With last night’s game, a 7-5 loss at Colorado, the Orioles have played 137 games with 25 to go in the 2024 regular season.

If we count March as its own month and we will as the Orioles played three games then, they’ve now completed six months of baseball.

Here is a statistical look at each month with the team record, the staff ERA and OPS against and the offense’s runs per game each month with the OPS on offense by the club.

* March, 2-1 record: 3.00 ERA, .533 OPS against, 8.33 runs per game & .823 OPS.

* April, 17-9 record: 3.75 ERA, .695 OPS against, 5.08 runs per game & .755 OPS.

DENVER – The Orioles anticipate having Zach Eflin return from the injured list Sunday to make his fifth start. A breath of fresh air for a team that's gasping.

The rotation's gain might be nullified by losing Dean Kremer, which would be another massive blow.

Jordan Beck’s 103.1 mph line drive tonight nailed Kremer on the lower right forearm in the fourth inning, forcing him out of the game. A huge welt developed almost instantly above the wrist.

Kremer paced behind the mound in obvious pain as head athletic trainer Brian Ebel and manager Brandon Hyde raced out of the dugout. Keegan Akin replaced Kremer with the Orioles down 3-2.

The ball ricocheted to shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who threw to Jackson Holiday for the force.

The Orioles are laboring on offense, hurting for healthy starting pitching and unable to fully trust their bullpen. Otherwise, there’s nothing to see here.

They’re also only two games behind in the division and are first in the wild card chase.

I say “only” knowing that it’s a genuine concern compared to leading the pack, which they’ve done for much of the season. But no one is running away with a division. No one is playing .600 ball. There isn't a dominant team.

The Dodgers are the closest at .595 and are 43-23 at home, and the Orioles arrived yesterday for a three-game series beginning tonight. But otherwise, really, there’s nothing to see here.

There are questions in the mailbag that I cannot ignore. Time again to drum up a sequel to the beloved 2008 original. You ask, I attempt to answer, sometimes the same inquiry comes as if I’m typing in invisible ink, sometimes I playfully ridicule.

The trade that brought Eloy Jiménez to the Orioles was celebrated in some Chicago circles. Always injured, not hitting, clogging a roster spot and some payroll space. And the cost for the Orioles was Triple-A left-handed reliever Trey McGough, who never cracked a prospect top 30 list.

“We hope we can get Eloy on a heater,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said that night on the MASN broadcast.

Since he left the Windy City, you could warm your hands over Jiménez, who slashed .240/.297/.345 in 65 games with the White Sox and began last night 16-for-52 (.308) in 17 games with the Orioles. He had their first hit with a leadoff single in the fifth inning.

What gives?

“I think everybody just kind of elevates when they’re around good players,” said Orioles offensive strategy coach Cody Asche. “That’s not to say that Chicago doesn’t have good players, but I think we’ve got really good players. We’ve got a lot of good guys with impeccable work ethics, preparation, so I think he’s just been able to kind of follow the lead of guys like Ced (Mullins), Gunn (Gunnar Henderson), Tony (Santander).

The Orioles' last two wins were not just comeback wins over an American League division leader, but they were impressive because of the team and pitchers they beat.

Consider that:

* After beating the Orioles 6-0 Thursday, Houston was 4-0 this year over the Orioles by a combined 33-13 score. They were 9-3 their past 12 against the Orioles.

* On Friday the Orioles won a game started by right-hander Hunter Brown, who had a 1.96 ERA in August, a 2.36 ERA since July 12 and the AL’s best ERA since June 1 at 2.33. On Saturday they won a game started by left-hander Framber Valdez, a pitcher in the top 11 for the AL Cy Young Award three times in his career. Houston had won 10 Valdez starts in a row since they lost to the White Sox, of all teams, June 18. Valdez was 8-0 with a 2.39 ERA those past 10 starts. The O’s didn’t exactly light up either pitcher but they won those games against a hot team starting its hottest starters.

* Through Thursday’s win, Houston was 12-3 over the previous 15 games and 14-6 their last 20. They had won nine in a row on the road and were 19-9 the previous 28 away from Houston.

Anthony Santander didn’t save the Orioles season.

So why does it feel that way?

They were on the verge of falling 2 ½ games behind the first-place Yankees, with zero momentum or offensive thrust. The bullpen was a mess, whether middle, late or closing. Teams in the wild card chase were gaining ground.

I don't recommend panicking but I would have understood.

The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning Friday night on a couple of singles and a brain cramp from Astros reliever Bryan Abreu, who fielded a comebacker and bypassed the force at second base or easy out at first. Up stepped Santander, who whipped a crowd of almost 40,000 into an absolute, playoff-feel frenzy with his fourth career grand slam to erase a 5-2 deficit.

It was a massive swing. It turned a loss into a win, brought over 39,000 to their feet and perhaps turned a season spiraling the wrong way back into a solid direction.

How much meaning will that one swing have?

Since they last won three in a row - from July 14-20, wrapping around the All-Star break - the Orioles have had five win streaks of two games. They haven't made it to three straight in over a month. 

