Now an O's team that has fallen to second-place, one that lost twice via walk-off results at Citi Field, one that has lost four of six and six of 10 and that is 29-32 since June 13, goes into a demanding stretch of games.

The Orioles host first-place Houston for four at Camden Yards beginning tonight. Then the Birds fly across the country and play three in Los Angeles against the first-place Dodgers starting Tuesday night.

It's a tough seven-game run for an O's team that is 16-16 since the All-Star break and got swept three in a row at Houston in late June. The Orioles scored 11 runs in that series opener but lost 14-11 at Minute Maid Park. Then they lost 5-1 and 8-1 decisions, outscored in that series, 27-13 by the American League West leader.

With a win by the Yankees 6-0 over the Guardians today, the Orioles (74-54) are one game back in the AL East heading into tonight's game.

While O's starting pitchers have allowed two earned runs or less six times the past eight games, the Baltimore bullpen has been scored on six straight games with an ERA of 6.43 in that span. The O's pen has allowed eight homers the the last six games over 21 innings.

The lack of fresh relievers impacted starter Trevor Rogers.

The Orioles optioned Rogers early this afternoon within a bevy of roster moves that included calling up left-hander Nick Vespi and selecting right-hander Matt Bowman’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk.

Rogers’ next turn in the rotation was Sunday but the spot became listed as TBA.

“Just kind of where we are bullpen-wise,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “We feel like we needed to get some help in the bullpen, get some guys that are able to pitch tonight. Cade (Povich) is gonna throw tomorrow, so we want Trevor to stay ready. We’ll see what happens here. We just want him to stay ready and we’ll see how things shake out the next couple weeks.”

The Orioles sent outfielder Kyle Stowers and second baseman Connor Norby to the Marlins for Rogers at the trade deadline. He’s posted a 7.11 ERA and 1.842 WHIP in four starts and hasn’t gone more than five innings.

Right-handed reliever Matt Bowman, if he gets into a game with the Orioles, would be pitching for his fourth MLB team this season.

He got into five games in April with Minnesota, four with Arizona in May and one with Seattle in June.

He has actually already pitched this year at Oriole Park, throwing two scoreless on May 12 for the Diamondbacks.

Now after his transactions-filled year and season he wouldn’t mind finding a home with the team from his home state.

Bowman, 33, is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA over 15 combined innings with a 1.200 WHIP. Since 2016 he has a career 4.22 ERA in the majors over 200 1/3 innings for six clubs.

Cedric Mullins is in center field tonight after being absent from the lineups in Queens.

Colton Cowser is playing left field and Ryan O’Hearn is in right. Anthony Santander is the designated hitter.

Adley Rutschman is batting fifth. Jackson Holliday is seventh.

Gunnar Henderson is slugging .717 in 28 games against the American League West this season.

The Orioles have homered in 16 consecutive games, tied for the third-longest streak by any team this season behind the Twins (28) and Orioles (22 straight in June) per STATS.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Activated INF Emmanuel Rivera. He will wear No. 26.
• Selected the contract of RHP Matt Bowman from Triple-A Norfolk. He will wear No. 51.
• Recalled LHP Nick Vespi from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Optioned LHP Trevor Rogers to Triple-A Norfolk.
• Optioned RHP Colin Selby to Triple-A Norfolk.
• Optioned INF Livan Soto to Triple-A Norfolk.
• Designated LHP Bruce Zimmermann for assignment.

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

The Orioles were short one reliever yesterday at Citi Field and apparently are making a move to correct it.

Left-hander Nick Vespi is joining the Orioles today, per sources. And there could be more roster changes coming after yesterday’s waiver claim of infielder Emmanuel Rivera.

Vespi made the Opening Day roster with Jacob Webb on the paternity list. He was optioned two days later, recalled May 22 as the 27^th man in St. Louis and immediately returned to Triple-A Norfolk, recalled May 24 when Dean Kremer went on the injured list with a triceps strain, optioned three days later, recalled June 3 and optioned three days later when the Orioles selected Cade Povich’s contract, was recalled June 15 when Kyle Bradish went on the IL with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament, and was optioned again July 3 when Kremer was reinstated.

Teams can’t option a player more than five times in a season without going through the waiver process. Sending him down after the 27th-man designation doesn’t count against the total.

Vespi has appeared in 10 games and allowed four runs and 10 hits in 11 1/3 innings. Three runs were surrendered over 1 1/3 innings in his last major league outing on June 30 against the Rangers.

