (59-53) have split 18 games with nine wins each. Today’s winner takes the season series, which could be critical later. Head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker for any standings ties that could impact the playoffs.

The Orioles routed the Rays 10-3 on Friday night behind a season-best 19 hits on a night they went 7-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins hit solo homers for Baltimore. And the bottom third of the O’s order – Rougned Odor, Ramón Urías and Jorge Mateo – went a combined 10-for-13 with two doubles, four runs and six RBIs.

Mateo set a career high with five hits, going 5-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs. The team's 19 hits were the most in a game by the O's since June 6, 2021 versus Cleveland (they had 21), the most against the Rays since May 13, 2018 (they had 19), and the most by the Orioles at Tropicana Field since Aug. 10, 1999 (with 20).

Yesterday, Tampa Bay had 11 hits in an 8-2 win over the Orioles. A three-run last of the third versus O's lefty DL Hall gave them a 4-2 lead, and they added some late runs for the final margin. In his big league debut, before being optioned back to the minors, Hall allowed five runs and five hits over 3 2/3 innings on 76 pitches.

It is hard to keep your momentum going in baseball and stay riding a high when your team loses. And after an upbeat Friday and a 10-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Orioles lost big on Saturday by 8-2 at Tropicana Field.

Now these teams meet one more time this weekend and this season, and the weekend series and season series will be determined by today’s result. That is big for the Orioles as head-to-head results will break standings ties at the end of the year.

And should they tie with Tampa Bay for any spot, including any of three wild card playoff berths, today’s game will be the decider after 18 games and nine wins for each side.

If the Orioles and Rays tied for the third wild card spot, for instance, the season series winner would advance while the other team would go home. So yeah, big game today.

Lefty DL Hall had a poor outing in his big league debut, allowing five runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings. After he gave up a run in the last of the first, he struck out the side in the second, getting swings and misses for strikeouts on fastballs at 96 and 97 mph. It was a dominant inning and looked like he was settling in. But, with two outs and a man on first in the Rays third, he allowed three straight run-scoring hits as Tampa Bay opened a 4-2 lead on its way to the win.

Most of the six new pitchers the Orioles acquired in the recent trades of Trey Mancini to Houston and Jorge López to Minnesota have gotten off to good starts for their new organization.

The Orioles added three top 30 prospects.

For Mancini they got right-hander Seth Johnson from Tampa Bay. He underwent Tommy John surgery on Aug. 3, so the Orioles won’t see him for a while, but MLBPipeline.com ranks him as the club's No. 8 prospect. Baseball America has him at No. 10. After Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall, Johnson is now the Orioles' third highest-rated pitcher.

The O’s also added 23-year-old right-hander Chayce McDermott from Houston in that deal. He now ranks as Baltimore’s No. 12 prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com, and No. 17 in Baseball America's estimation. In two games with the Orioles' high Single-A Aberdeen team, he has allowed two runs and three hits in five innings, going 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA with one walk to 10 strikeouts.

In the deal with Minnesota, the O’s added lefty Cade Povich, also pitching at Aberdeen. In his first start for his new organization, he threw six scoreless innings on one hit last Saturday. MLBPipeline.com ranks Povich as the O’s No. 26 prospect, while Baseball America puts him at No. 29.

Longtime Orioles fans could probably cite some special and memorable seasons in team history. Some loved the 1989 Why Not Orioles. Some fondly remember the 2012 club that got the team back in the playoffs after a 14-year absence. No doubt the years 1966, 1970 and 1983 are special. Those, of course, were seasons ending with World Series championships.

I think that years from now when some fans look back, they might fondly discuss this 2022 season. And it probably won’t matter whether this team goes on to make the playoffs or not. This team will have a special place in the hearts of O’s fans for years, I would guess.

Surprise teams and underdogs can be special, and these Orioles qualify as both. After a 110-loss 2021, some fans' expectations were low coming into this year. “Just don’t lose 100 games again,” was one thought. “Just be more competitive,” was another.

