DETROIT - Having lost five of six and six of their past eight games and facing the team with the best record in baseball since Aug. 11, the Orioles will try to find a way tonight.

Find a way to get some offense and start winning again. 

The O's are now 83-65 overall and ended Friday night three games back of the Yankees, who are playing this afternoon. 

The O's were one-hit last night and they got just two baserunners: one on an eighth inning walk and one on Gunnar Henderson's two-out triple in the ninth that broke up Detroit's combined no-hit bid.

With the 1-0 loss, the Orioles were shut out for the seventh time and second in the the last five games. 

DETROIT – As the losses mount while the runs do not, if feels like the American League East is slipping away from the Orioles.

Their 1-0 loss at Detroit - in which they narrowly missed being no-hit - was their fifth in six games and sixth in the last eight. The Orioles are 25-27 since the All-Star break and 30-34 since July 1.

They are now three games behind the Yankees for first place at 83-65. It’s their largest first-place deficit since they were 3 1/2 games back on June 14. Their biggest deficit of the year is 4 1/2 games on June 6.

The Orioles still have three games left with the Yankees and could win the tiebreaker. But now they just need some runs and wins to make that tiebreaker matter. Or to have a chance when they face the Yankees for three games in the Bronx starting Sept. 24.

The Tigers used four pitchers last night and they had a perfect game going through seven innings. When Adley Rutschman became the Orioles' first baserunner with a walk leading off the eighth, Detroit’s bid for the first combined perfect game in major league history had ended. But they still had a chance for Detroit’s 10^th no-hitter, and it would have been the eighth pitched against the Orioles and the first since Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma got them on Aug. 12, 2015.

DETROIT – The storyline for the game tonight at Detroit in the series-opener for the Orioles was not just would their offense finally get going.

It was would they get a hit or even a baserunner?

Their batters who had scored just 15 runs their past seven games, were going down quickly and too many times taking called third strikes. They were getting nothing going.

And they almost never did.

Gunnar Henderson's two-out triple down the right-field line in the ninth ended Detroit's combined no-hit bid. But one strikeout of Anthony Santander later, the O's had lost this game 1-0 in the series opener in front of 25,253 at Comerica Park.

DETROIT - The Orioles tonight play game No. 148 and for the first time in 2024, they will play the Tigers. The clubs open a three-game series at Comerica Park.

The teams will meet six times in the next nine games, playing back-to-back weekends in Detroit and Baltimore.

While the O's have not played well for most of the last couple of months really, the Tigers are a pretty hot team right now despite their 4-2 loss Thursday to the Rockies.

Detroit has won its last two series versus Oakland and Colorado and is 5-1 in its past six series.

At 75-72, the Tigers begin play tonight 3.5 games back of the Twins for the last American League wild-card berth and the No. 6 AL seed.

DETROIT - As he began his pregame media session in the visitor's dugout ahead of tonight's series-opening game in Detroit, O's manager Brandon Hyde was asked to provide an update on his various injured list players.

“Is this a two-hour program?" Hyde quipped.

Then he used the next few minutes to provide numerous updates on this list of players.

Jordan Westburg: “His hitting progression is progressing. He’s doing better, doing all baseball activities. Swinging the bat in the cage now. All positive. No setbacks as of right now. But when you haven’t swung a bat for a while and you are coming off a broken hand, it takes a little while to gain strength in your hand. So they are building strength in the hand and he is getting used to swinging the bat."

Ryan Mountcastle: “Mountcastle? Unsure, honestly. He is in Sarasota. I’m hoping he is going to start swinging a bat here in the next few days. That’s going to be a hitting progression too. Trying to stay optimistic that we will see him by the end of the season.”

DETROIT - Looking for wins and now two games back in the American League East race, the Orioles play at Comerica Park tonight. They open a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball's winningest club since Aug. 11.

The O's lineup tonight shows Gunnar Henderson leading off, Cedric Mullins batting third and Adley Rutschman hitting fourth. Eloy Jiménez is the DH and Jacskon Holliday is batting ninth at second base. 

Yes, the Tigers (75-72) are a hot team and they are pushing for wins too. They begin play tonight 3.5 games behind the Twins for the final American League wild-card playoff spot.

