The surging Orioles can complete a four-game sweep of the Rays tonight at Tropicana Field. If they get the sweep, it will be their fifth sweep of the year of at least three games. They are also looking for their second four-game sweep in the last five series.

The Orioles (42-22) begin play tonight 2.5 games back of the Yankees (46-21). New York begins a seven-game road trip tonight with the start of a four-game series at Kansas City.

The Orioles have wins by 6-3, 5-0 and 9-2 this series, outscoring Tampa Bay 20-5. The team has won three in a row, eight of 11 and 13 of its past 17 games.

They previously had three games sweeps at Boston April 9-11, versus Minnesota April 15-17 and at Cincinnati May 3-5. They took four in a row in Chicago against the White Sox from May 23-26.

The Orioles are 20-10 in road games. With a series victory secured this series, they are now 14-4-3 in series play for the season and are 6-2-2 in road series.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles announced a multi-year partnership today with T. Rowe Price that makes the company “the exclusive investment and wealth management sponsor of the baseball club.”

A patch with the Baltimore-based investment firm’s ram logo will be worn on the right sleeve beginning Tuesday night for the series opener against the Braves at Camden Yards.

“We are ecstatic to enter into this partnership with T. Rowe Price and welcome them as the first organization to associate their name and brand on our uniforms,” Orioles senior vice president and chief revenue officer T.J. Brightman said in a statement. “This partnership acknowledges the strong Baltimore Orioles brand, and we are elated to bring together two Baltimore institutions to positively impact our Birdland community.”

“The future of the Baltimore Orioles and the City of Baltimore is bright,” control person David Rubenstein said in a statement. “We are delighted to welcome T. Rowe Price to Birdland at such an eventful time on and off the field. Our organizations share a dedication to hard work, innovation, professionalism, and integrity, and we have committed our long-term futures to this city. We look forward to a long, successful partnership as we work to bring the World Series trophy back to Baltimore.”

“T. Rowe Price has called Baltimore home since our founding. We are deeply committed to the City — as is the Orioles organization,” Rob Sharps, CEO and president of T. Rowe Price, said in a statement. “We are very excited to invest in our hometown team and our community, and we believe this partnership will help us attract more clients in the years to come.”

The Orioles began play Sunday leading the majors in runs per game at 5.11 and they also led the majors in team slugging at .448 and in home runs with 100 even.

Then they went out and showed off that offense again in their latest win by 9-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was the first game in team history, which dates of course to 1954, where they produced three triples and a grand slam.

Against a team and organization where they once had a 2-27 run, the Orioles tonight can sweep their first-ever four-game series at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles (42-22) are 5-1 this year versus the Rays and 13-6 since the beginning of last year. They have won 13 of the past 18 meetings between the teams and are 22-13 the last 35 games against Tampa Bay. The Rays last series win against the Orioles came at home in August of 2022.

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.

Having gone 18 straight series against American League East opponents without losing one - winning 13 with five ties in this span - the Orioles can extend that streak with one more win this weekend.

They beat the Rays 3-1 Friday to take the opener of a three-game series. The Orioles are 36-19 for the season, 3-1 on this homestand, 20-11 at home 10-3 against division teams and 13-6 in series-opening games.

The Orioles, winners of seven of their last eight games, begin play today in second place, two games behind the New York Yankees. 

Friday was another well-pitched game by Baltimore pitchers. They have allowed one run in back-to-back games and three times the past five games. Over their last 28 games since April 29, they have a team ERA of 2.73 and have allowed two runs or less 13 times. Only the Yankees (2.43) have a better mark in baseball during this span.

O's starters have a 3.01 ERA for the year, the third-best rotation ERA in MLB behind the Phillies (2.69) and Yankees (2.72). In 28 games since April 29, the rotation's ERA is 2.26, second-best in MLB during that time behind the Yankees (2.19).

The Orioles end the 2023 regular season today against the same team they started with back on March 30 - the Boston Red Sox. They won that game 10-9, their first win on their way to 101 and an AL East championship.

This year this will not be the last game. The Orioles, the No. 1 seed with home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs, will host Game 1 of the AL Division Series at Oriole Park on Saturday, Oct. 7.

At 101-60, Baltimore will head into the final game with a three-game lead over Tampa Bay (98-63). Even though those clubs have the two best records in the league, they could meet in the ALDS next week.

The Rays will be the fourth seed for the AL playoffs and the Orioles, as the top seed, will play the winner of the No. 4 versus No. 5 wild-card round. The Blue Jays could very well be that No. 5 team, but going into the final day today, it could still also be the Astros or Rangers.

The Orioles' 5-2 win last night ensured they will finish this season with a winning record over every other AL East team for the first time since 2014.

With the understanding that not all fan reaction one gets on a radio talk show, on a blog, via social media and/or Twitter represents all of Birdland, it appears a good percentage of the fanbase has emotions surging after the O's lost in the last of the ninth at Cleveland Friday night.

Some are worried, some are nearly panicked and we see just about everything in between.