But this team started playing competitive ball almost from the first pitch of the year. And the winning started around May 1 and hasn’t stopped. They came up with comeback wins and thrilling walk-off wins. They started to beat good American League East teams. Heck, they were beating good teams inside and outside of the division.

They lost John Means and still won. Recently they traded Trey Mancini and Jorge López and are still winning.

After winning 7-4 over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, the Orioles now have two chances to achieve something they have not since 2019. That is, a win a series against Toronto.

The Orioles (57-52) split a four-game series 2-2 at Toronto in June, but they have not won a series versus the Blue Jays since taking two of three at Toronto July 5-7. 2019. Since then, through the earlier series at Rogers Centre, the Orioles have lost 10 and tied three series against Toronto. So the Blue Jays are 10-0-3 the last 13 series. The Orioles went 12-31 over those 13 series.

But their win last night gives them a 3-2 record over Toronto this season, after going 5-14 versus the Blue Jays in 2021. The Orioles are 21-24 against the American League East, winning five of their last seven, nine of 15 and 13 of their past 23 division games this year.

The Orioles got closer to a playoff spot when Seattle lost to the Yankees Monday. The Birds begin play tonight one game behind Seattle for the third AL wild card, 1.5 games back of Tampa Bay for wild card two and three games back of Toronto, which holds AL wild card one right now.

The Orioles are 50-38 since May 1, a winning percentage of .568. Over a full year that percentage would produce 92 wins.      

When he took the mound at Camden Yards on Friday night in the ninth, right-hander Félix Bautista was trying to hold the Orioles' 1-0 lead over Pittsburgh and pick up his fourth career save. He would get it done and close out the win.

But even though it wasn’t a clean save – he gave up a single and walk with one out – it was a devastating show of power pitching.

Bautista, who ranks among the hardest throwers in the majors, threw 17 fastballs that night, and all 17 were 100.0 mph or more. He threw five pitches 101 mph or more and one that topped at 102 mph. The 17 pitches at 100 or more were the most by an O’s pitcher in a single game in the Statcast era (since 2015). And Bautista became the second reliever in the majors (third occurrence) with that many 100.0+ mph pitches in a game this season, joining Jordan Hicks of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The man they call “The Mountain” has been so big for the Orioles bullpen this season. He pitched at three levels on the O’s farm last year, starting at high Single-A Aberdeen, moving later to Double-A Bowie and ending with Triple-A Norfolk. He has pitched just 28 2/3 career innings on the farm above the high-A level.

And in the minors he struggled with his control, averaging 5.1 walks per nine innings with 10.4 strikeouts. So how did he make such improvement in the bigs to walk just 3.0 per nine with 12.2 strikeouts in 2022? And now he is closing games. That’s amazing.

With 1-0 and 6-3 wins over Pittsburgh this weekend, the Orioles have moved closer to a playoff spot and also are now a win away from a second consecutive three-game sweep. They’ll try to get that this afternoon in the series finale.

The Orioles beat the Bucs 1-0 on a combined six-hitter Friday night as Dean Kremer allowed four hits over 6 1/3 innings on 83 pitches. They held Pittsburgh to six hits again on Saturday in the win. The No. 9 spot in the Orioles batting order, between Brett Phillips and Ryan McKenna, combined for two doubles, a sac bunt and three RBIs.

The Orioles (56-51) have won five in a row, their second-longest streak of the year behind the 10-game win streak right before the All-Star break. That streak took the O’s from nine games under .500 to one game over, and they have continued to build on that.

They begin play today one game out of both the second and third American League wild card spots. Tampa Bay is one percentage point ahead of Seattle for the second wild card spot.

.533 – Tampa Bay (57-50)
.532 – Seattle (58-51)
.523 – Orioles (56-51)

I have mentioned a few times lately that not all days at the ballpark are created equal. Some are more special. We keep getting days like that around Birdland lately, and Saturday was sure one of them.

