DETROIT – The win-now and develop-now attitude of the 2023 Orioles was on display again yesterday at Comerica Park.

DL Hall had a locker inside the visiting clubhouse and a relief role in Game 1 of the doubleheader. One of their top prospects removed from Triple-A Norfolk’s rotation and plopped into a major league bullpen, where he isn’t supposed to belong.

The Orioles are developing Hall as a starter. Didn’t want to switch his role again breaking camp. Couldn’t stretch him out any other way than by optioning him.

But there he was, replacing Dean Kremer yesterday in the bottom of the sixth inning and covering the last three in a 7-4 loss. He allowed two runs but struck out seven batters.

“We’re trying to win games,” said manager Brandon Hyde, repeating a line that might be worthy of the next T-shirt giveaway.

The Orioles four games in four days series at Detroit, working around Friday's rainout with Saturday's doubleheader, wraps up this afternoon with the series finale.

A win by the Orioles would move them to 10 games over the .500 mark for the first time this year and they would also have won six straight series.

Since opening the year going 1-2 at Boston, 2-1 at Texas and 1-2 at home against the New York Yankees, the Orioles have not lost a series. They went 3-1 against Oakland, 2-1 at Chicago, 2-0 at Washington, 3-0 versus Detroit and 2-1 against Boston.

The series with Detroit (10-16) is the first of three series during a 10-game road trip, the longest of the year for the Orioles. The Orioles are 9-5 on the road and are 3-1 in road series. They can't lose this one but must get a victory today to win it and keep the series win streak going into Kansas City.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-1, 6.30 ERA) will make his fourth start of the year. His last two have been very different. On April 19 at Washington he pitched six scoreless on five hits and 92 pitches. But on Tuesday versus Boston he gave up eight hits and seven runs in 2 1/3 innings at Oriole Park.

DETROIT – The string of opposing left-handed starters ended at three today, and so did Joey Ortiz’s time in the majors.

Ortiz was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, with outfielder Kyle Stowers rejoining the Orioles for their series finale in Detroit. Ortiz went 2-for-8 with four RBIs while making three starts at second base.

The Orioles optioned Stowers on April 9 to give him more consistent at-bats. He was 0-for-4 with two walks in three games.

Stowers was batting .293/.427/.569 (17-for-58) with a double, five home runs, 17 RBIs, 13 walks and 17 strikeouts in 17 games with the Tides.

Manager Brandon Hyde is batting Stowers fourth today and playing him in right field. Ryan O'Hearn is the designated hitter.

The Orioles – and everybody else in the American League East – have been looking up in the standings at the Tampa Bay Rays all season. From just about the first pitch of the 2023 year.

The Rays went 13-0 to start the year and began play yesterday at 22-5 (.815) with the best record in baseball. For a while, they were looking like they would pull off a 1984 Detroit Tigers start of 35-5. As of yesterday afternoon, they still could do that, the math was still possible.

And while the Orioles' 17-8 start heading into yesterday was one of their best-ever, they began Saturday’s doubleheader four games out of first place. But their .667 win percentage would be good enough to be first in four of the other five divisions in MLB.

However, in this division, they continue to look up to the Rays.

The Orioles and Rays have something in common beyond getting off to good starts. Both teams play schedules that were and are in April much softer on paper than what they will both face in May.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• Returned 27^th man LHP DL Hall to Triple-A Norfolk.

DETROIT – Orioles outfielder Austin Hays swung the bat yesterday and said he would have been a game-time decision if rain hadn’t forced a postponement.

“I don’t think I would have been able to be in there,” he said.

He’s in there today, leading off in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Tigers.

The right middle finger is badly bruised after Hays was hit on the hand by Corey Kluber’s sinker Tuesday night while trying to bunt.

“We’ll just make sure we wrap it up good and make sure it’s protected and be good to go,” he said.

DETROIT – What is the exact date and time when it begins to even out?

Rough estimates are accepted and appreciated.

