Adley Rutschman is leading off tonight against Red Sox left-hander Brennan Bernardino, who’s only made two starts among his 44 appearances and will serve as an opener.
Colton Cowser moves down to fifth in the order. Eloy Jiménez is the designated hitter.
Ramón Urías makes another start at third base.
Corbin Burnes makes his 25th start for the Orioles. Nineteen of the first 24 are quality, and he’s gone 12-4 with a 2.71 ERA and 1.049 WHIP.
Burnes has made two starts against the Red Sox this year and held them to a combined two runs (one earned) and five hits in 14 innings. He’s faced them three times in his career and allowed five runs (three earned) and 10 hits in 19 innings.
Austin Slater is leading off and playing left field tonight and Coby Mayo is at third base against a left-handed opposing starter.
Eloy Jiménez is the designated hitter. Colton Cowser is in center field.
Jackson Holliday stays at second base and is batting ninth.
Dean Kremer has made two career starts against the Nationals and is 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings.
Kremer has held opponents to a .523 OPS his first time through the order, compared to .817 for the rest of the game.
Coby Mayo is out of the Orioles lineup for tonight’s series opener against the Nationals at Camden Yards.
Ramón Urías gets the start at third base. Ryan O’Hearn is serving as the designated hitter.
Colton Cowser is in left field, Cedric Mullins is in center and Anthony Santander is in right.
Left-hander Trevor Rogers is making his third start with the Orioles after allowing seven earned runs and eight total in 9 1/3 innings. He’s faced the Nationals twice this season with the Marlins and allowed five runs in 12 innings.
Rogers has made 10 career starts against Washington and posted a 3.35 ERA and 1.283 WHIP in 48 1/3 innings. He’s never allowed more than three earned runs.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Zach Eflin returns to Tropicana Field tonight as an opposing pitcher, making his first start at Tampa Bay since the Rays traded him to the Orioles.
Eflin has two quality starts in his two outings with the Orioles, allowing a combined five runs and 15 hits in 12 1/3 innings. He’s walked only one batter.
Eflin has registered a 3.08 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) at Tropicana Field. He’s made two career appearances (one start) against the Rays and allowed four runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle and Coby Mayo are out of tonight’s lineup.
Jackson Holliday is batting sixth. Ramón Urías is playing third base.
CLEVELAND – Austin Slater is leading off for the Orioles tonight in a right-handed version of their lineup.
Ryan Mountcastle is batting second. Eloy Jiménez makes his first start as the designated hitter. Coby Mayo is at third base.
Adley Rutschman is on the bench. Jackson Holliday stays at second base.
Zach Eflin makes his second Orioles start after allowing three runs and 10 hits in six innings against the Blue Jays in his debut. His only career start against the Guardians, on Aug. 13, 2023, was a struggle as he gave up six runs and nine hits in three innings. Andrés Giménez homered.
Eflin has never pitched at Progressive Field.
Zach Eflin makes his Orioles debut today in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards.
Eflin made his last Tampa Bay start against the Blue Jays in Toronto and allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings. He also faced them May 18 at Rogers Centre and allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings. His first start in 2024 also was against the Jays, at Tropicana Field, and he surrendered six runs in 5 2/3 innings.
George Springer, Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit home runs.
Eflin owns a 5.90 ERA and 1.487 WHIP in eight career games (seven starts) against the Jays. Guerrero is 6-for-16 with a double and two home runs.
The right-hander is making his third career start at Camden Yards. He’s allowed five runs in 13 innings there.
The Orioles activated new starter Zach Eflin and assigned him uniform No. 24. Eflin threw yesterday and is a candidate to start one of the games in Monday’s doubleheader.
Reliever Bryan Baker was optioned after yesterday’s game.
The Orioles will try to avoid a sweep this afternoon with Colton Cowser leading off and playing left field. Gunnar Henderson is batting third. Henderson has committed an error in three consecutive games.
Cedric Mullins is in center field again after his two-run double and two-run homer yesterday. His 430-foot shot was the third-longest of his career.
Adley Rutschman is on the bench. He’s 9-for-68 (.132) this month.
