When the Orioles just played in Toronto, they won the first two games of a four-game series, but lost the third and fourth games at Rogers Centre. With that memory, the O's take the field in St. Petersburg today against the Rays after wins in the first two games of another series.

The Orioles have now gone 21 straight series versus American League East teams without losing one. They have won 14 and tied six in this span. This series will end no worse than a tie, but one more victory and the O's will win another AL East series.

At 15-6 (.714), the Orioles are the only team in the division with a winning record against the division. The Yankees are 8-8, the Blue Jays are 9-10, the Red Sox are 5-8 and the Rays are 10-15.

This year, the Birds are 3-3 against Toronto, 4-1 versus Tampa Bay, 5-1 against Boston and 3-1 against New York.

The Orioles have won seven of their last 10 games, eight of 12, and 12 of 16. At 41-22 (.651), the Birds are tied with the Guardians for the third-best record in the major leagues behind the Yankees (.682, 45-21) and Phillies (.703, 45-19). Since the start of 2023, Baltimore is 142-83 (.631), the best winning percentage and most wins in the majors.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Kyle Stowers is out of the Orioles lineup this afternoon after leaving yesterday's game with a sore right elbow.

Cedric Mullins gets the start in center field, with the Orioles trying to claim another series against a division opponent. The worst they can do is a split.

Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter, with Ryan O’Hearn at first base. Jordan Westburg is at second base and Ramón Urías is at third. Colton Cowser, with his right calf wrapped, is in left field.

Austin Hays remains out of the lineup. He came off the bench yesterday, played left field and doubled.

O’Hearn has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games, batting .326 (15-for-46) with two doubles, three home runs, five RBIs, two walks and nine runs scored.

From the 2017 through the 2022 seasons, the Orioles had just one player represent them at the All-Star Game. There was no game in 2020.

But last year, the club broke through in getting four players on the American League team in outfielder Austin Hays, catcher Adley Rutschman and relievers Félix Baustista and Yennier Cano.

The club could get four again, maybe even more. They should have three near-locks in Gunnar Henderson, Rutschman and pitcher Corbin Burnes to make the team, whether they get voted in or added later.

All-Star voting began Wednesday and phase one of the balloting runs through June 27. Click here to vote.

During the Toronto series, manager Brandon Hyde was asked if there is one player in particular he wants to push to make the game this summer, which will be played July 16 in Arlington, Texas.

PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles are inching closer to a potentially tough roster decision. It won’t be their first or last.

Jorge Mateo is eligible to return from the seven-day concussion injured list on Monday. Connor Norby had his contract selected last Monday. The team could just reverse it and option Norby, who singled yesterday and is 3-for-14 with a home run since his promotion.

The bolder move would be to option Cedric Mullins, who went 0-for-3 with a walk yesterday and is 0-for-24 and 1-for-31.

We don’t know whether the Orioles have reached that point or gotten anywhere near it.

Mullins fell behind two strikes in his first at-bat, worked the count to 2-2 and struck out on a 97.6 mph fastball from Taj Bradley. He struck out on three pitches in the fifth, the last a 97.1 mph fastball, and popped up in the seventh with the count 2-2. He was down 1-2 in the ninth before walking, and he scored on Gunnar Henderson’s three-run shot.

After a satisfying win in the series-opener on Friday night - they hit well with three more homers and pitched well, allowing just two earned runs - the Orioles look for another win this afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the latest solid outing for Baltimore pitchers, lefty Cole Irvin allowed two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings on 85 pitches. He is now 6-2 with a 2.87 ERA. Irvin now has enough innings to qualify for the American League leaders, and he ranks 10th in the AL in ERA while teammate Corbin Burnes is fifth at 2.26.

To qualify, a pitcher needs one inning per team game, so with the O's having played 62 games, Irvin just makes it today with 62 2/3.

The Orioles' team ERA is now 3.27, second-best in the American League and fourth-best in the majors.

The O's are really on a pitching roll over the past 35 games, with a team ERA of 2.80 that is third in the majors in that span behind the Yankees (2.51) and Phillies (2.55). The O's are 23-12 in this stretch of games.