But Anthony Santander's grand slam in the last of the eighth off Houston reliever Bryan Abreu turned a 5-2 deficit into a one-run lead and eventual 7-5 win over Houston.

Finally, another comeback win. Finally, a win of any kind.

The bond between outfielder Nick Markakis and hitting coach Terry Crowley really began to develop early in the 2006 season.

The former Orioles first-round draft pick was struggling as a rookie. Talk of sending him back to the minors grew louder. Few, if any, signs existed that he’d eventually receive votes for Rookie of the Year.

“The first month and a half I did not feel solidified. That’s when I started working with Crow,” Markakis said yesterday after the Orioles Hall of Fame luncheon.

“We basically started from the bottom. Get a good foundation, get the basics out of the way.”

Crowley had a knack for making a player feel relaxed, to keep the instruction and advice from becoming too complicated or cumbersome.

The Orioles were six outs away from losing more ground in the American League East.

Anthony Santander made it shake at Camden Yards.

Santander hit a grand slam off Astros reliever Bryan Abreu in the eighth inning to give the Orioles a thrilling 7-5 win before an announced Gunnar Henderson bobblehead crowd of 39,578.

Santander’s 38^th home run followed singles by Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman and a comebacker from Henderson that enticed Abreu to try for the out at third base.

Cowser was safe, the crowd stayed on its feet and Santander sent it into a frenzy with his fourth career slam and second this year.

On the day the Orioles lost another starter to the injured list and their total pitchers on the IL grew to eight, they scored nine runs.

That was important as the Mets rallied late, but the Orioles won 9-5 and with the news that right-hander Zach Eflin joined a few others on that IL, more big nights from the Baltimore offense would be very welcomed.

Since the All-Star break, heading into last night, the Orioles had gone 15-15. And yet they were averaging 5.3 runs per game in that span and producing a team OPS of .783. Yeah, not bad.

But in their most recent three games heading into last night, they scored eight total runs on 14 hits and had gone 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

The nine-run outburst was important as was Dean Kremer's second straight strong outing. He allowed one run over six innings on 100 pitches.

NEW YORK – Only in 2024 can a day like this one seem eerily routine to the Orioles.

They lose a reliever to the paternity list, which is a simple swap by calling up another arm for temporary service. They lose a starter to the injured list, which is much harder to overcome and keeps happening to them. This team could field an impressive rotation out of shelved pitchers.

The level of adversity threatens to rise above their heads, but they suit up again, jog onto the field and take care of their business.

A night after enduring Francisco Alvarez’s walk-off home run and animated celebration, the Orioles jumped out to an early lead against the Mets and evened the series with a 9-5 victory before an announced crowd of 34,225 at Citi Field.

Knock down this team and it pops back up.

Zach Eflin made one mistake pitch, and it wasn’t egregious. Gunnar Henderson corrected it with one swing.

Henderson lined a two-run homer onto the flag court in right field in the fourth inning to give the Orioles a lead, Cedric Mullins padded it in the fifth, and Eflin registered another quality start with his new team in a 5-1 victory over the Red Sox before an announced crowd of 25,445 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are 72-50 overall, 6-1 against the Red Sox and 20-35 when the opponent scores first. They moved into a first-place tie with the idle Yankees.

Eflin was removed after 87 pitches and only one run allowed in six innings with a season-high eight strikeouts. He’s made four starts since the Orioles traded for him and all are quality by definition, with six total runs allowed in 25 1/3 innings. The four wins in his first four Orioles starts without a relief appearance are a club record, breaking a tie with Kyle Gibson in 2023.

The 12 starts without a walk this season are most in the majors.

Anthony Santander sheepishly made his confession yesterday, pleading ignorant but doing so with a big smile.

Santander knew about setting the club record for home runs by a switch-hitter after belting his 36^th the previous night against the Nationals. Outfielder Ken Singleton held it since 1979.

“I was aware,” Santander said yesterday. “Just happy and proud to be able to reach that number and be on the top as a switch-hitter. That’s pretty special.”

What about the player that he passed?

Singleton spent the last 10 of his 15 major league seasons with the Orioles and finished third in Most Valuable Player voting in the American League in 1977 and second in ’79, when he batted .295/.405/.533 with 29 doubles, 35 homers and 111 RBIs in 159 games. He hit 182 homers with the Orioles and registered a .284 average and .388 on-base percentage. He also made three All-Star teams and earned a World Series ring in 1983, the last championship in Baltimore.

The Orioles and Nationals will meet for the fourth and final time this year tonight at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After losing to the Nats 9-3 last night, the O's are 0-1 in this two-game series and 1-2 in the four-game season series.

A win tonight will split this series and the four-game season set. The Orioles have not lost a season series to the Nationals since 2018.

These teams have been playing since 2006 and the Orioles are 56-41 all-time versus the Nats and 10-2-6 in season series.

The Orioles lost the 2018 season series, going 1-5. Then they went 2-2 in 2019, 4-2 in 2020, 3-3 in 2021, 3-1 in 2022 and 4-0 last season leading up to this year.

Even with last night's loss, the Orioles have won eight of their last 10 versus the Nats and manager Brandon Hyde is 17-10 against them.

