The Orioles conclude their short series against the Nationals tonight trying for a split after going 5-5 on their road trip. They’ve followed a 12-13 July with a 5-6 August.

They can’t run away from the field and they haven’t surrendered huge chunks of real estate. Playing .500 ball might be good enough to host a playoff series.

No one is recommending mediocrity as a game plan. “Win as many as you lose for the Gipper” is an entirely different speech.  Also makes for a less inspiring movie.

Suggestions to simplify life for the Orioles come across as painfully obvious, but don’t let that stop us.

* Resolve the late relief.

TORONTO – Coming into the rubber match of their series at Toronto tonight, the Orioles had lost just one American League East series in 10 tries this year and just one in their past 24 division series dating to early April of 2023.

If there was a player who could change that it would be Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Hitting against a team he loves to torment, Guerrero homered and added a double and triple with four RBIs tonight as Toronto beat the Orioles 7-6 in front of 27,910 at Rogers Center.

Even with Guerrero's monster night at the plate, the O's had a chance to steal the series in the ninth inning. Trailing 7-2 at the turn of the ninth, the Orioles loaded the bases behind three consecutive singles from Ryan O'Hearn, Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle. 

Then the runs followed. Jackson Holliday drove in a run with a groundout, Cedric Mullins doubled in another and then Colton Cowser singled for two more. It was quickly 7-6. And with the O's homer leader, Anthony Santander coming up. 

But righty reliever Chad Green got the final out as he induced Santander to fly to center on a 2-2 fastball and Toronto hung on. The O's rally fell a run short.  

Since early last season, the Orioles have lost just one American League East series. They need a win tonight at Rogers Centre for that stat to continue. Right before the All-Star break the O's lost a series to the Yankees. But they are 17-1-6 in their past 24 division series. 

They went 32-20 in AL East games last year and are 24-11 this season heading into this series finale. The O's are 7-5 against Toronto and 12-4 in AL East road games.

After losing Tuesday in Toronto 5-2 as they were held to three hits, they won 7-3 last night when they hit three homers.

With last night's win, the Orioles have clinched a second straight season series win over the Blue Jays. This is the first time they’ve accomplished that since winning the season series in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

From 2020-2022, they went 16-32 against Toronto. But since the start of 2023, they are 17-8 versus the Blue Jays. 

TORONTO - The Orioles have gone 7-1-2 in 10 American League East series this year, losing just one. Tonight they play the rubber match game against Toronto after splitting the first two games of this series.

The Orioles are 7-5 versus the Blue Jays and have won the season series. They are 24-11 against division opponents. They have not lost a road AL East series, going 3-0-1 in four series and 12-4 in those games.

In tonight's series finale, Colton Cowser will bat leadoff again, Anthony Santander will serve as the DH as Ryan O'Hearn moves from left to right field. Ramón Urías starts at third base, batting ninth. 

Five players in the majors have now hit 30 or more homers. Santander, at 34, ranks second in the AL and tied for second in MLB in home runs.

MLB homer leaders:

Small sample sizes shouldn’t produce a chorus of long-term outlooks. The word “small” is the giveaway Baseball requires patience over the course of a 162-game season.

OK, we got that out of the way.

Left-hander Gregory Soto has made three appearances with the Orioles since the deadline trade with the Phillies. He’s allowed eight runs and nine hits and walked three batters in 1 1/3 innings. And his second outing was scoreless.

It wasn’t clean. Soto allowed two hits Sunday in two-thirds of an inning in Cleveland and was bailed out by Cedric Mullins’ outfield assist.

The first five Guardians batters reached against Soto Friday in his Orioles debut. He retired one and was removed.

CLEVELAND – The Orioles circled their infield tonight with players drafted by the organization, including their catcher, the lone member of the group to play in college. Two-thirds of the outfield also was homegrown.

Five prospects ranked in the top 10 have debuted this season. The present has caught up to the future, and it’s going to take a group effort to make a deep postseason run.

They need to get there first.

Coby Mayo drew two walks in his first major league game and Jackson Holliday was productive at the bottom of the lineup, but the Orioles couldn’t climb out of a seven-run hole and lost to the Guardians 8-4 at Progressive Field.

The Orioles are 65-46 and can’t do any better than a split of the four-game series. They began the night tied with the Yankees for first place and nothing changed.

CLEVELAND – The prospect watch has lost another participant. Coby Mayo officially is in the majors.

The Orioles selected Mayo’s contract today from Triple-A Norfolk, filling the one vacancy on the 40-man roster. Livan Soto was optioned as the corresponding move on the active roster, a day after he was recalled and met with the local media.

Mayo was told yesterday to have his passport overnighted, but he didn’t find out officially about his promotion until his removal from last night’s game in Charlotte. He went 4-for-6, came out in the eighth inning and received the news from manager Buck Britton. He boarded a flight this morning to Cleveland.

The move was inevitable for the No. 3 prospect in the system. Mayo, a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft, was batting .301 with 22 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs, 61 RBIs and a .961 OPS despite missing a month with a rib injury sustained in a collision with a dugout railing.

