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DENVER – Zach Eflin is reinstated from the injured list and starting this afternoon against the Rockies. Coby Mayo is recalled from Triple-A Norfolk as the 14th position player on an expanded roster.
And that’s just the beginning.
Infielder Ramón Urías is on the 10-day injured list with a sprained right ankle. He’s on crutches again today after rolling the ankle last night on a tag play at third base.
The Orioles selected catcher David Bañuelos’ contract from Norfolk. He was on the taxi squad and likely will return to it by Monday afternoon.
Outfielder Forrest Wall was designated for assignment to make room for Bañuelos. He was 4-for-11 with a home run for Norfolk after the Orioles claimed him on waivers last week from the Marlins.
The Orioles West Coast trip moved a bit inland but still far away from Camden Yards. The O's have moved from Los Angeles to Denver and tonight will begin a three-game series at Coors Field versus the Colorado Rockies.
The Orioles (77-58) begin play this weekend 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees (78-56) who this weekend host the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Rockies (50-85, .370) have the second-worst record in the National League, ahead of only Miami. Colorado just split four games versus Miami, scoring eight runs each of the last three games and 27 runs in the series.
Colorado has lost six of nine and 10 of their past 16 games. The Rockies are 12-20 since July 26 with a -49 run differential in that span.
But while the Rockies are 19-50 (.275) on the road, they are much better at home at 31-35 (.470). In their past 26 games at home, they are 15-11.
LOS ANGELES – The Orioles won by 3-2 on Tuesday night. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers with a shutdown bullpen and a go-ahead homer by Ramon Urias.
They were in excellent shape to win the series from the club with the best record in the majors and one with a great home record. But two losses followed, and the Orioles fell to 1.5 games back of the idle Yankees for the AL East lead.
Their bullpen had a strong series, how about that? But their starters and batters did not.
The win one, lose one mode might be enough to get the Orioles to the playoffs but they will need to play better when they get there.
The O’s offense hit .182 this series, scoring 10 runs with six extra-base hits in Los Angeles and they went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position.
DENVER - The Orioles are in Colorado for three games against the last-place Rockies, who are a bottom-three team in the majors. They are polar opposites of the Dodgers. It’s like drinking San Pellegrino or straight from the garden hose.
The clubs met at Camden Yards last summer and the Orioles won two of three, with each game decided by a single run. The Rockies won two of three in 2019 at Coors Field during the infant stages of the Orioles’ rebuild.
Known as “infant” because it made you cry every hour.
In the Orioles’ lone victory, Keon Broxton played center field and Stevie Wilkerson was in left. Hanser Alberto batted leadoff. Josh Lucas tossed three scoreless innings for his only major league save.
My only memory of that series isn’t Josh Lucas. It’s Broxton swinging at the first pitch thrown to him as an Oriole, by former prospect Jeff Hoffman, and hitting it 474 feet onto the left field concourse. Jaws dropped in the press box simultaneously, creating a sound louder than the home run.
HOUSTON – After a stunning 17-5 win over the New York Yankees on Thursday, which gave the O’s two wins in three games that series, their road show has arrived in Houston for a weekend series against the Astros at Minute Maid Park.
The Orioles (49-25) are on a 107-win pace after winning back-to-back series from Philadelphia and New York.
Overall they have won four of their past five, 10 of 13, 15 of 21 and 20 of their last 27 games. They are now 24-11 on the road and score 5.6 runs per game in road contests this season.
The Orioles have gone 5-2 this season against New York and are 19-7 for the year in division games.
Their 17 runs topped their previous season high of 13 runs on March 30 versus the Los Angeles Angels. Their 19 hits topped the previous season's high of 15. The 12-run win was the largest victory margin of the year topping their 11-1 win on May 5 at Cincinnati.
The Orioles have not been swept in their past 81 series dating to last year. But today their bid to record their ninth sweep of 2023 came up short.
The Colorado Rockies pushed an unearned run across the plate in the top of the ninth to beat the Orioles 4-3 in front of 30,773 at Oriole Park.
Baltimore's four-game win streak came to an end, and the Orioles are now 81-49 after their 12th one-run loss in 36 such games.
Righty Yennier Cano, who got a save last night, came on for the ninth today, but this time in a 3-3 tie.
Hunter Goodman's grounder went for an infield single and he reached second on a throwing error charged to shortstop Gunnar Henderson. He moved to third with one out and the infield came in. But on pinch-hitter Elias Díaz's hi-chop grounder to third, there was no play at home. The out produced the go-ahead run and what turned out to be winning run. Cano took the loss.