Detroit has won four of five and 13 of 19 games. The Tigers lead MLB in going 20-9 since Aug. 11.

Best MLB records since that date:

The Orioles will wrap up their next-to-last road trip of the season this weekend when they play three games in Detroit at Comerica Park.

The Orioles have not played the Tigers all year and now they will see them in back-to-back weekends and in six of their next nine games.

While the Orioles have struggled lately going 1-2 at Boston to start this trip and they are now 1-4 the last five games and 2-5 their past seven, Detroit is doing the opposite.

The Tigers had a four-game win streak snapped Thursday when they lost 4-2 at home versus Colorado. The O's will miss ace Tarik Skubal who allowed one run in six innings in that game.

So Detroit is now 75-72 and are 3.5 games behind Minnesota for the last AL wild card spot. Detroit needs a bunch of wins to make a late run and if they get them at the Orioles expense, it could be quite damaging to Baltimore's AL East title hopes.

ABERDEEN, Md. – Selected by the Orioles in the fifth-round of the 2024 MLB Draft, catcher Ryan Stafford out of Cal-Poly, quickly found out that defensive versatility is important to his new organization. 

If a player can play multiple positions and move around the diamond, the Orioles will have them do it on the farm.

“One thing for me that I was really surprised about, I was getting to play other positions,” Stafford told me recently at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. “Like the third day I was in (Low-A) Delmarva I was playing second base. I had no clue I was going to have opportunities to play other positions like the Orioles let guys do. So that is one of the coolest parts.

“I wouldn’t say that was completely new. I played up the middle throughout my childhood, at shortstop and second base is similar. Some similar reads and it is natural for me. But what was new was first base where I played the other day. Played five spots so far, corner outfield, first, second and catch.”

Stafford said he first noticed he might need a few different gloves during the O’s orientation for draft picks in Sarasota.

With a chance to move back into first place tonight, the Orioles have 16 games remaining in the 2024 season. They lost at Boston 12-3 Monday night before winning 5-3 last night.

The clubs play the third and deciding game of this series tonight at Fenway Park, before the O’s’ take Thursday off and then head for Detroit.

Cedric Mullins homered in the first and third innings in the Baltimore win, producing his fifth career multi-homer game. Mullins is batting .423 his past eight games, going 11-for-26 with four homers and eight RBIs. Last night marked Mullins' first two-homer game since June 19, 2021 versus Toronto, and it was his first time doing so on the road.

On the mound, right-hander Albert Suárez threw another strong game, allowing one run over six innings. Suárez has allowed one run over 23 2/3 innings in his past four starts against American League East opponents. For the season, he is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA in seven AL East starts.

The New York Yankees (83-62) lead the division by a half-game after losing 5-0 to Kansas City on Tuesday night as right-hander Seth Lugo pitched seven scoreless innings and got 10 strikeouts.

The Orioles gave up 15 hits, four homers and 12 runs. They went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Their bullpen allowed eight runs. They left eight men on base and that was just in the first four innings.

Monday was a mess.

Tuesday was a step in the right direction.

If ever there was a night the Orioles needed to win, this was it.

Not so much for the pennant-race math with games dwindling and being 1.5 games out of first, but they needed to clean it up. They had lost three in a row and fans were wondering if the AL East was slipping away. They were losing confidence in their team. Some confidence in the clubhouse maybe even was eroding a bit.

Now 1 1/2 games out in the American League East, the Orioles (82-63) play the second game of their three-game series in Boston tonight. It's also the second game of a six-game road trip that later moves on to Detroit.

The Orioles have lost four of five games and are 8-10 their past 18 games. They are 24-25 since the All-Star break and 29-32 since July 1.

The Orioles did not lose any of their first eight AL East series this year, going 6-0-2 in those series and 19-7 in those games. Now they are 2-3-1 their past six series, heading into this one and are 10-11 in their past 21 division games.

The Baltimore offense has scored one, two, one, zero and three runs during the past five games, and their seven runs in this span is last in the major leagues. They have 28 hits in those games for a .178 batting average and .539 OPS. They are 3-for-31 with runners in scoring position in this stretch.

