Adley Rutschman is batting second tonight as the Orioles attempt to secure another series win against the Rays.

Terrin Vavra has media gathered at his locker this afternoon, but his name isn’t in the lineup. His major league debut remains on hold.

Ramón Urías, who hit the decisive two-run homer last night in the eighth inning, is batting .397/.426/.707 in 17 games this month with three doubles, five home runs and 18 RBIs.

Cedric Mullins hit his 13^th career leadoff home run last night, tying him for second in club history with Don Buford, Al Bumbry and Brian Roberts. Brady Anderson is first with 44.

Tyler Wells is 7-6 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.096 WHIP in 19 starts. He’s allowed 11 runs and 17 hits in his last three starts over 14 2/3 innings.

Orioles assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes affectionately refers to the bullpen as “Animal Kingdom.”

“It’s kind of how I look at it,” he said, “because everybody who goes down there turns into an animal.”

Baseball’s version of the Baltimore Zoo has posted the third-lowest ERA in the majors at 3.06 following six scoreless innings Monday and 3 2/3 last night. A collection of castoffs who reeled the Orioles back above .500 and into fourth place.

“We’ve got guys down there from trades, we’ve got guys DFA’d, we’ve got all mixes and matches down there, and these guys have really come together,” Holmes said. “They’re very focused and they work really hard, they’re good listeners. You couldn’t ask for anything better than what’s going on down there.”

“It’s been phenomenal,” said Chris Holt, who serves the dual role of pitching coach and director of pitching. “I can’t say enough about how hard they’re working, how determined they are to perform. And they have good habits with their work. They’re doing tremendous work. It’s really encouraging with everything they’re doing.”

Shane McClanahan, the American League’s starter in the All-Star Game, threw one pitch tonight and watched the ball land on the flag court in right field. Cedric Mullins wasn’t going to let the Baltimore native get too comfortable in his hometown.

Anthony Santander belted his team-leading 17^th home run in the fourth inning, the Orioles’ first hit since Mullins’ blast. McClanahan retired the next 10 batters, with the two solo shots the only hits he allowed through seven innings.

He was cruising.

And then he was gone, with manager Kevin Cash deciding 81 pitches were enough.

Also gone was the Rays’ slim lead.

The Orioles are ready to unleash another prospect on major league opponents.

Terrin Vavra, acquired from the Rockies as part of the 2020 Mychal Givens trade, has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll be on the bench tonight with the Rays starting left-hander Shane McClanahan.

Vavra is batting .324/.435/.451 with 14 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 18 RBIs, 28 walks and 36 strikeouts in 45 games with Norfolk. He missed five weeks with a strained right hamstring.

For the month of July, Vavra is slashing .296/.441/.444 with 16 hits in 54 at-bats. He was 17-for-52 (.327) in April and 2-for-4 in May before the injury.

“He’s been swinging the ball well all year in Norfolk,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “He played a few positions. And we’re so right-handed that adding a left-handed bat is nice for us. And good to see a young guy playing well in Triple-A get rewarded with getting called up to the big leagues.”

The Orioles placed infielder Jonathan Araúz on the 10-day injured list with a right digit avulsion fracture, sustained last night while diving into second base, and recalled infielder Terrin Vavra from Triple-A Norfolk.

Vavra isn’t in tonight’s lineup. He’ll wait to make his major league debut as the No. 12 prospect in the system per MLBPipeline.com.

Having Vavra on the roster gives the Orioles a needed left-handed bat. He can play second base and the outfield.

The Orioles signed infielder Max Wagner, their second-round draft pick out of Clemson University and the 42^nd overall.

Wagner’s deal is for $1.9 million, according to an industry source. The slot value was $1,861,900.

Trey Mancini is playing defense on days that he’s the designated hitter or on the bench.

A mitt isn’t needed. Just fingers that can work his phone.

Mancini said he’s disabled the Twitter and Instagram apps to better shield himself from the trade rumors as the Aug. 2 deadline approaches. To resist any temptations. Give him some peace.

The Mets have serious interest in Mancini, which would reunite him with former manager Buck Showalter, and the industry buzz grew much louder last night regarding the possibility of a deal.

“I’m trying to do a much better job of not following that,” said Mancini, who didn't appear in last night's 5-1 win over the Rays. “It’s so much noise and so much uncertainty and speculation that it doesn’t really benefit you as a player. There are some good aspects of social media, but in my opinion it can be a pretty tough place, too, so I just try to drown out the noise.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde called the decision by outfielder Anthony Santander and reliever Keegan Akin to get vaccinated “a personal choice by them.”

There were no meetings between the club and players. No mentions of the competitive disadvantage with Santander and Akin unable to enter Canada based on its COVID-19 regulations.

They missed the series against the Blue Jays in June, weren’t paid and didn’t receive service time.