The home clubhouse at Camden Yards had new lockers for four players who joined the Orioles on the road trip. Among them was left-hander Trevor Rogers, who made his first career start tonight in Baltimore.

Anthony Santander was in his usual spot in the back row and on the field. He’s become a constant. And now he’s a record holder.

Santander tied the game in the third inning with his 36^th home run, the most by an Orioles switch-hitter. Ken Singleton had 35 in 1979.

The Orioles went to the World Series that year. Santander is swinging the bat like he’s trying to carry his team deep into the postseason. But he’ll need some cooperation. The offense can’t keep shutting down. More outs are needed from the rotation. More trust must be earned in the bullpen.

Rogers was removed at 78 pitches after James Wood’s leadoff single in the sixth, with four runs and seven hits on his line. Bryan Baker let an inherited runner score and two of his own, and the Orioles lost to the Nationals 9-3 before an announced crowd of 28,058 at Camden Yards.

When the O’s lose, as they did yesterday, and I host a postgame radio show, as I did yesterday on WBAL Radio, I can usually guess what will stir up Birdland.

This one was easy.

Why did skipper Brandon Hyde take out right-hander Albert Suárez when he had a shutout through 6 2/3 innings? Suarez was at 94 pitches, three off his season-high, but he was rolling and the bottom of the order was coming up.

Sure, I could see him staying with Suárez there. But even if he gets that last out, the O’s are headed to the bullpen in the eighth with no one on base – the same move they made going for Cionel Perez yesterday with two down in the Tampa Bay seventh. He and Craig Kimbrel didn’t get the job done. Plus, the O’s scored just one run.

Fans were disappointed Suárez didn’t get a win there and stay longer in the game and I get that. But a bullpen that wasn’t going to use Yennier Cano and Seranthony Dominguez after they had pitched back-to-back, needed to put up zeros and could not do it.

What do my mailbag and mimosas have in common? They both can be bottomless.

Next question: Anyone surprised that I chose to use mimosas as a comparison? The options were plentiful.

I had some extras from the last mailbag, which led us to the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original.

Also, my leftovers stay fresh for days and yours change colors overnight.

Is Jackson Holliday here to stay forever?
In the majors? Yeah, he’s planted like a redwood. With the Orioles? Well, stay tuned.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles bullpen couldn’t match the starting pitching today. Perhaps the bar was raised too high. Whatever the reason, the differences between the two were striking.

Albert Suárez didn’t allow a run in a career-high 6 2/3 innings, but Cionel Pérez lost a 1-0 lead in rapid fashion. Pinch-hitters José Caballero and Dylan Carlson had a double and single, respectively, to level the score. The sequence lasted three pitches.

Used again in a non-save situation, Craig Kimbrel walked three batters in the eighth – one of them intentionally – the Rays stole four bases, and Curtis Mead lifted a sacrifice fly to hand the Orioles a 2-1 loss before an announced crowd of 16,848 at Tropicana Field.

Brandon Lowe, Christopher Morel and Josh Lowe walked, the last intentionally, before Mead flied to right field and the Orioles failed to complete the sweep. They fell to 70-49 overall, 8-2 against the Rays and 6-1 in St. Petersburg.

They went 5-5 on a road trip that began in Cleveland. And they're back in a first-place tie with the Yankees.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Coby Mayo is out of the Orioles’ lineup again tonight for the third consecutive game.

Austin Slater is in right field. Jackson Holliday moves down to eighth in the order.

Anthony Santander is the designated hitter. Colton Cowser, who had some wrist soreness last night, remains in left field and atop the order.

Corbin Burnes has made 23 starts and gone 12-4 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.058 WHIP in 143 2/3 innings. He has 18 quality starts but allowed a season-high five runs (four earned) in five innings in his most recent outing in Cleveland.

Burnes made his first career start against the Rays on June 10 at Tropicana Field and allowed two unearned runs in seven innings.

TORONTO – It did not come as a surprise when Anthony Santander said yet again on Thursday afternoon that he would like to remain an Oriole beyond the 2024 season.

He can be a free agent this winter and any club could try to sign him. He confirmed that he and the team have not had any in-season contract talks. But this is where he wants to stay, if it works out for him to do that.

“I want to stay here,” Santander said pregame Thursday in the visiting clubhouse at Rogers Centre. “This is the team that gave me the opportunity to play in the big leagues. I like where we are right now. We are a really good team. This team is about to get in a World Series soon – hopefully this year. Of course, I would like to stay here for the rest of my career. But it’s out of my hands. Just get ready for today’s game and go for the win, you know. But at the same time, so happy and thankful for the fans that want me to stay here.”

Santander has picked a good time to have a great walk year, the season leading up to free agency. He is on a pace to hit 48 homers and drive in 110 runs. He hit two homers Wednesday night to give him 34 for the year – a new career-high, topping the 33 he hit in 2022. He has 46 games to add to that total.

One reason Santander is having a big year is that he is hitting all pitches pretty well this season. While his slugging percentage is .500 against fastballs, it is even better versus breaking balls at .519 and much better at .721 versus offspeed pitches. Last year he slugged .368 against offspeed.