The Orioles are the kind of team that lets the good times roll but might get their toes crushed.

They finally began stacking wins, as they had to do in order to be taken more seriously as a playoff possibility and buyers at the trade deadline. But they need to stop stacking obstacles that are beyond their control, if that makes sense.

The injured list was down to only eight players heading into the All-Star break, but Royals reliever Lucas Erceg buried a 95.5 mph fastball into Blaze Alexander’s left hand, causing a non-displaced fracture that’s going to keep him out for an extended period.

The hottest hitter on the club was put on ice.

Adley Rutschman made his third All-Star team, went 1-for-2 with a double, walk, and run scored Friday night in Houston, served as designated hitter Saturday, couldn’t play Sunday because of some soreness in his left wrist, and went on the IL yesterday with inflammation.

“It’s been bothering him, he’s been dealing with it,” manager Craig Albernaz told the assembled media. “We’re at the point where we had to get ahead of it, IL him, do the best course of action to get him back at full ability.”

The timing is especially bad with Samuel Basallo day-to-day with a sore right shoulder. He came out of Sunday’s game after a couple of swings made him grimace in pain, and he didn’t play last night.

“He’s dealing with it, maintaining it,” Albernaz said. “He’s feeling a little bit better today. We’re very hopeful with him. We’re going to support him and make sure he gets the treatment he needs and see where he’s at each day.”

The Orioles are forced to carry three catchers again, with Sam Huff starting last night and Chadwick Tromp having his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk. It’s done for protection. The bullpen was short-handed again, but left-hander Josh Walker arrived on the taxi squad. So did outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez.

The roster is flawed again with seven relievers and only one lefty.

This isn’t how you want to enter a series against the Red Sox, a team ahead of them in the Wild Card race and winners of 14 games in a row. Chad Durbin homered off Tyler Wells last night with two outs in the eighth inning to break a 5-5 tie. Tyler O’Neill lined to short at 101.6 mph against Aroldis Chapman with two runners in scoring position and two outs in the ninth, after Gunnar Henderson’s third left-on-left double.

The Orioles committed four errors for the first time since July 18, 2023 against the Dodgers.

Rutschman made his major league debut on May 21, 2022, and didn’t go on the IL until June 21, 2025, with a left oblique strain. He returned to it exactly two months later with a right oblique strain.

A big part of his resurgence in 2026 is good health, but it comes and goes. He went on the IL April 11 with left ankle inflammation and on June 20 with a concussion. Now, it’s the wrist.

“Anyone who’s played the catching position, the left wrist takes a beating,” Albernaz said in his pregame media scrum. “That’s your glove hand. Him being a switch-hitter, especially hitting right-handed, that left arm, that left wrist is always on the bat. It takes an extra pounding.”

So do the Orioles when it comes to injuries.

The 10-man IL includes eight players on the 60-day – Keegan Akin, Chris Bassitt, Félix Bautista, Zach Eflin, Ryan Helsley, Ryan Mountcastle, Colin Selby and Jordan Westburg. Akin, Eflin and Westburg had elbow-reconstructive procedures and won’t return in 2026.

Mountcastle is recovering from a fractured left foot. He’s already missed 86 games, but he’s still trending in the right direction.

Albernaz said yesterday that Mountcastle should begin playing in games soon, which eventually could get him back on the Orioles’ roster later in the second half.

Bassitt had surgery on his lower back on June 27 to remove a bone spur and is long-tossing and ready to begin throwing bullpen sessions.

“My stuff feels really good, my velo feels really good,” Bassitt told the media in Houston. “I’m really happy, I’m really excited to just get back on the mound.”

The Orioles transferred Bassitt to the 60-day IL on Friday, and the earliest that he can be reinstated is Aug. 4, which seems unlikely to happen. Later in the month is possible.

The rotation is in good hands in Bassitt’s absence. Before last night, the unit had registered a 3.02 ERA since May 22 that was second lowest in baseball. Shane Baz allowed two earned runs (four total) over six innings in the series opener at Fenway Park.

“I think they’re just kind of learning and adapting outing to outing, seeing how teams are trying to approach them,” assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer said before Sunday’s game in Houston. “I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me is just, they’re able to kind of adapt, whether it’s mid-outing or in between outings and kind of clean up some stuff that maybe they thought went well, whether it’s a pitch shape or a mechanical thing or just an execution or usage-based thing. They’ve kind of really narrowed their focus and found maybe that one or two things they can take away from each outing and get better at it the next one. So they just continue to stack really, really quality starts one after another.”

An injury to Kyle Bradish would be devastating. He’s posted a 2.12 ERA in his last five outings and is looking more like the ace that he became in 2023 and part of 2024 before Tommy John surgery

“I think it’s incredible,” Plassmeyer said of Bradish’s results following the elbow-reconstructive procedure. “I don’t think it’s gonna go exactly how guys envision it when they first get out there. They’re gonna have some rough ones along the way as they kind of adapt and learn to go through with kind of the new arm that they have and how they’re recovering. I think he kind of figured out some things that have really hit home for him and he’s just been really consistent with his work between outings and kind of put it together to be who he’s been in the past, and I think he’s just getting better every single day.”

Bradish brings a 3.61 ERA into tonight’s start, his first since signing a five-year extension over the weekend.

“I can’t say enough about the guy,” Plassmeyer said. “I’m just super happy for him, his family. I mean, all the hard work he’s put in, everything he’s been through, I’m just super excited for him. I think it’s very well-deserved, and we’re excited to have him for a long time. It’s awesome.”