“I didn’t talk to them about where we are standings-wise or anything like that,” Hyde said. “That was something that we had talked about in the past. I was happy to hear that. But like I said, that’s a choice by those two guys and I’m proud of our club for being fully vaccinated.”

The Orioles return to Toronto on Aug. 15-17. They called up outfielder Kyle Stowers and reliever Rico Garcia for the last visit to Rogers Centre.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has made some changes to tonight’s lineup, opening a four-game home series against the Rays with Jonathan Araúz at shortstop and Trey Mancini and Jorge Mateo on the bench.

Araúz is 4-for-24 with the Orioles and hasn’t played since July 8. His last start was July 7.

Mancini is 0-for-20 with nine strikeouts in his last five games. He’s hitless in his last 22 at-bats.

Mateo has been playing every day and is due for a breather.

Adley Rutschman has moved back up to second in the order. Anthony Santander is batting fourth as the designated hitter, with Ryan McKenna in right field.

The theories are plentiful and varied, with no expectations that actual evidence is going to surface.

Three Orioles relievers threw pitches that were clocked at 100 mph or more during the first two games of the weekend series against the Yankees. Two experienced their first exposure to triple digits in the majors. Granted membership into the club.

Bryan Baker hit the exact mark Friday night while facing Aaron Judge in the seventh inning. Judge fouled off the fastball and later struck out.

Closer Jorge López topped Baker at 100.6 mph the following night with Gleyber Torres batting in the ninth inning. The All-Star missed his mark with the sinker, then coaxed a fly ball to right field.

Baker’s four-seamer averages 95.7 mph this season, per BrooksBaseball.net. López’s fastball averages 97.4 mph and his sinker 97.8 mph.

The curveball that Dean Kremer fed Aaron Judge in the first inning today made the Yankees slugger look bad. Or at least human.

Judge took his usual mighty cut, caught only air, and walked back to the dugout with a rare strikeout in the series.

Kremer tried the same pitch in the third inning with a runner on base, and Judge destroyed it with the same ferocity.

The bender almost broke a seat in the section behind the left field bleachers, a 456-foot shot to increase a lead that the Yankees held throughout the steamy afternoon in a 6-0 win over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 25,623 at Camden Yards.

All-Star Nestor Cortes Jr. tossed six scoreless innings, and his former team moved below .500 again at 47-48. The Orioles still haven’t won two series against the Yankees in the same season since 2017.

To keep rookie Adley Rutschman in the Orioles’ lineup this afternoon as the designated hitter, manager Brandon Hyde had to sit one of his starters. He chose outfielder Anthony Santander, who moved to the bench for the series finale against the Yankees.

Santander leads the club with 16 home runs. He has five multi-hit games in his last 14. But someone had to step aside.

“It’s just a day off,” Hyde said, clarifying that an injury isn’t in the equation.

“It’s the summer and day game after a night game, we’re going to rotate guys as much as we possibly can and try to keep guys fresh as we can the last couple months.”

Reliever Rico Garcia has warmed during the past two games without leaving the bullpen. He also warmed at Tropicana Field before the break. But his last appearance was July 10.

Would they dare?

Would the Orioles toss a life raft to a rival’s drowning bullpen rather than offering a glass of water?

OK, the Yankees aren’t in such dire straits, since they still have Clay Holmes closing, but an important bridge to him collapsed Friday night on the mound at Camden Yards. Michael King fractured his right elbow and was lost for the remainder of the season.

Aroldis Chapman retired one of four batters, throwing two wild pitches, surrendering Anthony Santander’s prodigious three-run homer, and hearing more boos from the Yankees’ contingent after his removal. He has a 5.75 ERA and is averaging 7.5 walks per nine innings.

Can’t be trusted.

A series lost to close out the first half was followed by last night’s defeat and an early deficit tonight. Baseball’s surprise team was threatening to slip two games below .500. And the question loomed whether it could tap the brakes and avoid a serious crash.

The competitive nature of the Orioles, the non-stop motor, figures to pull them through some of the most difficult stretches. There’s no rest stop until perhaps Cincinnati – if a team that tied for the worst record last year is granted entrance. They must keep going.

Aaron Judge doubled twice, singled and drove in two runs within the first four innings. Gerrit Cole weathered a fifth-inning storm, when the Orioles scored twice with two outs, came back out for the seventh north of 100 pitches and lost the lead after two batters.

This was going to be typical Orioles. Count them out, watch them rally and wait for the final result, knowing it would be close.

The bottom of the order rose to the occasion again, the bullpen did its usual work, and the Orioles defeated the Yankees 6-3 before an announced crowd of 36,361 at Camden Yards, their largest non-opening day gathering since 2018.

The Orioles have completed the composition of their rotation through the first turn following the All-Star break.

