ST. LOUIS – The Orioles may be back to having one closer, and it’s once again veteran Craig Kimbrel. He buzzed through the ninth inning Sunday on 14 pitches with two strikeouts, recording the ninth save of his year and the 426th of his career. 

Over his past four games, he has thrown four hitless and scoreless innings, lowering his ERA from 4.73 to 3.63, with no walks and six strikeouts in that span.

So is he the main ninth-inning guy again?

“Well yeah, I think so. Probably,” manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon at Busch Stadium before the opener of the series and the road trip in St. Louis. “I’m going to see how he feels today. … He looked great yesterday. That was awesome. Really happy. Nice to get him a three-run lead, have a little cushion there. But I thought the stuff was outstanding.”

The Orioles are reunited today with their good friend and 2023 teammate, right-hander Kyle Gibson. He pitched to a 4.73 ERA over 192 innings for the Orioles and is 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA for the Cardinals and will face the O’s Wednesday afternoon.

Ryan Mountcastle is out of the Orioles lineup again tonight to begin a three-game series in St. Louis.

Mountcastle sat out Saturday's game and played first base yesterday. He had two doubles and a triple on May 11 but has one hit in his last 20 at-bats. He hasn’t drawn a walk since April 24.

Anthony Santander, who’s receiving treatment on a bruised and swollen left knee, is the designated hitter.

Jordan Westburg is batting cleanup for the second time in his career.

Cedric Mullins is in center field. Mullins stole his 100^th career base yesterday and needs three more to tie Corey Patterson for eighth in club history.

Cole Irvin understands the situation. The sub-3.00 ERA and the scoreless streak that reached 22 2/3 innings don’t make him immune to a sudden switch in roles.

Irvin would have started Wednesday afternoon against the Blue Jays if inclement weather hadn’t forced a postponement the previous night. He’s skipped in the rotation and sitting with the relievers.

The Orioles are listing Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish and John Means for the series in St. Louis. Grayson Rodriguez and Corbin Burnes would work on normal rest if they start the first two games in Chicago.

Irvin could hop back into the rotation, which is going to expand to six starters with one off-day in June. In the meantime, he’s finding ways to prevent any rust from accumulating, getting in his throwing without letting it impact his availability.

“We need another bullpen guy,” he said yesterday morning. “Unfortunately, we lost Big Mike (Baumann) and we need Grayson back and he’s healthy. Just a numbers thing, you know? I’m going to do my job the way I was doing it at the beginning of the year, the way I did it last year. Like, whatever the team needs of me I’m going to do. So, just keeping it simple, don’t think about it too much other than I have a job to do now out in the bullpen.”

Gunnar Henderson has got the routine down to where he could perform it in his sleep. But it makes more sense at the ballpark.

The loud contact leading off the first inning. Touching the bill of his helmet as he approaches second base and looks at the bullpen. The hop after stepping on home plate and slapping of hands above his head. The crouching low-five to the No. 2 hitter. The upright and aggressive double-smack with the next batter in front of the dugout.

Jordan Westburg greeted Henderson first today and Ryan O’Hearn was next in line. The major league co-leader in home runs got his 15^th today and fifth to start off the first inning. It doesn’t matter who’s on the mound. Henderson is in attack mode and flashing power that’s Derby worthy.

Henderson’s third homer in three days pointed the Orioles toward a 6-3 victory over the Mariners before an announced crowd of 30,494 at Camden Yards. They went 5-3 on the homestand, with a game rained out, and are 29-15 as they board a flight to St. Louis.

Corbin Burnes held Seattle to one run over six innings, scattering seven hits and tying his season high of 11 strikeouts from Opening Day. He struck out two in his last outing, a career low as a starter.

Anthony Santander can hit if he’s sent to the plate. His swollen and bruised left knee can handle it. But playing the outfield is on hold.

Santander is receiving treatment on the knee after he slammed it into the right field wall in the third inning Wednesday afternoon while chasing Bo Bichette’s fly ball that deflected off his glove and resulted in a two-run double.

