The Orioles’ 22^nd comeback win of the season was planted today in the top of the first inning, uprooted and planted again in the third. The team that digs in and finds a way.

The Royals used an opener while trying to avoid being swept. The Orioles used another variation of their lineup, sitting some regulars and toying again with the order.

Their methods keep working.

Josh Lester started at first base and broke a tie in the third with a two-run single, Gunnar Henderson hit a 462-foot three-run homer and came within a triple of the cycle, Ryan O’Hearn homered and reached base five times for the only time in his career, and the Orioles defeated Kansas City 11-3 before an announced crowd of 23,255 at Camden Yards. They’ve won four in a row to move 17 games above .500 at 41-24 for the first time since July 26, 2016.

Their 41^st win last season came on July 8 in their 85^th game. Today marked their first sweep of the Royals since 2017.

MILWAUKEE – Josh Lester hadn’t heard from the Orioles on Tuesday and took it as a positive sign.

They needed to make a corresponding move while reinstating left-hander Danny Coulombe from the bereavement list. Lester’s contract was selected over the weekend with Coulombe leaving the club, giving the Orioles 14 position players.

Sending Lester back down seemed like the predictable move. That’s often how it works. However, the club decided to option another left-handed hitter, Terrin Vavra, and keep Lester on the bench for the Milwaukee series.

“Obviously, I knew who I came up for and kind of the situation, the timetable of that,” Lester said, “but I didn’t know what would happen.”

So, how did Lester find out that he was staying in the majors after collecting his first hit and RBIs on Sunday?

MILWAUKEE – Kyle Gibson struck out Brice Turang on a curveball to end the bottom of the first inning and didn’t break stride on his way back to the dugout. He blew past catcher Adley Rutschman, who tried to meet him along the third base line and had to reach out to give him an encouraging pat.

The 35 pitches thrown and two runs allowed didn’t give Gibson much incentive to linger on the field.

With two outs in the eighth inning, reliever Yennier Cano snared a comebacker with an exaggerated snap of his glove, threw to first base and shook his head in disgust. Cano had his own frustrations, unable to hold onto a one-run lead.

By the end, players were filing into the clubhouse with a few heads bowed.

The Orioles couldn’t score against Peter Strzelecki in the top of the 10^th, with pinch-hitter Josh Lester striking out to leave two on base, and Joey Wiemer singled off Austin Voth with two outs to bring home Andruw Monasterio and give the Brewers a 4-3 victory before an announced crowd of 22,535.

With a 20-10 road record on the year, the Orioles open a series at Milwaukee tonight looking for yet another series win and another road series win.

On the season, the Orioles are 13-5-1 in series play and they are 8-2 in road series. They lost their first road series of the season at Boston and have lost just one road series since then, at Atlanta. Since losing that series to the Braves they have won their past three road series at Toronto, New York and San Francisco, going 7-2 in the last nine road games.

According to Stats Perform, the Orioles’ 20 road wins in their first 30 away games ties for the second-most ever by an O’s club in the first 30 road contests. It trails only the 1969 club that won 23 of its first 30 on the road.

The American League East as the Milwaukee series begins:

* Tampa Bay, 43-19 (.694)

MILWAUKEE - Left-hander Danny Coulombe is back in the Orioles bullpen tonight after his reinstatement from the bereavement list. Infielder Terrin Vavera was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding move.

The roster has returned to the usual alignment of 13 pitchers and 13 position players for the series opener against the Brewers.

Coulombe missed two games in San Francisco. Vavra is batting .245/.315/.245 (12-for-49) with no extra-base hits in 27 games.

The Orioles chose to hold onto Josh Lester, who collected his first major league hit and two RBIs Sunday. They selected his contract to replace Coulombe.

Lester can play the corner infield and outfield positions, offering versatility similar to Vavra's.

Just looking at the stat will probably not impress anyone. The Orioles' starting rotation ERA for the year of 4.78 ranks only 12^th best in the American League. And 24^th in all of MLB. So, there is room for improvement.

But in recent weeks we have seen some of that improvement which creates some hope that the next 103 games for that rotation can be better than the first 59.

