The clubhouse meeting with president of baseball operations Mike Elias and manager Craig Albernaz a day after the trade deadline wasn’t a concession speech.

Making the playoffs became a more arduous task after Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward and Tyler Wells left the building, but the Orioles have enough juice to smack around the worst team in baseball and advance in the Wild Card standings.

Trevor Rogers, held onto rather than dealt, was charged with two runs and struck out nine in six-plus innings, Tyler O’Nell and Coby Mayo hit back-to-back tape-measure homers, and the Orioles claimed the series with a 5-2 victory before an announced crowd of 16,977 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are 56-58 and can move within one game of .500 Wednesday afternoon for the first time since April 30. They improved to 23-8 against the Angels since the beginning of 2022, including 13-3 at home. And, get this, they’re only a half-game back in the Wild Card chase at the moment.

O’Neill belted his third pinch-hit homer last night, got into the lineup tonight against southpaw Reid Detmers and launched a fastball 426 feet to left-center field at 108.5 mph after Gunnar Henderson’s one-out walk in the fourth inning.

“With T.O.’s track record and who he is as a player, he can change the game with one swing, and we saw that today,” Albernaz said. “Laid off some tough pitches, got into a good hitter’s count, and didn’t miss the pitch that he wanted to hit. With T.O., he’s been working his tail off all year to get the feels that he wants, and obviously the results, especially early in the year, haven’t been there. But it’s a testament to T.O., his hard work and not wavering from anything, and really owning it and stepping into the adversity that he’s been facing.

“Now we get to see him come out the other side, and it’s been fun to watch.

Mayo stepped to the plate and sent a curveball 436 feet to left-center at 105.9 mph, the fifth time this season that the Orioles went back-to-back.

Eleven of Mayo’s 15 homers have come against left-handers, tying him for second most behind Kyle Schwarber’s 12. Detmers hung a curveball and Mayo timed it perfectly.

Out to prove that he’s more than a platoon option, Mayo lined a single off right-hander Shaun Anderson in the sixth and raised his OPS to .703.

“With Coby, it’s almost like where his sites are set up when he’s hitting,” Albernaz said. “When he’s seeing the ball a little longer and driving it up the middle, like he did with that one blistering single he had, that’s when he’s right. And it was a great at-bat against Detmers. Detmers hung him a curveball and he put a good swing on it. And when Coby’s feeling right, he’s hitting the ball to the big part of the ballpark.”

Leody Taveras came off the bench with two outs in the eighth and hit his sixth homer, a two-run shot to right field off José Fermin. He was batting for O’Neill.

The Orioles have five pinch-hit homers, all of them since July 8.

“My confidence level, like anything with our team, hasn’t wavered and pinch-hitting is really hard,” Albernaz said. “Our guys have really stepped up and really owned that side of the game and being ready, getting in the cage, being prepped for that. Obviously, it’s not as easy as plug and play. It’s a homer. There’s a lot that goes into it. Our guys have been outstanding with being ready, being diligent with the prep and Leody was awesome tonight.

“He was ready for a couple of innings. That moment came up, and he was ready. He put a great swing on a slider, and that was a huge two runs for us to give us a little more cushion going into the ninth inning. Leody just like all year, such a great pro, such a great teammate, so it was great to see him come through for us.”

An earlier 3-0 lead felt safe with Rogers, who came within a flukish single of no-hitting the Angels through five innings.

They produced weak contact or none at all.

Rogers began the game with two strikeouts and a bouncer to the mound, and he retired the first two batters in the second inning on routine rollers to Jackson Holliday. Travis d’Arnaud’s grounder up the middle would have led to another out, except it deflected off the bag and took a big hop into center field.

d’Arnaud was 8-for-16 with five doubles and a home run against Rogers after his single.

Rogers struck out two more in the third inning. Zach Neto finally hit a ball hard, but right at third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

Fifteen of the first 16 batters were retired before Jose Siri led off the sixth with a 405-foot home run to left-center field on a two-strike fastball. The response from Rogers was a ground ball and two strikeouts, including Mike Trout for the second time.

“Narvy (Carlos Narváez) was doing a really good job back there, just mixing pitches, moving the ball around and really just reading the hitter,” Rogers said. “I think we were on a really good page all night, and one pitch over the heart of the plate and he got it. But yeah, Narvy did a really good job back there.”