The knee already was tender, and Santander aggravated it in the eighth inning while running the bases. He was replaced in right field in the top of the ninth and served as the designated hitter the past two games.

“The knee’s feeling OK,” he said. “It’s still swollen and bruised. A couple more days it’s gonna be fine.”

Santander said the soreness has been “the same” since Wednesday.

Adley Rutschman gets a rare day off this afternoon as the Orioles conclude their series against the Mariners at Camden Yards. They also have reached the end of their three-opponent homestand.

Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter. Colton Cowser is in right field while Anthony Santander receives treatment on a bruised left knee.

Austin Hays stays in the lineup in left field. Jordan Westburg is batting second for the first time in his career.

Ryan Mountcastle returns to the lineup. He hasn’t drawn a walk this month.

Corbin Burnes is working on an extra day of rest. He has a 2.68 ERA and 1.006 WHIP in nine games despite averaging 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings, the lowest of his career.

The lineup card is kept in Brandon Hyde’s office, commemorating his first win as a major league manager back on March 30, 2019 in the Bronx. Only his second game after being put in charge of guiding the team through a rebuild.

Hyde takes the occasional glance and can smile and cringe within seconds. He developed an unbreakable bond with those players but wouldn’t want to relive such a dark period in franchise history. Wouldn’t want to keep trying to wake up from the same nightmare.

Dwight Smith Jr. was in left field, Rule 5 pick Drew Jackson in center, Joey Rickard in right and Renato Núñez in the cleanup spot as the designated hitter. Richie Martin played shortstop. Jesús Sucre was the catcher.

The starting pitcher pops more than any other name, especially in comparison to the 2024 Orioles.

Nate Karns lasted two innings and Hyde used five relievers, beginning with Jimmy Yacabonis, to lock down a 5-3 victory. Mike Wright Jr. got the last two outs for the save.

The three weeks that passed since Grayson Rodriguez’s last start probably made today’s delay more tolerable. He had to wait almost three hours, the threat of rain more impactful than actual precipitation. But he was back in the rotation, short leash and all.

The only radar that interested him was clocking his fastball.

Rodriguez didn’t allow a hit until Julio Rodríguez’s infield single with one out in the sixth and didn’t surrender a run, but the bullpen buckled in the Orioles’ 4-3 loss to the Mariners before an announced crowd of 19,286 at Camden Yards.

Gunnar Henderson hit a two-out, opposite field home run off Andrés Muñoz in the ninth, his 14th of the season to lead the majors, but the Orioles fell to 28-15 and trail the first-place Yankees by two games.

Rodriguez settled for a no-decision rather than earning his fifth win because a 2-0 lead evaporated after he left.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had another difficult conversation this morning in his office, informing Mike Baumann that the popular reliever was designated for assignment to create room for starter Grayson Rodriguez.

Baumann wasn’t removed from the roster due to poor performance. The bullpen lacks flexibility with minor league options and Baumann had to go.

Hyde had to be the bearer of bad news, one of the most unpleasant aspects of his job.

“It’s been a really tough morning,” Hyde said. “Mike has been with us for a while. You think about the first half he had for us last year, how many games he helped us win, how good he was. Threw the ball really well last night. And on top of all those things, just the incredible person he was, unbelievable teammate, first-class pro in every single way. So well liked by the guys in our clubhouse.

“It’s been a gloomy morning.”

The Orioles reinstated Grayson Rodriguez from the injured list today and he’s starting against the Mariners at Camden Yards.

Mike Baumann was designated for assignment to make room on the active roster. The 40-man roster is down to 38 players.

Rodriguez hasn’t started since April 29 due to right shoulder inflammation. He avoided an injury rehab assignment.

The right-hander has never faced the Mariners.

Baumann tossed a scoreless inning last night and didn’t allow a run in three straight appearances and five of six, but the bullpen is low on optionable pieces. The Orioles can attempt to trade him or hope that he passes through waivers and is outrighted.

