This, that and the other

Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman will learn tonight whether he’s the starting catcher for the American League in the 93^rd All-Star Game, played July 11 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Rutschman and the Rangers’ Jonah Heim are the finalists in phase 2 of voting, which concludes today at noon. The announcement is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The most recent update yesterday showed Heim leading with 52 percent of the votes. The gap narrowed.

Rutschman tried to block the media’s questions this week like a spiked curveball. He fielded three Tuesday afternoon, showing no emotion, and got back to preparing for the game.

The spotlight should be turned on the club, where his teammates can feel it, too. He’d rather not stand alone under it. That’s just the way he’s wired.

“It’s a great honor to be considered. It’s an interesting thing, because our main focus right now is just on the team, on winning, but to be named for something like that is an honor,” he said.

“Being able to play in it would be awesome. Just to have it be in the northwest and all, it’s as home feel as it gets for a big league stadium. It’d be cool to have my grandparents and everyone actually make it up to a game.”

That’s as much “me” as Rutschman could handle.

“We’re focused on what we’ve got going on in the locker room right now more so than anything,” he said with a grin.

Rutschman’s bat cooled this month, which could cost him. He slashed .291/.409/.437 in March/April and .286/.412/.449 in May, and he also combined for 43 walks and 31 strikeouts. He entered last night slashing .210/.289/.333 with nine walks and 17 strikeouts in June.

Rutshman singled twice in five at-bats and is hitting .268/.378/.411 in 76 games, with 11 doubles, 10 home runs, 34 RBIs, 52 walks and 48 steals. He’s 9-for-51 against would-be basestealers, with the Reds swiping five bags last night.

Heim, the former Orioles’ draft pick and minor league catcher, is batting .279/.331/.469 in 71 games, with 17 doubles, 11 home runs, 55 RBIs, 20 walks and 51 strikeouts. He’s thrown out 10 of 38 runners attempting to steal.

* Manager Brandon Hyde approves baseball’s new rules this season, and he’s especially happy that the shift is banned.

Let everyone play on a level field.

“I think it’s a better game,” he said.

“I think the pace is way better. I think the no-shifting is enormous. We’re playing baseball again, and not being able to stack people on one side. I think it’s a way better game for fans, and I think it’s more fun for our players. I kind of wanted that already.”

The three-batter minimum rule for reliever has to grow on Hyde.

“That for me is still a little strange,” he said. “I’m used to it now, but there’s some matchup stuff that you wish you could do that you can’t with that, but I understand why they’re doing it.”

As for future changes, Hyde would like to see the pitch clock adjusted at times.

“I thought it was too quick at first,” he said, “and now I think it’s slowing down.”

Fewer rain delays would speed up the games.

* A weekend series against the Twins is amplified by a couple of wildly popular team promotions.

The Orioles have designated Friday as “Floppy Hat Night” and Saturday as “Hawaiian Shirt Day.” The stands will be packed.

Fans will be as loud as the shirts, which are a huge draw.

“If it went like last year, then I’m going to be really excited about it, because that was a big crowd and loud and energetic,” Hyde said. “I think I said we need to do it every week last year because of the amount of people that were here. So I’m sure the fans are excited.

“I have my floppy hat in my office. You definitely want to get one, so come to the ballpark and watch us play.”

Sunday’s game will be shown exclusively on Peacock beginning at 12:05 p.m.

* A leftover from Tuesday night’s game:

The Orioles used three pinch-hitters in an inning for the first time since Sept. 4, 2020 in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Yankees.

Pat Valaika batted for DJ Stewart against former Orioles closer Zack Britton and grounded out. Ryan Mountcastle hit for Rio Ruiz and walked. Pedro Severino batted for Cedric Mullins and walked to load the bases. They were stranded and the Orioles lost 6-5 in nine innings.

This was back when regulation doubleheader games were seven innings.

Hyde got busy again Tuesday, using Mullins, Ryan O’Hearn and Adam Frazier as pinch-hitters in the seventh. Mullins walked and was caught stealing. O’Hearn grounded out. Frazier was hit by a pitch.

O’Hearn experienced two firsts in his career that night. He got ahead 3-0 in the seventh, tried to check his swing and grounded weakly to short. And he became confused in the ninth after being hit by a pitch with two outs, advancing to second base on defensive indifference, and almost being thrown out after taking a few steps back toward first.

The official ruling was a caught stealing and error on reliever Alexis Díaz, who would have nabbed O’Hearn with an accurate throw to second.

O’Hearn thought that Frazier fouled off a pitch, checked with second base umpire Lance Barksdale and didn’t appear to get a response. Hence, the confusion.