It was the starting pitching performance that had manager Brandon Hyde raving about his right-hander after the game in Toronto and even more the next day.

It was the work on Monday night of Grayson Rodriguez against the Blue Jays. And not because he blew hitters away or piled up strikeouts, or put up a scoreless outing, but because he got outs quickly. He was both good and very pitch-efficient.

Rodriguez went 6 2/3 innings at Rogers Centre, allowing seven hits and one earned run, a very solid outing with no walks and four strikeouts on 86 pitches. He was pitch-efficient especially early on that game, throwing 10 pitches in the first, 13 in the second and 13 more in the third inning to get his day started, needing just 36 pitches through three.

The skipper was a big fan of that outing.

“For me, he has taken enormous strides forward," Hyde said of Rodriguez. "Just from his fastball command, understanding how to pitch. You know the early, weak contact was just fantastic. He pitched with his fastball commanding it, not just overpowering people. You didn’t see 98 to 100 (mph), but he was throwing the ball where he wanted to with plenty of fastball. He is really starting to understand how to pitch and set up hitters to get guys early in the count to allow himself to go deeper in the game.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Anthony Santander made loud contact, paused to watch the ball begin its flight toward the right field seats, and heard the ovation as he rounded the bases with his 13^th home run. Orioles fans packed the area behind the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field tonight, the usual turnout that makes the road venue feel like home – except for the catwalks, of course.

They stayed patient as the Rays fought back to tie and erupted again after Ryan Mountcastle broke it with a two-run shot in the fifth. And again after Jordan Westburg joined the double-digit home run club in the eighth.

And finally, when Ramón Urías squeezed a popup to end it.

Santander hit his fourth homer in the last seven games, Mountcastle bagged his fifth in the last seven, and the Orioles defeated the Rays 6-3 before an announced crowd of 17,822.

Westburg’s two-run shot to right field after Ryan O’Hearn’s leadoff double gave him 10 and made it easier for the Orioles to post their 40^th victory. They also knocked the Rays (31-32) below .500 again.

The Orioles are 6-4 in a stretch of four straight series and 14 consecutive games versus American League East opponents. The Birds in this span went 2-1 at home versus Boston and Tampa Bay and then went 2-2 at Toronto. 

Tonight the Orioles (39-22) and Tampa Bay (31-31) open a four-game series at the Trop.

The Orioles have gone 20 straight series since early April of 2023, without losing one against a division opponent. In that time they have won 14 of those series and tied six. They are 43-22 (.662) in the games in this stretch.

The Orioles went 32-20 (.615) last season in the division and are now 13-6 (.684).

The Orioles hosted the Rays last weekend in Baltimore and won the first two games of the series. Going for a sweep last Sunday, they led 3-0 after four innings but lost that game 4-3.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Kyle Bradish threw a light bullpen session this afternoon and he’s starting Saturday afternoon against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Bradish is working on six days’ rest after starting last Saturday against the Rays at Camden Yards and allowing five runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. He walked his last three batters.

The rest of the rotation is also confirmed. Grayson Rodriguez starts Sunday afternoon and Corbin Burnes starts Monday night, giving them an extra day with the Orioles in the midst of a brutal stretch that includes only one break in the schedule this month.

The Orioles host the Braves next week in a three-game series at Camden Yards. Albert Suárez and Cade Povich are lined up to start Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. However, the club could choose to move Suárez to the bullpen and give Povich the ball on regular rest following yesterday’s major league debut.

X-rays on Austin Hays’ rib cage came back negative but he’s out of tonight’s lineup.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Cole Irvin is starting for the Orioles tonight on normal rest, the only certainty in the rotation for the four-game series against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Irvin has allowed two runs in 11 1/3 innings since returning to the rotation, and he’s carrying a 2.61 ERA and 1.142 WHIP in nine starts. He faced the Rays on Sunday at Camden Yards and allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings. José Caballero led off the seventh with a homer.

