TAMPA – Tony Mansolino is willing to talk about the weather and how miserably hot it gets in Florida. He loves to share stories about his two young sons, learning the sport through his father, Doug, and pretty much any topic that isn’t a guarded club secret. But just like his predecessor, Mansolino knows that most of the media sessions begin with injury and rehab updates.

There’s no escaping it – just like the heat.

The interim manager was happy to pass along the latest positive report on Kyle Bradish, who is following his two innings of live batting practice over the weekend with his first rehab start Thursday at High-A Aberdeen.

Bradish made his last Orioles appearance on June 14, 2024 against the Phillies, allowing two runs in five innings and coming out after only 74 pitches. The red flag was raised and flapped in the breeze. A pitcher who received a platelet-rich plasma injection in January after his diagnosis of an ulnar collateral ligament sprain was on borrowed time, and the clock struck 12 on a Baltimore evening.

We’ll assume that it was muggy.

ATLANTA – Last night’s Fourth of July contest between the O’s and Braves didn’t provide many fireworks. This afternoon, though, the clubs certainly made up for it, combining for five home runs in an extra-innings thriller. 

The Orioles came out on top, 9-6. 

After facing three elite starting pitchers in Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Spencer Strider, it was just the performance the bats needed to get back on track. 

"I feel like our guys have swung the bat good here for the last month, and I thought today was a pretty good indication of it," Tony Mansolino said after the game. "We faced a really good Major League bullpen, a lot of left-handed pitching, that thing that’s been tough on us here over the last year-and-a-half. And after 10 innings to walk out with nine runs, you have to be pleased."

Dean Kremer was on the mound for Baltimore, looking to continue his great stretch of starts since May 1. A big key was that he needed to avoid the big inning. 

Zach Eflin’s attempts at a bounce back started with a thud.

Tampa Bay leadoff hitter Josh Lowe doubled in the first inning and chugged home on Brandon Lowe’s single. The throw enabled the runner to move into scoring position, but it didn’t matter.  Jonathan Aranda homered with one out, Junior Caminero and Jake Mangum singled, and a fielder’s choice gave the Rays a quick four-run lead.

The Orioles didn’t have another comeback at the ready. They didn’t have Eflin by the second inning.

Eflin threw 28 pitches and came out of the game with lower back tightness, replaced by Scott Blewett in an 11-3 loss to the Rays before an announced crowd of 30,491 at sunny Camden Yards.

Ramón Laureano hit his 10^th home run in the ninth after Coby Mayo singled, but quiet bats had influenced the outcome. 

NEW YORK – The Orioles escaped the oppressive heat in Tampa, knowing that temperatures would rise in the Bronx for afternoon and late-morning starts this weekend and possibly touch triple digits Tuesday in Baltimore. A stretch of consecutive games in a row will reach 16 before Thursday’s off-day, and interim manager Tony Mansolino talked about scraping guys off the grass.

He had to scratch Adley Rutschman, who was bothered by left side discomfort. And the Orioles had to face Yankees left-hander Max Fried, who brought nine wins and a 1.89 ERA into the series opener.

Adversity keeps stacking up for a team trying to claw its way out of a deep hole. It can be weather, health, exhaustion, opponent or something else, but the Orioles won’t always let it stall the momentum that might be building.  

The Orioles jumped Fried early and lost their legs, but Coby Mayo delivered a game-tying single in the sixth inning and Ramón Urías led off the eighth with an opposite-field home run off Luke Weaver in a 5-3 victory over the Yankees before an announced sellout crowd of 47,034.

Urías fell behind 0-2 and worked the count full, and his 337-foot fly ball landed inside the right field foul pole. Gunnar Henderson extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a pinch-hit RBI single, and the Orioles (33-42) moved within nine games of .500 for the first time since May 11.

The Orioles have more mound decisions on their plate.

They needed a starter for tonight and must remove a reliever to fit him onto the roster. Trevor Rogers will go from taxi squad to active roster after his 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. And Grant Wolfram could be one-and-done after the Orioles recalled him yesterday to replace Colin Selby, who was one-and-done.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino didn’t confirm Rogers’ start during his pregame session with the assembled media in Tampa, but he said, “We’re excited to kind of get him in here tomorrow.”

The food room? The showers?

He’s going to be on the mound and trying not to stand in a puddle of sweat. The heat seems intense. Dean Kremer’s skin had the shine of a glazed donut last night. He looked like he collided with the Exxon Valdez.

The Orioles will try for their third series sweep in the last five today with Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser and Ryan O’Hearn on the bench.

Jordan Westburg is leading off and playing second base. Gunnar Henderson is the designated hitter. Coby Mayo gets another start at first base after his first career multi-hit game yesterday. Luis Vázquez makes his first Orioles start at shortstop.

Another change: Scott Blewett is the opener, presumably followed by Cade Povich. Blewett hasn’t allowed an earned run in eight relief innings with the Orioles. Today marks his second start in the majors, the other earlier this year with the Braves.

Povich has a 5.46 ERA and 1.525 WHIP in 12 starts. He’s allowed five earned runs in two of his last three starts totaling 9 1/3 innings.

Povich has never faced the Angels.

The Orioles will happily take a day off at any point in the season, whether it interrupts an impressive run or follows a losing series to the lowly Athletics. Can never have too many resets. But they obviously wish that the latter didn’t apply.

The flight home yesterday had to feel much longer.