The Orioles are 7-4 against the Red Sox and Baltimore has clinched the season series for a second straight year after going 7-6 in 2023. This marks the first time the O's have won the season series with the Sox in back-to-back years since doing so in four straight from 2012-15. One more win would guarantee a winning percentage of at least .600 against the Red Sox for the 15th time in team history and the first since 2012 (.722, 13-5). The Birds swept a three-game series in Boston from April 9-11, the 14th road series sweep of at least three games against the Red Sox by the Orioles club history and the first since April 2-4, 2021 (three games).

Later this month, the Orioles will present another Brooks Robinson Award to their Minor League Player of the Year. 

Coby Mayo is a strong candidate to get the hardware. Now ranked as the club’s No. 1 prospect with Jackson Holliday graduating from prospects lists, Mayo is ranked No. 9 in the national top 100 for both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com.

In sizing up his 2024 season on the farm, where he played 87 games at Triple-A Norfolk and four on rehab for High-A Aberdeen, Mayo will admit his walk rate dropped a bit but also notes that his production numbers went up. He feels he made progress on defense, taking more groundballs than he can ever remember, he said.

Mayo told me recently that his strong finish at Triple-A in 2023 – he had an OPS of .905 in 62 games – provided confidence he would thrive there this year.

“I think starting in spring training this year, after the season I had last year, gave me a boost that I could have another good year,” he said. “Learned a lot at big league camp and playing well gave me a lot of confidence going into the Triple-A season that I could compete with the best.

In their search for more runs, which they obviously hope lead to more wins, the Orioles are in Boston tonight. They play a three-game series at Fenway Park to begin their penultimate road trip of the season.

They play there remembering that they swept a series at Boston in mid-April, scoring 23 runs on 31 hits. In that set, they were 15-for-37 (.405) with runners in scoring position.

But over their past four games, the Orioles scored one, two, one and zero runs. They lost 2-0 to the Rays on Sunday to lose that series and suffer their sixth shutout. The Orioles have 22 hits in the past four games, batting .179 with a .502 OPS as they went 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

At 82-62 (.569), the Orioles have the second-best record in the American League and fifth-best in the majors. They begin play tonight a half-game out of first place in the AL East with 18 games remaining in the regular season.

The Orioles ended the year going 9-4 versus the Rays and the are 29-17 in division games.

When the Orioles scored 13 runs Monday and nine runs Tuesday night in beating the Chicago White Sox, we had no idea the next few games would prove to be so futile for the Baltimore offense. 

Through Tuesday the Orioles had scored 38 runs over a five-game stretch. Was the offense finally coming around?

As it turned out, no.

In the last four games the Orioles scored one, two, one and zero runs. They actually won one of those games. But in the four contests, the Orioles produced four runs and 22 hits, going 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position. 

Here is something pretty remarkable: The Orioles did not hit a double or triple in the four games. Their last extra-base hit that was not a homer came on Tuesday. 

The Orioles' six-game homestand ends today. They won two of three from the White Sox and have split two games with the Rays heading into the series finale. The Orioles won 2-0 with their ninth shutout Friday night and lost 7-1 Saturday.

The Orioles (82-61) have fallen back into second-place by a 1/2 game behind the Yankees (82-60) with 19 games remaining.

The Orioles have won four of six and eight of 14 and are 42-32 at home and 24-23 since the All-Star break.

Tampa Bay, wrapping up the first series of a 10-game road trip today, has lost six of 10, eight of 13 and 10 of 16 games. The Rays are winless in their past five series, going 0-3-2 and are 22-24 since the break.

O's center fielder Cedric Mullins launched his 15th home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth inning Saturday and has homered twice in his last five games. He has reached safely in his last nine games since Aug. 29, batting .385/.529/.654 (10-for-26) in that span.

ABERDEEN, Md. - After a junior year at North Carolina where he batted .318 with an OPS of 1.124 and hit a school-record 28 homers, outfielder Vance Honeycutt has gotten off to a slow start to his pro career with the Orioles.

He is not the first high draft pick to take some early 0-fers and he began his run this week at High-A Aberdeen going 0-for-16 with 10 strikeouts in four games. He did not play last night for the IronBirds. Before moving up he went 7-for-31 (.226) with Low-A Delmarva.

