When he took the mound at Camden Yards on Friday night in the ninth, right-hander Félix Bautista was trying to hold the Orioles' 1-0 lead over Pittsburgh and pick up his fourth career save. He would get it done and close out the win.

But even though it wasn’t a clean save – he gave up a single and walk with one out – it was a devastating show of power pitching.

Bautista, who ranks among the hardest throwers in the majors, threw 17 fastballs that night, and all 17 were 100.0 mph or more. He threw five pitches 101 mph or more and one that topped at 102 mph. The 17 pitches at 100 or more were the most by an O’s pitcher in a single game in the Statcast era (since 2015). And Bautista became the second reliever in the majors (third occurrence) with that many 100.0+ mph pitches in a game this season, joining Jordan Hicks of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The man they call “The Mountain” has been so big for the Orioles bullpen this season. He pitched at three levels on the O’s farm last year, starting at high Single-A Aberdeen, moving later to Double-A Bowie and ending with Triple-A Norfolk. He has pitched just 28 2/3 career innings on the farm above the high-A level.

And in the minors he struggled with his control, averaging 5.1 walks per nine innings with 10.4 strikeouts. So how did he make such improvement in the bigs to walk just 3.0 per nine with 12.2 strikeouts in 2022? And now he is closing games. That’s amazing.

The Orioles returned home and the winning continued Friday as Dean Kremer, Cionel Pérez and Félix Bautista combined on a six-hit, 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.

For the Orioles (55-51), it was a nice start to a homestand.

Tampa Bay won Friday but Seattle lost, and the Mariners have now dropped into the third American League wild card spot. They lead the Orioles for that by 1 1/2 games. The O's are two games back of Tampa Bay, which holds the second AL wild-card berth. 

The Orioles went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position but the Baltimore pitchers made the one run stand up as they pitched their 10th shutout of the season and second in the last eight games. The 10 shutouts match the total from the full 2019 and 2021 seasons combined, when they had five each.

The Orioles have gone 20-7 the last 27 games. It's their best single-season 27-game stretch since going 20-7 from Aug. 28-Sept. 24, 2014.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Kyle Bradish bolted from the mound to first base, fielded the flip from Ryan Mountcastle and smacked his glove hard with his right hand.

The fourth inning was over and Bradish kept the score tied. Through 80 pitches. With heavy traffic threatening to flatten him.

Bradish completed five innings with one run allowed before relinquishing the ball to the bullpen. He was a decided underdog against Rangers All-Star Martín Pérez, but he minimized the damage during maximum stress.

The rest was up to his teammates, who also are used to their non-favorite status and wear it like a badge of honor.

It hasn’t weighed them down as they try to climb the standings.

CINCINNATI – The Orioles begin a six-game road trip tonight that will take them through the trade deadline, which arrives next Tuesday. Tonight, they begin a weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park and then they move onto Texas for three games starting Monday night.

The Orioles (50-49) just took three of four from the Tampa Bay Rays winning 3-0 at home Thursday afternoon as right-hander Jordan Lyles and three relievers teamed on a four-hitter. Lyles improved to 7-8 with a 4.56 ERA, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless against Tampa Bay. It was his second scoreless outing of the year and he has allowed just one home run all season over 53 2/3 innings at Oriole Park.

Félix Bautista got the last four outs – three via strikeouts – to record his third save. Over his past eight games, Bautista has thrown 8 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings with one walk to 14 strikeouts. Opponent batters are 0-for-25 against him in this span.

Trey Mancini’s dramatic, two-run, inside-the-park homer gave the Orioles a 3-0 lead in the Baltimore eighth. It was his 10^th homer of the season and first-ever inside-the-park homer. It was the first such homer by an Oriole since Austin Hays at Philadelphia Aug. 11, 2020. And it was the first inside-the-park homer at Oriole Park since Robert Andino did it versus Boston on Sept. 26, 2011.

The Orioles begin this trip having won three of four, four of six and 15 of their last 20 games. They have also won 20 of 30 and 26 of their past 40. The Orioles are 29-19 since June 1 and 43-35 since May 1. They improved to 29-20 at home where they are 12-3 in their past 15 games.

Trey Mancini stood at his locker this morning and packed his folded clothes in a duffle bag for the trip to Cincinnati, where the Orioles begin their next road trip. He’s going to board the team charter. But his eventual destination is unknown.