Facing the Tigers in a three-game set that begins Tuesday at Camden Yards could seem to many like it’s make-or-break, since every loss inflates the odds against them, and winning two of three or manufacturing a sweep against a team with the best record in baseball would hint again that the Orioles have plenty of life in them. But man, that series in Sacramento was a kick in the crotch, and with sharpened spikes.

The A’s deserve an F grade this season but they won 5-4 and 5-1 over the weekend. Tomoyuki Sugano was starting yesterday against Jacob Lopez, which on the surface seemed like a lock before it reversed. Sugano allowed four runs (three earned) and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Lopez allowed an unearned run in four innings and Sean Newcomb followed with three scoreless.

Lopez and Newcomb are left-handers. There’s the reverse. The Orioles are 4-13 against southpaw starters, including openers. They’ll see two right-handers against the Tigers, but also Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, who’s registered a 2.16 ERA, walked seven batters and struck out 105 in his 13 outings covering 83 1/3 innings.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – “When you’re talking about 10-plus guys on the IL, and now, little by little, they’re coming back. If you understand that, you know that things will turn around," Ramón Laureano said last night. 

"And that’s what we’re seeing right now.”

Things are trending in the right direction in Baltimore. 

After last night’s 7-4, come-from-behind victory, the O’s have a chance to take the series against the Athletics this afternoon. That, of course, would be the first time all season that Baltimore has won three straight series. Their series win in Seattle marked the first time they had won back-to-back series. 

Tomoyuki Sugano’s name penciled into the lineup card gives them a good chance to do it. 

The Orioles have a chance today to win three series in a row for the first time since June 26-July 7, 2024.

Coby Mayo is the designated hitter and Emmanuel Rivera is playing first base. Ryan O’Hearn goes to the bench.

Ramón Laureano is the right fielder and cleanup hitter. Dylan Carlson remains in left field, with Colton Cowser in center.

Cowser hit a 455-foot home run last night, the longest of his career and longest by an Oriole since Ryan Mountcastle’s 472-foot shot in 2023.

Ten of Laureano’s last 12 home runs have been off right-handed pitchers, with another one last night. He’s batting .375 (18-for-48) in the past 14 games.

The Orioles have reinstated outfielder Ramón Laureano from the 10-day injured list and designated outfielder Jordyn Adams for assignment.

Laureano sprained his left ankle in Milwaukee. He homered yesterday for Triple-A Norfolk in Louisville in his second rehab game. He’s batting .266/.320/.532 with seven doubles and six homers with the Orioles.

Adams was used as a defensive replacement, his only at-bat coming yesterday.

Jordan Westburg and Gary Sánchez also homered yesterday for Norfolk and should be nearing returns. 

The bullpen will undergo another change. The Orioles acquired Scott Blewett from the Braves today for cash considerations.

Brandon Young, the Orioles’ No. 19 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, makes his major league debut this afternoon against the Reds. He’s wearing No. 63.

Young’s 8.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio with Norfolk ranked third in Triple-A among pitchers with a minimum 15 innings.

The Orioles designated reliever Scott Blewett for assignment. Blewett, who’s out of options, allowed an unearned run and five hits in 4 1/3 innings, with one walk and six strikeouts.

Jordan Westburg, who’s in an 0-for-27 slump, is the designated hitter today.

Cedric Mullins is leading off, followed by Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. Jackson Holliday is playing second base and Heston Kjerstad is in left field.

Gunnar Henderson batted cleanup last night, relinquishing the leadoff spot to Jordan Westburg in a right-handed heavy order. Cedric Mullins stayed in center field, but Jorge Mateo played second base instead of Jackson Holliday. Ramón Urías, batting .343 with a .410 on-base percentage, sat on the bench.

A decision also was made to withhold Heston Kjerstad against Guardians left-hander Logan Allen and put right-handed hitting Ramón Laureano in left field.

The Orioles played their 16^th game and used a 15^th different lineup. They could blow past the 144 last season.

The evolution of settling on a lineup has carried the process well beyond a manager sitting in his office with the card, a pencil and a hunch. Analytics are a major factor, of course. Where haven’t they infiltrated the sport? And it’s become more of a group effort.

“I am not involved with lineups,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said yesterday.

The Orioles optioned reliever Colin Selby to Triple-A Norfolk today and activated pitcher Scott Blewett, who was claimed on waivers yesterday from the Twins.

Selby allowed two runs and three hits in his only inning in Arizona after the Orioles recalled him Wednesday as the roster replacement for Zach Eflin, who’s on the injured list with a right lat strain.

Blewett, who turned 29 five days ago, was designated for assignment again on Saturday after the Twins selected his contract earlier in the week and he allowed one run with five strikeouts and no walks in 4 2/3 innings. He’s made 19 relief appearances in the majors and posted a 2.18 ERA in 33 innings.

Blewett is wearing No. 67.

The Orioles signed catcher Chadwick Tromp to a minor league deal on Sunday. They faced him a few times in spring training with the Braves.

The Orioles apparently are making an adjustment to their pitching staff.

Scott Blewett was claimed on waivers today from the Twins and is expected to report to the club this week, perhaps by Tuesday night’s series opener against the Guardians at Camden Yards.

Left-hander Luis González, a surprise addition to the 40-man roster in November, was designated for assignment to clear room for Blewett.

Blewett has made 19 relief appearances in the majors from 2020-25, with no appearances in 2022-23, and posted a 2.18 ERA in 33 innings. He debuted with the Royals and signed twice with Minnesota as a free agent last year after they outrighted him off the 40-man roster. He’s out of minor league options, so today’s move would impact the Orioles’ roster unless they attempt to sneak him through waivers.

A corresponding move otherwise is pending.