Orioles DFA Richie Martin

CLEVELAND – The Orioles designated infielder Richie Martin for assignment this afternoon to make room on the 40-man roster for first baseman Jesús Aguilar, whose contract was selected after he signed a minor league deal yesterday and joined the taxi squad.

Left-hander DL Hall was recalled today to give the Orioles 28 players in the new month, which begins with them only two games out of third place and two behind the last wild card spot.

Aguilar is the first Oriole to wear No. 99.

Martin, 27, was selected from the Athletics in the 2018 Rule 5 draft. He appeared in 120 games in 2019 as the primary shortstop, but only 50 between 2021-22 due to injuries and his struggles at the plate, where he hit .212/.261/.311.

At Triple-A Norfolk, Martin was batting .244/.338/.360 with 17 doubles, four triples, one home run, 21 RBIs and 20 stolen base in 24 attempts.

The rise of the Orioles’ infield prospects, with Gunnar Henderson making his major league debut last night and Joey Ortiz joining Jordan Westburg in Norfolk, eventually pushed Martin off the roster. Jorge Mateo earned the shortstop job this season and Ramón Urías has proven capable of starting at multiple positions, which also hurt Martin’s chances of staying in the majors.

Henderson is expected to start at third base again tonight after going 2-for-4 with a home run last night in his major league debut.

Kyle Bradish shut out the Astros on two hits over eight innings in his last start, and he’s on the mound tonight as the Orioles try to win another series on this road trip.

The Orioles have thrown 12 shutouts in 129 games this year after recording 11 shutouts in 384 games from 2019-21.

Last night’s 4-0 win snapped a streak of seven consecutive losses at Progressive Field.

Shane Bieber has a 3.02 ERA and 1.086 WHIP in 24 starts, averaging 1.9 walks, 9.1 strikeouts and 0.7 home runs per nine innings. He’s allowed seven earned runs over 40 1/3 innings in his last six starts.

Bieber is 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 0.542 WHIP in three career starts against the Orioles, with two runs, 11 hits, two walks and 37 strikeouts in 24 innings. He held them to two runs and three hits with 11 strikeouts over seven innings on June 3.