The Orioles wrap up their series with the Colorado Rockies today looking for a three-game sweep after back-to-back 5-4 wins. They trailed in each game of this series but took the lead in the eighth inning Friday night and in the sixth inning last night.
The Orioles (81-48) lead Tampa Bay by three games atop the American League East with Toronto 10 1/2 games back, Boston 12 1/2 out and New York 19 games behind.
This season, the Orioles have three-game series sweeps versus Detroit, at Toronto, versus Kansas City, at Minnesota, at home against Miami, versus the New York Mets and at Oakland. A sweep today would give the Orioles their third sweep in the last seven series.
The Orioles have won four straight by a 22-11 score. Over longer stretches, they have won seven of eight, 10 of 13, 18 of 25 and 32 of their past 45 games.
The Orioles recorded their 40th comeback win Saturday, tied for the MLB lead this season (Cincinnati, 40), and their 76 come-from-behind wins since the start of 2022 are second-most behind Los Angeles-NL (81) entering play yesterday, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
Jack Flaherty is ready to make today’s start, his fourth since joining the Orioles in a deadline trade with the Cardinals.
Flaherty was pushed back after experiencing general soreness and saying he didn’t “bounce back” from his last start and ensuing workout. He’s allowed 10 runs and 10 hits in eight innings in his last two starts.
Today’s opponent seems to suit him. He’s registered a 1.90 ERA and 0.887 WHIP in four career starts against the Rockies in 23 2/3 innings.
Gunnar Henderson, with an 11-game hitting streak, is the third baseman today. Jordan Westburg is playing second.
Cedric Mullins is batting eighth. Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter and remains atop the order.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde worked through the various scenarios in his head. How he’d protect a late lead. Building a bridge to his designated closer for the night.
He just needed the game to reach that point.
Trying for their 81st win and 26th series conquest, the Orioles rallied from a two-run deficit in the sixth inning by scoring four times and holding on to defeat the Rockies 5-4 before an announced sellout crowd of 42,535.
Tommy Doyle inherited two runners from starter Chris Flexen with no outs in the sixth and Ryan Mountcastle greeted him with a go-ahead, two-run double down the left field line. Austin Hays had an RBI grounder to expand the lead, Kyle Bradish gave Hyde six-plus innings and Yennier Cano recorded his fifth save after switching gloves.
"He wants the ball," Hyde said of Cano. "He's not afraid of the moment. He's not afraid to face middle-of-the-order bats. I love how aggressive he is, I love how Yenny pitches with no fear. He's had an All-Star type year."
After their latest win and latest victory in a close game Friday night, the Orioles can win another series with a victory tonight at home against Colorado.
Baltimore (80-48) begins play tonight leading Tampa Bay by three games atop the American League East. The Orioles have won six of seven, 17 of 24 and 31 of their last 44 games.
Their 5-4 Friday win over the Rockies improved the Orioles' record to 23-11 in one-run games, and they have now gone 81 straight series without being swept.
The O's have scored 48 runs the last seven games and hit 12 homers their past six games.
Right-hander Kyle Bradish (8-6, 3.03 ERA) will make his 24th start tonight for the Orioles, who are 15-8 in his games this year, winning his last four starts.
Remember how everything went so well for the Nationals over the weekend? How they played crisp, clean, aggressive, winning baseball against the contending Giants and emerged with their first three-game sweep in more than two years?
Well, the Nats took the field tonight looking to keep those positive vibes going against the National League’s worst team and proceeded not to do anything they did well the previous three days.
During the course of a 10-6 loss to the Rockies, the Nationals looked nothing like the best version of themselves that had just been on display. They got a poor start out of Patrick Corbin. They did next-to-nothing at the plate against a couple of unheralded Colorado pitchers. They were charged with two errors in the field. They ran into one of the most egregious outs on the bases you’ll see all year. They were called for a balk when the pitcher turned to make a pickoff attempt at first base only to realize the runner wasn’t being held on.
"We made some mistakes," manager Davey Martinez said. "A couple of mistakes uncharacteristic to ourselves."
So it was the Nats failed to pull off their first four-game winning streak since June 27-30, 2021, back when Kyle Schwarber was launching home runs and Trea Turner was hitting for the cycle for a ballclub that believed it could compete for another World Series title.