And that is because they’ve pitched better in the last 25 games from their rotation - much better. The O’s rotation ERA in that span is 4.00. An ERA for the year of 4.00 would rank sixth-best in the AL. In those 25 games – where the club is 15-10 – the Orioles have 11 quality starts. That is a QS in 44 percent of those games for about the last month. In that span they won series from Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Toronto, the New York Yankees and San Francisco.

O’s pitching allowed just six runs in three games versus Tampa Bay, seven runs against Pittsburgh, 10 runs in the three-game sweep at Toronto, 13 runs versus the Yankees and nine at San Francisco. They didn’t outslug those teams while beating them, they pitched them well. And the starters had a lot to do with that.

In the season’s first 34 games, before this 25-game run, Baltimore pitchers produced only seven quality starts with an ERA of 5.39. They got a QS 20.6 percent as opposed to 44 percent now in the last 25 contests.

SAN FRANCISCO – Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson exited last night’s game in the third inning with lower back discomfort, but the club is confident he will not need to go on the injured list. He is not starting today, but manager Brandon Hyde did not rule out the chance he could play in the game.

“He is feeling better today,” Hyde said pregame. “So, getting treatment right now. Little bit unsure if he’s available off the bench or not. Off-day will do him good tomorrow and we should see him back in there against Milwaukee.

“We are confident (it’s not an IL situation). He is definitely trending better from last night. Waiting to see if he can even go today.”

With Henderson not starting, Josh Lester will make his O’s debut today against the Giants, batting seventh and playing at third base. He hit .282/.339/.549 with nine doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs in 52 games with Triple-A Norfolk. His second and last major league game was Sept. 6, 2022 with the Tigers in Anaheim. He is 0-for-5 as a big leaguer.

“Gunnar would have been in there today if he could go. But it does give Josh an opportunity to start here, and (Anthony) DeSclafani’s splits against righties and lefties are pretty significant. So Josh will start, and let’s see if he can deliver a couple of hits for us," Hyde said.

The Aaron Hicks’ era in Baltimore, however long it lasts, began yesterday with reports that the Orioles were close to reaching an agreement on a major league contract. An obvious counterpunch to losing Cedric Mullins to a groin injury. One that statistically doesn’t seem to pack much of a wallop.

Hicks was seen at Camden Yards, walking with executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias on the service level. Not long after that, the team announced the roster move.

The immediate reaction, a reflex assumption, was that Mullins would be lost for a considerable amount of time. Otherwise, just stick with Austin Hays and Ryan McKenna in center field, with a few infielders capable of handling the corners. Jorge Mateo can play center, too.

Bring up Joey Ortiz for infield depth. Select Daz Cameron’s contract and add a true center fielder.

Or, Aaron Hicks, who’s also a center fielder with 619 starts in the majors, along with 104 in left and 69 in right.

Adam Frazier lined an 0-2 changeup from Cal Quantrill into center field tonight, and the Orioles had their new leadoff hitter.

For one game, at least.

Frazier could stay atop the order or move down. Austin Hays might bat first Wednesday or in the next series. The lineup will be fluid with Cedric Mullins idle.

It takes a village to replace Mullins, and the Orioles carried that attitude to an 8-5 victory over the Guardians before an announced crowd of 11,709 at Camden Yards.

A five-run second was highlighted by Anthony Santander’s bases-loaded triple, and the Orioles improved to 35-20.

During this month of May, the Orioles have twice won series after losing the first game of that series. They have a chance to do it again against Cleveland after losing 5-0 on Monday to the Guardians in a game that took just two hours and 19 minutes. The Orioles were held to just five hits by three Cleveland pitchers in front of 25,249 at Oriole Park on Memorial Day.

Baltimore (34-20) remained four games behind Tampa Bay for first in the American League East as the Rays also lost yesterday. The Orioles were shut out for the fourth time this season, all since May 3 and all in the last 25 games.

The Orioles are now 1-3 on this homestand and are 6-5 over the last 11 games. They went 13-9 in a 22-game stretch of games versus winning-record clubs that ended Sunday. But they lost to the Guardians (24-29) Monday as Cleveland won for just the fifth time in the last 13 games. Cleveland is now 8-10 in series-opening games and the Orioles are 13-5.

