For the Orioles, Monday had to be a glorious day. After playing 17 games in 17 days – and going 12-5 versus the Rays, Jays, Rays, Braves and Phillies – they got the day off.

A chance, finally to rest and briefly regroup.

But the intensity returns quickly as tonight the Orioles begin a three-game series in the Bronx against the first-place New York Yankees.

The Orioles (47-24) and the Yankees (50-24) are the two top teams currently in the American League. Atop the East, New York holds a lead by 1.5 games.

The clubs have been eyeing each other all year. New York has gone 30-11 since they lost three of four at Camden Yards in a series that ended May 2. The next day they began the 30-11 run but could not shake a Baltimore team that has gone 27-13 in that time.

The Orioles continue to hold their own and most of the time do better than that against other winning clubs. Will this bode well for the rest of the year? Will it mean something come October?

Again, great questions. October is a whole other story, and we'll get there when we get there. But the way the O's play against quality opponents has to bode well for where they will be after 162 games have been played.

Against teams that are over .500 as of the end of their game Sunday, the Orioles record is now 22-9 (.710) and they are 9-1 in series. They have won series against the Yankees, Minnesota, Seattle, Philadelphia and Atlanta losing to Milwaukee. They have won two series each against Boston and Kansas City.

Those numbers could change as Boston was one game over (36-35) going into its Sunday night baseball game. Also St. Louis, which went 3-0 versus the Orioles, was 35-35 as of last night.

But the O's are doing quite well and against current division leaders they are 8-5, going 3-1 versus the Yankees, 2-1 against Seattle and Philly and 1-2 against Milwaukee. 

After the 2021 season, right-handers Corbin Burnes and Zack Wheeler finished first and second in a very close race to decide the National League Cy Young Award. Burnes won it with 151 points to 141 with Wheeler, as both pitchers got 12 first-place votes.

Today the same two pitchers match up as the Orioles and Phillies play the third and deciding game in this series.

Burnes (7-2, 2.08 ERA) is making his 15th start and Wheeler (8-3, 2.16 ERA) his 15th. Burnes is tied for fourth in the major leagues in ERA and Wheeler is sixth. Wheeler is fourth in WHIP at 0.935 and Burnes is tied for 13th at 1.004. In opponent OPS, Wheeler is fourth at .537 and Burnes is seventh at .562.

Both have pitched well just about all year, stepping up even a bit more in recent starts.

Burnes has allowed one earned run or less five times his past six starts, going 4-0 with a 1.15 ERA and .547 OPS against. He has thrown nine straight quality starts since April 28 and is 4-2 with a 1.73 ERA in that span. Burnes has 11 quality starts this year and has allowed two earned runs or less 11 times, giving up a season high three earned runs three times.

As the Orioles waited to get the latest results for right-hander Kyle Bradish on Saturday, players in the clubhouse expressed support for a friend and teammate that returned to the injured list.

Birdland is hoping for the best result and a quick return for Bradish, who has gone 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA over eight starts.

“What Kyle Bradish did, battling through everything and it’s been a tough road this year for him, to give this team what he has, just the definition of a warrior,"said first baseman/DH Ryan O’Hearn. "Knowing that your elbow hurts, just what Kyle has done has been unbelievably impressive.

“My heart breaks for John Means and Tyler Wells, too. I can’t imagine being a pitcher and having your entire career rely on your arm. That’s a hard thing."

There is a human element here as the Orioles care about their teammates and don’t want to see them go through a tough time. But then game time comes.

The Orioles' six-game stretch against the teams with the best records in the National League and American League continues under sunny skies this afternoon in downtown Baltimore. The Orioles (45-24) host Philadelphia (47-22) in the second of a three-game series at Oriole Park. They face the Yankees next week in the Bronx starting Tuesday night.

Last night's game featured a sellout crowd of 43,987 and a playoff atmosphere. A close game throughout that had a unique ending with a rain delay of one hour and 11 minutes before the 11th inning. When play resumed, Alec Bohm's two-run double off Jacob Webb gave the Phillies a 5-3 lead and win as the Orioles could not answer in the last of the 11th.

Baltimore came back three times to tie this game. Down 1-0 in the last of the third, Adley Rutschman's RBI double made it 1-1. Down 2-1 in the eighth, Anthony Santander's 15th home run tied it. Down 3-2 in the 10th, Cedric Mullins scored on a wild pitch and got his left hand in around the tag on a great slide to even the score 3-3. 

But the Orioles went 1-for-13 in the game with runners in scoring position and are 3-for-30 the last three games with RISP.

