In his first season as a major league manager, Craig Albernaz is stuck with a task that can be avoided under better circumstances. It wouldn’t become another item on a crowded plate. He’s got enough going on with injuries, roster changes and the daily grind, but another responsibility is thrown at him.

Albernaz is taking the temperature of the clubhouse.

He’s checking on players, gauging the energy level and the attitudes, seeking confirmation that they’ll keep pushing until perhaps able to reverse the team’s direction.

The season is down to 17 games and the Orioles are five below .500 and three behind for the final Wild Card. The math says there’s still a chance.

“Going back to Colton Cowser’s catch in Colorado, and then all of a sudden you drop six straight and a tough series against Boston, yeah, you want to make sure that your guys are still in the right mindset,” Albernaz said yesterday morning, before a much-needed 6-4 win over the Guardians at Camden Yards

“Even though we lost six straight, there’s still season ahead of us, we’re still in it. We were in the position we were after Colton’s catch, but we’re still in there. So our guys, as best as they can, we have to not look at and flush the last six games and look ahead to this series.

“This is a tough series against a team that’s ahead of us. We know how they play baseball, so for us, we just have to control our game and play our clean brand of baseball.”

They were good enough yesterday, racing out – or walking – to a 6-1 lead before Nathaniel Lowe’s three-run homer off Andrew Kittredge in the ninth. Trevor Rogers retired 16 in a row and finished with only one run allowed in a season-high 7 1/3 innings. Pitcher wins are overrated, but his 10th is a career high as he approaches free agency.

If yesterday felt like a must-win situation, Rogers didn’t get bogged down by it. Never crossed his mind, he said.

“We’ve got to do as good of a job of flushing, learning from it but also flushing the past and focusing on present,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter where we’re at in the season in terms of our preparation and how we go about the game. Our backs are up against the wall, but it feels like it’s been like that for the majority of the year and that’s when we play our best baseball.”

Sustaining it is the challenge.

“You’re going to go through stretches, and some are going to come at bad times,” said Coby Mayo, who homered twice yesterday to give him 21. “We didn’t play good baseball offensively this last week. We did ourselves no favors against Colorado those last two games, and the four games against Boston, it definitely was not up to standard. And I take some of the responsibility because they had three lefties going and I couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it. So you’re just trying to take it day-by-day.

“I think when you can flush a game right after the game’s over at night and go to sleep and be ready to play the next day and do your homework, that’s all you can ask for. If you’re doing stuff the right way to prepare, to play the game, and the results aren’t there, so be it. You did everything you could to get those results.”

There wasn’t much activity in the clubhouse yesterday morning, though the earlier report time offered one explanation. Rogers relaxed at his locker before his starting assignment. Jackson Holliday grabbed his glove and headed outdoors. A few other players came in during the media’s 50-minute access period and stepped on a scale set up in front of Luis Robert Jr.’s vacated area. Ryan Mountcastle was happy to see some familiar faces after spending most of his time rehabbing in Sarasota.

Asked whether he’s noticed any sort of a mood shift, Holliday said, “I mean, yesterday was kind of a tough blow, losing the sixth in a row, getting swept in a four-game series, but you have to turn the page.”

With this team’s injury history, it’s risking a giant paper cut.

“This is kind of an important six-game stretch for us, guys that are ahead of us,” Holliday continued. “Put us in a tough spot to do so, but this is a pretty cool opportunity to go after two teams that are ahead of us and maybe put a dent in some work that we need to do.

“I’d say with this group, vibes are always positive, but yesterday after the game it was definitely a little bit of a blow. But we have a cool opportunity in front of us.”

A sand blaster couldn’t remove the smile from Blaze Alexander’s face, unless maybe there’s a hard slide into second base, but he wasn’t sipping coffee with flames enveloping him.

“It’s make-or-break now,” Alexander said. “I feel like we’ve been saying it for , you know, half a year, but at this point every game really matters, and especially against these guys here. If they come here and take three for us, the odds for us don’t look very good. But we take three from them, we’re still in it. We’ve got Toronto right after them.

“We’ve just got to win today. It should be the only mindset in here. Doesn’t matter how you get it done. You’ve got to have more runs than those guys today.”

They ended up with two more than the Guardians despite going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranding 12.

Asked for his vibe assessment, Alexander noticed that it’s a little different and pointed to a natural inclination for players to begin pressing.

“Everyone wants to be that guy and do it, but we’ve just got to, it sounds crazy but take that breath and just allow your ability to come out,” he said.

“You can’t go up there and try to force things. You’ve just got to let your ability take over and at the end of the day compete as hard as you can and play for your brother, and at the end of the game, hopefully you’re up a run.”

Players scan the room and find comfort and encouragement in the amount of talent around them. They also wonder why it hasn’t clicked.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Holliday said. “Our team is so talented, and I know me personally, I’m pretty sure I can speak for some other guys that aren’t playing to exactly what we should be playing to. Our pitchers have been pretty amazing of late and our offense has kind of struggled, and we need to pick it up for those guys because they’ve been throwing really well.”

“We’ve been saying that since spring training,” Alexander said of the skill level on the club. “It’s just next man up. We made some things happen at the deadline for better or worse, and we’re in a situation now where we control our destiny in a way. We’ve got to go out there and win games. If we win games and take care of business, we should be in there in October.”

Rogers expects to be pitching next month.

His confidence in this team?

“It’s 10 out of 10,” he said.

“The Red Sox are on a heater. They beat us, tip your cap to them. They’re (Guardians) a really good team also, and we beat them today. Check the box on that and get ready for tomorrow and do the same thing.

“I have the absolute faith and trust in this team and control what we can control, play good baseball, and at the end of the year let it be what it is. Give it our all and see what happens.”

Alexander didn’t request a different locker, but the Orioles moved him to catcher Adley Rutschman’s old location against a different wall. They wanted to create more space in Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo’s row.

His friend left him a note.

“Me and Adley when we were injured were playing some video games, playing FIFA, just doing something competitive while we couldn’t play,” Alexander explained. “It was about every day we were playing FIFA and usually he was getting the better of me. We’d have a little round robin tournament, and I played Albert (Suárez), and Pete will jump in, and the one guy I couldn’t beat was Adley.

“I guess he heard my locker switched the first day he came over here and he wrote a note. He’s like, ‘You can take my locker but I’m still your daddy in FIFA.’ It’s just Adley, you know? Obviously a great dude, miss him.”

Alexander could be missing some games this month. His first baby is due to arrive in a few weeks.

Kylee is in Arizona. The Orioles are off Thursday before a six-game road trip to Toronto and New York.

“Just trying to be where my feet are,” Alexander said. “Obviously, things can start getting in my head, getting impatient, but it’s gonna happen when it’s gonna happen. Not really in control of any of that. But I’m just coming to the field every day doing my job. She’s taken care of at home. My family, her family, everyone’s kind of taking care of her.

“I’m just kind of taking care of my business here and being here for the team, and when that happens I’ll be on the first flight out for it. And then I’ll be back with the boys to help make this playoff push.”

One push deserves another.