First let's do this fact check: The Orioles let a game get away last night but with Tampa Bay's loss to Toronto, they saw their magic number to win the division reduced to six.

Since Sept. 12 the Orioles are 4-7. But in the same time frame, the Rays are 5-5 and have cut the O's lead from three games to 1.5 in that span.

Just a week ago on that Friday night, the O's were getting questioned and criticized after losing two games to the Rays. They answered that by winning the next four by scoring 30 runs against Tampa Bay and Houston.

CLEVELAND – The trainers’ room on the visiting side at Progressive Field attracted a large crowd this afternoon.

The Orioles didn’t have injury issues. It wasn't about receiving treatment.

They had a strong curiosity about the finish of the Rays-Angels game, and that's the television they chose over the ones inside their clubhouse.

Tampa Bay rallied for a 5-4 win and reduced the Orioles’ division lead to two games. The magic number holds at seven to clinch it.

Players gathered to watch the ending and reacted to every missed opportunity by the Angels to help them. A botched double-play grounder in the ninth set up the Rays for the walk-off. The groans were audible.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn’t notice any panic inside his clubhouse this afternoon. His players behaved in the usual way, talking at their lockers, watching college football on the six televisions suspended from the ceiling, playing chess at one of the tables. Jordan Westburg grabbed a plate of food. Teammates headed outside to toss a ball.

Four losses in a row annoyed but didn’t rattle.

“I just think they’re disappointed, but they’re going to bounce back, ready to play tonight,” Hyde said before batting practice. “I haven’t sensed anything. You can hear them interacting well. We had a good hitters meeting a while ago, but we do every day. So, I think they’re ready to go.”

Grayson Rodriguez was amped, retiring the first nine batters and striking out four of six. Curtis Mead swung through a 100.1 mph fastball to end the second, the second-fastest strikeout pitch by an Orioles starter in the Statcast era. No one crossed the plate.

Gunnar Henderson was fired up, too. His first two swings of the game produced a leadoff single in the first and a 428-foot, two-run homer in the second, and he delivered a run-scoring single in the fourth. He also set one Orioles rookie record and tied a Hall of Famer on another list.

Hoping their offense will break out to help the cause, the Orioles host the Rays tonight looking for their first win in Game 3 of this series. With wins by 4-3 and 7-1 the last two nights, the Rays have tied the Orioles for first place atop the American League East.

Tonight's winner will sit alone atop the division.

Baltimore's offense, which produced just two runs in the last two games of the St. Louis series, has scored only six runs on 18 hits in the past four games. The O's have lost those four by a combined 17-6 score. They are 1-5 in the last six games by a 29-20 score. 

The four-game losing streak matches the longest of the season for the Orioles, who also had lost four in a row June 27-July 1.

In this series, O's batters are just 6-for-59 (.102) scoring four runs and going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles have not had a long losing streak all year, matching their season-high of four in a row with last night's 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay. Now with two games remaining in this series, they need to find a way. Find a way to score more against the Rays and get at least one game in this series to hold the playoff tiebreaker.

The Orioles offense recently went through a stretch of scoring 10 or more runs in four of five games, scoring 48 runs in the five contests. They scored 155 runs in a 22-game span, an average of 7.05 per game.

They would sure take that now after losses in this series by one and six runs. Baltimore batters are 6-for-59 (.102) this series with three homers, but no doubles or triples. They are 1-for-6 in the two games with runners in scoring position, showing they've had very few chances to do much on offense.

In the last four games, the Orioles have scored six runs on just 18 hits, going 2-for-24 with RISP.

Now they have to find a way.

In the first nine games this year between the Orioles and Tampa Bay, the Orioles went 6-3 and they were 6-0 in games decided by two runs or less. 

But in the series opener last night in Baltimore, Tampa Bay won a close one by 4-3 on Luke Raley's tiebreaking homer in the seventh. The Rays bullpen put up four perfect innings to protect that lead. The Rays 'pen has thrown 34 straight innings without allowing an earned run.

Tonight, the Orioles hope their 'pen gets a chance to protect a late lead.

Then we will find out - Can the Orioles win close games against Tampa Bay without closer Félix Bautista?

It is really a question they are going to have answer the rest of the way and a big question for October playoff baseball.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde faced redundancy before the Rays.

More questions about the magnitude of the series. How his players would handle it, how he’d handle it.

“I just want our guys to enjoy it,” Hyde said during his daily media session. “This is what you play for all year. Play meaningful games in September. It’s something you always talk about.

“I really want our guys to just relax and enjoy all the moments.”

The fun times began with Cedric Mullins’ running, diving catch in right-center field to rob Taylor Walls in the second inning and likely save a run. They accelerated with Ryan O’Hearn’s leadoff homer in the bottom half and Gunnar Henderson’s 26^th in the fourth.

The Orioles, who lead the American League East by two games and are 10-0-2 in their past 12 series in the division, host the Rays tonight to start a crucial four-game series at Oriole Park. 

