Backup catcher James McCann isn’t in the Orioles’ lineup despite his impressive numbers against Blue Jays starter José Berríos. He usually sits against a right-hander, but he’s also recovering from the 98 mph fastball that slammed into the side of his left hand during Tuesday night’s game.

“It’s good,” said McCann, who’s 8-for-24 with two doubles and four home runs against Berríos. “Soreness is a lot better today. Now, it’s just an open wound from the blood blister.”

McCann keeps proving his toughness. He’s gone on the injured list twice with oblique strains but has endured lots of punishment and kept playing.

He’s become a master at laying down bunts on fastballs near his face.

“I give thanks to God every day when something like that happens and I come out of it unscathed,” he said. “I guess there’s a little bit of an innate toughness, but other than that, it’s by the grace of God.”

Adam Frazier returns to the Orioles lineup tonight after being unavailable due to a sore right thumb.

Frazier is batting ninth and playing second base.

Ramón Urías is the third baseman and Gunnar Henderson is the shortstop.

Anthony Santander, who homered twice last night, is in right field. Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter.

The Rays won this afternoon and are 1 ½ games behind the Orioles.

Left-hander Danny Coulombe is rejoining the Orioles’ bullpen tonight.

Coulombe was reinstated from the 15-day injured list after one appearance with Triple-A Norfolk on his rehab assignment. Left-hander Nick Vespi was optioned for the fourth time this season.

Left biceps tendinitis forced Coulombe on the IL after he posted a 2.77 ERA and 1.103 WHIP in 47 games. He’s struck out 48 batters and surrendered only three home runs in 39 innings.

This is the second bullpen move in two days. Mike Baumann was optioned yesterday, with Austin Voth reinstated from the 60-day IL.

The Orioles have a chance tonight to win their 25^th series and beat the Blue Jays for the 10^th time in 13 games.

Cole Irvin and Kyle Gibson see nothing wrong with it. Never to be accused of reliever bias in Cy Young Award voting.

Give it to the best pitcher, whatever role he fills. Whether he’s on the mound to start the first inning or the ninth.

Orioles closer Félix Bautista is aware of the chatter surrounding his candidacy. Irvin dresses only a few lockers away and gladly will lead the conversation.

“The fact that he’s in the discussion just points to how good he is,” Irvin said. “It’s impressive what he’s done this season. I mean, he’s averaging nearly two strikeouts an inning, and this is the best of the best in this league. So, for him to be doing that speaks to the quality of pitcher he is, and he’s been this season, and he’s most certainly deserving to be nominated, or even a candidate for the Cy Young.”

Bautista warmed and then sat last night, leaving him at 32 saves, a 1.52 ERA and 0.944 WHIP in 54 games, and 16.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He retired the side in order in the ninth the previous game, only the fourth time he hadn’t recorded a strikeout.

The short notice didn’t reduce Dean Kremer’s effectiveness.

The previous back soreness didn’t drain the power from Anthony Santander’s bat.

Told yesterday that he’d move up to start tonight, Kremer twirled six scoreless innings against the Blue Jays. Didn’t walk a batter. Didn’t flinch at the assignment.  

Santander returned to the lineup and hit his 22^nd and 23^rd home runs, and the Orioles defeated the Blue Jays 7-0 for their eighth shutout of the season before an announced crowd of 19,132 at Camden Yards.

Jacob Webb retired the side in order in the seventh for his ninth scoreless outing with the Orioles over 8 2/3 innings, striking out his 12^th batter. Yennier Cano had a clean eighth, aided by Cedric Mullins’ leaping catch at the fence to rob pinch-hitter Cavan Biggio. Cano was pitching on back-to-back nights.

The Orioles aren’t listing starters for Thursday night or the three-game weekend series against the Rockies. The rotation is fluid after the decision to push back Jack Flaherty.

Flaherty said he didn’t bounce back after his last start in San Diego. Specifics are scarce.

“It was decided yesterday pregame to just give him a little bit extra time,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “In his catch play yesterday, there’s a little bit of soreness, and so we just wanted to give him a little bit of a break, and we moved up Dean (Kremer) to today.”

Hyde described it as “general” soreness, which “normally goes away over the course of between starts, and we feel like we want to be a little bit precautionary with him and just let him not make his start today.”

