The bullpen, Rodriguez, Sisco, Castillo and Stewart

The Orioles begin the next series of their homestand tonight only 1 ½ games behind the Twins for the second wild card. They keep getting to that point, moving back a game and pushing forward again.

Perhaps they can bust through the wall tonight against the Yankees. They're going to need more cooperation from the teams in front of them.

I roamed the ballpark yesterday after filing my early notes, watching the beginning and ending from the club level. It provided a nice view of Mark Trumbo's walk-off hit in the 12th inning.

An expanded roster can't seem to ease the bullpen issues. Playing beyond regulation isn't helping, of course, but manager Buck Showalter is having to think outside the box. Or the 'pen.

Mychal Givens replaced Chris Tillman in the fifth inning yesterday, his earliest appearance since April 12 in Boston. He struck out two batters in 1 1/3 scoreless innings before passing the baton to Richard Bleier.

Zach Britton worked two innings for the second time in three days. Jimmy Yacabonis earned the win for the second time in three days.

Showalter used Richard Rodríguez in the seventh inning Saturday night with the Orioles down 2-0. Making his major league debut, Rodríguez served up a three-run homer to Josh Donaldson in a 7-2 loss.

"Unfortunately, the other team doesn't always cooperate," Showalter said. "(Saturday) was as perfect as you could get. The bottom of the order and we're behind in the game. He's rested. Not a whole lot of scrutiny to his outing, so to speak. That's about as good as you could hope. That was an ideal situation for Rich.

"It may not work out statistically (Saturday), but I still think he's an interesting guy for me."

Showalter noted how Rodríguez needs to speed up his time to home plate.

"It's funny, guys come up here to the big leagues and they're always slower to the plate from the stretch the first time they pitch," Showalter said. "He was 1.5, 1.6. That's not going to work up here."

Rodríguez apparently was around 1.3 at Triple-A Norfolk.

"That's something that he's going to have to get better at," Showalter said. "We should not be having to make that adjustment at the major league level. That should be done in the minor leagues. There are a lot more guys in the lineup who can steal a base when you're 1.5 to the plate. One-five just won't work. I don't care who's catching.

"Isn't it funny how two-tenths of a second is that big of a deal? He'll correct it. Long arms, long legs, sometimes it's tough. There's enough challenges up here to all of a sudden be making adjustments in their delivery from the stretch. It's not fair for them to wait until they get here."

* Chance Sisco is waiting for his first major league at-bat. He caught the ninth inning Friday night.

"It was awesome," he said. "First one, I was definitely excited for it. It's been a day I've been looking forward to for a long time, so I was absolutely excited for it. It was fun.

"I've just got to keep reminding myself that it's just baseball and have fun with it."

Sisco's turn in the order didn't come up in the bottom of the ninth inning because Showalter put him second after removing Manny Machado, and the fifth spot was due up.

"I didn't know where exactly they were going to slot me," Sisco said, "but I came pretty close to it. I don't know. We'll see when that one comes."

Sisco was paired with Alec Asher, giving him a sense of familiarity. Asher was optioned yesterday to Double-A Bowie.

"He hasn't been there all year, but I do know him and I know the stuff he has, so it definitely made me feel a little bit more comfortable with it," Sisco said. "That wasn't something I had to worry about. I know the pitches he has and I know what he likes to throw, so definitely."

* Catcher Welington Castillo homered twice yesterday, with his leadoff shot in the ninth tying the game. He's batting .300 with a .339 on-base percentage and 18 home runs, one short of his career high set in 2015.

"I was thinking about DHing him (tonight)," Showalter said. "That's why (Bill) Parcells had that great line, going down by the lineman after a 13-, 14-play drive in the cold without a pass, and said, 'That's why we lift all those weights.' That's also why you rest guys and try to prepare for this month, whether it be position players, whether it be relief pitchers, starters, catchers. Because you know this day is coming, and if you don't have your bullets when you get to September, it doesn't matter.

"This guy likes to win and he likes to improve if there's something he needs to improve on. And he respects Caleb (Joseph). It's a good tandem. He understands that guys are doing well and need to play, and it's worked out real well for him. He's getting a good return for the way he's approached this season, and so are we."

* Outfielders Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins garner most of the attention at Bowie, but former first-round pick DJ Stewart is batting .279/.378/.484 with 26 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs, 79 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 125 games at Bowie. He homered twice Saturday night in Richmond.

"I want to tell you who's very quietly had a solid all-around year as anybody is Stewart," Showalter said. "This guy's had a solid year in Double-A in a lot of different fronts."