Fans at Camden Yards stood to applaud Mancini again before his first at-bat, knowing that he could be traded by Tuesday’s deadline. They’ve seen the schedule. They know that the Orioles don’t return home until Aug. 5.  

The response from Mancini was a line drive single into left field, his third hit since entering last night’s game in an 0-for-26 slump. Nothing emotional in the batter’s box. Just his usual professional approach.

Mancini batted in the eighth after Austin Hays doubled in a 3-0 win over the Rays, and of course, it had to be dramatic. A fly ball to right field off former Orioles reliever Shawn Armstrong that hit Josh Lowe in the face, Mancini rounding the bases for his 10^th home run and first career inside-the-park, the place erupting.

The first inside-the-park homer by the Orioles since Hays on Aug. 11, 2020 in Philadelphia. Robert Andino had the last one in Baltimore, on Sept. 26, 2011.

Orioles assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes affectionately refers to the bullpen as “Animal Kingdom.”

“It’s kind of how I look at it,” he said, “because everybody who goes down there turns into an animal.”

Baseball’s version of the Baltimore Zoo has posted the third-lowest ERA in the majors at 3.06 following six scoreless innings Monday and 3 2/3 last night. A collection of castoffs who reeled the Orioles back above .500 and into fourth place.

“We’ve got guys down there from trades, we’ve got guys DFA’d, we’ve got all mixes and matches down there, and these guys have really come together,” Holmes said. “They’re very focused and they work really hard, they’re good listeners. You couldn’t ask for anything better than what’s going on down there.”

“It’s been phenomenal,” said Chris Holt, who serves the dual role of pitching coach and director of pitching. “I can’t say enough about how hard they’re working, how determined they are to perform. And they have good habits with their work. They’re doing tremendous work. It’s really encouraging with everything they’re doing.”

The Orioles bullpen, by just about any standard, is having a great year. It’s been one of the best in the majors this season, dramatically improved over the past and a big reason this club is around .500 this late in the year.

The O's bullpen ERA in 2021 was 5.70 to rank last in the majors. Through Sunday's game, the O's ERA in the bullpen is 3.14 to rank fourth.

“It’s been fun to watch,” O’s starter Jordan Lyles said Sunday morning. “I know there were probably a lot of questions coming out of spring training. We had that spring trade where we dealt two relievers (Tanner Scott and Cole Sulser). But guys have just stepped up, and done more than step up. We have one of the best bullpens in baseball and it’s fun to hand the ball over to them every fifth day.”

It is a bullpen that is probably not getting enough credit nationally for the O’s improved play. The team as a whole is getting props, but it seems some are slow to notice that a ‘pen filled with waiver claims is featuring some real gas throwers and getting a lot of outs. And has been all year.

Lyles said all that velocity is important but those pitchers have more than just gas to get outs.

The theories are plentiful and varied, with no expectations that actual evidence is going to surface.

Three Orioles relievers threw pitches that were clocked at 100 mph or more during the first two games of the weekend series against the Yankees. Two experienced their first exposure to triple digits in the majors. Granted membership into the club.

Bryan Baker hit the exact mark Friday night while facing Aaron Judge in the seventh inning. Judge fouled off the fastball and later struck out.

Closer Jorge López topped Baker at 100.6 mph the following night with Gleyber Torres batting in the ninth inning. The All-Star missed his mark with the sinker, then coaxed a fly ball to right field.

Baker’s four-seamer averages 95.7 mph this season, per BrooksBaseball.net. López’s fastball averages 97.4 mph and his sinker 97.8 mph.

Cal outfielder Dylan Beavers, the No. 33 overall pick in the MLB Draft last Sunday night by the Orioles, once had dreams of being a two-way player in college.

Cal was going to use him as both a pitcher and a position player. His fastball was touching 92 and 93 mph and the coaches saw promise in him as a two-way talent. But that didn’t last too long once he got on campus, he told me during an interview for MASN here on Saturday.

“It was right after the fall of my freshman year, so before the (spring) season even started. It kind of seemed like I was going to end up playing the outfield full time. I did warm up on opening weekend but once Covid and everything happened, I had a ton of time to work on my swing, my defense and stuff. And just went full time as a hitter. I definitely have more of a future as an outfielder," Beavers said. 

This season Beavers, as a fourth-year junior, batted .291/.426/.634 with 16 doubles, three triples, 17 homers, 62 runs and 50 RBIs. He hit 18 homers in 2021 and 36 for his Cal career.

