This, that and the other

Grayson Rodriguez had a hunch that he’d be starting Tuesday night. The four scoreless innings to close out his major league debut in Texas. How he remained on the active roster, with option rules prohibiting a call-up unless replacing an injured player. No off-days that might cause him to be skipped.

The T-shirt giveaway in his honor.

So many clues.

The Orioles confirmed Saturday that Rodriguez would face the Athletics in the second game of the series.

“I guess I’m excited, first off, just being able to pitch in Camden Yards, something I’ve dreamed of ever since I was drafted,” Rodriguez said yesterday morning. “I guess it’s going to be another little dream come true for me.”

The Rangers scored twice against Rodriguez in the first inning before he got on a roll, retiring 13 of the last 15 batters. He can’t put pressure on himself to dominate and avoid a second trip down to Triple-A. Just be himself, which the Orioles kept waiting to see in Florida.

“Just trying to go out and get outs,” he said. “Really just go out there, put the team in the best chance to win, and I think everything else will take care of itself. But right now, just going out and focusing on getting outs.”

And doing it Tuesday while the first 10,000 fans 15-and-over receive an orange “Welcome To The Show” T-shirt in Rodriguez’s honor, with “Gas ‘Em Up” written on the back.

“That’s actually really special,” he said. “They told me, I guess, two days ago, so I thought that was pretty cool. My family was texting me about it. They’re loving it.”

Rodriguez already has seen the shirt.

“It’s got the gas can on it, something that I guess started in Double-A,” he said, “so yeah, it’s exciting.”

The veterans may subject Rodriguez to some friendly ribbing, the rookie getting even more attention.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said with a grin. “I can see that. We’ll see if they take it easy on me Tuesday. But I’m excited.”

* John Means remains with the club while on the 60-day injured list. His latest bullpen session Saturday allowed him to clear another rehab hurdle.

“I threw breaking balls for the first time,” he said. “That’s a big step. And I felt good today.

“Going to keep doing that for, I couldn’t tell you how long, but following the schedule. Felt good.”

Means is permitted to throw everything now – fastball, curveball, slider, changeup. All of them out of the holster Saturday.

“It’s definitely kind of the last milestone to get past, and obviously throwing to hitters,” he said, “but as far as getting all the pitches in the repertoire and getting those evened out.”

The Orioles are aiming for a July return for Means.

* Austin Voth surrendered his third home run Saturday in three appearances, with Giancarlo Stanton clearing the left field wall as the reliever’s first batter of the game. The ball traveled 436 feet with an exit velocity of 116.3 mph.

The next six batters were retired, and manager Brandon Hyde said afterward that he was encouraged by the outing.

“We need Austin Voth,” Hyde said. “He was great for us last year, he's got really good stuff, so we've got to get him going."

Voth has allowed five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings but said “the stuff’s there.”

“I feel like I’ve been throwing the ball well. Just been attacking the zone and some things haven’t been going my way a little bit,” he said.

“It’s just one or two pitches I feel like each outing where I miss a spot and I’m paying for it.”

The pitch to Stanton was “center cut,” as Hyde described it.

“First at-bat in the game, but I’ve been pleased with where I’m at,” Voth said. “It’s just, I’m not getting results right now.”

* Backup catcher James McCann needed only two games at High-A Aberdeen to convince the Orioles of his full recovery from a left oblique injury. And also to become impressed with what’s happening down on the farm.

“First and foremost, I think the development that’s going on in this organization is incredible,” he said. “Just from pregame meetings to attack plans to everything, you can see it’s a difference-maker. It’s a huge difference maker for an organization.

“There’s definitely a few guys down there who opened eyes for me. They’re all pretty young and I think there’s a bright future in this organization.”

* Adley Rutschman had four more hits yesterday, including his second home run, and is batting .389 with a 1.032 OPS.

Per STATS, Rutschman began the day with a .571 average on outside pitches, in a minimum 10 plate appearances, that ranked second in the majors behind the Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman (.667).

"He's a hitter first and then the power's secondary, but he's got a ton of power, also," Hyde said after yesterday's game. "He's got great barrel control. You've seen him get a ton of opposite-field hits already this season, and he's got the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, also. He's got really good strike zone discipline, he understands when to be aggressive, he battles with two strikes, takes close pitches and understands how to take an at-bat. Pretty fun to watch a young player in his first full year do what he's doing."

Rutschman's home run yesterday registered 108.3 mph off the bat, the hardest of his young career.

Ryan Mountcastle’s .625 average against inside pitches ranked fourth in the majors yesterday. Austin Hays was batting .600 on middle-middle pitches.

The more you know …