Injuries pulled Mayo out of the minors. Jorge Mateo has a dislocated left elbow and Jordan Westburg has a fractured right hand, and their absences will extend deep into September. Mayo can play third base, where Westburg made 64 starts this season. He’s another right-handed bat for a team that wanted to correct its imbalance.

Two days ago the Orioles had a 6-0 lead and almost lost. Last night they held an early two-run lead, were tied in the ninth and lost 6-4 to the Padres in the opener of a three-game series.

The Orioles (61-42) still lead the American League East by two games over the Yankees as both clubs keep losing often lately.

The Orioles have lost four of five, nine of 13 and 11 of their past 17 games. Since June 21 they are 12-17 with a -41 run differential.

The Yankees have lost five of six games and are 2-5 since the All-Star break (the O’s are 3-4). Since June 21, New York is 9-19 with a -16 run differential.

San Diego (56-50) has a six-game winning streak after Friday’s 6-4 victory and they have outscored their opponents 34-8 in those games.

Jordan Westburg and Ryan Mountcastle are on the bench this afternoon and Connor Norby is at second base, as the Orioles continue their series against the Padres.

Colton Cowser is in left field and Heston Kjerstad is the designated hitter.

Adley Rutschman is catching. He’s 8-for-64 (.125) this month.

Anthony Santander, who’s in right field, has hit six home runs in his last eight games and leads the club with 29, one more than his 2023 total.

Cowser has a career-high seven-game hitting streak. He’s 10-for-24 during that stretch.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles won’t begin the second half with a sweep.

Former Orioles minor league catcher Jonah Heim hit a three-run homer off Dean Kremer today in the fourth inning and the Rangers avoided an early crash to post a 3-2 victory before an announced crowd of 31,808 at Globe Life Field.

The Yankees lost again today to remain two games behind the Orioles in the American League East.

An offense that built 4-0 leads in the first and second innings the past two nights couldn’t hurt left-hander Andrew Heaney, who entered with 10 losses but also a 3.79 ERA. They went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and stranded five during his five scoreless innings.

Anthony Santander hit a two-run homer off David Robertson in the eighth after Adley Rutschman walked to reduce the lead to 3-2. Santander’s 27^th left him one behind team-leader Gunnar Henderson, and he totaled eight RBIs in the series.

Even though the Orioles' first half ended with that crazy win over the Yankees last Sunday in Baltimore, they did go 1-5 on that homestand and were 9-13 in their past 22 games heading into the break.

But today, after wins by 9-1 and 8-4 at Globe Life Field, they have a chance to begin the second half with a three-game sweep of the Rangers.

For the second time in a less than a month, they have a chance to sweep the team that swept them out of the 2023 American League playoffs. They took the first three games of a four-game series in Baltimore late last month, but they lost the fourth game. Now they have a shot for a three-game road sweep.

The Orioles have swept five series of three or four games this year: They've had three-game sweeps at Boston (April 9-11), versus Minnesota (April 15-17) and at Cincinnati (May 3-5). They have four-game sweeps in Chicago against the White Sox (May 23-26) and in St. Petersburg, Fla., versus the Rays (June 7-10).

The Orioles are 5-1 against the Rangers this season, scoring 6.33 runs per game in the season series. They have hit 14 homers versus Texas, batting .273 with an .879 OPS. They have a team ERA of 3.83 in the six games.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles go for the sweep of the Rangers this afternoon with Adley Rutschman leading off, Austin Hays in left field and Ryan Mountcastle at first base.

Gunnar Henderson is on the bench.

Hays is 5-for-12 with two doubles and two home runs against Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney. Mountcastle is 4-for-8 with two doubles and two homers.

Jordan Westburg is batting second and playing second base. Jorge Mateo is the shortstop. Colton Cowser is in center field and James McCann is catching.

Dean Kremer is the No. 3 starter in the rotation coming out of the break. He’s gone four and 4 2/3 innings in his last two outings.

Asked this morning what the Orioles must do after the break to recapture the success that defined previous months, third base coach Tony Mansolino replied, “I think just get back to being who we are.”

That would be a team producing quality at-bats, hitting in the clutch and scoring runs in bunches. That gets more out of the rotation than reasonably expected with so many injuries, as well as important outs from the bullpen.

Be the team that swept the Rays in four games and won consecutive series against the Braves, Phillies and Yankees. Be those 2024 Orioles.

They sort of got there today. They weren't going to quibble.

After imploding in gut-wrenching fashion in the ninth, the Orioles watched the Yankees misplay two balls with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Charity began at home.

The All-Star break for the Orioles arrives after today's series and homestand finale against the Yankees. They are not exactly charging into the break. The Birds are 0-5 this homestand and have have been outscored 31-4.

They have scored two, zero, zero, one and one run in the five games and have scored just two runs their past 42 innings. The O's have gone a season-high four straight games without a home run.

The Orioles (57-38) and Yankees (58-39) are tied for the American League East lead, which will be held at the break by the winner of today's game. Technically the O's enter this game leading the division by percentage points, playing .600 ball to the Yankees' .598.