The pitch count reached 91, and Albernaz sent him back out for the seventh. Nolan Schanuel led off with an infield hit on a ball that Pete Alonso couldn’t backhand, and Rogers left to a standing ovation.

“All the grace to him, he made pitches,” Narváez said. “We talked a lot in the meeting. He brought his stuff, he got his own notes. He was dealing. Trying to mix locations, trying to mix pitch shapes. But yeah, he was amazing. He got nasty stuff. He just need to execute spots. He did it tonight. It was fun to be behind the plate for him.”

Newest reliever Alex Hoppe, acquired by the Orioles in the Ward trade, began his debut outing with a wild pitch before retiring his first two batters. Pinch-hitter Wade Meckler lined a 98.8 mph fastball into left field to cut the lead to 3-2, but Rico Garcia stranded him at second base.

Rogers allowed three hits and didn’t walk a batter, and his nine strikeouts were a season high. He’s surrendered two runs or fewer in nine of his last 11 starts and posted a 2.28 ERA in that span.

“It’s awesome. Love having Rog,” Albernaz said.

“He was outstanding tonight. He’s been doing it for a long time now. Him and Narvy, they worked really well together. The fastball, he was getting it to where he wanted to. Great job with the changeup and both breaking ball shapes. So it was a really good outing, pounding the strike zone. Yeah, that was a fun outing to watch with Rog.”

Rogers hasn’t issued a walk in his last three starts.

“Part of my game is commanding the strike zone and not giving up free passes,” he said. “I hate walks more than anything. So yeah, I’m really pleased with how I’m throwing the ball right now and commanding the strike zone.”

After closing last night, Yennier Cano worked the eighth and struck out two while retiring the side in order. Andrew Kittredge earned his fifth save.

The Orioles are in a position where Rogers finally could pitch in games that matter late in a season. The upcoming three-city road trip could determine whether it’s true.

“I’m ready for it,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard to get to this point, and the fact that I can contribute and help my team win, and we’re right there in the playoff push these last few months. That’s what baseball is all about. That’s what we think of when spring training rolls around, is meaningful baseball in the back end of the year. I’m ready for it, and I’m fired up for it.”

Franklin first

Christian Franklin started in center field and became the first Orioles player to bat leadoff within his first two major league games since outfielder Xavier Avery on May 13-14, 2012.

Franklin went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Dylan Beavers pinch-hit for him in the eighth.

Narváez learning on the fly

Catchers would prefer to have an entire spring training to learn a pitching staff. They’d rather avoid parachuting into a new clubhouse midway through the season or later.

Narváez didn’t have a choice. The Orioles acquired him in the Rutschman trade and made him the starter behind the plate until Samuel Basallo is reinstated.

He set the target again tonight after catching Cade Povich in the series opener.

“I mean, yeah, in the middle of the season it’s kind of tough, but the pitching staff has been amazing,” he said. “Every new guy that’s coming out of the ‘pen, they always talk with me beforehand in the dugout. We talk a lot during the day to get to know everybody, maximize their strengths. That’s the whole the whole goal there, you know?

“They got nasty stuff. Like I said yesterday earlier, I remember I didn’t like to face them, any of the pitchers here. They got such good talent. Just being there for them, just serving the pitchers. That’s my job. All the credit to the pitching staff. They’ve been amazing. They communicate about every guy and all the credit to to the boys. They’ve been executing in the right moment.”

Give him credit for blending so easily, gaining trust immediately, and understanding what Rutschman meant to the clubhouse.

“Yeah, first of all, I’m personally proud and I’m happy for the opportunity, but I knew how much Adley means for this organization,” he said. “So I just want to contribute with the team, helping every way possible. Behind the plate, I think I help the most. So, that’s my whole focus right now. They got so much talent here. … I think there’s a big chance here to make the playoffs, so it’s day at a time.

“I know it was emotional for the boys. They got good relationships with the guys who were here, but at this time of the year, it’s not that much time for that. On my end, I just want to contribute to the team. Every guy here welcomed me so good. It felt like home right away. So that’s a good part. Day-by-day, like I said, just execute the game plan, just cashing in when we need it like we did today. And the pitching staff, just inning by inning. Win the inning. Last two nights that’s been the case. Two in a row, let’s sweep them tomorrow and we got nine or 10 games on the road.”