ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles won’t have Jorge Mateo on their roster for an extended stretch and could be without him for the remainder of the season.

Mateo suffered a “moderate” hamstring strain Sunday with Triple-A Norfolk, according to interim manager Tony Mansolino, and is projected to miss eight-to-12 weeks.

The past two summers have brought terrible health news to Mateo, who underwent reconstructive left elbow surgery in 2024 and didn’t play after July 23. Mateo went on the injured list this year retroactive to June 7 with left elbow inflammation resulting from an outfield collision with Heston Kjerstad.

Mateo strained his hamstring while running to first base during his rehab assignment. He was 6-for-13 with a home run for the Tides, and the Orioles held hopes of adding his speed and defensive versatility before the break.

The bat never heated up for Mateo, who slashed .180/.231/.279 in 32 games. The projected length of his absence matches the one given to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Mountcastle’s IL stint was retroactive to May 31.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Jordan Westburg is out of the lineup tonight for the fourth consecutive game with a sore left index finger.

Westburg could be available to pinch-hit, but the Orioles don’t want to risk worsening his condition. They also are hesitant to put him on the injured list. So, he sits.

Ramón Laureano is batting second as the designated hitter. Gary Sánchez is catching.

Dylan Carlson, recalled earlier today, is in right field and batting ninth.

Charlie Morton is playing long toss in the outfield to test his right elbow.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• RHP Kyle Tyler elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles have made another series of roster moves because it’s 2025.

Catcher Chadwick Tromp went on the injured list today with a lower back strain and Jacob Stallings had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk. Outfielder Dylan Carlson was recalled and infielder Emmanuel Rivera was designated for assignment.

Tromp left last night’s game in the third after injuring his back on a swing. He’s 3-for-16 with a double and home run with the Orioles.

Adley Rutschman (oblique) and Maverick Handley (concussion) also are on the injured list, and the Orioles signed Stallings a week ago to provide depth. He’s spent parts of six seasons with the Pirates, two with the Marlins and two with the Rockies and is a career .143/.217/.179 hitter in 561 games.

Stallings, 35, went 4-for-10 with two RBIs in three games with Norfolk. He’s wearing No. 25.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled OF Dylan Carlson from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Selected the contract of C Jacob Stallings from Triple-A Norfolk. He will wear No. 25.
• Placed C Chadwick Tromp (lower back strain) on the 10-day Injured List.
• Designated INF Emmanuel Rivera for assignment.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles might run out of catchers before they run out of time to convince the front office that they can contend in 2025.

A 10-6 win over the Rangers tonight at Globe Life Field featured another impressive start from Trevor Rogers, though falling short of his previous gem, and an emergency that also forced him to bat.

There also was a bouncing ball to follow that cracked a late lead, Gunnar Henderson's left-on-left, two-run homer against Robert Garcia in the 10th, Colton Cowser's 425-foot blast off Shawn Armstrong, and Adolis García’s 417-foot, three-run shot to left off Keegan Akin in the bottom of the 10th – accompanied by bat flip, scream and flex.

Luis Vázquez, batting in the pitcher's spot, delivered a go-ahead single off Hoby Milner in the 11th for his second major league hit, Ramón Laureano drove in a run with his third double and fourth hit, and Henderson followed with a two-run double. Akin was credited with the win after Andrew Kittredge retired the side in order.

File this one under more season insanity for the Orioles.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The injury updates for the Orioles create a health spray chart.

The bad news today seemed to override the good.

* Zach Eflin was placed on the 15-day injured list this afternoon, as expected, with tightness in his lower back.

* Brandon Young was recalled, as expected, but he’s starting Tuesday night against the Rangers because Charlie Morton has a mild case of tendinitis in his right elbow. Morton is pushed back to Friday night in Atlanta.

* Jordan Westburg could be available tonight after hitting in the cage earlier today to test his sore left index finger. The club is hoping that Westburg returns to the lineup Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled RHP Brandon Young from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Placed RHP Zach Eflin (low back discomfort) on the 15-day Injured List, retroactive to June 29.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles haven’t announced a roster move this afternoon, which at least temporarily keeps starter Zach Eflin active while he’s dealing with lower back tightness.

Update: The Orioles just put Eflin on the IL, and Brandon Young was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. Young is eligible because he’s replacing an injured player.

Eflin lasted one inning Saturday after the discomfort surfaced in the bullpen. He tried to pitch through it and allowed four runs.