The Orioles keep looking to get on a hot streak, playing solid and clean baseball. Given a chance to do that Wednesday afternoon, win a series and bring some momentum back to Camden Yards, they failed to. 

It was a brutal series loss at Citi Field with two walk-off losses, both with Seranthony Domínguez on the mound. Just when it looked like he might be the team’s ninth-inning option, this happens.

It appeared the team had some serious positive momentum when Austin Slater hit a two-run homer to right to tie the game 2-2 in the top of the sixth. It was his first O’s homer and his second of the season.

But even with that swing, a lot went wrong shortly after that on the way to the Orioles’ 54^th loss of the year.

They were held to three hits for the second time in the last four days. They actually won with three hits Sunday, but now they are 1-9 this year when getting three hits or less.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Claimed INF Emmanuel Rivera off waivers from the Miami Marlins. He has not yet reported.
• Designated INF/OF Terrin Vavra for assignment.

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

The Orioles have gone four straight series against National League opponents without winning one, but that could end today as they play the New York Mets at Citi Field.

Since they won back-to-back series against Atlanta and Philadelphia in mid-June, the Orioles have gone 0-3 versus the Chicago Cubs, 1-2 at Miami and 1-2 against San Diego before going 1-1 at home recently against Washington.

That is a run of 0-3-1 in those four series as the Orioles have gone 3-8 over 11 games. And now they have split two games against the Mets with the series-deciding game set for today.

The Orioles are 8-3 in 2024 in rubber match games and 0-1 when that comes in a series against the NL.

For the year, the Orioles are 16-20 against National League clubs, going 4-6-2 in 12 series pending the outcome of today’s game.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22

1. HOU | 7:15 p.m. | Gates: 6:00 p.m. | FOX

ORANGE & BLACK GIVES BACK: Classroom Set Up at Harlem Park Elementary Middle School

As part of their Adopt-A-School initiative, members of Orange & Black Gives Back, the Orioles employee volunteer program, and current Orioles players, coaches, and their families will assist teachers at Harlem Park Elementary Middle School with setting up and decorating their classrooms in preparation for the upcoming school year. The Orioles also provided Harlem Park teachers with $7,000 in gift cards to Lakeshore Learning Store, a local educational supply store, to help purchase classroom necessities.

PITCH, HIT, AND RUN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Orioles will host Major League Baseball and RCX Sports for the Pitch, Hit, and Run regional championship. The championship, which will be held at Oriole Park, is scheduled to take place from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Pitch, Hit, and Run serves as an opportunity for boys and girls, ages 7 to 14, to showcase their baseball and softball skills, while also competing for a chance to attend the 2024 MLB World Series. The Orioles will provide all participants with tickets to that night’s game.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Selected the contract of LHP Cole Irvin from Triple-A Norfolk. He will start today’s game.
• Optioned RHP Dillon Tate to Triple-A Norfolk.
• Designated RHP Nick Avila for assignment 

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

On the day the Orioles lost another starter to the injured list and their total pitchers on the IL grew to eight, they scored nine runs.

That was important as the Mets rallied late, but the Orioles won 9-5 and with the news that right-hander Zach Eflin joined a few others on that IL, more big nights from the Baltimore offense would be very welcomed.

Since the All-Star break, heading into last night, the Orioles had gone 15-15. And yet they were averaging 5.3 runs per game in that span and producing a team OPS of .783. Yeah, not bad.

But in their most recent three games heading into last night, they scored eight total runs on 14 hits and had gone 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

The nine-run outburst was important as was Dean Kremer's second straight strong outing. He allowed one run over six innings on 100 pitches.

NEW YORK – While the Orioles were determining that starter Zach Eflin needed to go on the injured list after he tried throwing yesterday, Coby Mayo went through his pregame routine at Harbor Park in Norfolk and readied for his first appearance in the minors since Aug. 1.

Mayo was optioned on Thursday after spending two weeks with the Orioles. He received 20 plate appearances and was 1-for-17 with three walks and 10 strikeouts.

Playing time began to dwindle in that short period. Mayo appeared in the first five games, including four starts, between Aug. 2-7. He didn’t get back in the lineup until Aug. 11 at Tropicana Field and last Wednesday at Camden Yards.

The fade didn’t tip off Mayo about the organization’s plans for him.

“I would say I was a little shocked, but not really,” he said yesterday in a phone interview. “I knew that if I wasn’t helping the team win, I wasn’t going to play. But at the same time, I feel like I was getting better, I was getting a lot of work done.”

NEW YORK – Only in 2024 can a day like this one seem eerily routine to the Orioles.