Isn’t that the reminder preached to frustrated hitters who don’t think they’ll ever catch another break? The latest tough out, so cruel at times that it physically hurts, is balanced by soft singles and streaks built on kinder fortune.

Ryan Mountcastle tries to laugh about it. The trademark grin is the most he can muster at this point.

The lucky hits need to catch up.

DETROIT – Heavy rain yesterday rearranged the four-game series between the Orioles and Tigers, with the teams forced into a split doubleheader today.

The first game begins at 12:10 p.m., with the second game at 5:10 p.m.

The Orioles have won nine of their last 10 games, 11 of 13 and 13 of 16. They improved Friday night to 9-0 in series openers.

A victory today in Game 1 would put them 10 above .500 to match their high in 2022.

Adley Rutschman is out of the Game 1 lineup for the first time this season. Joey Ortiz starts again at second base.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• Added LHP DL Hall from Triple-A Norfolk to serve as the 27^th man for today’s doubleheader.

Gunnar and Adley. Adley and Gunnar. Two of the Orioles top young talents, both Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson were taken in the 2019 MLB Draft. In fact, they were the first two selections made by the then new regime of executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias.

Rutschman was taken with the No. 1 overall selection out of Oregon State University and Henderson was taken No. 42 overall out of John T. Morgan Academy in Selma, Alabama. Rutschman was the more experienced and polished player as a college draft pick and it took Gunnar a bit longer to gain that polish.

But both have already been ranked as the No. 1 prospect in baseball by Baseball America and the two are among the biggest reasons the Orioles have the No. 1 ranked farm in the sport right now and a big league team that is off to a great start.

And as written here yesterday, the Orioles have gotten off to a strong offensive start this year scoring 5.28 runs per game. A big reason for that is improved plate discipline stats which have the Orioles among the top teams in baseball in walks, pitches per plate appearance and OBP.

Rutschman entered Friday’s games batting .287/.405/.436/.841 in 25 games. He ranked first in the American League with 20 walks heading into Friday’s play. He ranked tied for fifth in the AL in OBP and 21^st in the league in pitches per plate appearance.

DETROIT – The words have been uttered multiple times now by multiple people in the Orioles organization.

Manager Brandon Hyde floated them into the chilly Detroit air yesterday afternoon while seated in the visiting dugout, explaining why the Orioles optioned Terrin Vavra and brought up infield prospect Joey Ortiz. A promotion that wasn’t telegraphed. Whose purpose wasn’t immediately known.

“We’re trying to win games,” Hyde said.

Let’s make that perfectly clear.

Player development remains a priority and the Orioles get a kick out of being first in farm system rankings, but they don’t intend to punt the playoffs. They want a wild card berth, at the very least. The games in April matter as much as August and September.

When Boston lefty Chris Sale, one of MLB’s all-time best strikeout pitchers, failed to strike out even one Oriole earlier this week, maybe he was indeed tipping some pitches. But maybe something else was at work. Maybe a team and organization that for years lagged in plate discipline skills was just showing everyone, including Sale, their big improvement in this area.

Improvement that for some Orioles really was enhanced and escalated in their time on the O’s farm and they now put those skills to use in the big league lineup.

Outfielder Austin Hays preferred to credit the Baltimore hitters for gains they have made in this area after that win over Boston on Monday.

“That was a prime example of us showing up, building a plan, training, and then one through nine executing the plan all the way through. And I felt like he was in a groove early and we got to that fourth inning and just continued to battle. Fouled off tough pitches. A one through nine relentless mindset of just all buying in," said Hays.

On the stat sheet, the Orioles have gone from a team not good in plate discipline stats, to one of baseball’s best. In pitches per plate appearance they ranked 24^th last year. But as their latest road trip was set to begin Thursday, they were second in MLB at 4.05. The Orioles’ 97 walks was tied for first in the American League. Their team OBP of .336 ranked fourth.

The Orioles’ longest road trip of the year – three cities and covering 10 games – begins tonight when they start a four-game series in Detroit.