After an 8-1 win over Boston Friday night, the Yankees (50-22, .694) lead the Orioles by 3.5 games atop the AL East.

As the Orioles began an important six-game stretch last night against the Phillies, the club with the best record in the National League and then the New York Yankees, the club with the best-record in the American League, it seems like a pretty important stretch of baseball.

How much will it say about how the Orioles will do the rest of this year? How much will it say about their chances to win this October?

Good questions that may not have answers right now. Success in this stretch doesn’t guarantee anything. But to see their team play well against two of MLB’s best will certainly make Birdland feel good.

How a good team stacks up against other good teams can be very important. Not just in the standings but for confidence. It can show a team that believes it can contend in October that they very well might be right.

So far this year the O’s have stacked up very well against good teams, a loss last night notwithstanding.

It's going to be an exciting weekend of baseball in Baltimore. Big crowds - sellout crowds expected for at least two of the three games between the Orioles (45-23) and the Philadelphia Phillies (46-22). It is the start of a six-game stretch featuring three each with the Phillies and Yankees with an off-day on Monday.

While Baltimore and Philadelphia are separated by just one game, the Phillies lead the National League East by nine games over the Atlanta Braves. The Orioles are in second in the American League East, and are 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

New York (49-22, .690) has the best record in the majors with Philadelphia second (.676), the Orioles third (.662) and Cleveland fourth (.652).

The Orioles lost the series finale to Atlanta 6-3 on Thursday. But they have won six of the last seven, 11 of 15 and 16 of their past 21 games. They are 23-12 at home and their pitching recently allowed just nine runs during a six-game win streak.

A stat sheet can show us some key reasons that the Orioles, Yankees and Phillies are three of baseball's best to this point.

For Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, an emerging talent in the O’s rotation, the process to get better is ongoing.

Recently Rodriguez, 24, may have made some nice gains right in front of our eyes. When he allowed seven hits and one earned run in 6 2/3 innings on June 3 at Toronto, manager Brandon Hyde was raving about his outing. He liked the results yes, but he most liked how Rodriguez got the results.

He needed just 86 pitches in that outing to get 20 outs. He was pitch efficient, something that allowed him to go deep into that game and something if he can repeat, that could help him throw more innings over the full season.

Rodriguez pinpointed pitch efficiency as an area where he needed to make gains coming into this year. He has.

Last season he averaged 17.2 pitches per inning and that is now down to 15.9. If he had enough innings to qualify for league leaders, he would be 16^th in the American League stats in fewest pitches per inning. His teammate Corbin Burnes is 10^th at 15.3 per inning. A nice role model for Rodriguez in a lot of different ways.

The Orioles have five series sweeps this year, three of three games and two sweeps of four-game series. They look to add their latest sweep today.

After 4-0 and 4-2 wins over Atlanta (35-30), the Orioles (45-22) can sweep this series this afternoon at Oriole Park.

With last night's win the Orioles are 26-27 all-time versus the Braves in interleague play since 1997. 

Atlanta has lost five in a row and 12 of its past 18 games. Since starting the year at 26-13, the Braves are 9-17.

Atlanta now has what is for them a very rare five-game losing streak. In fact, the Braves have lost five straight games in a single season for the first time since losing six in a row from Sept. 25-30, 2017. The 934-game streak without dropping five straight games was the second-longest of its kind in major league history, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Orioles bullpen has to try to do it again. Continue with the next man up philosophy even as they lose another key member. Lefty Danny Coulombe with a 2.42 ERA in 29 games, went on the 15-day injured list before Tuesday’s game with left elbow inflammation.

The bullpen has been pitching all year without 2023 closer Félix Bautista, an All-Star and went through a stretch earlier this year when others, like current closer Craig Kimbrel, struggled.

The beat goes on and the recording of outs must go on.

It’s a Baltimore bullpen that began play last night with a 3.24 ERA that ranked third-best in the American League and fourth in the majors.

A bullpen that hit a speed bump in the eighth last night when Atlanta's Matt Olson hit a two-run shot off Keegan Akin. It tied the game 2-2 and ended the O's 23-innings scoreless run on the mound. But when Colton Cowser hit a two-run shot in the home eighth they had the lead again. The O's 4-2 win was their season-high sixth in a row.

From May 23-27, the Orioles won five games in a row, taking four straight at Chicago against the White Sox and the next game in the next series. Now they have matched their season-long win streak by winning five in a row again. They swept four at Tampa Bay and took the homestand opener last night against Atlanta.

Tonight, they look for a season-high six straight wins in the second of a three-game series with the Braves.