Irvin has a 3.86 ERA and 1.169 WHIP in five career games (four starts) against the Rays. He’s surrendered six runs and 14 hits in 13 1/3 innings at Tropicana Field.

The starters for the next three games remain TBA.

Jordan Westburg is starting at second base and Ramón Urías is at third. Connor Norby goes to the bench.

TORONTO – For an Orioles team that hit seven homers and scored 17 runs in the first two games of the Toronto series, it was disappointing when the team then went a stretch of 12 innings without a run until the sixth inning yesterday.

Four late runs – two in the eighth and ninth innings – turned a 6-1 loss into one where the score was 6-5, Toronto. So the Birds lost a pair of one-run games to split the four-game series.

After the game they flew back to the United States, destination Tampa-St. Pete, for four games with the Rays beginning tonight.

The Orioles are now 39-22 overall. They are 13-6 versus AL East opponents and they are now 6-4 during a 14-game stretch against division opponents that ends with the series in Tampa.

The postgame comments yesterday showed the Orioles heaping plenty of praise on lefty Cade Povich after his MLB debut. The box score showed he gave up six runs over 5 1/3 innings. But the club knows that a three-run homer just made it out, a couple of bloops led to another run and two runs scored charged to his record after he left the game.

TORONTO - O's fans get to see a major league debut today as lefty Cade Povich gets the start for the Orioles in the fourth and final game of their series in Toronto.

Povich has gone 5-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 11 Triple-A starts this season with Norfolk. Over 56 2/3 innings he has allowed 42 hits, including five home runs, and recorded 21 walks and 75 strikeouts for a 3.3 walk rate and 11.9 K rate. He has given up 1.11 WHIP and a .203 opponent average with the Tides.

Povich, originally a third-round pick by Minnesota in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Nebraska, got off to a great start to his 2024 season. In five April starts with Norfolk, he was 2-1 with a 1.03 ERA and 0.76 WHIP.

He took a 2.35 ERA into his most recent start Friday versus Gwinnett, but allowed a season-high six runs on four hits over three innings in easily his poorest start of this season.

But he is one of the club’s top pitching prospects and ranked No. 8 on the O’s top 30 by Baseball America, and No. 9 via MLBPipeline.com.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Selected the contract of LHP Cade Povich from Triple-A Norfolk. He will start today’s game against Toronto, which will be his Major League debut. He will wear No. 37.
• Optioned LHP Nick Vespi to Triple-A Norfolk.

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

TORONTO - For the Orioles, it has been a while since they scored so few runs and awhile since they suffered a walk-off loss.

But they dropped to 3.5 games out behind the surging Yankees in the AL East with a 3-2 defeat in the last of the ninth at Toronto. They previously had two walk-off losses on back-to-back days, April 6-7 at Pittsburgh.

They came into this game going 10-2 and scoring 75 runs the previous 12 games. Then they scored twice in the second inning and nothing after that in their lowest scoring game since producing one run in the second game of the series at St. Louis.

Toronto (29-32) produced its second walk-off win and 11th comeback win.

Even with a loss the Orioles are 6-3 in a 14-game stretch against AL East teams. Overall they have won five of seven and 10 of their past 13. Last night was just their second loss in their last 11 games at Rogers Centre.

TORONTO – The O's came into Wednesday night looking for their third straight win in Toronto, and a series-clinching win. The script was set just for that, as they took an early 2-0 lead, but the offense fell flat after the second inning and the Blue Jays walked off the O's to win 3-2 in front of 27,929 at Rogers Centre.

The Orioles fall to 39-21 with their third walkoff defeat of the year after two very early on April 6 and 7 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tonight's walk-off was aided by a miscue in the field.

Justin Turner led off the ninth against O's closer Craig Kimbrel with his third hit of the night, a single on an 0-2 pitch and was replaced by pinch-runner Cavan Biggio.  

The miscue followed shortly after. Kimbrel tried to pick off Biggio, but his throw went off his body and into right field, allowing Biggio to get into scoring position. Then he moved to third, advancing on an Alejandro Kirk fly-out. 