The Orioles (16-8) have the second-best record in the American League East and in the league as well. Tampa Bay (20-5, .800) leads the division by 3 ½ games over the Orioles, who would be in first place in both the AL Central and AL West. The Orioles hold the fourth-best record in the majors behind the Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates (18-8, .692) and Atlanta Braves (17-8, .680).

The Orioles are 7-4 on the road, winning three of four road series. They went 1-2 at Boston, 2-1 at Texas, 2-1 at Chicago versus the White Sox and 2-0 at Washington.

The Orioles loss on Tuesday against Boston was their only loss since April 12. They have won eight of their past nine games, 10 of 12 and 12 of the last 15. The Orioles swept three from the Tigers last weekend in Baltimore by scores of 2-1, 5-1 and 2-1. So they outscored Detroit 9-3 in that series, allowing three runs and 14 hits over 28 innings with 12 walks and 35 strikeouts.

Detroit has won the season series against the Orioles the last five years it has been played.

DETROIT – Facing three left-handed starters in a four-game series against the Tigers prompted the Orioles to recall infield prospect Joey Ortiz from Triple-A Norfolk.

It wasn’t the only reason, but matchups were the primary motivation to add Ortiz’s right-handed bat and option Terrin Vavra.

“He’s off to a really nice start in Norfolk, and we wanted to get a little more right-handed, especially for this series,” manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon in the visiting dugout at Comerica Park.

“He can play multiple spots for us in the infield. We’re really comfortable with him defensively, and his first day here he’s in there. We’re excited to watch him make his debut.”

Ortiz is playing second base, with Jorge Mateo at shortstop. Gunnar Henderson is on the bench against left-hander Joey Wentz, and he’s able to play despite the scrapes on his right hand after diving for a line drive yesterday.

DETROIT – The Orioles take their 16-8 record, second-best in the American League, to Comerica Park for the start of a four-game series, and they have Joey Ortiz making his major league debut at second base.

Ortiz, 24, was recalled this morning from Triple-A Norfolk, with infielder Terrin Vavra optioned. The fourth-round pick in 2019 out of New Mexico State is batting .359/.389/.500/.889 in 16 games with Norfolk, with five doubles, two triples and eight RBIs. He’s a plus-defender who plays shortstop, second base and third base.

Vavra also can play the outfield, and his removal from the Orioles roster seems to indicate that Austin Hays’ bruised right hand is improving. Hays is on the bench again tonight but he’s avoided the injured list.

The Tigers are starting three consecutive left-handers in the series, if the weather permits it: Joey Wentz, Eduardo Rodriguez and Matthew Boyd. Ortiz is a right-handed hitter.

Bringing up Ortiz also gives the Orioles some infield insurance after Jorge Mateo recently sat with a sore right hip and Gunnar Henderson appeared to hurt his right hand yesterday after diving for a line drive, though he stayed in the game.

One of the Orioles top 100 prospects is headed to the major leagues for the first time. Infielder Joey Ortiz, 24, got a callup today as the club announced that infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra was optioned to Triple-A after Wednesday’s game.

Ortiz will wear No. 65 and his first appearance will be his MLB debut.

A slick-fielding shortstop that can also play second and third base, Ortiz is ranked No. 87 currently in the Baseball America top 100 and No. 91 via MLBPipeline.com. BA ranks him as the O’s No. 8 prospect and he is No. 7 on the MLBPipeline.com list of the club’s top 30 prospects.

Drafted in round four (No. 108 overall) in 2019 out of New Mexico State, the right-handed hitter was batting .359/.389/.500/.889 in 16 games at Triple-A this year with five doubles, two triples, no homers and eight RBIs. Last year, ending the year with Norfolk, he hit .346/.400/.567/.967 in 26 games with four homers and 14 RBIs.

He had a recent torrid stretch with Norfolk where, over a five-game run, he had 14 hits in 21 at-bats. For his minor league career, over 244 games, he has batted .277/.351/.430/781.

