The door opens so wide for Orioles in search of an opportunity, it's a wonder that the hinges don't snap in half. Faces have been reddened by that same door slamming shut, the failures bound to leave a mark. Zac Lowther got his latest chance this afternoon after making one appearance each in April, May and June, and two in July. Manager Brandon Hyde suggested that the rookie would receive multiple starts and, hopefully, open some eyes in the front office. Maybe wider than the door. Lowther...

After they held leads and won the last two days at New York, the Orioles bullpen could not do that today in the opener of a long homestand. The Kansas City Royals scored twice in the top of the eighth to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win in the opener of a four-game series and 11-game stand. The Orioles (43-93) are 2-2 against Kansas City and now 3-3 their past six games. Their last five games have been decided by one run each, and they are 2-3 in those games. A few positive things did happen...

Keibert Ruiz has a bone bruise in his right knee, the result of a foul ball he hit off himself Saturday, and remains unavailable to catch for today's series finale against the Mets. The Nationals planned to have their rookie start multiple games of this five-game weekend series, but he wound up catching only the first half of Saturday's doubleheader. Fouling a ball off his right knee in the second inning, he writhed in pain for several minutes before returning to the batter's box and...

With a six-game American League East road trip in the rear-view mirror, the Orioles begin an 11-game homestand against Kansas City this afternoon. It's the opener of a four-game series that will be followed by four games at Oriole Park versus the Blue Jays and three against the Yankees. The Orioles beat New York 4-3 and 8-7 the last two days after losing in 11 innings on Friday. They have played four straight one-run games, going 2-2, and are 10-19 for the season in one-run games. Left-hander...

The Orioles are recalling rookie left-hander Zac Lowther from Triple-A Norfolk today but haven't announced the move or who's leaving the active roster for the series opener against the Royals at Camden Yards. This is Lowther's second major league start and sixth appearance. He's allowed 10 runs and 13 hits in 8 1/3 innings. His lone start was May 8 against the Red Sox, when he surrendered seven runs and seven hits in 2 1 /3 innings. Lowther has never faced the Royals, who are 61-75 overall...

At long last, the Nationals and Mets wrap up their five-game holiday weekend series, not to mention their 19-game season series, this afternoon. These two teams have been playing each other way too much lately. In fact, 11 of the Nats' last 25 games have come against the Mets. I think I speak for everyone who has had to cover or watch all these games when I say: Thank God. As for today's finale, it's Patrick Corbin on the mound, trying desperately to put together a quality start and perhaps...

As you watched Josiah Gray alternate between misfiring pitches well outside of the strike zone to his arm side and leaving them right over the heart of the plate to be hammered by Mets hitters Sunday afternoon, you couldn't help but be alarmed. This was a bad start, and there was no way to try to frame it as anything other than that. It included six runs and seven hits allowed in three innings, two more homers surrendered and 82 pitches thrown. There was nothing for Gray to hang his hat on at...

Say what you will about the 2021 Orioles, and the dialogue fills a lot of pages, but there's no denying that they're playing hard with the season down to its final month and hopes of staying competitive buried a long time ago. You don't overcome a trio of three-run deficits yesterday at Yankee Stadium if you're already booking offseason vacations. You don't win two one-run games in the series. You don't keep grinding. There are obvious signs and more subtle ones, the latter including how...

When a team has the record the Orioles team has, it's kind of hard to take a small sample of five games and put a lot of importance on it. But, at the same time, the last five games did produce three wins in close games at both Toronto and New York. So the Orioles have played five in a row, all on the road in the division, and all decided by two runs or by one, and they went 3-2. Small steps, and maybe some small progress was made as some players had to make clutch plays against two clubs...

Nine consecutive four-seam fastballs to Gary Sánchez in the second inning today showed tremendous confidence in the pitch. But also with the obvious risks and other potential repercussions. Sánchez got the barrel on the ninth, with the bases loaded and the Orioles ahead by a run, and launched it into the second deck for a grand slam. The chance at a rare series win on the road seemed to disappear with the ball, but the Orioles kept clawing, kept putting runners on base and finally found...