The Orioles are playing a home game tonight for the first time since the dramatic walk-off win against the Yankees on July 14. They’re 30-22 at Camden Yards and 31-19 on the road.
The Padres are making their first visit since 2019, which again brings Manny Machado back to Baltimore. They won both games.
Only the Giants have gone longer without returning to Baltimore, edging the Padres by 24 days.
Heston Kjerstad is in left field and Colton Cowser is in center. Connor Norby is playing second base and batting ninth.
Kjerstad now dresses at the locker that used to belong to Austin Hays, who was traded today to the Phillies for reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache. Domínguez and Pache didn’t have lockers set up this afternoon and the Orioles didn’t announce another roster move.
MIAMI – The Orioles made a few roster moves to get right-hander Chayce McDermott from the taxi squad to the active roster. He will make his big league debut tonight and get the start on the mound versus the Marlins.
To get McDermott on the active roster, right-hander Bryan Baker was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. To add him to the 40-man roster, right-hander Jonathan Heasley was designated for assignment.
McDermott will wear No. 60.
Over 20 games at Triple-A, he went 3-5 with a 3.96 ERA. In 91 innings, he had a 5.34 walks-per-nine-innings rate and 12.76 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate.
McDermott leads the International League in strikeouts and is tied for the overall minor league lead.
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles go for the sweep of the Rangers this afternoon with Adley Rutschman leading off, Austin Hays in left field and Ryan Mountcastle at first base.
Gunnar Henderson is on the bench.
Hays is 5-for-12 with two doubles and two home runs against Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney. Mountcastle is 4-for-8 with two doubles and two homers.
Jordan Westburg is batting second and playing second base. Jorge Mateo is the shortstop. Colton Cowser is in center field and James McCann is catching.
Dean Kremer is the No. 3 starter in the rotation coming out of the break. He’s gone four and 4 2/3 innings in his last two outings.
The Orioles close out the first half this morning with Austin Hays in the lineup after he left yesterday’s game with hip soreness.
Colton Cowser is in center field, starting again versus a left-hander. James McCann is catching and Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.
Jorge Mateo is playing second base.
Kyle Stowers is here but on the bench again today.
Dean Kremer has a 4.42 ERA and 1.186 WHIP in 11 starts. He faced the Yankees on April 30 in Baltimore and allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings. Austin Wells and Juan Soto homered.
The Orioles tweaked the bullpen again this afternoon.
Right-hander Vinny Nittoli had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk and rookie starter Cade Povich was optioned after last night’s game.
Left-hander Danny Coulombe was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster.
Nittoli allowed one run and struck out four batters in three innings with Norfolk. The Orioles signed him to a minor league contract on July 2 after the Cubs designated him for assignment.
Nittoli appeared in seven games with the Athletics this season and allowed two runs in eight innings. He appeared in one game with the Mariners in 2021, two with the Phillies in 2022 and three with the Mets last summer. He’s registered a career 3.07 ERA in 14 2/3 innings.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde gave some props to the fans today. The Orioles-Cubs game last night, the series opener that Chicago won 9-2, saw an attendance of 30,373.
According to the Baltimore Sun, that was the largest Tuesday night crowd at Oriole Park since the Orioles and Mets drew 34,068 on Aug. 18, 2015.
“You know, I remember it when we had some 8,000 nights," said Hyde. "So, to have 30,000, wish we would have played better. To have people support us, the fans and the area support us the way they are, it’s a noticeable difference.
“You just feel more of a buzz. More of a buzz in the crowd and you are not hearing individual conversations above your dugout. It’s more of a big baseball feel. You hear the roar of the crowd instead of individual sections.”
At this point there are four Orioles headed to the All-Star Game in Texas: starters Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, along with pitcher Corbin Burnes and infielder Jordan Westburg.
Austin Hays is in the Orioles lineup tonight for the first time since Tuesday. His knee soreness has dissipated and the Rangers are starting left-hander Andrew Heaney. It’s time for him to play.
Left field is back in Hays’ possession.
Ryan Mountcastle is on the bench, where he also began last night’s game before pinch-hitting. An explanation will come later.
