Burnes impresses again while Orioles front office makes bunch of late deadline moves (updated)

As Corbin Burnes walked to the mound tonight to begin his warmups, the Orioles were dismantling their roster at the trade deadline. He didn’t seem to notice.

A game that could determine whether the club stayed in first place or slipped into second became oddly secondary to the news.

As time passed, the importance of the outcome came back into focus. Burnes remains the undisputed ace, notching his 18^th quality start in a 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays before an announced crowd of 21,710 at Camden Yards.

Anthony Santander belted his 31^st home run, a solo shot onto the top of the grounds crew shed in the fifth, Ramón Urías homered and had an RBI single and infield hit while unsure how the next few days will impact his status, and the Orioles improved to 64-44. They remain a half-game ahead of the Yankees.

Burnes was charged with two runs and four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. Cionel Pérez let an inherited runner score in the seventh.

Alejandro Kirk had a sacrifice fly in the fourth, an inning that also included a walk, single and hit-by-pitch. Burnes has 11 wins, one shy of his career high. He's completed six innings in 17 consecutive outings, the longest by an Oriole since Mike Mussina (19) in 1998 and the longest in the majors since Yu Darvish (23) in 2022.

“That’s another Corbin Burnes start right there," said manager Brandon Hyde. "So consistent."

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias already secured Trevor Rogers for the rotation this afternoon and went on a spree, getting outfielder Eloy Jiménez and cash from the White Sox for Triple-A Norfolk left-hander and former Rule 5 pick Trey McGough, outfielder Austin Slater, infielder Livan Soto and cash from the Reds for cash or a player to be named later, and left-handed reliever Gregory Soto from the Phillies for Double-A pitching prospect Seth Johnson and High-A Aberdeen pitcher Moisés Chance.

Left-hander Cole Irvin was designated for assignment, with Norfolk catcher Blake Hunt recalled while James McCann underwent more examines this morning for a fractured nose.

Elias also sent Norfolk outfielder Billy Cook to the Pirates for High-A pitcher Patrick Reilly. Why not? He had a little more time on the clock.

“It’s last second before the game flurry," Hyde said. "Hats off to Mike and his group for working so hard and doing everything they could to improve our club. We all appreciate it. We’re having a little bit of a different look tomorrow or the next couple days. But yeah, excited about our team.”

Santander’s RBI double in the first inning that scored Gunnar Henderson, who reached on a two-out walk, provided an early lead that ignited a crowd that was still catching up on the transactions. It was a fleeting distraction in the press box.

The team announced its final transaction just before Urías hit a leadoff, opposite-field home run in the third. Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman and Henderson singled, Santander bounced into a 1-2-3 double play, and Ryan O’Hearn dumped a single into left field to score two runs and give the Orioles a 4-0 lead.

Urías drove in Cedric Mullins in the fifth.

The Orioles surrendered their No. 5 (Connor Norby) and No. 8 (Johnson) prospects, per MLB Pipeline, on the final deadline day. They didn’t tap into the top four of Jackson Holliday, Samuel Basallo, Coby Mayo and Enrique Bradfield Jr.

They never seemed willing to do it.

“Well, we added a couple right-handed hitters. I feel like that was important to give us some more options against left-handed pitching," Hyde said. "(Gregory) Soto is somebody we’ve seen for a while and pitched back end of games, and it’s a great arm from the left side, so adding another left-handed bullpen arm. And then the two starters that we got, as well. So we’re going to see Rogers here in the next couple days, and Zach (Eflin) threw the ball great for us yesterday.”

Holliday was removed from Norfolk’s lineup tonight before it was posted, per an industry source, and he’s headed to Baltimore. He was in the Tides’ original order, and his removal came before completion of the suspended game.

What’s one more piece of breaking news?

Jiménez is the right-handed bat that replaces Austin Hays, who went to the Phillies on Friday for reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache. But he’s played only eight innings in right field this season, which could make him a platoon designated hitter.

Jiménez and Slater can’t be optioned.

The Orioles have some explaining to do later.