He was at Camden Yards Saturday to sign his first pro contract and see the ballpark before he heads to Florida for O’s orientation and the likelihood that his first pro games will come in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.

Would they dare?

Would the Orioles toss a life raft to a rival’s drowning bullpen rather than offering a glass of water?

OK, the Yankees aren’t in such dire straits, since they still have Clay Holmes closing, but an important bridge to him collapsed Friday night on the mound at Camden Yards. Michael King fractured his right elbow and was lost for the remainder of the season.

Aroldis Chapman retired one of four batters, throwing two wild pitches, surrendering Anthony Santander’s prodigious three-run homer, and hearing more boos from the Yankees’ contingent after his removal. He has a 5.75 ERA and is averaging 7.5 walks per nine innings.

Can’t be trusted.

A series lost to close out the first half was followed by last night’s defeat and an early deficit tonight. Baseball’s surprise team was threatening to slip two games below .500. And the question loomed whether it could tap the brakes and avoid a serious crash.

The competitive nature of the Orioles, the non-stop motor, figures to pull them through some of the most difficult stretches. There’s no rest stop until perhaps Cincinnati – if a team that tied for the worst record last year is granted entrance. They must keep going.

Aaron Judge doubled twice, singled and drove in two runs within the first four innings. Gerrit Cole weathered a fifth-inning storm, when the Orioles scored twice with two outs, came back out for the seventh north of 100 pitches and lost the lead after two batters.

This was going to be typical Orioles. Count them out, watch them rally and wait for the final result, knowing it would be close.

The bottom of the order rose to the occasion again, the bullpen did its usual work, and the Orioles defeated the Yankees 6-3 before an announced crowd of 36,361 at Camden Yards, their largest non-opening day gathering since 2018.

It was set up for the Orioles' ninth walk-off win of the year. They trailed by one run and had come from four runs back to get that close on Anthony Santander’s stirring three-run shot off Aroldis Chapman in the seventh. A 7-3 deficit was now 7-6 and the top of the order was coming up for Baltimore.

But it didn’t happen this time.

Adley Rutschman’s infield single put the winning run in the box but right-hander Clay Holmes got Trey Mancini and Santander to hold on for a Yankees win and push the O’s back a game under the .500 mark at 46-47.

So the Orioles are now 1-3 at the start of a 10-game stretch against Tampa Bay and New York. But the three losses have come by one, two and one run. They are right there against two AL East powers and yet being close is not good enough. It shows the guts and character the Orioles have but won’t help keep them in the American League playoff race. Maybe the Orioles are just not ready to stay in the race and that wouldn’t be a shocker. The shocker will be if they can hang around deep into this season.

But it was a down-to-the-last pitch game against the team with the best record in the majors. And the Orioles' ability to hang with the best teams can’t be questioned at this point.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Orioles reliever Félix Bautista might not be available to pitch until after the All-Star break after injuring his right hand yesterday in a freakish accident prior to batting practice.

Bautista said he was using a rubber exercise band to loosen his muscles, part of his usual pregame routine, and a hook detached from the fence and struck his hand.

“The band pretty much snapped,” Bautista said via interpreter Brandon Quinones.

Bautista didn’t know whether he’d be ready for today’s game that closes out the unofficial first half of the season.

“I’m going to go through some drills and some testing today and try to see how that feels,” he said. “But in the meantime, I’m going to do everything I can to get ready for after the All-Star break and be ready to go.”

CHICAGO – Since the 2022 Orioles are full of surprises, reaching .500 last night with just four games remaining before the break, they can’t be contained in a single article about unexpected developments. What they’ve done that pretty much blindsided me.

Yesterday, I addressed the obvious shocker of the team being only two games out of the wild card race in the American League. How I wasn’t sold on Félix Bautista’s inclusion on the opening day roster, how Jordan Lyles’ contract seemed a bit puzzling and how I assumed that Keegan Akin would be riding the Triple-A shuttle.

What else did I get wrong?

* Jorge López is an All-Star.

I thought López should stay in the bullpen, and said as much here and on the air. I thought his stuff would play at the back end, but he’d also bring value as a multi-inning reliever if manager Brandon Hyde needed him for coverage.

Austin Hays is out of the Orioles’ lineup today while dealing with some lingering soreness in his right wrist.

