Jordan Westburg stays in the Orioles lineup tonight and is batting fifth against left-hander Drew Rom.

James McCann is catching again, with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter. Gunnar Henderson is playing third base and Jorge Mateo is the shortstop.

Aaron Hicks is in center field, with Cedric Mullins on the bench.

For the Orioles
Adley Rutschman DH
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Anthony Santander RF
Austin Hays LF
Jordan Westburg 2B
Gunnar Henderson 3B
Aaron Hicks CF
James McCann C
Jorge Mateo SS

Kyle Gibson RHP

Orioles' outfielder Austin Hays is trying to make his July a real outlier this season. So far it is the only month his OPS was not .800 or better.

And it is a real outlier as his OPS in July was just .446. It was a month where Hays made the All-Star team and was a starter for the American League. But his bat was slumping.

And then he started to elevate the ball again and drive it more consistently and he got back on track. In 128 games for the year, he’s batting .287/.333/.462/.795. That is good for an OPS+ of 118, better than the 107 OPS+ he posted in 2021 and the 105 number from last year.

Hays’ current OPS+ number ranks fifth among O’s regulars, behind Ryan O’Hearn, Anthony Santander, Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman.

“I want to finish really strong,” he said yesterday in the Baltimore clubhouse, before going 2-for-4 in the loss to St. Louis. “Just stay focused. Don’t get complacent. I like where I am right now, but still a lot of at-bats sitting out there. Lot of opportunity left. I really want to finish strong. Just as hungry now as I was at the start of the year.”

It was a night where the Orioles trailed for most of the first 4 ½ innings. Their starting pitcher lasted just 4 1/3 innings and last-place St. Louis was trying to ruin the start of a very important week-long homestand.

Then Cedric Mullins entertained us and brought Camden Yards to life with one swing.

Mullins hit his second grand slam of the year and the third of his career to put the Orioles ahead 8-5 and they beat St. Louis tonight 11-5 at Oriole Park to improve to 91-52.

The Orioles have won eight of nine, 14 of 18, 17 of 22 and 20 of the last 27 games. They are 28-11 in the past 39 games as they opened this three-game series with their 46^th comeback win of 2023.

The O’s had scored twice in the second to lead 2-1, but St. Louis got to O’s starter Dean Kremer for the lead scoring three in the third and adding one more in the fifth.

With 20 games to play, the Orioles lead the American League East by three games over the Rays. While the Rays (88-56) play at Minnesota tonight the Orioles (90-52) will host the Cardinals to start a three-game series.

For Baltimore, this opens a weeklong homestand that will see the Birds host the Rays for four games starting Thursday night. This is the second-to-last homestand of the 2023 regular season.

The Orioles saw a seven-game win streak snapped with Sunday’s loss at Boston. Overall they have won seven of eight, nine of 12, 13 of 17 and 16 of the last 21 games. The Orioles are 27-11 (.711) in their past 38 games.

The Birds are 42-26 at home and 36-17 in the second half.

The Cardinals (63-80) are 17 games under .500 but are playing better lately winning five of its past seven, and seven of 11 games. The Cardinals have won their past two series, two to one against both the Braves and the Reds.

After going 7-2 on their road trip, the Orioles begin their penultimate homestand of the season with a three-game series against the Cardinals.

This is the first Cardinals visit to Baltimore since 2017, when the Orioles lost the first game 11-2 and won the next two 15-7 and 8-5.

Jordan Westburg came out of Saturday’s game in the seventh inning and wasn’t in yesterday’s lineup. He’s on the bench again tonight.

"Everybody's got little things going on right now," manager Brandon Hyde said on Saturday, adding yesterday that he didn’t have any other updates.

Austin Hays also is a reserve. Aaron Hicks is in left field.