The Orioles won’t sweep the Blue Jays. The best they can do is claim the series with a win today in Toronto.

Is that good enough with the team down to its last 13 games?

The Guardians also lost yesterday to keep the Orioles three back for the last Wild Card. Ground wasn’t lost but time is running out.

It’s obvious again that the Orioles aren’t shifting full focus to 2027. Not until the math says they’ve got nothing left to play for except pride.

They’ve got to be doing a little bit of peeking. They’re moving on from vice president of player and staff development Matt Blood, which wouldn’t seem to impact the 2026 regular season. How’s that aimed at the last two weeks?

Young talent was pumped into the farm system at the traded deadline, and no one in that haul is debuting this month.

What’s happening in the second half, right in front of us, can be used for next season. A prime example is third base.

The master plan heading into spring training had Jordan Westburg getting bulk work at the hot corner, but it went into a deep freeze. Westburg showed up with a sore right oblique from a month earlier, felt discomfort in his right elbow while throwing in Sarasota and underwent ligament-reconstructive surgery in May after a platelet-rich plasma injection didn’t alleviate the problem.

“You can imagine how frustrating and disappointing it is,” Westburg said back in February.

You also can imagine where this leaves the Orioles. They’re rehabbing Westburg. They can’t count on a full season from him based on his injury history. The best they can do is hope for it.

A fractured right hand caused by an errant pitch sidelined him on July 31, 2024. A freak accident. But he reported to camp the following spring with back soreness, played through an undisclosed upper-body injury in late March/early April, went on the injured list with a left hamstring strain, missed multiple games with a sprained left index finger and after aggravating it, and returned to the IL with a sprained right ankle.

Westburg didn’t get a fresh start in 2026. He never got on the field. He’s been limited to 260 games in three years, including 85 in 2025.

The 2024 All-Star is an important part of this team, capable of giving it quality at-bats anytime he steps to the plate, able to play multiple infield positions, developing into a leader. He’s a grinder. But he’s got to stop getting hurt.

Third base was a trouble spot in the first half, with Coby Mayo batting .193/.264/.395 in 74 games and being inconsistent in the field. Blaze Alexander got hot but had to move around to bring out his full value.

The position is in good hands now. Mayo has tightened his defense and hit .271/.329/.586 in the second half going into yesterday. He was slashing .316/.380/.735 with 16 of his 23 home runs against left-handers, which alone should keep him on the roster next season. He’s off the shuttle and becoming an established major leaguer.

Mayo hit four homers in a span of four days before yesterday, the last three against right-handers. He’s reached base in 16 consecutive games after his single yesterday in the first inning. He was slashing .288/.362/.654 (15-for-52) with a double, six home runs, 13 RBIs and five walks in those first 15, and his .586 slugging percentage since the All-Star break was the highest in the American League in a minimum 100 at-bats.

The Orioles purchased the contract of Christian Encarnacion-Strand from the Reds on April 13 and kept him at Triple-A for three months. He went 0-for-3 with a walk yesterday but is batting .263/.318/.474 with nine doubles, eight homers and 32 RBIs in 47 games. He had three more hits Friday night. And his defense has been an unexpected bonus, shifting from steady to spectacular.

“It’s a huge appreciation in the clubhouse,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “He’s getting a lot of respect in that clubhouse of the competitor he is and how he goes about his business day to day. But with CES it’s, I’m guessing with him and through our conversations, when you get DFA’d by a club when you have success, it’s a pretty big gut-punch to your confidence, and also your athletic ability, you start to question it a little bit. And when you get another opportunity, especially in Triple-A, he did what he had to do, put the work in, and now he gets the opportunity in the big leagues and he’s taken it and run with it.

“Like all these guys with their injuries, especially with CES, he had this opportunity, but also, you have to take advantage of it, and he has. His track record of hitting has always been there, but I think what’s really stood out was his defensive play at third. It’s been an awesome surprise, and he works his tail off, and that’s something that doesn’t happen by accident. Like his ability just to hold down the third base spot. So it’s been a blessing for us to have him, and for him it’s just really cool to see when a player just takes an opportunity that’s in front of him and runs with it.”

MLB Pipeline ranked Encarnacion-Strand as the Reds’ No. 7  prospect in 2023. This isn’t a fluke. He hit .270/.328/.477 with 13 homers in 63 games as a rookie, but appeared in only 65 games over the next two seasons and batted .199 with eight homers.

The Orioles are bringing out the best in him, and he’s under team control, entering arbitration after the season, until free agency in 2030. How could he not be in their plans?

Westburg, Alexander, Mayo and Encarnacion-Strand can co-exist. Mayo and Encarnacion-Strand can play third base and first base, serve as designated hitter or provide a bat off the bench. Alexander can move all over the infield and outfield. Westburg can be used at third, second and shortstop. I doubt that he’d be overwhelmed at first in an emergency.

All four of them are right-handed hitters, along with first baseman Pete Alonso, but Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and catcher Samuel Basallo – who also plays first and can DH – bat from the left side.

The infield might get the least amount of attention in the offseason.

*Ryan Helsley made his first injury rehab appearance last night with Norfolk and retired all three batters faced. He struck out one. He threw 10 pitches, seven for strikes.

His first pitch was a four-seam fastball clocked at 97.1 mph. His second pitch was 98.3 mph.

Félix Bautista also threw an inning in his eighth rehab game and seventh with the Tides. He surrendered a solo home run, walked one and struck out one. His sinker topped at 95.6 mph.

*The Orioles signed Albert Suárez to another minor league contract after he declined an outright assignment and became a free agent. You’ll find him with Norfolk again.

Suárez has been designated for assignment five times.