OAKLAND – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn’t know which pitcher would start for the Athletics tonight until receiving a text message yesterday afternoon from manager Mark Kotsay.

“Pro move by him,” Hyde said.

Hyde’s club would face an opener, left-hander Francisco Pérez, who’s never started in the majors. Pérez made four relief appearances with the Guardians in 2021, 10 with the Nationals last season and two with Oakland this year.

Pérez hasn’t started in the minors since 2019.

“Usually, if you change your starter, it’s kind of an unwritten professionalism type of thing to let the other team know, as much advance as you can give them. And then you want to reciprocate it, too,” Hyde said.

OAKLAND – Aaron Hicks remains out of the Orioles lineup as they resume their West Coast trip with three games against the Athletics.

Jordan Westburg is batting ninth and playing third base. Adam Frazier is the second baseman.

Adley Rutschman stays in the leadoff spot, followed by shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter and attempting to extend his on-base streak to 24 games. Cedric Mullins is batting sixth, followed by Austin Hays.

In Kyle Gibson’s last start in Seattle, he allowed a career-high nine runs and tied his career high with 12 hits. He faced the Athletics on April 10 and held them to one run in 6 1/3 innings.

BOWIE, Md. – Jackson Holliday, shortstop at Double-A Bowie and the No. 1 ranked prospect in baseball, is working hard in the hours leading up to game time so that when first pitch arrives every night, he is ready to unleash his considerable talent and skills on opponent pitchers.

In a recent interview at Prince George’s Stadium, Holliday said he continues to learn better how to use the extensive scouting reports he gets on the pitchers he will see. He is learning to better use information not just on what a pitcher may throw, but how he prefers to use his pitches and what locations he most uses those pitches to get outs.

Getting better at this process not only helps Holliday now, but in the future when he gets to the big league level where the scouting and pre-game planning is most extensive. 

“I really enjoy looking at the pitcher’s plots and scouting reports,” he said. “Feel like I’m doing a good job of knowing what I am getting myself into each at-bat. I try to use that as much as possible to create a game plan. For the most part you have never faced these guys, so I want to know what I am getting into. Feel like that is going well so far.

“Every single guy has a different percentage of what he throws on different counts. So, to be able to eliminate pitches to help myself have a better chance of getting a hit can be big. But for the most part you also need to be looking for fastballs.

When catcher Samuel Basallo of the Dominican Republic, who just turned 19, recently moved into the top 50 of a couple of top 100 prospects lists, it was an important milestone for the Orioles’ international program.

He is the first player from the international program since Mike Elias and his front office took over to make a top 100 and now a top 50. A strong accomplishment for the international program.

But recently at Low Single-A Delmarva, there was another big night that was pretty important as well and had meaning for a lot of people. Noelberth Romero, 21, from Caracas, Venezuela, became a high school graduate.

It was a proud moment for Romero, his family and the Orioles organization. Dressed in cap and gown, he was presented his diploma by Shorebirds manager Felipe Alou Jr. There was a clubhouse celebration for Romero in addition to an on-field ceremony.

Among the first to sign up for the O’s education program in 2020, Romero becomes the first to make it to the finish line – graduation. He now becomes a role model for others who want to join him in the O’s Latin American program.

After a 4-1 win Monday night and a 10-3 loss on Tuesday, the Orioles wrap up their series at San Diego tonight. The winner this evening will take this series.

The Orioles (74-46) ended play Tuesday three games ahead of Tampa Bay for the American League East lead.

The O's are 10-6 in rubber-match games. Should they win this game, they will improve to 24-12-3 in series play in 2023, and to 13-5-2 in road series. 

The Orioles, even after the loss yesterday, have won four of six, eight of 12, 11 of 16, 15 of 23 and 25 of their past 36 games. They are 38-23 on the road, 9-5 in August and 20-11 in the second half.

Heading into Tuesday's game, the Baltimore rotation had allowed three earned runs or fewer 16 times in the previous 17 games. The rotation ERA was 3.56 in that span. And if you took away Kyle Gibson allowing nine runs last Friday, the rotation ERA was 2.88 in the 16 games with three earned runs or fewer.

When the Orioles were in Seattle last weekend, several of their players and coaches watched intently the pregame ceremony on Saturday night when former team great Félix Hernández was inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame. 

A career winner of 169 games with 2,524 strikeouts – all with Seattle over a 15-year career – it was a special night at T-Mobile Park.

He’s known simply as the “King” in Seattle. He was a six-time All-Star who won the 2010 AL Cy Young Award and was a runner-up twice. He pitched a perfect game against Tampa Bay on Aug. 15, 2012.

When he took the mound at home, the “Kings Court” would fill the leftfield stands with gold shirts and K cards. 

Like Hernández, the Orioles’ Anthony Santander is a native of Venezuela. When Santander was tearing it up this spring in the WBC, Hernández was a visitor to the Team Venezuela clubhouse. When he was 13, scouts compared a young teenager pitcher Santander to Hernández. In the spring of 2021, Hernández signed a minor league deal with the Orioles and the two countrymen were briefly teammates.