Until the Orioles were swept by the Cardinals on May 20-22 on the road, they had gone 106 straight regular season series of at least two games without being swept. Their most recent sweep in the regular season before that St. Louis series was May 13-15, 2022 at Detroit. That was easily an O's club record and the third-longest sweepless streak in major league history. The previous O's record was 46 straight series in 1971-1972.

But after losing to the Yankees 4-1 Friday and 6-1 yesterday, a loss today would mean the Orioles have been swept in two straight series and in three of their past seven series.

The Orioles close out the first half this morning with Austin Hays in the lineup after he left yesterday’s game with hip soreness.

Colton Cowser is in center field, starting again versus a left-hander. James McCann is catching and Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.

Jorge Mateo is playing second base.

Kyle Stowers is here but on the bench again today.

Dean Kremer has a 4.42 ERA and 1.186 WHIP in 11 starts. He faced the Yankees on April 30 in Baltimore and allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings. Austin Wells and Juan Soto homered.

Jordan Westburg took the high road earlier today. Then, he put a fastball on a flight to the seats near the bullpen area.

This is how you celebrate your selection to the All-Star Game. By hitting like one again.

The Orioles didn’t exhibit the same timing. They followed the news of Westburg’s late inclusion as an injury replacement by committing two errors in the third inning that led to a pair of unearned runs against Dean Kremer, who walked three batters by the third, surrendered two homers by the fourth and lacked the sharpness of his previous start.

The Cubs scored in each of the first four innings, Kremer was gone by the fifth and the Orioles lost the series opener 9-2 before an announced crowd of 30,373 at Camden Yards.

The Yankees still trail the Orioles (57-34) by three games after losing to the Rays.

Heston Kjerstad is starting again in left field tonight as the Orioles begin their three-game home series against the Cubs.

Cedric Mullins is in center field and Anthony Santander is in right.

Ramón Urías is the third baseman, with Jordan Westburg at second.

Per STATS, the Orioles have three of the 20 qualified major league hitters with a .500-plus slugging percentage – Westburg, Santander and Gunnar Henderson. This would be the fifth time the Orioles have had three qualified players slug .500 or better at the All-Star break, including four in 1996 and 2005 and three in 1969 and 2016.

Henderson is the fourth shortstop to reach 50 extra-base hits before the All-Star break, joining Francisco Lindor (55) in 2018, Miguel Tejada (53) in 2005 and Trevor Story (52) in 2018.

OAKLAND – A home run and walk in the first inning last night and a leadoff single and an error in the second threatened to detonate Albert Suárez’s start.

A runner stood on third base with one out. With his typical calm demeanor, Suárez struck out the next two batters to escape the jam and retired 12 in a row and 17 of his last 20.

Suárez allowed two runs in six-plus innings, and Orioles starters have surrendered only four in the last 23 1/3.

The Orioles began the series ranked first in the American League and second in the majors with a 3.42 ERA. Their 3.28 rotation ERA also was first and second, respectively.

They held those spots after last night’s 3-2 win at Oakland Coliseum, the staff at 3.40 and rotation still 3.28. The starters have allowed two earned runs or fewer in eight of the last nine games.

SEATTLE – The hugs and handshakes earlier today for the two All-Star starters with the Orioles told only half the story. There also were sympathy and words of encouragement for four finalists who didn’t make it.

Four guys with concrete cases for inclusion as reserves. An entire clubhouse vouches for them.

Ryan O’Hearn maintained his billing as a professional hitter with an opposite-field, two-run double in the third inning to break a scoreless tie. O’Hearn came home on Ryan Mountcastle’s single in his return to the lineup after an undisclosed illness. Mountcastle held at third base on Anthony Santander’s double at 106.3 mph off the bat.

O’Hearn was halfway to the cycle in the fifth after his home run to right field. If it looks like a statement game and sounds like a statement game, perhaps it is unintentionally.

Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert had a 0.881 WHIP before tonight that ranked as the lowest in the majors. He registered five quality starts last month and walked only one batter in 35 2/3 innings. But the Orioles took a patient approach, played small ball until O’Hearn deviated from the script, and won 4-1 before an announced crowd of 37,998 at T-Mobile Park.

The Orioles' six-game road trip continues tonight as the Orioles (54-31) play at Seattle (47-40) in a matchup of American League division leaders. If the O's get another win there, they will have a series victory. 

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and three relievers teamed on a two-hit shutout as the Orioles won 2-0 in last night's series opener. Rodriguez went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and four walks while recording eight strikeouts. He threw 104 pitches, three off his season high, and improved to 10-3 with a 3.45 ERA.

In two starts this year versus Seattle he has thrown 12 1/3 scoreless, allowing just three hits for an .079 average against with seven walks to 15 strikeouts.

Rodriguez produced his eighth quality start of the season and the Orioles are 11-4 in his 15 starts.

He is the third O's pitcher 24 or younger to have 10 wins in his first 15 starts of a season: