During a season when the Orioles have played so many close games – with 30 of 51, or 59 percent, decided by one or two runs – the last three Orioles games were blowouts. All three produced 10-run margins.

Sunday at Boston the Orioles lost 12-2 to the Red Sox, and then Monday night the O's beat the Sox 10-0 at Fenway Park. And last night the Orioles fell behind 8-0 in the third inning and were held to just five hits in a 10-0 loss to Seattle. Yep, back-to-back 10-0 games, so at least the run differential is zero for the two games.

But the Orioles fell to 21-30 with that loss that started a three-game series and eight-game homestand against the Mariners, Guardians and Cubs. The O’s are now 12-12 at home. They had a chance to produce a month of .500 baseball, but instead finished May at 14-16. Their last non-losing-record month was July 2019, when they went 12-12.

The Orioles have been held to two runs or fewer in 24 games this season, and five hits or fewer 12 times.

Baltimore is now 7-9 in series-opening games and 9-25 when their opponent scores first. They are 5-22 when they score three or fewer runs. Over their past 13 games the Orioles have a 7-6 record, and they are 15-16 in 31 games since April 30.

After hitting two balls last night that he felt were pretty squared up and neither resulted in a hit, O’s center fielder Cedric Mullins continues to work to get his stats more in line with his own expectations of himself.

While no one around the Orioles seems concerned about his current stats, they are well off what he posted during a 2021 season that ended with him as the unanimous choice for Most Valuable Oriole and finishing ninth for the American League MVP Award. He posted an .878 OPS and recorded the first 30 home runs/30 stolen bases season in Orioles history.

He set the bar pretty darn high last year.

“That’s on me. That is a good thing,” Mullins said this afternoon in the Orioles clubhouse.

Through 50 games he is batting .236/.296/.365/.662, and he is batting just .169 (11-for-65) with an OPS of .410 his past 16 games.

The Orioles have begun the process of building a bullpen with several flamethrowers for the late innings. Throughout baseball, we see playoff-caliber teams that seem to have one mid-to-high 90s velocity reliever after another to parade to the mound.

And up and down the Baltimore farm, the Orioles are looking to develop some hard throwers that could one day find their way to the majors. Right now, at low Single-A Delmarva, the O's have a young Dominican-born right-hander who has hit 100 mph. But, like his velocity, his walk rate is high too. 

So the process to harness that control and command is now underway at ballparks throughout the Carolina League. 

That Shorebirds roster is loaded with young international talent. That part of the O’s pipeline is starting to show its stuff. But there are also players there that are more long-term projects, like 21-year-old pitcher Alejandro Mendez.

When I ranked the top O’s international prospects in February, Mendez was No. 20 on that list, mostly because he has some of the best arm strength in the club’s international program. He has touched 98 mph this year and hit 99 and even 100 on some pitches in the rookie-level Florida Complex League in 2021.

When the Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 10-0 it was an impressive way to end a five-game series and an eight-game American League East road trip in which they went 4-4 at New York and Boston.

The Orioles are playing better within their division this year, producing this stunning stat: They have already won more series against the AL East in 2022 then they did in all of the 2021 season.

Last year the Orioles went 3-19-2 in series play within the division, and this season they are 4-4, with their win last night providing a series victory over Boston. They are 1-3 in series against the Yankees, 1-1 versus the Rays and 2-0 against the Red Sox. They are 4-9 in games against New York, 2-4 against Tampa Bay and 5-3 versus Boston.

That is a record of 11-16 (.407) versus the AL East after going 20-56 (.263) last season. Winning through the year at their current percentage against the division would produce a final mark this season of 31-45 against AL East teams. Better. Progress.

Right-hander Tyler Wells was so good Monday night, throwing six scoreless innings on two hits and 88 pitches as Boston batters went 2-for-20 against him. Keep in mind the Red Sox came into this game averaging 7.3 runs per game over their previous 19 games and had scored six runs or more in eight of their previous 11 games. They had 10 extra-base hits Sunday and just four hits on Monday night.

Can you build a bullpen and get significant contributions from other teams' castoffs and have that bullpen perform about as well as any in baseball? So far, for the Orioles, that answer is yes.

Over time we will see if this bullpen can keep up its impressive start and how the ‘pen will hold up when having to cover so many innings. But if we gave a 49-game grade, how could they get anything other than an A?

Even in losing 12-2 Sunday, right-hander Cody Sedlock helped preserve the bullpen for tonight by pitching three innings plus in his major league debut. He and Marcos Diplán combined to give up six runs, but no other pitchers were needed on a day when starter Bruce Zimmermann allowed five homers and pitched just four innings.

The O’s ‘pen, in having this big year, has been a real key in the team’s overall improvement and ability to beat good teams and win some close games. The Orioles seem to be slowly getting better at winning those close games as the year goes on.

Through Saturday’s games, the Baltimore 'pen had an ERA of 3.00 to rank second behind Houston at 2.53. And the O’s bullpen compiled a 2.61 ERA in May, also second to the Astros, whose relievers are at 1.94 for the month.

After producing their biggest comeback win since Aug. 14, 2016 on Friday night, the Orioles returned to Fenway Park this morning for long day of baseball. The clubs play the first game of a day-night doubleheader at 12:10 p.m., with the second game set for 6:10 p.m.

The Orioles (19-27) trailed 6-0 after two innings last night and were behind 8-2 when the seventh inning started. But they scored 10 late runs to beat Boston 12-8 in the opener of this five-game, four-day series. 

Jorge Mateo's three-run homer in the seventh pulled them within 8-5, and an inning later they scored three more, two on an Austin Hays' homer, to get even. A four-run ninth put the win over the top. 

In that game at San Francisco in August 2016, the Orioles trailed 7-1 after five and then scored two each in the seventh and eighth and three runs in the ninth for an 8-7 win. That was the last time they won when trailing by six runs at any point in the game.

Entering play last night, the Orioles had lost their last 181 games in which they trailed by at least six runs. Baltimore’s 11 comeback wins this season are tied for the second-most in the American League and fifth-most in the majors, and their comeback last night is the second-largest comeback win in the AL this season, and tied for the third-largest in the big leagues.

The Orioles' high Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds affiliate, at 28-12, has produced one of the best records in minor league baseball this year. There are obvious reasons for that, to include one of the best offenses in the South Atlantic League. The IronBirds score, on average, 5.56 runs per game through Wednesday’s contests.

Then there's a team ERA that ranks third in the league at 3.84 with an unheralded but solid rotation.

And there are more hidden reasons for Aberdeen’s success. Like the club’s tremendous ability to steal bases.

They have stolen a whopping 74 bases this year and have been caught just 13 times for an 85 percent success rate. They rank second in the league in steals, and the “go-go” IronBirds have four players with 11 or more steals and 14 players with at least one stolen base.

In the minor leagues, pitchers can only make a pickoff move toward a base twice per plate appearance. On a third try, the runner will be awarded second base if not picked off. That helps, but manager Roberto Mercado said the club's success in swiping bases comes mainly from talented players employing a good process, not from a rule.

It is time for an Orioles impressive stat alert: They are 5-1 in rubber match games this year, winning five in a row since a loss to Milwaukee early in the year.

They have won those games by scores of 5-0 over the New York Yankees, 9-5 over Boston, 6-1 against Kansas City, 3-2 at St. Louis and 7-6 in 11 innings over the Tampa Bay Rays.

So, five wins in a row by a combined score of 30-14 in series-deciding games. The Orioles (18-26) will try to keep that win streak going tonight at New York. A win would make them 2-2 in four series versus the Yankees, who are 10-2-1 in overall series play in 2022. 

The Orioles beat the Yankees and Gerrit Cole by 6-4 Monday night as Cole allowed a season-high five runs. They lost 7-6 in 11 innings last night, playing their third extra-inning game in five games.

Baltimore is now 4-2 the last six games and 4-1 in extra innings. The O's are 12-12 their past 24 games and 6-15 in road games. The Orioles are 4-8 versus the Yankees (1-7 on the road) and 8-13 in American League East games (1-7 on the road).

The Orioles were behind 2-0 in the early innings and took a 4-2 lead. They were tied at 4-4 but then took a 5-4 lead. And then 6-4. And they won the series opener at Yankee Stadium by that 6-4 score in a strong start to a week-long American League East road trip to New York and Boston.

Ramón Urías hit a go-ahead homer off losing pitcher Gerrit Cole in the top of the sixth inning. It was No. 3 for Urías, who is 6-for-13 his past three games with a double and a homer, and who has hit two homers his last six games.

Trey Mancini went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and leads the Orioles with 15 multi-hit games. Mancini owns a season-long 17-game on-base streak, the fourth-longest active streak in the AL and tied for the eighth-longest active stretch in the major leagues.

In the month of May, Mancini is batting .382/.460/.474 (29-for-76) and ranks among AL leaders in on-base percentage (4th), hits (T-4th), and batting average (6th). For his career, Mancini owns a line of .286/.358/.460 with 40 extra-base hits (20-2Bs, 3B, 19 HRs), 60 runs scored, and 67 RBIs in 122 May games.

Robinson Chirinos has four RBIs his last four games and after producing just one in the previous 18 games.

The Orioles have a rubber match coming up this afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays. The teams have split two games in the series, with the Orioles winning 8-6 in 13 innings Friday night and the Rays winning 6-1 on Saturday night.

The Orioles (16-25) are 4-1 in rubber match games this season, 3-1 at home and 2-0 when the opponent is from the American League East. They have won such games against the Yankees, Red Sox, Royals and Cardinals and lost at home versus Milwaukee.

The O’s have now lost four of six games on the homestand that ends today. Over longer stretches, they have lost seven of nine and eight of their past 11 games. The O’s had scored 17 runs Thursday and Friday in posting back-to-back walk-off wins, but were held to just one run and six hits last night in the second game of the series.

O’s pitching has allowed 32 runs and 10 homers during this homestand, and 18 runs over the past three games. O’s starters have pitched to a 6.40 ERA over the last 11 games. But the Baltimore bullpen, which has a 3.22 ERA of for the year to rank fourth-best in the AL, has pitched to an ERA of 2.05 over the last 17 games.

Catcher Adley Rutschman made his big league debut Saturday as the starting catcher, batting sixth. He finished the night 1-for-3 with a triple, a walk and a strikeout. Rutschman tripled in the seventh inning for his first career hit, becoming the ninth Oriole to triple in his first career hit, and the first since Ryan McKenna on April 11, 2021 against Boston. Rutschman is the first Orioles catcher to do so since Matt Wieters on May 30, 2009 against Detroit.

Adley Rutschman’s first day in the major leagues did not lead to an Orioles win. They lost 6-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays to fall to 2-4 on this homestand and 16-25 on the season.

But one game is not as important as what Rutschman's arrival represents. The rebuild no longer is inching forward but taking a big leap. With more prospects and more such leaps still to come. Between the Orioles and the top of the American League East is a big gap. But the hope across Birdland is that that gap is starting to close, and yesterday was the latest and maybe greatest step forward.

“Somebody that Mike (Elias) took 1/1 and we have high hopes for,” manager Brandon Hyde said before Rutschman’s Saturday night debut. “So much pressure put on him and there is so much anticipation that I want him to relax and play the game like he did in high school. I understand that is not realistic, but I want him to enjoy today with all the hoopla that is going into it. It’s a day he’ll never forget.

“I think the fans are going to embrace how he plays, how hard he plays. His personality. What kind of guy he is and he’s going to be a good player. Whether that is going to showcase tonight or this week, who knows? But he’s going to be a good player for a long time.”

And hopefully this arrival – the first of a few for top Baltimore prospects this year – means the organization will now be more consistently trending up. It may not be a straight line headed for the top, but the Orioles hope they are moving in the right direction now.

After producing the walk-off win Thursday afternoon against the New York Yankees, the Orioles host the Tampa Bay Rays today in the opener of a three-game series and continuation of a seven-game homestand.

After back-to-back one-run losses to New York, the Orioles (15-24) salvaged the series finale Thursday 9-6 on Anthony Santander’s three-run shot. It was his seventh homer of the season and first career walk-off hit.

The game marked the first walk-off home run by an Oriole since Rio Ruiz hit a game-ending longball off Roberto Osuna on Aug. 11, 2019, versus Houston. It was the Baltimore’s third walk-off victory of the season, with all three coming against American League East foes - two against the Yankees and one against the Red Sox.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, Santander, with two doubles a homer in that game, is the third Oriole to record three extra-base hits, including a walk-off home run, in a single game, joining Randy Milligan (2-2B, HR) on June 12, 1990, against Milwaukee and Manny Machado (3 HRs) on Aug. 18, 2017, versus the Los Angeles Angels. And Santander is the first major league player to record such a game since Alex Verdugo (2-2B, HR) did so with the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 22, 2019, versus Colorado.

In the month of May, Trey Mancini has batted .377/.441/.492 (23-for-61) and ranks among AL leaders in OBP (2nd), batting average (4th), and hits (T-5th). For his career, Mancini owns a line of .282/.352/.462 with 40 extra-base hits, 60 runs scored and 65 RBIs in 118 May games. Mancini has hit safely in 14 of 16 games this month, including producing multiple hits in seven of them, and on the season, he leads the team and ranks tied for sixth in the AL with 12 multi-hit games.

For a while we wondered when the Trey Mancini would get some payoff for how hard he was hitting the ball with little to show for it. And this month the hits have started to come for him and his numbers are now getting more in line with what might be expected.

The same has not happened yet for infielder Ramón Urías.

After producing an OPS of .774 in 296 plate appearances last year – which was 12 percent above the American League average – his OPS now is .541. That is 41 percent under the current AL average.

Urías homered on Tuesday versus the Yankees, but then went 0-for-8 in the last two games of that series and is just 3-for-23 over his past seven games. In 32 games this season he is batting .196/.246/.295. Last year his line was .279/.361/.412.

“I’m going through a tough situation and I haven’t been hitting good,” he said this afternoon before the series opener with Tampa Bay. “But I’m staying positive, I’m still working, I’m still coming in every day and thinking that I can hit well that game. I’m just trusting the process and still working hard, and hopefully we are out of that soon.

When the Orioles hosted the Yankees in mid-April they won two of three in the series, allowing six total runs. But first-place New York is playing much better ball this series in Baltimore. With a win this afternoon, the Yankees would complete a four-game sweep of the Orioles.

New York won 6-2 Monday night and has now posted two straight one-run wins, by 5-4 and 3-2 scores.

The Orioles (14-24) have lost six in a row and seven of their past eight games. They fell behind 3-0 in the first inning last night and are 4-20 when their opponent scores first. The Yankees (28-9) are now 19-2 when they score first in the game.

The Orioles are 2-7 and have lost six in a row to the Yankees since that first series at Camden Yards. They are now 9-10 at home, 5-7 in one-run games and 4-11 versus the AL East.

The O’s offense has produced just eight runs on 19 hits in this series. Baltimore batters have scored two runs or less six times in the past eight games. In those eight games, they have scored 15 runs total and have gone 4-for-40 with runners in scoring position.

After a more lackluster loss on Monday by 6-2, the Orioles lost 5-4 to the New York Yankees Tuesday night in a game where they had the winning run on second base against closer Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. They had scored once and were in position to pull off a walk-off victory, but Chapman got Cedric Mullins on a popout to preserve the win.

Tonight the clubs play the third game of this four-game series with right-hander Jordan Lyles (2-3, 4.38 ERA) making his eighth start and facing right-hander Gerrit Cole (3-0, 2.95 ERA).

New York (27-9) has the best record in the majors and leads the American League East by 5 1/2 games over Tampa Bay. New York’s record is three games better than the team with the No. 2 record in the big leagues, which is the Los Angeles Dodgers at 24-12. The Yankees have won eight of nine and 20 of 23 games, going 13-5 in road games and 14-6 within the AL East.

New York's 27-9 start matches the best 36-game start by any team in the majors in the last 38 years, since 1985. They join the 2016 Cubs (Won WS), 2005 White Sox (Won WS), 2001 Mariners (Lost ALDS), 2002 Red Sox (second in AL East) and 1998 Yankees (Won WS). And this matches the third-best 36-game start in the bigs in the last 75 years, trailing only the 1984 Tigers (31-5) and 1977 Dodgers (28-8).

The Orioles (14-23) have lost five in a row and six of seven. They are now 9-9 at home, 8-9 in the past 17 games and 11-15 over 26 games since April 20. They are now 5-6 on the year in both one-run and two-run games. They are 4-10 versus the AL East, going 4-4 at home and 0-6 on the road.

Following a 2-4 road trip during which they won two of three in St. Louis and were swept at Detroit, the Orioles are back at Oriole Park tonight to start a week-long homestand. They host the New York Yankees for four games and then the Tampa Bay Rays will be in town for three over the weekend.

This starts a difficult stretch of two weeks of games within the American League East, with seven this week versus the Yankees and Rays and eight next week at New York and Boston.

The Orioles have played two home AL East series and won them both, over the Yankees and Red Sox. In fact, they are the only team to take a series from New York this year. The O’s have gone 4-8 within the division – they are 4-2 at home and 0-6 on the road.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-1, 4.24 ERA) will make his fourth big league start tonight in the series opener. He is coming off a strong outing at St. Louis on Tuesday. He gave up four hits and two runs over seven innings, with no walks and 11 strikeouts. He threw 90 pitches and got nine swings and misses on 20 swings against his slider.

Bradish has thrown his fastball 51 percent thus far, at an average velocity of 94.7 mph, and uses his slider 31 percent, curveball 10 percent and changeup eight percent. He is getting a 43.2 groundball rate.

With a lineup tonight that is still without Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle and will also be without shortstop Jorge Mateo, at least at the start, the O’s could use another solid game on the mound. They will send out rookie right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-1, 4.24) for his fourth career start.

And he is facing the first-place New York Yankees (25-9), who have the best record in the majors and have won six of seven and 18 of their last 21 games.

This is sure a challenge for a young pitcher facing a team that is tied for the American League lead in homers and OPS and is second in runs scored. A team on a 119-win pace.

For the fourth time in four starts, Robinson Chirinos is catching the youngster. Chirinos has been impressed by Bradish's start, particularly last week in St. Louis, when he allowed two runs over seven innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts.

I asked Chirinos what impressed him the most about Bradish in that outing.

The Orioles produced two outstanding pitching performances to lead the way in wins over the St. Louis Cardinals by 5-3 Tuesday and 3-2 yesterday as they won another series and improved to 14-18. Now their six-game, two-city road trip has moved on to Detroit for tonight’s series opener.

The Orioles and Tigers play the next three days. The Birds have won four of their past five games and six of their last eight, and they are 8-4 over the last 12 games. Since April 20 they are 11-10.

The Orioles are 4-1-1 the last six series.

* Went 2-1 at Los Angeles Angels.
* Went 0-3 at New York Yankees.
* Went 2-1 vs. Boston.
* Went 2-2 vs. Minnesota.
* Went 2-1 vs. Kansas City.
* Went 2-1 at St. Louis.

The Orioles are also now playing better in close games. They are 5-2 in their past seven games that were decided by one or two runs. For the year, they are 5-5 each in both one- and two-run games.

Can we call a pitcher who was released by one organization and spent all of his first six seasons - when he wasn’t hurt - in short-season ball but is now in the majors a late bloomer? Can we call that a run-on sentence?

Probably, but it’s hard to be concise at times about the story of right-hander Félix Bautista, a hard-throwing pitcher from the Dominican Republic who made the Orioles roster for the first time at age 26. The same pitcher was touching 102 mph and getting his first two major league saves during the St. Louis series. The same pitcher who was pitching for high Single-A Aberdeen at this time last year.

An overnight sensation at age 26?

Hardly. It took Bautista a lot of time and hard work to get to the point he could get a four-out save in front of 35,000 on the road against a playoff contender.

He needed to throw 24 pitches Thursday afternoon to close out the game with the help of a sensational catch and inning-ending double play from shortstop Jorge Mateo. But Bautista got it done, throwing nine pitches at 100 mph or more, per Statcast, and throwing 14 at 98 mph or more. His average velocity this year heading into that outing was a robust 97.7 mph. His average velocity in the game Thursday was 100.3.

After a 5-3 win behind Kyle Bradish’s seven-inning, 11-strikeout performance followed by a 10-1 loss last night, the Orioles wrap up their series in St. Louis this afternoon. Right-hander Bryan Baker will start and pitch as an opener in the series finale.

The Orioles are 3-1 in rubber match games, losing against Milwaukee but posting wins against the Yankees, Red Sox and Royals.

Baltimore is 13-18 through 31 games, and has won five of seven and seven of the last 11 games. The Orioles are 10-10 over the past 20 and 6-4 in May. They are 2-3 versus National League teams, going 1-2 against Milwaukee and 1-1 versus St. Louis. The Orioles are 4-11 in road games and 1-3 in road series, winning one in Anaheim versus the Los Angeles Angels.

Baker (1-1, 5.40 ERA) will start today’s game for Baltimore, making his 12th appearance of the season but first as a starter. He has thrown 10 innings, allowing 11 hits and six runs, and recording two walks and 11 strikeouts. He has a 1.300 WHIP with a 1.8 walk rate and 9.9 strikeout rate. He has thrown seven scoreless outings, but his longest outing is 1 2/3 innings and his highest pitch count in any game is 24.

Over his past four games, he has allowed three hits and one run in 2 2/3 innings. Lefty batters hit .231 with an OPS of .692 against him, and right-handed batters are hitting .308/.665.