Eflin missed a month earlier this season with a lat strain.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers is facing the Rangers again tonight after shutting them out on three hits over eight innings in his last outing at Camden Yards. He’s made three starts for the Orioles and allowed three runs in 16 2/3 innings, with three walks and 13 strikeouts.

Since Mike Elias and company took the reins in 2019, the Orioles have been one of, if not the most, successful drafting teams in the league. 

Of course, having some top five selections have helped to solidify that podium placement, allowing Baltimore to draft talents like Adley Rutschman, Heston Kjerstad, Colton Cowser and Jackson Holliday. But, it’s important to note that those high draft picks weren’t necessary to acquire great talent. 

In that 2019 draft class, when Rutschman was selected first overall, Gunnar Henderson was drafted by the O’s with the 42nd pick, Kyle Stowers 71st, and Joey Ortiz 108th. 

A year later, when Kjerstad was the second overall pick, Jordan Westburg was 30th and Coby Mayo was 103rd. 

Great drafts aren’t just made by the drafts themselves, though. Once the players are selected, their new player development system is responsible for getting them through the minor leagues and to the big leagues. 

Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino hung the label of “day game Deano” on his starting pitcher this afternoon, though Kremer’s splits in reality are slightly better at night.

Mansolino turned out to be correct, whether by accident or some sort of premonition.

Kremer shut out the Rays on three hits over seven innings and the Orioles claimed the series with a crisp 5-1 victory before an announced crowd of 19,226 at Camden Yards.

The homestand ends with the Orioles splitting six games to leave their overall record at 36-47. They’ve gone 15-11 this month and are 20-13 since Game 2 on May 24.

"Every divisional series win is beneficial and advantageous down the road," Kremer said. "If we get into a spot where we’re competing for a Wild Card spot, we get to hold it over their head down the stretch. So it’s big winning all of our divisional games."

The Orioles are losing another starting pitcher.

Zach Eflin is trending toward the injured list in the next 24 hours, according to interim manager Tony Mansolino. Eflin exited yesterday’s game after one inning with lower back tightness that he felt in the bullpen, and his condition didn’t improve this morning.

This would be Eflin’s second trip to the IL. He’s made only 12 starts and posted a 5.95 ERA and 1.435 WHIP in 62 innings.

“At that point, depending on how today goes, we’ll make the next move in accordance with that,” Mansolino said.

The Orioles could recall Brandon Young after optioning him on Friday.

The Orioles made another roster move this morning, which is becoming part of their daily routine.

Matt Bowman has his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk and Kade Strowd was optioned to provide a fresh arm for the bullpen.

Luis F. Castillo was reinstated from the minor league seven-day injured list and designated for assignment.

Bowman has a 4.57 ERA in 18 games with the Orioles. Strowd made back-to-back appearances this weekend and allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings.

The Orioles acquired Castillo from the Mariners on May 8 for cash considerations. He made two appearances with the Florida Complex League team and allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings.

The unsettled status of the Orioles’ rotation broadened yesterday with Zach Eflin’s lower back tightness and disappearance after only one inning. The series against the Rays concludes today with Dean Kremer starting, and the current roster has Trevor Rogers, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano lined up for the Rangers series in Arlington.

Eflin’s availability for his next start is up in the air, and likely to land before Jonathan Aranda’s home run ball. His turn arrives on the off-day and he could pitch Friday night in Atlanta if healthy. A trip to the injured list, and it’s premature to speculate, could return Brandon Young to the majors. He must stay down a minimum 15 days unless replacing an injured player.

Off-days Thursday and July 7 could prompt the Orioles to stick with a temporary four-man arrangement.

The next call isn’t going to left-hander Cade Povich.

Povich is eligible to return on Tuesday but the Orioles want to give him more work on his injury rehab assignment. He started for Triple-A Norfolk Thursday and allowed three earned runs and five total with seven hits, one walk and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He threw 75 pitches

Zach Eflin’s attempts at a bounce back started with a thud.

Tampa Bay leadoff hitter Josh Lowe doubled in the first inning and chugged home on Brandon Lowe’s single. The throw enabled the runner to move into scoring position, but it didn’t matter.  Jonathan Aranda homered with one out, Junior Caminero and Jake Mangum singled, and a fielder’s choice gave the Rays a quick four-run lead.

The Orioles didn’t have another comeback at the ready. They didn’t have Eflin by the second inning.