The Orioles dropped a third straight series opener and fourth in their last five series after beginning the season 13-0 in the first game of a series. They were shut out for the first time since May 14 versus Pittsburgh. The O’s have lost four of the last five games at Oriole Park after starting the season 15-7 at home.

Cleveland won a series opener away from Progressive Field for the first time since May 1 at Yankee Stadium. The Guardians shut out an opponent for the fifth time this season, the first time since May 22 against the White Sox. Their last team shutout on the road was on April 1 at Seattle, when Cleveland snapped a three-game road losing streak.

We probably might have believed the Orioles would be a good team this year and maybe even make a playoff run. But thinking they would play .660 ball the first 50 games or .632 ball the last 19 games against winning teams might have been a stretch.

But the Orioles are indeed 12-7 in the last 19 against Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, the Los Angeles Angels, Toronto and New York. They are indeed 33-17 and that win percentage would produce 107 wins over the full season.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the only team that can keep them out of first-place right now.

But while they trail the Rays by three games, they are now four games better than the Yankees, seven ahead of Boston and 7.5 up on Toronto. They are two games better than Atlanta and 2.5 better than the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

They have won four straight AL East series for the first time since June and July of 2016. And they have won back-to-back series in the Bronx for the first time since the 2016 season. They are 9-3 in their last 12 AL East contests and 11-7 (.611) for the year within the division.

NEW YORK – The Orioles knew it.

Before they filed out of the clubhouse for more pregame stretching and throwing, before the anthem was played, they knew that the Rays won earlier today. Their own victory would be necessary to keep pace in the American League East.

Last night’s comeback, made possible by an eight-run seventh inning, prevented them from falling four games back.

Get used to it.

The stamp denoting their spectator status has faded. They’re fighting to avoid doing the same in the standings.

NEW YORK – The Orioles have a chance tonight to win their 12th series in 2023 after posting their 19^th comeback victory last night.

Cedric Mullins is out of the lineup, an unusual occurrence against a right-hander. Ryan McKenna is in center field and Adam Frazier is leading off for the first time this season, but the 387^th of his career.

Frazier will try to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 18 games.

Gunnar Henderson is starting at third base after delivering a pinch-hit, two-run double last night in the seventh inning. He’s batting .306/.324/.611 (11-for-36) in his last 11 games.

Ryan O’Hearn is playing first base and Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter.

TORONTO – They recently took two of three at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. And Friday as the Orioles started their first stretch of the year playing AL East opponents in back-to-back series, they got off to a winning start thanks to a pitcher that enjoys being a tone setter.

Right-hander Kyle Gibson, at 35 the oldest player on the club, has said he enjoys the challenge of pitching series-opening games. He has now done this five times this season and the Orioles are 4-1 in those games and they were shut out the only time they didn’t win.

But what a tone that was set last night. Gibson went seven innings at Rogers Centre allowing one run as the Orioles won 6-2 to improve to 13-2 in series openers and 8-0 in such games on the road.

Said manager Brandon Hyde: “Gibson definitely pitched like an ace tonight, there’s no doubt. This is such a tough environment to pitch in. A really good hitter’s ballpark against a powerhouse offensive team. For Kyle to go seven innings against them in their home ballpark, that is next level.”

The Orioles pitching has been stepping up the last few weeks against some good teams with a staff ERA of 3.04 the past 14 games and a rotation ERA of 3.29 in that span, allowing three runs or less nine times. The Orioles now have 13 quality starts and have gone 12-1 in those games.

TORONTO – Ryan Mountcastle likes to hit against Toronto Blue Jays pitching, he likes to hit at Rogers Centre and he likes to hit against Toronto lefty Yusei Kikuchi.

The Orioles turned that trifecta and a huge outing from right-hander Kyle Gibson into another series-opening win tonight as Mountcastle hit a three-run homer to trigger a 6-2 win over Toronto. It was a big victory for the Orioles (29-16) who began a six-game American League East road trip to Toronto and New York.

The Orioles won for the seventh time in 10 games. Over longer stretches, they have won 20 of 29 and 25 of 36 games. They are now 7-6 in AL East games and 13-2 in series-opening games. They are 8-0 when they open a series on the road.