To have Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson and Eddie Murray at the Yard was pretty awesome, for the fans and the Orioles team too. The ceremony for the 30th anniversary celebration of Oriole Park at Camden Yards was well done, and brought back some nice memories of some wonderful moments over the years.

Then the Orioles' winning streak continued with a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh as 41,086 cheered them on. It was awesome to see Oriole Park rocking like it was Saturday. When I headed home the fans at the Yard were still rocking at the postgame concert.

I was just excited I had recognized a few of the songs. Had set the over/under at two and I went over. Yay for me. But that just capped off a great day and night for the fans of Birdland.

The Hall of Famers, No. 33 and No. 5, spent time talking to the Orioles players before the game. And after that they talked with reporters, and Murray was asked if this current club reminds him of the 1979 team that made Oriole magic a thing.

The Orioles returned home and the winning continued Friday as Dean Kremer, Cionel Pérez and Félix Bautista combined on a six-hit, 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.

For the Orioles (55-51), it was a nice start to a homestand.

Tampa Bay won Friday but Seattle lost, and the Mariners have now dropped into the third American League wild card spot. They lead the Orioles for that by 1 1/2 games. The O's are two games back of Tampa Bay, which holds the second AL wild-card berth. 

The Orioles went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position but the Baltimore pitchers made the one run stand up as they pitched their 10th shutout of the season and second in the last eight games. The 10 shutouts match the total from the full 2019 and 2021 seasons combined, when they had five each.

The Orioles have gone 20-7 the last 27 games. It's their best single-season 27-game stretch since going 20-7 from Aug. 28-Sept. 24, 2014.

It has finally happened. The Double-A Bowie Baysox are rolling. It happened later than we thought but the Baysox are making up for lost time now.

After going 27-42 in the first-half Eastern League race, Bowie has surged into first place in its division in the second half, going 20-8 heading into Thursday’s game. The Baysox have a few scorching hot hitters and a bullpen that has posted a 2.48 ERA in the second half after posting a 4.78 ERA earlier.

Among the hottest hitters is shortstop Joey Ortiz, the club’s fourth-round pick in 2019 from New Mexico State. The Orioles' first three selections in that draft were Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Kyle Stowers, and they took Ortiz as their fifth pick.

He got off to a very slow start this season after undergoing season-ending left shoulder surgery last June. He ended this June batting .206 with a .596 OPS. Then he got on fire for the Baysox in July and produced a batting line of .404/.438/.674 with an OPS of 1.112.

“He had an elite shoulder injury that is difficult to come back from, and I think he has finally found his strength and his groove,” said Matt Blood, the Orioles' director of player development. “And he’s been making little adjustments all along the way. This is the player we saw last year before he got hurt. Probably a combination of getting fully healthy and strong as well as making adjustments to the league and the pitching he’s seen this year. Joey and that Bowie team are playing fantastic.”

Today in the finale of a series and road trip, the Orioles are going for a three-game sweep. They have swept just one three-game series all year, and that was against Texas. They can get their second versus the same team today. In the early stages of their 10-game win streak the Orioles swept three one-run games at home versus the Rangers July 4-6.

After winning by 7-2 and 8-2 scores the last two nights, the Orioles can complete a sweep today in Arlington. The Orioles have one four-game sweep this season, and that was July 7-10 against the Los Angeles Angels, and it too came during the win streak.

The Orioles (53-51) are 3-2 on the two-city road trip that ends today and 24-31 in road games for the season. They are 7-4 the last 11 road games.

As play begins in Major League Baseball today, the Tampa Bay Rays (54-49) hold the third American League wild-card spot by one game over Cleveland (53-50) and by 1 ½ games over the Orioles, with Boston and Chicago two games back. So that is five teams separated by just two games battling for one spot. But Seattle is just one game ahead of Tampa Bay, so you could also reflect that as six teams going for two spots.

Over the last 40 games the Orioles have gone 26-14 since mid-June. In that span, their team ERA is 3.11 and in that span they have allowed two earned runs or fewer 20 times, going 19-1. They have allowed two runs in each of the first two games of this series.