Eflin threw 28 pitches and came out of the game with lower back tightness, replaced by Scott Blewett in an 11-3 loss to the Rays before an announced crowd of 30,491 at sunny Camden Yards.

Ramón Laureano hit his 10^th home run in the ninth after Coby Mayo singled, but quiet bats had influenced the outcome. 

Interim manager Tony Mansolino remains confident that infielder Jordan Westburg will avoid the injured list.

Westburg dived into second base last night and jammed the left index finger that he sprained in New York, but X-rays for a fracture were negative.

“Very day-to-day, not nearly as bad as last time,” Mansolino said. “Probably couple days would be my guess. So I think it will be a little quicker than last time.”

Emanuel Rivera is in the clubhouse to give the Orioles an extra infielder.

“With the way things are kind of situated right now, it made sense,” Mansolino said.

The ticking clock doesn’t make a sound in baseball parlance. It’s more of a visual thing, counting down until reaching a date and time of particular importance.

For the Orioles, the exactness is missing in their response to the trade deadline. Though it arrives on July 31, how they react remains in discussion.

When must the front office reveal itself as sellers or buyers? And is it pink for sell and blue for buy?

The day started with the Orioles 11 games below .500 and seven behind for the last Wild Card. They’d need to perform an Olympian vault over seven other teams to reach the postseason for the third year in a row.

The math says it’s a stretch.

The Orioles are hoping that they have more runs in the tank today after scoring 22 last night, which fell one short of the franchise record.

Jordan Westburg is out of the lineup after reinjuring his left index finger last night on a dive into second base. X-rays were negative for a fracture.

Needing another infielder while Westburg is day-to-day, the Orioles selected Emmanuel Rivera’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk, optioned outfielder Dylan Carlson and designated pitcher Kyle Tyler for assignment.

Carlson is batting .241/.278/.389 in 40 games. Rivera is hitting .232/.303/.275 in 25 games with the Orioles.

Tyler was selected on waivers from the Phillies on June 15. He made two relief appearances with Norfolk and allowed one earned run and two total with six hits in four innings.

As the industry perception builds that the Orioles will be sellers at the trade deadline, their bullpen is attracting the expected interest.

The collective stats aren’t impressive, but woven in are numbers from position players Gary Sánchez, Emmanuel Rivera, Jorge Mateo and Luis Vázquez. The first three combined to allow 17 runs in three emergency innings. Vázquez tossed a scoreless inning last Saturday.

Catcher Jacob Stallings, signed to a major league contract on Tuesday and sent to Triple-A Norfolk, has made nine career relief appearances and allowed five runs in 11 innings. But he’s in the organization to fill a need behind the plate, not on the mound.

Pending free agents Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto are obvious targets due to their contracts and past production. Domínguez retired the side in order last night in the sixth and extended his streak to 14 appearances in a row without an earned run allowed. An automatic runner scored against him in the 10^th inning Tuesday against the Rangers.

Domínguez has let only one of 20 inherited runners score. Mark Thurmond holds the single-season franchise record of 10.5 percent scoring in 1988. Domínguez’s five percent is second on the club this year behind Keegan Akin’s 4.2.

The good news came early for the Orioles tonight, as if they were owned a few breaks. The temperature dipped into the mid-70s to provide some relief from the scorching heat. CB Bucknor wouldn’t work the plate in the series, confined instead to the bases for three games. Tomoyuki Sugano struck out the first two batters he faced and retired the Rays in order. Jordan Westburg doubled in the bottom of the first on a 106.6 mph liner that deflected off third baseman Junior Caminero.

And then, the bad times rolled. Westburg dived into the bag and reinjured his index finger, which led to his removal an inning later. The Rays homered three times off Sugano in the second, including Brandon Lowe’s three-run shot.

The cliché about two teams heading in opposite directions unfolded and then paused, with the Orioles playing the opposite role in a big blown lead versus the Rays. They did the rallying this time, along with some major venting, in a preposterous 22-8 victory before an announced crowd of 20,047 at misty Camden Yards.

Gary Sánchez had four RBIs, including a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth, Coby Mayo hit his first major league homer - off a shortstop - and also drove in four runs, and the Orioles (35-46) won for the second time in six games. The Rays (46-36) lost for only the fourth time in 14 games.

"You know over the course of 162 there's going to be a lot of ups and downs. There's going to be a lot of highs and lows, and we've had our lows. Tonight was a high," said interim manager Tony Mansolino.