Mountcastle again tormented Kikuchi. He mashed his three-run homer to center in the third inning, scoring Joey Ortiz, who singled, and Adley Rutschman, who walked. Mountcastle drilled a low and in 1-1 fastball that was thrown 96 mph and hit out at 106, and it went 419 feet for his 10^th homer. It was a huge swing early in this game for Mountcastle, who now has 15 homers and 36 RBIs in 43 career games versus Toronto.

Last season, Mountcastle went 4-for-6 against Kikuchi with a double and three homers. That blast tonight made him 5-for-10 in his career against the Toronto lefty. It was Mountcastle’s 70^th career big league homer and his sixth in 16 career games at Rogers Centre.

He was never ranked as the No. 1 pitching prospect in all of minor league baseball, but he was a top 100 prospect for several years coming up through the Minnesota Twins' farm system. And right-hander Kyle Gibson, a first-round draft pick in 2009 and the oldest member of the Baltimore clubhouse at 35, provided a strong endorsement this week for his rotation mate, Grayson Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, 23, currently is the No. 1 pitching prospect and ranked No. 4 overall in the top 100 by Baseball America and No. 6 by MLBPipeline.com.

But in his most recent outing Monday against the Los Angeles Angels, he gave up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings. He is 2-1 with a 6.57 ERA on the year, allowing an opponent OPS of .923. At times opponents have hit his fastball hard.

But Gibson, known to be a great and supportive teammate, will let you know he sees big things ahead for Rodriguez. He said that while the right-hander looks for most consistency with his pitches, another thing he needs to do right now is block out the outside noise. Maybe easy to say and harder to do since Gibson is aware some fans are questioning whether Rodriguez is all he was said to be as a top prospect.

Not an easy place to be for a young pitcher who awaits a start tomorrow afternoon in Toronto against a quality lineup.

Former Orioles starter Scott Erickson stood at his locker after a poor outing and offered a simple explanation to reporters for what happened to him, why the opposition kept getting on base. One sentence that said plenty about his pitching and his dour personality.

“I can make them hit it on the ground,” he said flatly, “but I can’t direct where it goes.”

Next question.

Kyle Gibson has a much better rapport with the media, but his luck this afternoon mirrored what Erickson experienced that day.

The seven Pirates hits were singles, with none of the launch angles registering above 14 degrees via Statcast data. A strikeout/wild pitch fueled a rally in the third that included ground balls from Ke’Bryan Hayes and Ji Hwan Bae that found holes on the right side of the infield and accounted for three runs.

After 6-3 and 2-0 wins this weekend, the Orioles (26-13) can complete their third series sweep of the year this afternoon at Oriole Park when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates (21-19).

Tyler Wells went seven innings Saturday night, allowing just one hit as Baltimore recorded its fourth straight win and fourth 2023 shutout. The Orioles begin today three games back of Tampa Bay for first in the American League East, and have won 17 of their past 23, 20 of 27 and 22 of 30.

Baltimore pitching has been on an eight-game roll:

* The team ERA is 2.21 over those eight games with 21 runs allowed.

* The rotation ERA is 1.74 in that span, allowing two earned runs or less seven times.

Yennier Cano received two days off after working two innings Thursday afternoon in Kansas City. He wasn’t available last night after retiring all six batters he faced Sunday in Atlanta.

The temptation to use him anyway must be strong, simply because he’s become one of the top relievers in baseball.

Just how good?

The examples are numerous and widely publicized. Here is another, according to STATS:

Cano has faced 49 batters and allowed two hits, walked none and nailed one batter, for a .103 opponents’ OPS, second lowest through 12 appearances since 2014.

The Orioles got length tonight from starter Kyle Gibson. They got a quality start, only the eighth in 35 games, and with the veteran right-hander responsible for half.

But would they get the win?

Gibson deserved it, and not just for again knocking down the five-inning wall. He held the Rays to one run through the sixth and came out after Luke Raley’s soft leadoff single.

The Rays loaded the bases with no outs against Bryan Baker, and Raley scored on Wander Franco’s fly ball to leave Gibson with two runs on his line. The Orioles couldn’t yank the loss from him, falling 3-0 before an announced crowd of 12,669 at Camden Yards.

Raley homered off Keegan Akin in the ninth, and the Orioles (22-13) have their first three-game losing streak and second shutout. Tampa Bay improved its record to 29-7, the best in baseball.