Runner on third, one out, and now the winning run was 90 feet away as the infield came in. Kimbrel then faced the contact-oriented Isiah Kiner-Falefa. 

TORONTO – After two good nights for Orioles’ bats at Rogers Centre, producing 7-2 and 10-1 wins, the Birds look for three in a row against the Blue Jays tonight as this series continues.

Last night’s win improved the Orioles to 13-4 (.765) in American League East games and they are 3-1 versus the Blue Jays. The O’s also hold a 13-4 mark against the Blue Jays since the start of last season. And the Orioles are 9-1 in their past 10 games at Rogers Centre with a plus-39 run differential, outscoring the Blue Jays 66-27 in those games.

The Orioles are 6-2 in the first eight of 14 straight games within the division, playing in order, the Red Sox, Rays, Jays and Rays again.

The Orioles' plus-88 run differential for the year ranks third-best in the majors and second in the AL. The New York Yankees are first at plus-111. And New York (43-19) continues to lead the division by 2.5 games over the Orioles. The red-hot Yankees have won six in a row, 10 of 12 and 17 of their past 21 games.

Toronto had won five of its last six and nine of the past 14 heading into this series. But with Tuesday’s loss the Blue Jays are 28-32 and fall to 7-10 in division games. They have scored two runs or less 23 times this season including twice in this series.

TORONTO – Moments after confirming that O’s pitching prospect Cade Povich is in fact in Toronto and on the taxi squad for the Orioles, manager Brandon Hyde was unable (or perhaps unwilling) to provide the next date for a Kyle Bradish (1-0, 3.18 ERA) start.

“I don’t know yet, no,” Hyde said when asked if he has a day for Bradish’s next outing.

Bradish last pitched on Saturday at home versus the Rays. He presumably will not be on the mound tomorrow, which would have marked his spot in the rotation.

On May 26 versus the White Sox in Chicago, Bradish pitched seven no-hit innings on 103 pitches and lowered his ERA to 1.75. But pitching with an extra day of rest in that game with Tampa Bay he allowed five runs over 2 2/3 on 76 pitches.

Bradish’s season got a late start after he had a platelet-rich plasma injection in January to promote the healing of a right elbow UCL sprain.

Jordan Westburg is starting at second base tonight and Connor Norby is out of the lineup after homering last night for his first major league hit.

Norby is the 12^th player in club history whose first hit is a home run.

Ramón Urías is playing third base. Kyle Stowers is in left field, Cedric Mullins is in center and Ryan O’Hearn is in right.

Anthony Santander is the designated hitter.

Ryan Mountcastle homered twice last night and is 29-for-91 (.319) with seven doubles, eight home runs, 26 RBIs and a 1.044 OPS in 24 career games at Rogers Centre.

The Orioles haven’t confirmed their starter for Thursday afternoon’s series finale against the Blue Jays. However, one of their top prospects is in the running.

He won’t be far from them.

Left-hander Cade Povich is headed to Toronto and will be placed on the taxi squad later today, according to a source, perhaps setting up his major league debut.

Povich was scheduled to start for Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Now he’s an option for the Orioles, who are undecided about Kyle Bradish’s status.

Bradish would be working on his normal turn Thursday, but manager Brandon Hyde told the assembled media yesterday that the club might push him back. If so, Bradish would open the four-game series against the Rays on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla. or pitch the following day.

TORONTO – The Orioles are eight games into a stretch of 14 consecutive games versus AL East opponents. With how well this team now plays within its own division, this is good news.

And with Tuesday’s 10-1 blowout win at Rogers Centre over Toronto, the Orioles are now 6-2 in this stretch versus Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Tampa Bay.

The Orioles are 13-4 (.765) against AL East clubs this year. For just the second time in team history they have won 13 of their first 17 division games. That also happened in 2005.

The Birds just keep hitting since they got swept at St. Louis and scored eight runs total in those three games.

They are now 10-2 the past 12 games. They have scored 17 runs this series, 29 in the last four games, 52 in eight games and 75 runs in those past 12 games. In this span they have 118 hits, including 22 home runs and are batting .280 with an OPS of .844.