Austin Hays is more than an Orioles teammate to Cedric Mullins. They’ve built a close friendship over the years, climbing up the organizational ladder to the big leagues as homegrown products. They’ve stood in the same outfield with Anthony Santander at Double-A Bowie and talked about being together in Baltimore.

They’ve gone through so many ups and downs, individually and as a club. They lift each other.

Hays knows that Mullins will get hot again after beginning last night with five hits in his last 59 at-bats.

Asked what Mullins must do to get his season back on track, Hays smiled and said, “Just stay positive.”

“He’s still got six homers, he’s got (six) bags, his RBIs are there,” Hays said. “Just had a rough patch where the ball’s not falling. You just stay positive, you just continue to work on the right things. We know how this game goes. It’s a long season and things turn around quick. You have one good week, you’re MLB Player of the Week and all of a sudden your stats look pretty good again and you’re talking about how positive things are going.

John Means hadn’t faced the Mariners before tonight since throwing the sixth no-hitter in Orioles history back in 2021. Dylan Moore pulled his first pitch down the left-field line for a double.

Even the mere hint of a repeat wasn’t happening.

Jordan Westburg belted a leadoff home run Wednesday in his first career game atop the order, and Gunnar Henderson did the same tonight after returning to it.

A much more reasonable replication.

The Orioles inflicted damage over and over against Bryce Miller. The first six batters reached against him and the first five scored. Nine came to the plate. And Means found his rhythm.

Grayson Rodriguez will rejoin the Orioles without going on an injury rehab assignment.

The exact date of his return wasn’t shared this afternoon during manager Brandon Hyde’s media session, but a six-man rotation is in the works.

John Means is starting tonight against the Mariners in order to avoid an extended rest. Cole Irvin, who was supposed to start Wednesday against the Blue Jays before the previous night’s postponement altered the rotation, is in the bullpen tonight.

Means faced the Diamondbacks on May 11, which puts him on five days’ rest.

The Orioles must play 30 games in the next 31 days and 43 in the next 45 barring any weather interruptions.

Gunnar Henderson returns to the leadoff spot for tonight’s series opener against the Mariners at Camden Yards, with Jordan Westburg moving down to seventh.

Westburg hit leadoff for the first time in his major league career Wednesday while Henderson occupied the cleanup spot.

An opposing right-handed starter has returned the club to its usual order.

Kyle Stowers gets the start in left field, Colton Cowser is in center and Ryan O’Hearn is in right. Anthony Santander, who bruised his knee Wednesday, is the designated hitter.

Cedric Mullins, in a 5-for-59 slump, was on the field today for earlier batting practice. He joins Austin Hays on the bench.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded a pitch from Kyle Bradish up the middle Wednesday afternoon with two outs in the third inning, and George Springer surely thought he was going to score from second base. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson couldn’t make a diving stop. He appeared to be the last line of defense.

Jorge Mateo had other ideas, and his ridiculous range.

Mateo darted past the bag and corralled the ball to hold Springer at third base. Unfortunately for the Orioles, Bo Bichette followed with a fly ball to the right field warning track that Anthony Santander couldn’t grab before his knee slammed into the wall, resulting in two runs and a 2-1 lead.

The Fielding Bible Award winner at shortstop in 2022 is excelling at second base this year, to the point where he’s pretty much got regular duty rather than working in a utility role.

The play Wednesday wasn’t the only example of the vast territory he can cover. Remember how he hustled to first base to take the relay throw on a double play? How often does that happen?

Anthony Santander led off the fourth inning yesterday with a single and poked a double down the left field line to begin the eighth before the pain from a bruised knee led to his removal in right field. Colton Cowser, who shaved his beard to “change things up,” broke his bat on a fourth-inning single and snapped a 7-for-55 streak. Austin Hays played in his first game since April 20 in Kansas City and delivered a pinch-hit double in the seventh after beginning the season 5-for-45.

Cedric Mullins was removed for Hays after popping up and striking out to extend his slump to 5-for-59.