To hear O’s right-hander Austin Voth’s take, he is not pitching any differently in his last four games than he was in his first four games of the new season.

But the results have been very different.

“Not really,” Voth said in the clubhouse Wednesday about if he made any in-season adjustments. “I feel like I’ve been the same the whole season so far. Just had trouble early on with some offspeed pitches in the zone that were too much middle, but as a whole I feel I have been pitching about the same.”

But Voth, who allowed one homer in each of his first five bullpen appearances this year, has not allowed any in his last three games. His ERA was 10.50 his first four games and is 2.70 his last four. In that most-recent four-game span he has allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings giving up a batting average of .208 and OPS against of .564 in that time. He has looked more like the pitcher that threw to an ERA of 3.04 for the Orioles in 2022.

But then he was mostly starting – making 17 of his 22 appearances as a starter. Now he is adjusting to a full-time bullpen role. And the results say the adjustment is starting to take hold.

After one comeback from four runs down that led to a win and one from seven behind that fell short, the Orioles (15-8) host the Boston Red Sox (13-12) today in the final game of a three-game series and six-game homestand.

Baltimore is 4-1 this homestand after a series sweep of Detroit followed by Monday’s 5-4 win at Oriole Park and last night’s 8-6 loss. The O’s were behind 7-0 in the third inning to Boston on Tuesday and 8-1 heading to the last of the ninth. But then Gunnar Henderson hit a solo home run, Cedric Mullins added a grand slam, and they pulled within the final two-run margin.

The Orioles are 2-3 this year against Boston. Their pitching staff has allowed 9, 9. 9, 4 and 8 runs in those games, yielding 39 runs with an ERA of 7.42 and 1.626 WHIP. Boston batters are hitting .307 with an OPS of .888 versus O’s pitching in 2023.

"We haven't pitched very well against the Red Sox this year," O's manager Brandon Hyde said this morning. "That is a good offensive club. Always been a big Justin Turner fan, that is a big add for them and (Rafael) Devers is one of the best hitters in our game, top three to five, super dangerous. They have a real balanced lineup with a lot of lefties that makes it challenging. But I just think we haven't pitched very well against them. Won't see them again until September, little different this year."

Baltimore’s starters in this series – Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish – have combined to allow 15 hits and 11 runs over eight innings. And O’s pitching has allowed eight runs or more six times this season – four times versus Boston.

The Orioles hope they have outfielder Austin Hays available today for the series finale at Oriole Park against the Boston Red Sox.

The clubs have split two games in this series and the Orioles' 8-6 loss Tuesday left their record at 15-8 and saw an end to their seven-game win streak.

Hays bruised his right hand while attempting a bunt in the third inning. Luckily X-rays were negative for a fracture, but he’ll undergo further evaluation.

"We caught a break there with the X-rays being negative, so that's great news," manager Brandon Hyde said after the game. "It's day-to-day. It's obviously really sore. I think we got lucky."

Hays is off to a fast batting start, hitting .301/.341/.542/.883 with six doubles, a triple, four home runs and nine RBIs in 23 games.

As the Orioles host Boston tonight in Game 2 of a three-game series, they will send out right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-0, 0.00) to make his third start. Those first two starts came 16 days apart because he was hit by a liner in Texas and went on the injured list between those two.

The second was last Wednesday in Washington. Bradish threw six scoreless innings on five hits and 92 pitches versus the Nationals. So he has pitched 7 2/3 scoreless to begin his year.

A case could be made that Bradish has been the Orioles' best starter since late last July. Going through his last 15 starts, beginning July 29, 2022, Bradish is 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA and the Orioles are 11-4 in those games. He has five quality starts. In 79 innings in that span he has recorded 1.15 WHIP, allowing just a .211 batting average and .597 OPS.

This year, lefty batters are 2-for-16 (.125) against him and right-handers are batting (.308) at 4-for-13.

But Bradish has never recorded a win against an American League East opponent, going 0-7 with a 7.21 ERA and .904 OPS against in 14 games.