Looking back at Friday's win and looking ahead to the draft

The Orioles players and manager Brandon Hyde had been telling reporters that the team had remained upbeat and the attitude in the clubhouse was good during all the recent losing.

Some nights, to be honest, it didn't look like it, such as in recent shutout losses of 13-0 to Houston and 9-0 to Toronto. But, to be fair, when a team is getting blown out, it is hard to look good or to look like their energy level is strong.

But it's easier to see that when, for instance, the team rallies from 5-1 down in the eighth to win 6-5 in 10 innings, as they did against Toronto last night in Buffalo.

They ended a six-game losing streak, won for just the second time in 16 games and snapped a 20-game road losing streak.

"We're partying like we won a wild card game here, and rightfully so. We haven't had much to celebrate lately," Hyde said.

The Orioles had been 1-40 this year when trailing after seven innings.

In the Baltimore eighth, after Cedric Mullins and Freddy Galvis drew walks to start the inning, Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander singled in runs to pull the Orioles within 5-3. Then Austin Hays' two-run double to center tied it. Pat Valaika's eight-pitch, bases-loaded walk put them ahead in the 10th.

"These guys, they've been busting it and it's been really, really hard," said Hyde. "There's no doubt about it. And this is one of 162, but everybody knew that we're losing a ton of games on the road and having a really tough couple months, and for us to win in that kind of fashion, it means a lot to our guys. It's fun to see smiles on their faces again."

Right-hander Matt Harvey, in his longest outing since May 1, gave up three runs over 5 2/3 innings. He came up one out short of his second quality start and he was on the hook for another loss. But the offense rallied and he got a no-decision.

The Orioles had been 1-15 in their past 16 games decided by one or two runs before pulling out this game.

"I just like to see things pay off. Great guys. They show up to play," Hyde said. "They've got great attitudes. So you'd like to see them have some success. From the coaches to the trainers, we're grinding through this right now and this has been very, very hard. To shake hands and hear guys having a good time right now, that's a great feeling."

This afternoon the O's try to build on Friday's win when Keegan Akin (0-3, 6.42 ERA) pitches against Hyun Jin Ryu (6-4, 3.25 ERA) at 3:07 p.m.

Feeling a draft: The 2021 First-Year Player Draft begins two weeks from tomorrow. The 20-round draft starts Sunday night, July 11, and will run for three days. The Orioles, under executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, had four of the first 79 picks in 2019, led by top pick Adley Rutschman. They had four of the first 74 last year and took Heston Kjerstad at No. 2 overall.

This year the Orioles hold the No. 5 pick in the first round, and four of the first 76 selections. They have 11 picks over the first 10 rounds and 21 selections overall in this draft.

Here is where they will make selections, and the listed slot amount for that pick:

Round 1 (No. 5) - $6,180,700
Round 2 (No. 41) - $1,813,500
Competitive Balance Round B (No. 65) - $1,025,100
Round 3 (No. 76) - $818,200
Round 4 (No. 106) - $549,000
Round 5 (No. 137) - $406,000
Round 6 (No. 167) - $304,200
Round 7 (No. 197) - $237,000
Round 8 (No. 227) - $187,700
Round 9 (No. 257) - $159,700
Round 10 (No. 287) - $148,200

Pittsburgh has the first pick in round one, followed by Texas, Detroit, Boston and the Orioles.

The O's total pool amount of $11,829.300 is the fifth-highest among the 30 teams. Teams can exceed their pool amounts. Any club that is between zero and five percent over pays a 75 percent tax on the overage. A club would lose a draft pick for going more than five percent over and no team has ever done that since this system has been in place.

Here is a look at the Baseball America top 500 players for the draft (subscription may be required) and here is a look at the MLBPipeline.com top 250.