Having allowed just four runs in the past three games, the Orioles have a three-game win streak on their West Coast road trip. The trip began with a 9-2 loss Friday at Seattle, but they have since won 1-0 and 5-3 over the Mariners, both in 10 innings, and by 4-1 last night at San Diego.

The Orioles (74-45) are a season-high 29 games over the .500 mark and lead the Tampa Bay Rays by three games atop the American League East.

Best records in MLB:

.644 - Atlanta (76-42)
.622 – Orioles (74-45)
.607 – Los Angeles Dodgers (71-46)
.597 – Texas (71-48)
.595 – Tampa Bay (72-49)

The Orioles improved to 26-13 in series-opening games with Monday's victory, and to 15-5 when the series opener is on the road.

SAN DIEGO – Juan Soto swung the bat with every ounce of strength in his body, almost jumping out of his spikes, and let his momentum carry toward the Padres dugout before regaining his balance. Stumbling out of the box as Grayson Rodriguez’s third strikeout victim. His feet having a mind of their own.

Manny Machado followed with a towering popup and threw back his head in frustration.

Rodriguez was controlling the Padres tonight as if holding a joystick rather than a baseball.

Rodriguez lasted a career-high seven innings, Gunnar Henderson plated three runs with a bases-loaded double in the fifth and the Orioles defeated the Padres 4-1 before an announced crowd of 38,176 at Petco Park.

Ryan O’Hearn homered off Yu Darvish in the second inning, and the Orioles won their third game in a row to improve their record to 74-45 overall, 37-23 on the road and 26-13 in series openers. They also are 44-11 when scoring first, the best record in the majors.

SAN DIEGO – Manny Machado dug in against Orioles closer Félix Bautista last night with two Padres on base and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, back-to-back walks allowing him to represent the potential tying run. Machado took a 101.2 mph fastball out of the strike zone, missed a 100.4 mph fastball, offered at a splitter and grounded it to third baseman Ramón Urías for the game-ending double play.

One team moved a season-high 29 games above .500. The other kept spiraling downward.

The Orioles hadn’t played the Padres since 2019, a year after former executive Dan Duquette began the complete teardown of the club by trading Machado to the Dodgers for five players, including starter Dean Kremer.

Closer Zack Britton was gone a week later, followed by relievers Brad Brach and Darren O’Day, starter Kevin Gausman and second baseman Jonathan Schoop.  

The competitive window slammed shut, and the only sounds left were goodbyes and some tears.

Getting to play pro baseball has always been important to the Orioles Ryan Mountcastle. Even long before they drafted him No. 36 overall in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Paul J. Haggerty High School in Florida.

Back then he had designs on being a big league player and that dream came true for him for the first time in August of 2020.

But Mountcastle’s love for the sport perhaps grew even stronger recently when he dealt with vertigo and watched his stats suffer and then missed time on the injured list.

“New appreciation for baseball, life, everything,” he said during the Seattle series. “That was a tough three weeks for me mentally and just to be back I’m super grateful.”

When the Orioles beat Seattle 1-0 in 10 innings Saturday, it was Mountcastle who drove in the game’s only run. He hit a 101-mph pitch from Seattle’s Andres Munoz to center field. It left his bat at 109.5 mph.

The Orioles lost Friday night at Seattle but won back-to-back 10-inning games by 1-0 and 5-3 to take another series over the weekend and improve to 73-45. It was an outstanding start to a nine-game West Coast road trip that continues tonight at San Diego.

O’s batters scored just eight runs on 17 hits at T-Mobile Park against a Mariners club that Sunday was leading the American League in team ERA. But they still took two of three as their pitchers allowed just three runs on 10 hits the last two games.

Before the late-game heroics yesterday by Cedric Mullins and before Shintaro Fujinami got the last three outs for a save, starter Kyle Bradish delivered another quality start. He gave up two runs and five hits over six innings on 90 pitches. He lowered his ERA to 3.18. The Orioles are now 37-11 for the year when they get a quality start.

The O’s scored first on Sunday and are now 43-11 (.796) when scoring first – the best record in the majors.

The Orioles improved to 37-18 (.673) in games decided by one or two runs and to 48-25 (.659) in games decided by three or less. They lead the majors in both stats.

SAN DIEGO – Outfielder Colton Cowser is taking his turn at a minor league reset.

The Orioles optioned Cowser today after he went 7-for-61, creating a spot for Aaron Hicks’ return to the active roster.

“We talked a lot about that with certain guys this year, about how it’s not always a terrible thing to have a guy come up here and experience what major league pitching’s like and what big league life is like,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Understand how to go through some adjustments when you go back down to Triple-A. It’s like, we saw Grayson (Rodriguez) do that earlier this year, he came back a different guy.

“Colton’s going to be a really good major league player. Got off to a pretty good start, and then he just kind of got caught in between a little bit in his at-bats. I just want him to go down there and free his mind up. Kind of reset a little bit, relax and breathe and go take some at-bats, and don’t worry about trying to produce up here. And maybe we’ll see him soon.”

