The scene has become so familiar with the Orioles. Taylor Ward takes the final pitch in his plate appearance, drops the bat and trots to first base.

Again and again and again.

Ward went 0-for-2 in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader but he also walked twice and scored twice. He was 0-for-1 in Game 2 but drew three walks and scored a run.

According to STATS, Ward tied the club record for most walks in a doubleheader shared by Don Buford in 1970 and Willie Miranda in 1955. Bobby Grich drew five walks in a single game on Aug. 9, 1975 against the White Sox.

As Ward boarded the team charter for the airport after the homestand, he ranked fourth in the majors with 27 walks and tied for third in on-base percentage at .438. His career-high walk streak reached nine games before ending on Friday.

Ward singled, walked and drove in a run Saturday.

I’ll break out this one again: Ward and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson are the only players with at least 30 hits and 20 walks through 30 career games with the Orioles.

Ward has 28 walks and 24 strikeouts. No one else on the team has totaled more walks than strikeouts.

“Yeah, I like that stat. I like that stat for all of our hitters,” said manager Craig Albernaz.

“Hitting is hard and that’s the biggest thing. And that’s the impressive thing about Taylor is, to have that strikeout-to-walk ratio, it’s really hard to do. And not physically. It’s the mental bandwidth that you have to lock in on every single at-bat. And Taylor does not give any at-bat away.

“Every at-bat when he’s in the box like is the biggest at-bat for him. And every time you look up, it’s either a 2-2 count or a 3-2 count. He does a great job of sticking to his plan. I’m speaking for him, but just watching it from the dugout, he’s never out of an at-bat. He might have two bad swings for an 0-2 count, but he’s taking in information and he makes the adjustment quickly. And that’s the biggest thing.

“Like I tell all of our guys, we have to learn at a faster rate than our opponents, and Taylor, he’s the poster child for that just because he’s taking in information and learning on the fly and the at-bat, and he’s able to make adjustments pitch to pitch, and that’s what elite hitters do.”

The Orioles traded for Ward in November, sending starter Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels. Rodriguez went on the injured list in March with a “dead arm” and hasn’t appeared in a game.

The Orioles had 126 walks going into the Yankees series and added seven in the first two games. The club record through April was 115 in 1969.

They drew 88 walks prior to May last season, the fifth fewest in the majors.

*Yesterday’s 9-4 loss lowered the Orioles to 15-18, the second time their record has slipped three games below .500.

“Not concerned,” Albernaz told the media. “It’s more, on my end, more frustrating, just because that group is really talented. I feel like we should not be three games below .500. That’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job leading these guys and getting the most out of them, because the talent in that room, we should not be where we are right now.”

The rotation has allowed 20 runs in 12 innings in the last three games to leave the season ERA at 4.92, which ranks 26th in the majors. And Trey Gibson makes his major league debut this afternoon against the team with the best record in the American League at 22-11.

“I think for all of our starters, it’s extremely important for them to go deeper into games,” Albernaz told the media. “It takes the load off the bullpen and it takes the load off of everybody else. That’s something that they recognize and that they’re out there actively trying to get better at. We ideally want all our starters to go deeper into the game.”

The Yankees are starting left-hander Max Fried, who has posted a 2.09 ERA and 0.803 WHIP in seven starts. He’s allowed only 26 hits and surrendered one home run in 47 1/3 innings.

Four of his starts have been scoreless outings, including the last two totaling 14 innings.

*The Orioles hit two grand slams in Game 1 of the doubleheader, with Adley Rutschman and Jeremiah Jackson clearing the bases in a 10-3 win.

The four grand slams by the Orioles this season leave them seven short of the club record set in 1996, according to STATS. They hit eight in 1984, 1983, 1982 and 1979.

The major league record is 14 shared by the 2006 Indians and 2000 Athletics.

Only 10 other teams besides the Orioles have hit four before May. The 2018 Red Sox and 1996 Expos had six, and the 2025 Diamondbacks, 2022 Guardians, 2007 Tigers, 2003 Yankees, 2000 Athletics, 2000 Cardinals, 1996 Mariners and 1970 Giants had four.

*Seven of the runs against Brandon Young in Game 2 were earned, but the 10 overall made him the 12th pitcher in club history to reach or exceed that total.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane.

Andrew Cashner: Aug. 12, 2018 at Rangers, 10 runs/10 earned in 1 2/3 innings
Daniel Cabrera: Sept. 12, 2007 vs. Angels, 10 runs/eight earned in 4 1/3 innings
Rodrigo López: July 5, 2005 at Yankees, 10 runs/five earned in three innings
Josh Towers: May 1, 2002 at Red Sox, 10 runs/10 earned in five innings
Jason Johnson: Aug. 15, 2000 vs. White Sox, 12 runs/10 earned in five innings
Mike Mussina: April 21, 1999 at Rays, 10 runs/10 earned in 3 2/3 innings
Scott Erickson: July 6, 1997 at Tigers, 12 runs/11 earned in 4 1/3 innings
Jeff Ballard: June 26, 1991 at Indians, 10 runs/10 earned in three innings
Scott McGregor: April 9, 1978 at Brewers, 10 runs/10 earned in 3 1/3 innings
Dave McNally: Sept. 30, 1966 vs Twins, 10 runs, eight earned in seven innings
Don Ferrarese: June 4, 1956 vs. White Sox, 11 runs/nine earned in 7 1/3 innings

*The 10-3 victory in Game 1 of the doubleheader marked the fourth time in Orioles history that they won by seven or more runs while recording six hits or fewer.

The last time before Thursday was Sept. 15, 1995 against the Yankees, when they had five hits in an 8-1 win.

*I wrote on Friday that Rutschman was trying to become the ninth-fastest Oriole by games to reach 500 hits since 2000. He needed one to achieve the milestone.

He’s hitless in this series and stuck on 499 in 523 games.

Here are the others:

Manny Machado, 439, Sept. 22, 2015 at Nationals
Nick Markakis, 452, Sept. 13, 2008 vs. Twins
Brian Roberts, 458, July 3, 2005 vs. Indians
Trey Mancini, 486, April 28, 2021 vs. Yankees
Gunnar Henderson, 489, Sept. 19, 2025 vs. Yankees
Ryan Mountcastle, 505, June 16, 2024 vs. Phillies
Adam Jones, 513, May 18, 2011 vs. Yankees
Jonathan Schoop, 520, Aug. 29, 2017 vs. Mariners