“I’m taking it in stride, but there is also room for improvement,” Honeycutt 21, told me Friday at Aberdeen’s Ripken Stadium. “Working on some simple things here and there to clean up some stuff and simplify things a bit. Just some physical things we are working on, nothing major.”

The Orioles made Honeycutt their top draft pick, No. 22 overall in round one, in the draft in July. He had a big career at UNC and is ranked as the current O’s No. 3 prospect behind Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo by MLBPipeline.com. He is No. 5 via Baseball America.

“We are working on stuff every single day, whether there is success or failure. It’s a long journey and it’s not defined by a couple of days,” said Honeycutt.

Riding a small winning stretch - with four wins in the last five games - the Orioles will get another series win today if they can beat the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park.

The Orioles (82-60) pitched their ninth shutout of 2024 in winning 2-0 Friday night on a four-pitcher three-hitter with 12 strikeouts.

In winning four of five, O's pitchers have a 2.20 ERA and .585 OPS against. The O's are 8-5 their past 13 games with a 3.32 team ERA in this span. They are now 24-22 since the All-Star Game.

Through Friday's games, the Orioles led the New York Yankees (81-60) by a half-game atop the American League East. The Birds have 20 games left to play and New York has 21. The clubs play a three-game series in the Bronx beginning Sept. 24.

The Orioles have pitched well versus the Rays all year in going 9-2 in the season series. In the 11 games, they have given up one, five, four, three, zero, two, two, one, five, two and zero runs. They've allowed two runs or fewer seven times and have a 2.02 season ERA against Tampa Bay with a .197 average against and .545 OPS. O's starting pitchers have a 2.11 ERA in the season series. 

The standings say that with their 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays last night, the Orioles moved 1/2 game ahead of the Yankees for the division lead. The Orioles (82-60) have 20 games left to play and New York (81-60) has 21.

But a real separator is each club's American League East record, the games within the division. The Orioles have a 7 1/2 game lead in that record within a record.

After their ninth win in 11 games this year against Tampa Bay, the Orioles are 29-15 in AL East games. New York is 22-23. Big difference. 

Here are the records of the teams in division games in 2024 and the Orioles are the only club over .500.

.659 - Orioles (29-15)
.500 - Boston (18-18)
.489 - New York (22-23)
.435 - Toronto (20-26)
.415 - Tampa Bay (17-24)

Winners of back-to-back series, collectively going 4-2 versus the Rockies and White Sox, the Orioles' homestand continues tonight as they host the Rays to start a three-game series.

After beating the White Sox 13-3 and 9-0 in the first two games of the series, the O’s were held to seven hits in Wednesday’s 8-1 loss as they failed to complete their sixth sweep of the season.

The Orioles (81-60) had a three-game win streak snapped but have won four of six and seven of 12 games. They are 3-1 in September, 23-22 since the All-Star break and 28-29 since July 1.

With the New York Yankees' 3-0 win today over the Cubs, the clubs have identical records atop the division. The O's need to win to stay a 1/2-game ahead.

Gunnar Henderson homered Wednesday night and set an O’s record with his 35^th homer – the most ever by a Baltimore shortstop. He had shared the record with Cal Ripken Jr. (1991) and Miguel Tejada (2004).

If you read the comments section here or check anywhere where O’s fans make their feelings known - and they are not shy about that - there are many times the fans are frustrated with the Orioles offense.

Like when they produce just one run against the lowly White Sox after scoring 22 runs in two games. Or score just 10 at Dodger Stadium. Or get 10 one day versus Boston but just one the next as they did Aug. 16 and Aug. 17.

There is an up and down nature to the scoring and several players have had their share of ups and downs. Sometimes the homers come, and runs are plentiful and sometimes not. At times they frustrate their supporters with a lack of hitting with runners in scoring position.

But after all of the above, the 2024 Orioles offense looks like it will finish the year ranking both among the best in the majors in 2024 and among the best in O’s history.

Here is a stat that will surprise a few fans and I didn’t know it until I look it up: The O’s are actually scoring more runs per game in the second-half, even after the team OPS in August was .691, the lowest of any month this year.