The Orioles are three games below .500 for the first time since May 6. They finally won a division game on the road last night.

Let’s review a few reasons why the good fortune could continue.

Bradish is back.

Kyle Bradish is moving past the small sample size in his return from Tommy John surgery. He hasn’t turned in a full season since 2023, when he finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting. Eight starts in 2024 before confirmation that the platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow didn’t work. Six starts in 2025 after returning from the ligament-reconstructive procedure.

The inconsistent work was bound to create some issues, and Bradish had a 5.03 ERA on May 2. Since then, he’s registered a 1.72 ERA in his last five starts. The stuff is filthy across the board, but especially the curveball that’s become a major weapon. Opponents are batting .154 and slugging .231 against it.

Watching Bradish carve up the Blue Jays on Sunday was like going back in the best of times.

“I’m competing better and that’s a big one for me,” he said. “I’m challenging hitters and I feel like I’m putting them on their heels instead of vice-versa. Earlier in the year I was having some tough luck, but I think the biggest issue was the walks, and right now we’re limiting those and just trying to fill up the strike zone and get early contact.”

“That’s the Bradish we know,” catcher Samuel Basallo said through interpreter Brandon Quinones. “He’s attacking the zone. He’s throwing a bunch of strikes, going after hitters, and all his pitches are working really well right now. He’s being very aggressive right now, and that’s the Bradish we like to see.”

“I think that the work that he put in after those first however many starts to where he is now,” said outfielder Colton Cowser, “that’s the Bradish we’ve all come to know.”

Colton Cowser’s contributions

Cowser seems to be hitting everything up the middle – and a long way.

Another slow start to a season was costing Cowser at-bats and limiting him mostly to late-inning defensive duty, but he got hot in May and hit .275/.362/.529 with four home runs and 15 RBIs for the month. He also drew seven walks.

Most of the attention fell on the two walk-off home runs over two days, and he added a three-run shot Sunday. Media digs the long ball. But Cowser also is advancing runners and scoring them with productive outs. The at-bats are more competitive. The confidence is growing.

But yeah, the home runs.

He went 440 feet to center field at 111.5 mph for a walk-off against Kenley Jansen, 425 feet to right-center at 109.3 mph the following night in the 13th inning, and 424 feet to right-center at 108 mph on Sunday.

Roll out the barrels.

Cowser had a four-RBI day with his run-scoring groundout earlier in the game.

“The first at-bat today is something I feel I’ve had growth with over the past couple years,” he said afterward. “Typically, after going 0-2 there, I’m probably frustrated and strike out. That can still happen, but I think where the approach is at, where the headspace is at, it allows me to go out there and have a productive at-bat like that. And so, yeah, it’s just something that’s really cool to see.”

Cowser finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2024. He’s looking more like that hitter, with a leg lift added for timing purposes.

“I think it’s one of those things that there’s ebbs and flows of a season,” he said. “I felt like I was on kind of a negative flow there for a little bit, and being able to turn the page a little bit and just keep working and have some success show up, it’s more so a sign of the work that’s been being put in and also just the confidence in me to go out there and go out and compete.”

Blaze of glory

It still works.

Blaze Alexander is becoming much more than a handy utility player. He’s gotten a healthy number of starts due to injuries to Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday, and he went from batting .177/.250/.210 with one RBI in 25 games in March/April to .365/.403/.508 with 13 RBIs in 25 games in May.

Six of those RBIs, a career high, came on May 27 against the Rays. He launched his first home run in the seventh inning, a 399-foot shot to left field off former Oriole Jonathan Heasley after Cowser singled.

“He’s been awesome,” said Gunnar Henderson. “Being able to play, what is that, four positions? Yeah, four positions. I guess outfield’s all together. But yeah, he’s been unbelievable in that sense and been able to give us a lot of flexibility. And then, obviously, his at-bats have been awesome. Now, he’s starting to get the results to show. But he’s been having great at-bats for about a week, two weeks now.”

Alexander, who had a single and sacrifice fly last night, offers a pretty simple explanation.

“Yeah, man, it’s baseball,” he said.

To take it a couple steps further, Alexander benefitted from the advice of assistant hitting coach Brady North, who suggested tweaking the stance to provide forward pressure on the leg. More weight and no lift.

“Obviously, I wish I started out this way, but yeah, it all comes around,” Alexander said. “Yeah, a couple adjustments at the plate, tighten things up, and seeing the ball well. My move’s clean, and the results are showing. 

“I was the only guy in here without a homer, I think. But yeah, definitely a monkey off my back. I was seeing stuff on Twitter, like the qualified hitters without a homer, and I was like, ‘Dude eventually I’m going to pop up on this list if I don’t get one.’ But no, it was nice, I enjoyed that one.”

Basallo at his best

So far, at least. The sky’s the limit. But his head isn’t in the clouds. He knows that he’s got to keep working and developing as a hitter and catcher.

Basallo is going to force his way into the Rookie of the Year discussions as long as he stays healthy. That part’s been a challenge in the minors, in spring training after a tag at home plate, and Saturday on a strikeout leading off the ninth inning. It looked serious until Basallo stood on deck for Pete Alonso’s walk-off single.

“Things that happen sometimes,” he said through interpreter Brandon Quinones. “The bat got a little loose from me. I felt a little pinch in my upper body, but thank God I was OK.”

His offense can be described in much more glowing terms.

Basallo slashed .232/.315/.439 in 23 games in March/April and .338/.376/.597 in 25 games in May. His .861 OPS before last night ranked second among American League rookies behind the White Sox’s Munetaka Murakami (.938), who suffered a Grade 2 right hamstring strain on Friday and could miss four-to-six weeks.

Basallo’s .597 OPS is the second highest by an Orioles player age 21 or younger in a single month behind Eddie Murray’s .605 in September 1977.

“Just trying to make contact, do the simple things, not trying to do too much at the plate, move runners over, things like that,” Basallo said. “Doing whatever I  can to help runners score. Just trying to keep it simple at the plate right now.”

As MASN’s Brendan Mortensen pointed out this week, Basallo is among six 21 year olds in the majors with at least one plate appearance, and only Basallo, Kevin McGonigle and Konnor Griffin have appeared in at least 30 games.

Basallo’s nine homers have traveled 437 feet, 396, 431, 395, 392, 376, 400, 405 and 381.

“Yeah, he’s a freak,” Cowser said. “He’s someone who has a stupid amount of juice and really knows what he’s doing, really knows zone awareness, knows what he does well and is extremely good at it.”

For Pete’s sake

First baseman Pete Alonso is harder on himself than any critic, and the slow start with his new team ate at him.

Media gathered at his locker to talk about the pickoff in the eighth inning in a 2-1 loss, and he brought up the failed at-bats earlier with runners in scoring position. That’s Alonso.

(He’s also the type of leader who turns down loud music in the clubhouse so that a reporter can conduct an interview with him. A teammate cranked it back up a minute later, and Alonso smiled and pointed at him. All in fun. But Alonso’s kindness didn’t go unnoticed.)

Alonso hit .198/.306/.362 with four homers and 13 RBIs in his first 31 games, and .277/.331/.509 with seven homers and 23 RBIs in 29 games in May. No one had more hits (31), homers or RBIs last month than Alonso.

The trip to Boston didn’t cool Alonso, who had a home run and single last night.

Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman are the engines that really make the Orioles go, but Alonso also can get them up to speed after a slow start.