Austin Voth starts Monday against the Rays at Camden Yards and Spenser Watkins starts Tuesday. No changes to the rotation beyond its order.

Tyler Wells and Jordan Lyles are lined up to start the last two games of the series.

Ramón Urías is batting .372/.413/.628 (16-for-43) with two doubles, three home runs, 14 RBIs, three walks and eight runs scored in 13 games since being reinstated from the 10-day injured list on July 4. He has five multi-hit games during that stretch, and the 14 RBIs are tied for fourth in the American League and fifth in the majors.

Urías leads the Orioles in hard-hit percentage (50 percent) and ranks second in average exit velocity at 90.8 mph, according to Statcast. His hard-hit rate places him in the top seven percent in the majors.

Adley Rutschman is batting second again tonight as the Orioles try to win their first game after the All-Star break.

Rutschman is catching, which puts him on the bench or makes him the designated hitter Sunday afternoon.

Manager Brandon Hyde posted the same lineup as last night.

Jordan Lyles is working on an extra day of rest following the All-Star break. This is his fifth start against New York in 2022, posting a 4.56 ERA in 23 2/3 innings.

The last two starts have been quality by definition, with two earned runs in seven innings and three in 6 2/3. He struck out a combined 16 batters.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde hasn’t confirmed his second-half rotation beyond Tyler Wells, Jordan Lyles and Dean Kremer for the Yankees series, which began last night with a 7-6 loss.

Unless there’s a late intruder, the first two games of the Rays series next week should feature Spenser Watkins and Austin Voth in whatever order.

The process of elimination is at work here. But also some suspicion.

DL Hall started last night for Triple-A Norfolk and came out after one inning, a planned removal to shorten up the young pitchers coming out of the break. Didn’t necessarily mean anything more than that, but it stirred up the local media for a few minutes.

There’s shortening and then there’s really shortening. One inning and 17 pitches?

The Orioles burst into the unofficial second half of the season with four days’ rest and a streak of 11 wins in their last 13 games. They were energized, and they were playing at home. A perfect pairing on a sweltering night.

The Yankees were swept yesterday in a day-night doubleheader in Houston, boarded their charter flight and arrived in Baltimore this morning. Losers of seven of their last 10 games. They were tired and perhaps a bit irritable.

Holders of the best record in baseball, tormentors of teams below them in the standings, put in an unenviable position.

“Doesn’t matter at all,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said before heading outdoors for batting practice. “It’s the New York Yankees. It’s a really good team, it’s a huge payroll, superstars up and down. They’re pros. They’ll be ready to play.”

All of it true. Nothing that the Orioles could do about it, no matter how hard they fought.

The All-Star break did wonders for the Orioles’ collective health.

Outfielder Austin Hays needed to rest a sore right wrist, and reliever Félix Bautista is available tonight after the exercise band mishap at Tropicana Field last weekend that bruised his right hand.

Tyler Wells, who’s starting tonight, has a restriction on his innings this season, a task made easier with him idle since last Friday against the Rays.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Hays "rehabbed" the wrist for four days, exactly what needed to happen to reduce the level of discomfort.

"He played banged up at the end of the break," Hyde said. "Saw him last night, it felt better. It feels great today, so the break came at the right time."

The Orioles are 92 games into the season and resume it tonight after a brief pause for the All-Star break, the first seven against the top two teams in their division. Twenty of the next 30 played within the American League East.

Bad news in the past. Nothing to celebrate in 2022. But the Orioles are 16-21 versus the East after going 20-56 last year, 24-52 in 2019, 23-53 in 2018.

The 2017 team that remained in contention at the beginning of September finished two games below .500 in the division.

You must go back to the 2016 season to find the Orioles above .500, when they went 40-36. The current division record is more impressive when placed alongside the others.

The Orioles are 12-12 versus three teams in the East. The 4-9 record comes against the Yankees, who arrive tonight after the Astros swept them yesterday in a doubleheader.

Maxwell Costes has no memories of the old Memorial Stadium, the site just a couple of miles from where he grew up. But the trips to Camden Yards are priceless to Costes. So vivid. And far too many to count.

His membership in the junior fans club. Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after his freshman season at the University of Maryland, where he batted .266/.397/.547 with 15 doubles, 15 home runs and 49 RBIs and earned first-team All-Big 10 honors, and after his Orioles 16-18 RBI team won its regional tournament and moved on the first-ever World Series for that age group.

Did he throw a strike?

“I did not, but it’s OK,” he said, laughing. “There was a lot of pressure. I’m not going to lie.”

The story of how Costes made his way from his Pen Lucy neighborhood in northern Baltimore City to Gilman School to four-year starter with the Terps – where he hit .298/.458/.560 with 37 doubles, 40 home runs and 145 RBIs - would provide a wonderful read, but the local kid keeps making good. And there’s more to him than the sport he plays.