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 81^st win and 26^th 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 24^th 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.