Elias wanted a left-hander for the bullpen, couldn’t get Tanner Scott from the Marlins and nabbed Gregory Soto, who averages 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings this season but also 5.1 walks. He’s also out of options.

Gregory Soto, a two-time All-Star who’s got one more year of arbitration eligibility, can lessen the void created after Danny Coulombe underwent surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow. He’s also amassed 55 saves in six seasons, including 30 with the Tigers in 2022. He gives manager Brandon Hyde another choice at closer.

If Livan Soto sounds familiar, this is the third time that he’s landed with the Orioles. He was optioned tonight. Norfolk needs infielders, too.

The Orioles played a pitcher short tonight with Irvin designated for assignment. Albert Suárez might have made Irvin expendable if he moves to the bullpen for long relief. Gregory Soto gives them three lefties with Pérez and Keegan Akin.

The recreation of the back end of the 2023 Phillies bullpen with Domínguez, Soto and Craig Kimbrel is hard to ignore.

"A lot of times it brings new energy, new faces," Burnes said of deadline trades. "I wouldn’t say it feels foreign, but it’s new teammates that you've got to get used to, new routines that you've got to get used to with the guys. This is probably the most faces I think I’ve ever come across as far as adding at the deadline, so this will be kind of a first for me. But yeah, I mean, if they’re coming here, they’re good players and they’re going to be in the mindset as we are, and that’s to win baseball games."

On the MASN broadcast, Elias said he’s hopeful that the deadline, which he described as "a wild one" that "reshaped our roster," will lead to a deep run in the playoffs.

Teams in first place usually don’t go for makeovers, but the Orioles were hit with major injuries to their rotation and fell into an offensive funk, staying atop the division only because the Yankees played worse.

“We’ve always been a young team that, I feel like we haven’t made that many moves at the trade deadline and this year it’s a little different,” said first baseman Ryan Mountcastele. “But so exciting just trying to get the team a little better.”

Hyde said earlier today that he was “excited” about his new rotation.

“To have the experience he brings and you saw what a pro he was yesterday,” Hyde said. “And with Rogers, an incredible rookie year. I know he’s had some injury stuff, but the last couple months he’s been really good, so hopefully those guys can both help us down the stretch.”

A tweaked lineup again had Cowser in the leadoff spot and he extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by an Orioles' rookie since Mountcastle's 13 in 2021. Cowser singled twice tonight.

“Kind of running with it right now," Hyde said. "Colton’s swinging the bat real well. You hit Gunnar at the top to try to get him up as much as possible. You also like to have guys on base when he’s up as well. I don’t know how long or what we’ll do going forward, but right now both those guys take good at-bats.”

“I'm enjoying it," Cowser said. "It was something that I did in Triple-A and I think it's a pretty good spot for me. I kind of enjoy setting the tables, kind of what me and (co-hitting coach) Ryan Fuller have been talking about.

"I think when I'm really going, I'm able to work counts regardless of the result. Kind of having like a six-pitch at-bat is, I feel like it's really productive at the top spot. Just working counts, working walks, getting on base, that's something that I feel like is a strong suit of my game. I'm able to do that out of all different spots in the lineup, but in the leadoff spot, it can really get the guys going."

Players were busy prepping for the Jays and had to wait until later to analyze the moves.

"I think I’ve seen most of them," Burnes said. "I still have to go on my phone and figure it all out. We were getting ready for the game and we didn’t get a lineup until about 40 minutes before the game today, so I was kind of scrambling to get the game plan and everything kind of last minute, but yeah, I’ll take a minute here in a little bit, sit here and see what we got. I know Mike’s pretty busy today."

"It was definitely a pretty exciting trade deadline it felt like," Cowser said. "There was a lot of things going around the league, but try to keep the blinders on and get ready for the task at hand."

The Orioles surrendered two young hitters in Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers. There's always two sides.

"Those are two of my better friends in this organization," Cowser said. "On one hand I'm upset to see them go, but on the other hand I'm really excited for them to get an opportunity. They're gonna be great big leaguers and they're really good people and really good ballplayers."