The Orioles (44-22) have the second-best record in the American League, playing .667 ball. They trail first-place New York (48-21) in the American League East by 2 1/2 games. The Yankees beat the Royals 10-1 last night, have won 11 of their past 13 and are 22-6 since May 11. The O's are 19-10 since that same date. 

The Orioles keep mostly winning to keep pace with the Yankees, with the teams having a three-game series looming beginning next Tuesday in New York. 

Right-hander Albert Suárez and four relievers teamed on the four-hit shutout Tuesday night, the Birds' sixth shutout of the year and second in their past four games. Their 33 shutouts since the start of the 2022 season rank as second-most in the AL in that span and are tied for fourth-most in the majors behind the Dodgers (36), Padres (35) and Mariners (34). In five seasons from 2017-2021, the O's tossed 28 shutouts, fourth-fewest in the big leagues.

When O’s rookie lefty Cade Povich makes his second big league start tonight facing Atlanta, his mound opponent will be a friend and former college teammate.

Right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach was a two-way player at the University of Nebraska. He and Povich were on the team together there in 2020 and 2021. Schwellenbach was both a starting shortstop playing behind Povich and also closed out some of his wins too as a late-inning reliever.

During the 2021 season, when Povich was 6-1 with a 3.11 ERA for the Cornhuskers, Schwellenbach hit .284 with a .862 OPS in 48 games at short. On the mound he went 3-1 with an ERA of 0.57 and recorded 10 saves.

In the 2021 MLB Draft, Atlanta selected Schwellenbach in round two, No. 59 overall. Minnesota selected Povich in round three, No. 98 overall.

Tonight, the two former Cornhuskers face each other on the mound at Camden Yards.

After an eight-game road trip – ending with a four-game sweep in St. Petersburg against Tampa Bay and a 6-2 record – the Orioles' next homestand begins tonight. 

It will be a challenging one as they face Atlanta (35-28) and Philadelphia (45-20)- the clubs with the fourth-best and best records in the National League.

This year the Orioles are 8-9 versus National League teams, going 2-3-1 in those series. In order, they went 1-2 at Pittsburgh and then 2-1 at home against Milwaukee. They were 3-0 at Cincinnati and 1-1 at Washington. They were 2-1 in Baltimore against Arizona and 0-3 at St. Louis.

The Orioles improved to 6-1 this season against Tampa Bay with their four-game sweep, their first-ever four-game road sweep of the Rays. Baltimore won those games by a combined 25-7 score. The O's produced 42 hits, including eight doubles, four triples and nine home runs. In their past 10 games they have hit 25 homers, including hitting two or more eight times. They are 30-4 in 2024 when hitting two or more home runs.

With their earlier four-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox, the Orioles have two four-game sweeps in one season for the first time since 1987. The Tampa Bay sweep was their fifth this season of three games or more.

When this baseball season began, Buck Britton, the third-year manager of the Orioles’ Triple-A Norfolk Tides team, was 37. He turned age 38 on May 16, just six days after he recorded his 400^th win as a minor league manager.

The Orioles have the No. 1 ranked farm system in the majors and many people have had a hand in that. But to hear some players with the Orioles now that have played for Britton, he is a very big reason why.

His last season as a Triple-A player was in 2016, so he’s young enough to relate to current players, experienced enough to have seen a lot in a seven-season minor league career and savvy enough to know what he doesn’t know or had lesser knowledge of at one time. He brought himself up to speed with the data and analytics in the game and when you put it all together, Britton, as the Birds' Triple-A skipper, has a lot to offer the talented youngsters he works with daily.

“He’s a great manager,” said outfielder Kyle Stowers. “He has a good gauge of what is going on in the clubhouse and what guys need. How to get guys ready to go. He is willing to work with guys. I see him all the time getting in work with the infielders.

“His door is always open for anyone that needs to talk with him. I’ve spent quite some time with him now and really enjoy playing for him.”

The surging Orioles can complete a four-game sweep of the Rays tonight at Tropicana Field. If they get the sweep, it will be their fifth sweep of the year of at least three games. They are also looking for their second four-game sweep in the last five series.

The Orioles (42-22) begin play tonight 2.5 games back of the Yankees (46-21). New York begins a seven-game road trip tonight with the start of a four-game series at Kansas City.

The Orioles have wins by 6-3, 5-0 and 9-2 this series, outscoring Tampa Bay 20-5. The team has won three in a row, eight of 11 and 13 of its past 17 games.

They previously had three games sweeps at Boston April 9-11, versus Minnesota April 15-17 and at Cincinnati May 3-5. They took four in a row in Chicago against the White Sox from May 23-26.

