The two losses on the field Saturday and Sunday where their offense didn’t get it done, and the loss of two key players via trades on Monday and Tuesday didn’t slow the roll for the Orioles even a little bit.

Their 6-3 win over Texas on Wednesday afternoon completed a three-game series sweep and a six-game season sweep of the club that spent so much money last winter to be where the Orioles are right now – in contention for the postseason.

The Orioles remained 1 ½ games behind Tampa Bay for the third American League wild card spot with the win over the Rangers. They didn’t get much going against lefty Martín Pérez, who ranks fifth in the AL in ERA. But as soon as he left the game, Robinson Chirinos hit his third homer and the Orioles took the lead as the dugout erupted. They didn’t flinch when Texas tied the game moments later. They simply scored two runs each in the eighth and ninth to go back ahead and put this one away.

It was an impressive afternoon for the Orioles, who are now 54-51. They are three games over .500 for the first time since April 4, 2021 when they started that season with a three-game sweep at Boston.

It was a day where all facets of the game had a role in the victory. Right-hander starter Kyle Bradish needed 93 pitches to cover five innings, but he again flashed plus stuff in allowing just one run. The defense made a couple of big plays, including shortstop Jorge Mateo with a nice backhand stop to start a huge 6-4-3 double play with two on in the Texas sixth. Terrin Vavra’s pinch-hit double in the eighth broke a 2-2 tie, and he scored the fourth run on a Chirinos single for his second RBI in two innings. Anthony Santander’s RBI double in the ninth extended both the lead and his hitting streak to 14 games.

In 2011, outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. was a first-round draft pick by the Blue Jays. Then, after hitting. .268 in seven minor league seasons for the Blue Jays, he was traded March 8 to Baltimore for international slot money the Orioles weren't going to use anyway. When he arrived in spring training in Sarasota, Fla., he was projected as outfield depth on an Orioles roster that was loaded with outfield prospects making impressions. Now, six weeks into the season, Smith is one of the Orioles'...