Hyde noticed that the league got a little more aggressive early in the zone, and Cowser wasn’t able to adjust to it.

SAN DIEGO – Aaron Hicks is starting in left field and batting eighth tonight after his reinstatement from the injured list earlier today.

Cedric Mullins is in center field and batting sixth. Austin Hays sits against Padres right-hander Yu Darvish.

Adley Rutschman stays in the leadoff spot, followed by shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

Jordan Westburg is playing second base and batting ninth.

Ryan Mountcastle, the designated hitter tonight, is slashing .418/.488/.672 with four home runs and 13 RBIs during his 20-game on-base streak.

SAN DIEGO – The Orioles made the anticipated outfield switch today, reinstating Aaron Hicks from the 10-day injured list and optioning rookie Colton Cowser to Triple-A Norfolk.

Hicks strained his left hamstring July 24 while diving for a fly ball in Philadelphia – incorrectly ruled a catch – and returns after two rehab games with Norfolk.

Cowser is 7-for-61 with two doubles, four RBIs, 13 walks, 22 strikeouts and 15 runs scored in 26 games.

Cedric Mullins returned over the weekend in Seattle and won yesterday’s game by robbing Ty France of a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and delivering a two-run shot in the top of the 10^th. His return cost Ryan McKenna a spot on the roster.

Mullins became the first player to rob a home run and hit one in the ninth inning or later of the same game over the last 10 seasons, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Reinstated OF Aaron Hicks from the 10-day Injured List (left hamstring strain).
• Optioned OF Colton Cowser to Triple-A Norfolk.

SEATTLE - After the Cedric Mullins heroics - the incredible catch to rob a homer in the ninth and the go-ahead two-run homer in the tenth - there was still work to do.

There was the matter of getting three more big outs in the bottom of the tenth to produce perhaps the O's best series win of the year. Félix Bautista was unavailable, the O's had already used four other relievers and the Orioles called on Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami.

His brief O's career has produced both lights out outings and a few with command meltdowns as well.

This was not going to be boring.

Fuji, with a placed runner at second and the O's leading 5-3, fell behind Dylan Moore 3-0, before he came back to strike him out and then get the next two outs. He came up big. It was his first career save - Japan or MLB.

SEATTLE - After their thrilling 1-0 win in 10 innings at T-Mobile Park on Saturday night, the Orioles return today with a chance to win this series against a red-hot Mariners club.

A club that had an eight-game win streak snapped last night. Despite the loss, the Mariners (63-53) have still won 10 of 12 and 16 of the last 21 games. Seattle is 25-11 since July 1.

The Orioles (72-45) needed to win to end last night with a two-game lead atop the American League East and they did. They are now 7-5 in extra-inning games while Seattle is 5-10.

The Orioles are 18-10 in the second half and 36-22 on the road.

They have won six of nine, nine of 13, 13 of 20 and 23 of their past 33 games.

The Orioles have made the following roster move: 

• Reinstated RHP Mychal Givens from the 60-day Injured List (right shoulder inflammation) and designated him for assignment.

SEATTLE – The Orioles will go sweepless in Seattle. They got hammered on Friday night but, even when shutout over nine innings Saturday night, they pulled out a 1-0 win in 10 innings.

The Orioles ended Seattle’s eight-game win streak, maintained a two-game lead atop the AL East and stretched their series run without being swept to 77.

Seattle right-hander George Kirby held Baltimore to three hits over a career-high nine innings on a season-high 103 pitches. The O’s have scored three runs in two days, yet they can win this series this afternoon.

“That was the best-pitched game against us all season. That was four pitches, elite command. They’ve got a really good rotation,” O’s manager Brandon Hyde said of Kirby and the M’s staff.

The last time a Mariners pitcher threw nine or more innings in a team loss was Félix Hernández on July 26, 2013 against Minnesota in a 3-2 loss in 13 innings. And it was Hernández’s Mariners Hall of Fame Induction Night Saturday in front of a sellout crowd at T-Mobile Park.

Recaps of the 2023 season should include mention of two Orioles who fell off the major league landscape.

Outfielder Kyle Stowers and infielder Terrin Vavra broke camp with the team. Made the Opening Day roster. Figured to be key contributors as extras coming off the bench.

Stowers was assumed to be lined up for extensive at-bats based on his prospect status and a designated hitter spot that unclogged. Put him in the outfield, use him at DH to keep his bat in the lineup.

Well, Stowers had two stints with the club, went 2-for-30 with 12 strikeouts and hasn’t played for them since May 14. He was batting .243/.370/.493 in 46 games with Triple-A Norfolk before last night, with six doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, 33 RBIs, 29 walks and 46 strikeouts in 189 plate appearances.

Right shoulder inflammation forced Stowers on the injured list May 23 and he didn’t begin an injury rehab assignment until June 29 in the Florida Complex League. He played four games with High-A Aberdeen and returned to Norfolk July 14.