The Orioles are 20-10 in road games. With a series victory secured this series, they are now 14-4-3 in series play for the season and are 6-2-2 in road series.

The Orioles began play Sunday leading the majors in runs per game at 5.11 and they also led the majors in team slugging at .448 and in home runs with 100 even.

Then they went out and showed off that offense again in their latest win by 9-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was the first game in team history, which dates of course to 1954, where they produced three triples and a grand slam.

Against a team and organization where they once had a 2-27 run, the Orioles tonight can sweep their first-ever four-game series at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles (42-22) are 5-1 this year versus the Rays and 13-6 since the beginning of last year. They have won 13 of the past 18 meetings between the teams and are 22-13 the last 35 games against Tampa Bay. The Rays last series win against the Orioles came at home in August of 2022.

When the Orioles just played in Toronto, they won the first two games of a four-game series, but lost the third and fourth games at Rogers Centre. With that memory, the O's take the field in St. Petersburg today against the Rays after wins in the first two games of another series.

The Orioles have now gone 21 straight series versus American League East teams without losing one. They have won 14 and tied six in this span. This series will end no worse than a tie, but one more victory and the O's will win another AL East series.

At 15-6 (.714), the Orioles are the only team in the division with a winning record against the division. The Yankees are 8-8, the Blue Jays are 9-10, the Red Sox are 5-8 and the Rays are 10-15.

This year, the Birds are 3-3 against Toronto, 4-1 versus Tampa Bay, 5-1 against Boston and 3-1 against New York.

The Orioles have won seven of their last 10 games, eight of 12, and 12 of 16. At 41-22 (.651), the Birds are tied with the Guardians for the third-best record in the major leagues behind the Yankees (.682, 45-21) and Phillies (.703, 45-19). Since the start of 2023, Baltimore is 142-83 (.631), the best winning percentage and most wins in the majors.

From the 2017 through the 2022 seasons, the Orioles had just one player represent them at the All-Star Game. There was no game in 2020.

But last year, the club broke through in getting four players on the American League team in outfielder Austin Hays, catcher Adley Rutschman and relievers Félix Baustista and Yennier Cano.

The club could get four again, maybe even more. They should have three near-locks in Gunnar Henderson, Rutschman and pitcher Corbin Burnes to make the team, whether they get voted in or added later.

All-Star voting began Wednesday and phase one of the balloting runs through June 27. Click here to vote.

During the Toronto series, manager Brandon Hyde was asked if there is one player in particular he wants to push to make the game this summer, which will be played July 16 in Arlington, Texas.

After a satisfying win in the series-opener on Friday night - they hit well with three more homers and pitched well, allowing just two earned runs - the Orioles look for another win this afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the latest solid outing for Baltimore pitchers, lefty Cole Irvin allowed two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings on 85 pitches. He is now 6-2 with a 2.87 ERA. Irvin now has enough innings to qualify for the American League leaders, and he ranks 10th in the AL in ERA while teammate Corbin Burnes is fifth at 2.26.

To qualify, a pitcher needs one inning per team game, so with the O's having played 62 games, Irvin just makes it today with 62 2/3.

The Orioles' team ERA is now 3.27, second-best in the American League and fourth-best in the majors.

The O's are really on a pitching roll over the past 35 games, with a team ERA of 2.80 that is third in the majors in that span behind the Yankees (2.51) and Phillies (2.55). The O's are 23-12 in this stretch of games.

It was the starting pitching performance that had manager Brandon Hyde raving about his right-hander after the game in Toronto and even more the next day.

It was the work on Monday night of Grayson Rodriguez against the Blue Jays. And not because he blew hitters away or piled up strikeouts, or put up a scoreless outing, but because he got outs quickly. He was both good and very pitch-efficient.

Rodriguez went 6 2/3 innings at Rogers Centre, allowing seven hits and one earned run, a very solid outing with no walks and four strikeouts on 86 pitches. He was pitch-efficient especially early on that game, throwing 10 pitches in the first, 13 in the second and 13 more in the third inning to get his day started, needing just 36 pitches through three.

The skipper was a big fan of that outing.

“For me, he has taken enormous strides forward," Hyde said of Rodriguez. "Just from his fastball command, understanding how to pitch. You know the early, weak contact was just fantastic. He pitched with his fastball commanding it, not just overpowering people. You didn’t see 98 to 100 (mph), but he was throwing the ball where he wanted to with plenty of fastball. He is really starting to understand how to pitch and set up hitters to get guys early in the count to allow himself to go deeper in the game.