Flaherty was acquired from the Cardinals at the trade deadline to provide a veteran presence and someone who could handle a heavier workload, and a six-man rotation was built to spare the younger arms and make it easier control innings. But Flaherty's return date after three starts with the Orioles isn’t determined.

Jack Flaherty said he was scratched from tonight’s start against the Blue Jays because “sometimes you don’t bounce back the way you want to.”

Flaherty is referring to his Aug. 15 start in San Diego, when he allowed seven runs in three innings and came out after 84 pitches.

“You just try to make the right decision of making sure that you feel right,” Flaherty said. “Sometimes after starts you just don’t bounce back the way you want to.”

Flaherty declined to share any specifics, saying “just in general.”

“Throwing yesterday, just didn’t quite feel like you quite bounced back, and sometimes those are hard decisions to make, especially when you want to take the ball every time out. Just one of those things.”

The Orioles have changed starters tonight, with Jack Flaherty scratched from his assignment.

Dean Kremer is starting against the Blue Jays, and Thursday is now listed as TBA.

A couple breaks in the schedule and a six-man rotation put Kremer on six days’ rest following his outing in San Diego.

No explanation was provided for the switch. Manager Brandon Hyde will address it later today in his media session.

Flaherty was supposed to make his fourth start with the Orioles. He’s allowed 10 runs over eight innings since his one-run debut in Toronto.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle made a diving catch and slapped his mitt on the bag, almost in one smooth motion. A double play with style points that kept the deficit at one run. A moment that the 2023 Orioles tend to use as a springboard to a comeback.

The Blue Jays scored again to stretch the lead. They handed reliever Mike Baumann his first loss in the 10th inning.

It doesn’t always work.

Jordan Westburg roped a game-tying double down the left field line off reliever Yimi García in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Orioles stranded two in the ninth and Brandon Belt hit a first-pitch homer off Baumann in the Blue Jays’ 6-3 victory before an announced crowd of 20,612 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles (77-48) had a chance to rise more than 30 games above .500 for the first time since Sept. 25, 2014. They’re 27-14 in series openers, and 8-3 against the Jays.

Tyler Wells is moving from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk, where he’ll pitch in relief Wednesday night in a new twist to his injury rehab assignment that reverts back to his past.

Wells made three starts with the Baysox and allowed three runs in 8 2/3 innings. The Orioles restricted him to two innings and 27 pitches on Saturday as part of their plan.

“We’re going to shorten his outings a little bit, just have him throw less pitches and less innings and kind of see how that goes,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “But we’re really encouraged by giving him some rest, giving him some time off. He’s throwing the ball much better here as of late, so we’re going to put him in Norfolk.

“Different ball, more like the major league baseball, and put him in the bullpen there and then see how that goes.”

Wells was a Rule 5 reliever in 2021 before the Orioles converted him back to starter the following spring. They’re using a six-man rotation and can more easily control Wells’ innings in the bullpen after he threw 113 2/3 this season, 10 more than last year.

The Orioles are back home tonight and trying to improve their record to 28-13 in series openers.

Anthony Santander is out of the lineup again with lower-back soreness. Ryan McKenna is in right field.

Gunnar Henderson is batting third. Austin Hays is the cleanup hitter.

James McCann is catching, with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter.

Ryan Mountcastle has reached base in 26 consecutive games. He went 11-for-13 against the Blue Jays during a four-game series in Toronto.

On Sept. 24, 2014, the Orioles defeated the Yankees 9-5 in the Bronx to move 32 games above .500. They lost their next three, won 1-0 in Toronto and finished the regular season 96-66.

The 2023 edition is 77-47 heading into tonight’s series opener against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards, with a chance to soar 31 games beyond the .500 mark for the first time in nine years.

Can’t clip those wings, though strains happen. And be careful with that back.

I remind myself of this daily as I hoist my mailbag. Lift with the legs, the only exercise they get.

I’m lightening the load by answering a few more questions this morning, the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original, while my body adjusts to East Coast time.

OAKLAND – Jorge Mateo paused before sprinting out of the batter’s box, knowing he hit JP Sears’ changeup a long way, thinking maybe it would clear the fence in left-center field. He slowed as he got halfway to second base, realized that Lawrence Butler wouldn’t make the catch or contain the ball, and slipped into another gear.

