Updating the Orioles rotation and bullpen (O's lead 6-5)

The Orioles are starting Gabriel Ynoa for Monday night's series opener against the Yankees at Camden Yards, with manager Brandon Hyde able to avoid using him last night while sorting through bullpen options.

Miguel Castro is still sick and unavailable for today's series finale against the Blue Jays. An expanded pitching staff still feels a little short.

Hyde isn't sure how long the Orioles will carry 14 pitchers and two bench players.

"We'll see how today goes and then we'll make a decision after today," he said. "We're hoping Castro is ready at some point soon but he's still not feeling well. So we'll see after today."

Mychal Givens earned the win last night with three strikeouts among five batters faced, tackling the middle of the order again in another high-leverage situation that didn't present a save opportunity.

The first batter in the order is 7-for-15 against Givens with three doubles, a triple and a home run. The No. 3 hitter is 1-for-16, the cleanup hitter is 4-for-18 with three home runs and the No. 5 hitter is 1-for-15.

"I do feel like Mike turns it up against premier hitters," Hyde said. "I feel like he gets a little extra when he's facing (Mike) Trout and (Justin) Upton in Anaheim. I don't know if it's the inning or what it is. I've only known him a few months. But I feel like Mike's our best guy against their best hitters, so whatever role that is, I do feel like he turns it up in those moments a lot of times."

Givens has a 4.98 ERA and 1.292 WHIP in save situations and a 3.63 ERA and 1.075 WHIP in non-saves. He's been used in the seventh only three times this season, including last night when he struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. He's allowed two earned runs in 15 2/3 innings in the eighth and 18 earned runs in 25 1/3 innings in the ninth.

Is he a different pitcher in the seventh and eighth than in the ninth?

"He might be," Hyde said. "This whole time I just wanted our best pitchers against their best hitters. A lot of times it worked out where it was the ninth. So I haven't tried to slot him to be the end-of-the-game person. It's just worked out that way a lot of the tie this year.

"In Anaheim, same thing. Trout was coming up in the ninth inning, so that's when he was going to throw. If Trout was coming up in the eighth inning, Mike was going to throw then. Same thing here. Vlad (Guerrero Jr.) is coming up in the eighth inning, Gurriel's coming up in the eighth inning, so I wanted Mike to pitch that inning.

"I think going forward it's going to be the same sort of thing. When (Aaron) Judge and the big boys come up, Mike's going to probably pitch that inning."

Jimmy Yacabonis can never be sure when he's pitching. He's the opener today but also has entered games in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

His role can change three times in a week.

"I think that Jimmy's done a pretty nice job," Hyde said. "I thought he did a nice job in Oakland when he opened, I thought he did a nice job in Anaheim. Gave up a run, but it was a ball that kind of got through our legs that allowed a run to happen later in the inning. So Jimmy's had some good moments and he's had some not-so-good moments. The not-so-good moments have come out later in the game or middle part of the game. But he's also had some good moments.

"With so many of our guys, consistency is the next step, and be able to command the ball and have similar stuff night in and night out. And Jimmy's one of those guys. Some nights he shows you plus stuff with nice command and nice put away pitches and able to get guys out and there's some nights where the inning kind of blows up on him and he has a tough time recovering.

"The three times he's opened he's done a nice job of limiting damage and getting through an inning or two for us, so I'm hoping he can do that again today."

The role won't influence the results as much as the mechanics.

"What I see with a lot of our guys is just like breakdowns where, I don't know if it's trying too hard, what it is," Hyde said. "Jimmy, as well as a lot of our guys, gets so side to side and underneath the baseball and have a tough time repeating their deliveries, and that's really hard to do in the major leagues. So somewhere along the line they didn't get consistent in being able to repeat a delivery, to be able to drive the ball down or drive the ball up with ride or to be able to repeat a slider in some point in their career. And that's where inconsistency comes from.

"Some nights they can repeat and the stuff's real good and the stuff plays. Miguel Castro is like that. Some night's he's lights out. Other nights he can't repeat and he's underneath the baseball and it's a Frisbee slider and he can't command his heater. That's what's so frustrating for our pitching guys is these guys work on a daily basis on being able to repeat and it looks really good out in the 'pen and I get the reports of how well this guy looks and is able to repeat prior to the game or in his warmups, and then the game comes and sometimes stuff speeds up on them."

Jonathan Villar needs six home runs to mark the eighth time in club history a player has totaled 20 homers and 20 steals in a season. It would be the first 20/20 season for the Orioles since Manny Machado (35/20) in 2015.

Villar would be sixth different player. Brady Anderson did it in 1992, 1996 and 1999.

The Yankees are a bit unsettled with their rotation for the Orioles series. They're listing TBD/Masahiro Tanaka on Monday and Tuesday. Left-hander James Paxton starts Wednesday.

For the Blue Jays
Bo Bichette SS
Cavan Biggio 2B
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. DH
Justin Smoak 1B
Randal Grichuk RF
Teoscar Hernández CF
Brandon Drury 3B
Danny Jansen C

Sean Reid-Foley RHP

Update: The Orioles led 1-0 in the first inning on Jace Peterson's bloop RBI single to left field. He was thrown out going for a double. And the Blue Jays tied the game in the second on Teoscar Hernández's single off Tom Eshelman after a leadoff double by Randal Grichuk.

Update II: Chance Sisco scored on shortstop Bo Bichette's error in the second for a 2-1 lead. Trey Mancini followed with a two-run double.

Update III: Bases-loaded walks to Sisco and Chris Davis in the fifth gave the Orioles a 6-2 lead. Eshelman has allowed two runs in relief of Yacabonis.

Update IV: Bichette and Cavan Biggio hit back-to-back homers off Eshelman to start the seventh and Dillon Tate allowed a run on Grichuk's RBI double to reduce the lead to 6-5.