That’s the latest update on the Orioles outfield. Some promising moments that proceeded Adley Rutschman’s walk-off home run. Not a clean sweep when it comes to perhaps busting out of funks.

The Orioles improved to 27-14 heading into their off-day and are winning without everyone at peak performance. Some players are far from it. And the club must monitor Santander’s knee – he played chess in the clubhouse afterward rather than being in the trainers’ room, which seemed encouraging – and Hays’ calf that forced manager Brandon Hyde to pinch-run for him despite his reinstatement this week from the injured list.

Minds aren’t closed to certain roster upgrades. However, the Orioles don’t appear to have reached a point where they’re going to actively pursue an outfielder in trade or from the waiver wire. They seem more inclined to trust track records and their internal options.

Adley Rutschman took a big swing, stumbled back and twisted his torso, looking like a golfer using body English to keep the ball from hitting the water or sand.

Rutschman crossed home plate and was drenched.

The second walk-off home run of his career in the ninth inning gave the Orioles an improbable 3-2 win over the Blue Jays before an announced “Field Trip Day” crowd of 29,578 at Camden Yards. Jordan Westburg led off with an infield single against Jordan Romano after defensive replacement Isiah Kiner-Falefa mishandled a grounder and Rutschman lofted a high drive to right that kept carrying to the first row of the flag court.

The ball bounced onto the field and Rutschman waved his arm above his head to signal home run. A review upheld his gesture.

"I was running out of the box, I got around the bases pretty quick," he said at his locker after a long postgame workout. "It snuck out."

Gunnar Henderson has served as Orioles leadoff hitter in every game this season, but he’s in the cleanup spot this afternoon against the Blue Jays. Jordan Westburg bats first for the first time in his major league career.

Why Westburg?

The Blue Jays announced this morning that they’d give the ball to left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, but matchups haven’t impacted Henderson in the past.

“Just a little bit the way our lineup is with two lefties at the bottom,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “A bunch of things, but having Gunnar in a little bit more of an RBI spot, having those four guys at the top with (Anthony) Santander in the middle there. We’ll see what it looks like.”

Hyde keeps praising the quality of Westburg’s at-bats, which makes the infielder a viable candidate at the top.

The Orioles will try again today to squeeze in a game against the Blue Jays despite more rain in the forecast.

Jordan Westburg is leading off for the first time in his major league career. Gunnar Henderson moves to the cleanup spot for the 11^th time.

Kyle Bradish makes his third start after allowing two runs and striking out 14 batters in 9 2/3 innings following his reinstatement from the injured list. He’s made seven career starts against the Blue Jays and registered a 5.25 ERA and 1.417 WHIP in 36 innings.

Orioles starters have gone an average of 5.7 innings per start, fifth-highest in the majors, per STATS. The Blue Jays are 14^th at 5.3.

George Springer is 7-for-17 with four doubles and a home run against Bradish. Bo Bichette is 5-for-15 with two homers, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 5-for-17 with a homer, and Alejandro Kirk is 5-for-10 with a double.

Last night’s postponement due to the inclement weather and ominous forecast, which carries into this morning, led to the easy decision by the Orioles to push back Kyle Bradish for the series finale against the Blue Jays.

Cole Irvin was supposed to start today, but he could pitch Friday night against the Mariners in the third leg of the season’s longest homestand. This is working under the assumption that today’s game is played or rescheduled for Thursday’s mutual off-day if rain again impacts the schedule.

Meanwhile, the Orioles haven’t decided what’s next for Grayson Rodriguez and whether a six-man rotation is imminent. That’s a much harder call.

Rodriguez had another successful side session on Sunday, meaning that his shoulder is pain-free and he’s built up to 30 pitches. He’s expected to throw again in the bullpen, which could lead to a brief rehab assignment or reinstatement from the injured list.

It’s all in the timing, how quickly he is deemed ready to face major league hitters. The longer it takes, of course, the more likely that he joins an affiliate. He hasn’t appeared in a game since April 29 and was eligible to return today.