The Orioles are 91-54 for the best record in the AL and second-best to Atlanta in MLB. They have won eight of 11, 14 of 20, 17 of 24 and 20 of the last 29 games. They are 43-27 at home and 37-19 in the second half.

Tampa Bay is 90-57 and looking to make the postseason for the fifth year in a row. The Rays have won five of six, 12 of 17, 16 of 22, 18 of 25 and 21 of their past 30 games.

Tampa Bay is 40-32 on the road, 32-22 in the second half and 71-22 when they score first. They are 19-35 when their opponent scores first.

The Orioles are 6-3 versus the Rays and one more win will give the Orioles the season series victory. They went 9-10 last season against the Rays and 1-18 in 2021.

Stoked. Excited. Relieved.

Heston Kjerstad summed up his emotions after getting the news last night that the Orioles wanted him in Baltimore. He isn’t in tonight’s lineup, but he reached the majors in his first full professional season.

The wheels were in motion after Ryan Mountcastle injured his left shoulder while fouling off a pitch. Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton pulled Kjerstad from the game after two plate appearances.

“For precautionary or whatever,” Kjerstad said, “and then postgame Buck let me know that I was getting called up.”

Kjerstad called his parents, Dave and Jody, and his siblings. They'll be part of his cheering section tonight at Camden Yards.

The Orioles must proceed through their important four-game series and the ensuing days without their closer and, for now, their starting first baseman. But how long?

Félix Bautista is on the injured list with a slight tear of his ulnar collateral ligament – he’s playing catch on flat ground while the team determines whether he can pitch again this year - but Ryan Mountcastle didn’t join him today.

Mountcastle injured his left shoulder last night and underwent an MRI, but outfielder Heston Kjerstad, the second-overall pick in the 2022 draft and one of the top prospects in baseball, had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk and Ryan McKenna was optioned. Mountcastle stays on the active roster and perhaps retains his day-to-day status.

Infielder Terrin Vavra was recalled from Norfolk and transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Kjerstad on the 40-man roster. Vavra has a shoulder strain and receives his major league salary and service time.

Also, reliever Bryan Baker was recalled from Norfolk and left-hander Nick Vespi was optioned for a fifth time. Vespi can’t be optioned again without passing through waivers.

Finally everyone - from the clubhouse to the dugout, to the media to the fanbase - can turn their full attention to the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays series that begins tonight at Camden Yards.

The Orioles begin the four-game set leading the AL East by two games. A split or better would be big for Baltimore. The Rays could use three wins or better. No one will win the division this series or lose it, but the results could have a lot to say about who eventually does both.

The Baltimore offense, which put up 10 runs or more four times in a five-game span, now has scored two and no runs the past two games. They lost the series to St. Louis - their first series loss since mid August at San Diego. They were 7-0 the last seven series until losing against the Cardinals.

Both teams enter this series playing well. Tampa Bay (90-57) has won five of six, 12 of 17, 18 of 25 and 21 of the last 30 games.

Baltimore (91-54) has won eight of 11, 14 of 20, 17 of 24 and 20 of the last 29 games.

Now, it gets real.

Or real important. And really hard.

The other games counted, of course, but the Orioles are set to play four against the Rays beginning tonight at Camden Yards. The team that’s two behind them in the division race. The team with the same lengthy stubborn streak, refusing to let injuries and other impactful issues break its spirit and damage postseason aspirations.

The Orioles returned to their clubhouse last night with their magic number at four to clinch the first playoff birth since 2016. That’s the immediate task, and it could be done in a few days.

An Orioles win reduces the number by one. And so on. That’s the simplest math in an otherwise complicated equation, which induces headaches when also factoring in other teams like the Rangers and Mariners.

The Orioles didn’t send down left-hander Cole Irvin again today based on poor evaluations of his performance. Circumstances beyond his control removed him from the active roster and the clubhouse.

Irvin was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, with Nick Vespi recalled again.

“Because of the six-man rotation right now, as well as, the last four or five starts have been short, so our bullpen has taken a heavy load, that whole Boston series and the first game here against St. Louis,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We just felt like we needed a bullpen arm.”

Irvin has been optioned three times. He could return again but must stay in the minors for a minimum of 15 days unless replacing an injured player.

“We’ll see,” Hyde said.

The Orioles are closing in on clinching their first playoff berth since 2016 with a magic number of four to clinch. They have bigger fish to fry, of course, and want the AL East championship, but clinching a playoff berth will come first.

The players are not yet ready to talk much about that, even with it so close at hand. They are keeping their one-day-at-a-time approach.

“I mean I think we’ve been saying it the whole year, take it game-by-game. We keep doing that, day-by-day and pitch-by-pitch and hopefully this ends with a playoff spot,” Ryan Mountcastle said this afternoon.

I asked Mountcastle today why and how the Orioles have been so good at being in first place. It is kind of a strange question, yes, but since tying for the AL East lead on July 18, they have been in first place every day since.

With their win today at Minnesota, Tampa Bay is 28-14 in the last 42 games. The Orioles are 29-13.