Young O's to gain some valuable experience in stretch run

A couple of hours before his team was scheduled to open a big series in the Bronx against the New York Yankees, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told us via Zoom interview that his team's demeanor was no different than it had been all year.

The game last night would later get rained out, and now this pivotal four-game series will begin with a doubleheader later today and be played out over three days. Just like last weekend, when the Orioles took three of four in Baltimore.

"I think we're taking this like it's another day," Hyde said earlier Thursday during his pregame interview, this one watched by several New York reporters. "I think the mood in the clubhouse today is no different than it was a month ago. We know what we're up against here playing a really good club. It's going to be a dogfight this weekend and we know that, and I think our guys are up for it."

The Yankees (22-21) are leading the Orioles (20-22) by a game and a half for the No. 8 American League playoff spot. The Orioles snapped a 19-game losing streak to New York in the second game of last Friday's doubleheader. Then they won the series' final three games by a 17-5 score. Did that end the Yankees hex over them for a long time?

The Yankees beat Toronto Wednesday to snap a five-game losing streak. But over longer stretches they have lost eight of 11 and 15 of their past 21 games. The lineup the Orioles posted for last night's game featured nine batters who each sport an OPS of .756 or over. The Yankees lineup featured three such players.

How will New York adjust getting another look so soon at lefty Keegan Akin and right-hander Dean Kremer? It will be fun to find out. Akin is now set to start the second game of today's twinbill, after Alex Cobb rejoins the rotation for today's opener to face Gerrit Cole. The Orioles pinned losses on both Cole and Masahiro Tanaka last weekend. Can they hand both losses in this doubleheader?

The standings could undergo some changes in a short span as these clubs are going to play three games in a 24-hour stretch, pretty much, beginning today at 4:05 p.m. with a game scheduled for 1:05 p.m. tomorrow.

The Orioles are 10-7 on the road and 3-3 against the Yankees, a year after going 2-17.

No matter what we see from the Orioles over the next 18 games, some young players are going to get some valuable experience playing meaningful September games.

"I like that we're playing games that matter late in the year. That's how you improve," Hyde said. "That's how you build character as a team. I think that's what you play for all year, is to play to the end of the season in games that mean a lot. Even though this is a short year and sprint type of season, for our guys to put themselves in position to play a series this weekend that matters, a lot of credit to our players."

Hyde was asked if he's surprised at the poise we've seen out of prospects Ryan Mountcastle, DJ Stewart, Akin and Kremer.

"I don't know if I want to say surprised. It's fun to watch," Hyde said. "Anytime guys come to the big leagues, you don't know what to expect. You hope they get off to good starts and are not overmatched at this level. Especially the teams we are playing against night in and night out. For them to be able to step up right away, we're excited about it. It's impressive."

Hyde had some special praise for outfielder Cedric Mullins yesterday. A player who was demoted to both Triple-A and Double-A in 2019 has taken over center field for the injured Austin Hays. He's batting .296, leads the majors in bunt hits and he's playing very solid defense.

"For him to show the improvement he's made in the past year, that's a great development story," Hyde said. "Shows you the character Cedric has. Think we have a lot of that spreading around, and that's a positive thing we have going right now."

So bring on the weekend series in New York. Time to learn more about some of these young Orioles.

More notes on the Birds:

* In their past eight games, the O's offense has produced 52 runs (6.5 per game) and hit 15 homers. The club batting average is .302 in this stretch. Heading into Thursday's games, the O's offense ranked second in the AL in batting average (.266), third in OBP (.331), third in slugging (.460) and second in OPS (.780).

* Over the last 16 games, the O's team ERA is 3.44. In the last nine games, the rotation ERA is 3.27. Over the previous 14 games, the bullpen ERA is 2.72.

* Hanser Alberto leads the majors with a .429 (21-for-49) batting average in the seventh inning or later. He is batting .373 (28-for-75) in 17 road games.

* Rio Ruiz has gone 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position over his last six games. He hit just .107 (2-for-28) with RISP in his first 20 games and batted .306 (22-for-72) with RISP last season.

* José Iglesias is batting .347 (17-for-49) with two strikes, which is the highest average in the majors among qualifiers. He's batting .490 with runners on base (highest average in the majors among qualifiers) and .433 with RISP.

* Stewart has homered in four straight games for the first time in his career, and has homered in consecutive games one other time in his career. That was Sept. 19 and 21, 2018. He is one of 11 players in the majors this season to homer in at least four straight games.

* The Orioles have the third-youngest roster in the majors right now. The Detroit average age is 26 years, 306 days. Seattle is at 27 years, 113 days, followed by the Orioles at 27 years, 207 days.