O's begin the 30-game sprint to the finish tonight at Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES – As the Orioles get ready to play at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 2016 tonight, we can look back at a week of baseball and realize it’s not very dull around here.

Two walk-off losses at Citi Field against the Mets and two come-from-behind wins with huge bases-loaded hits versus Houston at Camden Yards.

Some big ups and downs in the last seven games as the Orioles went 3-4.

If the O’s can win this series against the club with the current best record in the majors and take two of three from the Dodgers, a 4-3 mark against Houston and L.A. would be quite solid.

And maybe mean the Orioles are getting back on track for the playoff push in the final weeks.

After the Dodgers series, the Orioles next six games will be against Colorado (.371 win percentage) and the Chicago White Sox (.235 win percentage). They also have games remaining with Tampa Bay, Detroit and San Francisco, all three currently at the .500 mark. They have six games with the Tigers and also three in Boston against the Red Sox, who have lost six of eight and 12 of their past 18 games.

The regular season does end on the road at the Yankees and Minnesota, two teams that appear headed for postseason.

In the Dodgers series opener tonight, lefty Cole Irvin (6-5, 4.82) will face right-hander Jack Flaherty (10-5, 3.00 ERA), an Oriole for nine games last season. He was 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA for the Orioles.

This season he has pitched 129 innings with a 1.008 WHIP. In four starts for the Dodgers, he is 3-0 with a 3.22 ERA and 1.254 WHIP with five walks to 29 strikeouts. He has never faced the Orioles in his career.

The Orioles offense produced just 13 runs in the Houston series and their team average is .151 with 16 runs scored the last five games. The O's are scoring 3.7 runs per game their past nine games batting .172 with a .569 OPS.

The Dodgers have surged into the best-record in the majors at 78-53 by winning six of seven, 12 of 16 and 15 of their last 21 games. Los Angeles is 43-23 at home and 5-1 on its current homestand.

The Orioles run into a hot team tonight, one that is 9-3 this year against AL East teams, going 4-0 in those series. Los Angeles went 3-0 versus Boston and 2-1 against New York, Toronto and Tampa Bay. The Dodgers have a 25-13 mark (.658) in games against American League teams. The Orioles are 16-21 (.432) versus NL teams in 2024.

Even with their current slump, the Orioles have outscored the Dodgers for the full year ranking third in the majors with 4.98 runs per game to 4.95 for Los Angeles ranking fourth.

But the Dodgers are a well-rounded team with the No. 6 ERA in the majors at 3.74 and the No. 3 team OPS at .765.

Friday night Shohei Ohtani became a member of the 40-40 club, hitting his 40^th homer and getting his 40^th stolen base in the same game. And, by the way, No. 40 was a walk-off grand slam in the last of the ninth to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3. He had stolen No. 40 in the fourth inning.

For the year, Ohtani is batting .292/.378/.615/.994 with 29 doubles, six triples, 41 homers and 94 RBIs.

Ohtani has been held somewhat in check by the Orioles over 26 career games, batting .233/.347/.515/.862 with eight homers and 14 RBIs. His career OPS is .934. He has three stolen bases but with two caught stealing against the Orioles.

Ohtani is the sixth member of baseball’s 40-40 club, getting there sooner than any player ever had. He achieved the feat in his 126th game of the season, beating the previous mark by 21 games.

No MLB player has ever had a 50-50 season.

The others to produce a 40-40 are the Nationals' Alfonso Soriano in 2006, the Athletics' Jose Canseco in 1988, Ronald Acuña Jr. of the 2023 Atlanta Braves, Alex Rodriguez of the 1998 Seattle Mariners and Barry Bonds of the 1996 Giants.

While the Orioles were off Monday, they lost ground in the division, and they lost another player to injury. Ryan Mountcastle went on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Aug. 23 with a left wrist sprain. That makes 12 Orioles currently on the IL.

The Yankees beat Washington 5-2 Monday and at 78-54, they now lead the Orioles by two games atop the AL East.