The first three pitches from Grayson Rodriguez tonight were clocked at 98.9, 99.2 and 99.8 mph, resulting in a fly ball from Dodgers leadoff hitter Mookie Betts.

That’s when he decided to turn up the heat.

Rodriguez concluded an eight-pitch at-bat against Freddie Freeman by getting him to ground a 101-mph fastball to third baseman Ramón Urías. Six of his pitches exceeded 100 mph in the inning. He didn’t top 99.3 during his first stint with the club.

This wasn’t the same version of Rodriguez. Not until he came back out for the sixth.

Twice handed three-run leads, Rodriguez couldn’t record an out in the sixth and watched from the dugout as Chris Taylor hit a grand slam off Bryan Baker in the Dodgers’ 6-4 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 21,956 at Camden Yards.

Dan Simonds didn’t need consecutive years to form an opinion on Mac Horvath. He didn’t even need a full season.

The relatively brief amount of time that Horvath spent at IMG Academy in Florida revealed traits that made him special. Intangibles that Simonds knew would separate Horvath from a talented group of players.

The total package prompted the Orioles to draft Horvath in the second round last week out of the University of North Carolina. Maybe a little higher than Simonds imagined before Horvath walked onto the Chapel Hill campus, but understandable based on the projections.

Simonds has spent 10 years at IMG Academy and oversees the entire operation as Baseball Director, including camps that run throughout the summer, winter and spring, and the professional training at the Bradenton facility. Horvath transferred from Century High School in Minnesota for his senior year.

In the fall of 2019. Before the world shut down early in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

The amateur draft resumes this afternoon with the third through 10^th rounds. The Orioles have nine selections, including a Round 3 compensation pick, the 100^th overall, for failing to sign Oklahoma State pitcher Nolan McLean last summer.

The Orioles are choosing 86^th overall, 100^th, 118^th, 154^th, 181^st, 211^th, 241^st, 271^st and 301^st.

They are thrilled with the results at Nos. 17, 53 and 63.

Picking later than ever under executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, the Orioles grabbed Vanderbilt center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., North Carolina outfielder Mac Horvath and Florida State strikeout machine Jackson Baumeister – a good nickname when you’re a pitcher.

“Ecstatic,” director of draft operations Brad Ciolek said on a video call.