They lose a reliever to the paternity list, which is a simple swap by calling up another arm for temporary service. They lose a starter to the injured list, which is much harder to overcome and keeps happening to them. This team could field an impressive rotation out of shelved pitchers.

The level of adversity threatens to rise above their heads, but they suit up again, jog onto the field and take care of their business.

A night after enduring Francisco Alvarez’s walk-off home run and animated celebration, the Orioles jumped out to an early lead against the Mets and evened the series with a 9-5 victory before an announced crowd of 34,225 at Citi Field.

Knock down this team and it pops back up.

After they suffered a walk-off 4-3 loss to the Mets last night, the Orioles take the field tonight needing to win two straight to take this series at Citi Field before they return home.

The Orioles (73-53) take the field tonight a half-game behind the first-place Yankees (73-52) who begin a home series tonight with the American League Central-leading Guardians (72-52).

Last night's defeat, the Orioles' fourth walk-off loss of 2024, was their third loss in four games and fifth in their last eight. The Orioles are 15-15 since the All-Star break. 

The Birds fell to 23-18 in series openers and to 11-9 when that series opener was a road game.

The Orioles are 12-13 in July and 8-9 in August. They are 58-33 versus AL teams, but just 15-20 against the National League.

NEW YORK – The number of pitchers on the Orioles injured list has grown to eight, including five starters.

Health issues are prevalent throughout baseball, and the Orioles are maintaining their status as shining and painful examples of it. Seemingly at every turn.

Zach Eflin is experiencing some inflammation in his right shoulder that landed him on the 15-day injured list this afternoon. He was supposed to take the ball for Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Mets.

The move is retroactive to Saturday.

“Hopefully it’s just short term,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “After his start his shoulder was a little bit sore. It had been getting better the last few days, and so we were kind of hopeful, but also a little bit concerned about it. He had to make the start tomorrow and had him come out and throw a little bit today. We just feel like the right thing to do right now is to give him a little bit extra time with the shoulder.

NEW YORK – Another injury is forcing the Orioles to change their rotation and curse their luck.

Zach Eflin, with four quality starts and wins in his four appearances with the Orioles, went on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with right shoulder inflammation. Left-hander Cade Povich was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

Eflin felt some soreness after his last outing and it didn’t improve to the point where he could stay on the roster. The starter for Wednesday is TBD, with manager Brandon Hyde saying Corbin Burnes wouldn’t get the assignment on normal rest.

Povich started Saturday, allowed two runs in a career-high 6 1/3 innings and was optioned. He’s eligible to return because he’s replacing an injured player.

The Orioles also placed left-hander Keegan Akin on the paternity list today and he’s left the team to be with his wife for the birth of their second baby.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled LHP Cade Povich from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Recalled RHP Dillon Tate from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Placed LHP Keegan Akin on the Paternity List.
• Placed RHP Zach Eflin on the 15-day Injured List (right shoulder inflammation), retroactive to August 17.

Maybe it is the end of an era. For the first time since the 2021 preseason farm system organizational rankings by MLBPipeline.com, the Orioles are not the No. 1 team.

In the midseason ranking, released Aug. 15, the Tampa Bay Rays are back on top followed by Minnesota, the Orioles now third, then Cleveland and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

MLBPipeline has been publishing organization rankings twice per calendar year since the preseason of 2015 and no team had been first in six straight rankings until the Orioles did it through the 2024 preseason rating.

Before the O’s run of six straight, Tampa Bay was first three times in a row and before that San Diego four in a row.

The O’s had that amazing run of three straight years of No. 1 ranked players with Adley Rutschman and then Gunnar Henderson and then Jackson Holliday. But now via trades where they dealt some talent and highly ranked players making the majors, the farm ranking is taking an evitable hit.

NEW YORK – Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez sat on a fastball last night like it was a clubhouse sofa.

Alvarez got ahead 3-0 against Orioles reliever Seranthony Domínguez – oh, let’s just call him the closer and stop hedging – and unloaded for his first career walk-off hit of any kind. And man, did he enjoy it.

Well, what he saw of it.

Alvarez made contact, held up the bat with one hand, released it and turned to the Mets dugout. He never looked back at the ball, gesturing to teammates with both hands and slapping his chest multiple times before beginning to round the bases. His jersey was pulled below his left shoulder after reaching home plate and being mobbed.

Domínguez struck out the first batter he faced. He struck out three Red Sox in the ninth inning the previous day. But he’s also surrendered home runs in back-to-back appearances.