Heston Kjerstad, who hit a grand slam last night, is the designated hitter while Ryan O’Hearn plays first base. Jordan Westburg is the cleanup hitter. Colton Cowser is in center field and batting ninth.
Gunnar Henderson’s on-base streak has reached 36 games. He’s leading off against a left-hander, with Adley Rutschman batting second.
The Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak last night and are rewarded with four against the Rangers, who swept them in the Division Series last year and won the World Series.
Heston Kjerstad is in right field tonight and Anthony Santander is on the bench.
Colton Cowser is in left field. Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter. Jorge Mateo starts at second base and Jordan Westburg is at third.
Gunnar Henderson’s on-base streak has reached 33 games. He hit his 26th home run last night. The only shortstop to have more homers before July is Alex Rodriguez with 27 in 1998, per STATS.
Here’s the list of Orioles with 25-plus home runs before July:
The Orioles announced today that they signed first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper to a minor league contract. He’ll report to Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday.
Cooper, 33, appeared in a combined 36 games with the Cubs and Red Sox and batted .206/.267/.299 with five doubles, one triple, one home run and 11 RBIs. He’s played for five teams in the majors beginning in 2017 with the Yankees and hit .265/.333/.427 in 517 games.
Cooper was an All-Star with the Marlins in 2022. Three years earlier, he batted .281 with 16 doubles, 15 home runs, 50 RBIs and a .791 OPS in 107 games.
Last season, Cooper hit a combined 17 home runs with 61 RBIs in 123 games between the Marlins and Padres.
The Red Sox acquired Cooper from the Cubs in April for cash considerations and released him 11 days ago.
The Orioles will try to rebound today from last night’s bizarre 14-11 loss to the Astros in Houston. A win would have moved them into first place because the Yankees also lost.
Colton Cowser is in right field and Ryan O’Hearn is in left again. Austin Hays stays on the bench.
Anthony Santander, who’s homered 11 times this month, is the designated hitter.
O’Hearn is batting .400 against low pitches in June after posting a .125 average entering the month, per STATS.
Adley Rutschman, who had his second career five-hit game last night, is catching Corbin Burnes again.
NEW YORK – Jordan Westburg is leading off tonight and James McCann is catching as the Orioles begin a three-game series against the Yankees that could flip-flop the top two positions in the division standings.
Gunnar Henderson is batting cleaneup. The Orioles are 43-10 when Henderson homers in his major league career.
Austin Hays is in left field and Colton Cowser is in center. Hays, Cowser and Cedric Mullins took early batting practice this afternoon.
Anthony Santander is batting .295/.353/.721 this month with two doubles, eight home runs and 14 RBIs in 16 games. He hit .207/.294/.415 in May.
The Orioles have homered in 16 consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors this season and their longest since going deep in 18 straight from Sept. 6-24, 2019.
The Orioles will try for back-to-back sweeps this afternoon, raising their total to six, as they close out their series against the Braves at Camden Yards.
Ryan Mountcastle is out of the lineup. Ryan O’Hearn gets the start at first base and Kyle Stowers is the designated hitter. Stowers hasn’t played since Saturday due to soreness in his right wrist.
Cedric Mullins is in center field. He has two multi-hit games in his last four. The Orioles are 7-0 when he has multiple hits.
Colton Cowser is the left fielder after last night’s tie-breaking two-run homer. Jordan Westburg is at third base. Adley Rutschman is catching a day game after a night game.
Gunnar Henderson extended his career-high on-base streak to 20 straight games, the longest by an Oriole since Mountcastle’s 28 games from July 21-Aug. 23, 2023.
Austin Hays is in left field again tonight after collecting three hits in the series opener against the Braves.
Hays is slashing .347/.377/.592 (17-for-49) since returning from the injured list on May 13. He has 10 hits in his last 21 at-bats.
Jorge Mateo is batting .353 when ahead in the count this season. He’s at second base again and Ramón Urías is at third. Jordan Westburg goes to the bench.
Cedric Mullins is in center field, putting Colton Cowser on the bench. Ryan O’Hearn is in right field and batting cleanup.
Anthony Santander is serving as the designated hitter.