Hays landed on the wrist while making a diving catch on the right field line in Chicago and was hit by a pitch in the same area. He’s kept playing, but has three hits in his last 38 at-bats over 10 games.

The lineup for Tuesday’s series-opening game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field is expected to include Hays.

“Off-day before an off-day, so we’re giving him a couple days off,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

“I give him a lot of credit. He’s been playing hurt and playing banged up, and this is just to give him a little bit of a breather.”

The trade deadline seems to be bringing a higher level of angst than usual in Baltimore. The growing possibility, or maybe likelihood, that the very popular, productive and inspirational Trey Mancini is dealt. That other veterans are moved, just as the Orioles are playing winning baseball again, and in wildly entertaining style. Just as the dugout energy has returned, for the first time under Brandon Hyde’s tenure as manager.

But the deadline is Aug. 2. Today is another important date, because the rest of the All-Stars are announced beyond the starters in both leagues.

The Orioles haven’t had multiple representatives since 2016 with Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo, Matt Wieters, Zack Britton and Brad Brach, and it would be surprising if the solo streak ended today.

There are more deserving candidates this summer, but the Orioles remain a last-place club trying to shed its losing reputation, and an industry perception, at least in some corners, of irrelevance.

Pay close attention and you’ll find reasons why the industry needs to reset.

The way he was pitching and putting up zeroes made it a fair question to ask: Would Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer leave the game today because the Angels scored off him, or would a high pitch count send him from the mound?

He was putting up zeroes and piling up strikeouts, but his pitch counts were getting elevated, too. Meanwhile, the Orioles were not backing him with much offense as they tried to win their seventh straight game for the first time in nearly five years.

Pitch count won out over runs allowed as Kremer threw scoreless ball for the fourth time in his last five starts as the Orioles pulled out another close game, beating the Los Angeles Angels 1-0 at Camden Yards.

The winning streak continued in front of 32,286 that came to downtown Baltimore to see a hot baseball team and get a Hawaiian shirt.

The Orioles (42-44) have won seven in a row for the first time since Aug. 23-30, 2017. They continue their perfect homestand at 6-0 with one game remaining tomorrow with the Angels. They began today four games out of the final American League playoff spot and then went out and won for the 12^th time in 17 games and 18^th in the last 27. They are 21-14 since June 1.

Dean Kremer’s streak of scoreless innings ended yesterday at 22 2/3 after the Rangers loaded the bases in the fifth on three singles, Adolis García lifted a sacrifice fly, Nathaniel Lowe tied the game with a single on a two-strike pitch, and Mitch Garver followed with a three-run homer.

The Elias Sports Bureau and STATS don't credit Kremer for the two outs he recorded in the inning. Otherwise, it would have been 23 1/3.

Kremer had gone three consecutive starts for the Orioles without allowing an earned run, tying the club record shared by nine other pitchers, per STATS research.

Matt Harvey was the most recent last season.

Here’s the list:

MINNEAPOLIS – If the Orioles encounter a save situation this afternoon against the Rangers to start their homestand, manager Brandon Hyde isn’t likely to shy away from Jorge López.

As long as López is available to pitch after resting yesterday in Minnesota, he’s going to get the ball and try to record a 14^th save that eluded him twice against the Twins.

The Orioles aren’t changing closers. López is their guy. And they’ll say it to anyone who’s listening.

The back-to-back walk-off hits against him, the first two home runs he surrendered this season, don’t drain the trust.

“He’s only had a couple tough appearances in the whole half,” Hyde said. “The stuff was still good. The hit that beat him (Saturday) was 99. Middle part of the plate, but the stuff was still there.

Nothing that I do in my life, nothing that’s accomplished in a press box or television booth, is more fulfilling and important to me than being a Girl Dad. My daughter is my best work.

I lost my father to cancer three years ago. He was the ideal role model. I miss him terribly and try every day to live up to his standard. To reach the bar that he raised.

Being on road trips to cover the Orioles satisfied me professionally but also hurt my heart. Six weeks at spring training felt like an eternity, no matter how much I loved Fort Lauderdale. I’d fly home and go directly from the airport to my daughter's classroom, where the teacher waved me in like a third base coach.

She’d jump in my arms – my daughter, not the teacher - and ask whether I brought T-shirts for her instructors and friends. Of course I did. I just had to take out a second mortgage.

I lifted her up when she was in fifth grade and she whispered into my ear, “Put me down, put me down.” I was embarrassing her in front of her friends. My little girl was growing up.