The Jorge Mateo gear that few players can find.

Mateo dived across home plate, with the Athletics botching the relay and unable to challenge him. His first home run since April 30, in a month where he hit six of them.

Austin Hays drove in two runs on a ball that deflected off Sears and bounced into shallow left field to pad the lead.

The Orioles wouldn’t just sweep the Athletics. They decided to get creative with it.

OAKLAND – Anthony Santander is out of the lineup again this afternoon, as the Orioles conclude their 10-day road trip and attempt to sweep the Athletics.

Santander is day-to-day with back soreness.

Ryan McKenna is in right field and Gunnar Henderson is the designated hitter. Austin Hays is in left field and batting cleanup.

Jordan Westburg moves down from fourth to seventh. He’s starting at second base, with Ramón Urías at third and Jorge Mateo handling shortstop.

Ryan Mountcastle extended his on-base streak to 25 games last night. Jonathan Schoop is the last Oriole with a 26-game streak in 2017.

OAKLAND – The crowd didn’t rise to its feet or generate even a smattering of applause. A tribute didn’t play on the video boards.

Cole Irvin could have been any other starter tonight, his return to Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum met with utter indifference.

Irvin’s fourth pitch nailed leadoff hitter Esteury Ruíz on the left elbow. At least he got someone’s attention.

Appearing at the ballpark for the first time since a January trade to the Orioles, Irvin held the Athletics to one run over five innings and departed with a lead.

Shintaro Fujinami also came back for the first time, the response muted until Aledmys Díaz hit a game-tying home run in the sixth. Then, it got pretty loud.

OAKLAND – The Orioles primarily right-handed lineup tonight against Athletics left-hander Ken Waldichuk includes Ryan McKenna in right field and Jordan Westburg playing second base and batting cleanup.

McKenna was recalled today from Triple-A Norfolk, with Aaron Hicks going on the 10-day injured list.

Westburg is making his cleanup debut. He’s the 11^th player to bat fourth this season.

Anthony Santander is out of the lineup after leaving last night’s game with “general soreness,” per manager Brandon Hyde.

Gunnar Henderson moves down to third in the order. James McCann is catching.

OAKLAND – The Orioles couldn’t wait any longer for outfielder Aaron Hicks.

Hicks was placed on the 10-day injured list this morning with a lower-back strain, the move retroactive to Wednesday. Outfielder Ryan McKenna was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

Hicks is making his second trip to the IL. He missed three weeks with a left hamstring strain, returned Monday in San Diego and lasted seven innings before leaving with the back discomfort.

“It’s kind of hit or miss right now,” Hicks said yesterday. “What I’m really trying to get over the hump with is hitting. I wake up, I have good mobility, and as soon as I start hitting it kind of starts to flare up a little bit. It’s what I’m dealing with.

“It’s just annoying. Walking around I feel fine, doing little things feel fine, rotation feels fine. And then as soon as I start to try to fire it up and get moving as fast as possible is when it starts wanting to shut down.”

OAKLAND – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde posted another lineup yesterday that didn’t include Aaron Hicks.

Hyde isn’t playing matchups.

He can’t play Hicks.

The veteran outfielder retained his day-to-day status with discomfort in his back. He exited Monday night’s game in San Diego in the eighth inning after singling twice, with Austin Hays replacing him in left field.

Hyde won’t broadcast his players’ availability to the opposing manager, but Hicks didn’t appear in the next two games of the series and followed Thursday’s off-day by sitting again last night.

OAKLAND – Using an opener tonight didn’t work for the Athletics. Bringing in a rookie behind him didn’t work.

The idea of a Jerry Garcia tie-dye promotion also backfired, with the Orioles truckin’ around the bases.

The Orioles scored three times in the first inning, built on their lead with Gunnar Henderson’s long two-run homer in the second, and defeated the Athletics 9-4 before an announced crowd of 8,942 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Henderson had three hits and three RBIs by the fourth inning, and the Orioles improved to 75-47 overall, 39-24 on the road, 27-13 in series openers and 16-5 in openers away from Camden Yards.

The win also assured that they would go 79 consecutive series without being swept. They still lead the Rays by two games in the division.

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.