MILWAUKEE – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde wanted better at-bats from his club today. Get in more favorable counts. Improve the pitch selection and decision making. Stop pressing.

Start scoring again.

Kyle Bradish settled down after an unusually rough first inning, and an offense that was dormant for most of the series bolted upright against the Brewers’ bullpen, with Gunnar Henderson’s two-run shot in the eighth keying a 6-3 victory before an announced crowd of 27,318 at American Family Field.

Anthony Santander doubled off Peter Strzelecki with one out in the eighth to score Adley Rutschman. Austin Hays took a disputed third strike, but Henderson carried a first-pitch fastball over the left field fence.

Henderson raised his arm as he approached second base. An entire team was lifted.

MILWAUKEE – The Orioles try to avoid their first sweep this afternoon with Austin Hays in center field and batting cleanup, and Gunnar Henderson replacing Jorge Mateo at shortstop.

Ryan Mountcastle has returned to the lineup after being on the bench for two of the last five games. He’s 4-for-26 in his last seven and batting sixth today.

Anthony Santander is in right field and batting third. He’s 0-for-20 on the road trip.

James McCann is catching and Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.

Ryan O’Hearn is starting in left field. Aaron Hicks, who’s 7-for-19 with the Orioles, is on the bench.

Just looking at the stat will probably not impress anyone. The Orioles' starting rotation ERA for the year of 4.78 ranks only 12^th best in the American League. And 24^th in all of MLB. So, there is room for improvement.

But in recent weeks we have seen some of that improvement which creates some hope that the next 103 games for that rotation can be better than the first 59.

And that is because they’ve pitched better in the last 25 games from their rotation - much better. The O’s rotation ERA in that span is 4.00. An ERA for the year of 4.00 would rank sixth-best in the AL. In those 25 games – where the club is 15-10 – the Orioles have 11 quality starts. That is a QS in 44 percent of those games for about the last month. In that span they won series from Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Toronto, the New York Yankees and San Francisco.

O’s pitching allowed just six runs in three games versus Tampa Bay, seven runs against Pittsburgh, 10 runs in the three-game sweep at Toronto, 13 runs versus the Yankees and nine at San Francisco. They didn’t outslug those teams while beating them, they pitched them well. And the starters had a lot to do with that.

In the season’s first 34 games, before this 25-game run, Baltimore pitchers produced only seven quality starts with an ERA of 5.39. They got a QS 20.6 percent as opposed to 44 percent now in the last 25 contests.

SAN FRANCISCO – Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson exited last night’s game in the third inning with lower back discomfort, but the club is confident he will not need to go on the injured list. He is not starting today, but manager Brandon Hyde did not rule out the chance he could play in the game.

“He is feeling better today,” Hyde said pregame. “So, getting treatment right now. Little bit unsure if he’s available off the bench or not. Off-day will do him good tomorrow and we should see him back in there against Milwaukee.

“We are confident (it’s not an IL situation). He is definitely trending better from last night. Waiting to see if he can even go today.”

With Henderson not starting, Josh Lester will make his O’s debut today against the Giants, batting seventh and playing at third base. He hit .282/.339/.549 with nine doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs in 52 games with Triple-A Norfolk. His second and last major league game was Sept. 6, 2022 with the Tigers in Anaheim. He is 0-for-5 as a big leaguer.

“Gunnar would have been in there today if he could go. But it does give Josh an opportunity to start here, and (Anthony) DeSclafani’s splits against righties and lefties are pretty significant. So Josh will start, and let’s see if he can deliver a couple of hits for us," Hyde said.

SAN FRANCISCO – After an uplifting opening game of this series and a Baltimore win by 3-2 Friday night, by mid-game tonight the Orioles were down three runs and one player. It didn’t go as well as last night.

Right-hander Alex Cobb got rolling against his former team while his current one scored three runs in the last of third and beat the Orioles 4-0 in front of 32,416 at Oracle Park. The series, now tied 1-1, will be decided here tomorrow afternoon.

Orioles rookie infielder Gunnar Henderson left tonight’s game when he was replaced by Ramón Urías, who went to third base for the last of the third. The team announced that Henderson exited due to lower back discomfort.

Henderson, who hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning last night, batted once tonight and struck out on a Cobb splitter in the top of the second. He entered tonight hitting .203/.330/.386/.716 with six homers and 15 RBIs.

The injury might have occurred when Henderson, from third base, threw out Mitch Haniger on a grounder in the last of the second. The MASN cameras showed Henderson grimacing after the play.

SAN FRANCISCO – With their latest series-opening victory and road trip win secured, the Orioles play at Oracle Park again tonight looking for a series victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Baltimore scored twice in the second inning last night – on Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI single and Jorge Mateo’s swinging bunt hit – for a 2-1 lead on right-hander Logan Webb, who entered fifth in the National League in ERA.

After the Giants (28-29) tied the game, the Orioles (36-21) gained the lead on Webb again on Gunnar Henderson’s blast to right field in the top of the seventh. The ball, which appeared headed for McCovey’s Cove, came up short of that and ended up in the back of the stands, but it was a huge homer for the 21-year-old Henderson.

He drilled a 2-1 changeup 410 feet with an exit velocity of 110.7 mph. Since he had a .659 OPS to end April, Henderson has a .765 OPS since the start of May. His OPS for the year is now .716, making it exactly league average, and his OPS+ is 100 on the dot. He has seven RBIs his past nine games.

The Orioles improved to 19-9 in road games and to 11-4 in the last 15 away from Oriole Park, to 14-5 in series-opening games and to 11-6 in one-run games. The Orioles have won 27 of their past 41 and 30 of the last 45.

The Orioles placed left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe on the bereavement list today and selected infielder Josh Lester’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk.

Reliever Dillon Tate was moved to the 60-day injured list with a right elbow flexor strain to create room for Lester on the 40-man roster.

Coulombe struck out the side last night in the seventh inning to lower his ERA to 2.08.

An off-day on Monday could limit Coulombe’s absence from the Orioles to two games. They’re carrying 12 pitchers tonight and 14 position players.

Lester, signed to a minor league deal on Dec. 6, was batting .282/.339/.549 with nine doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs in 52 games with Norfolk. His second and last major league game was Sept. 6, 2022 with the Tigers in Anaheim.

The Orioles didn’t need to change back into their regular uniforms. Hall of Famer Jim Palmer didn’t need to order a pancake for breakfast this morning in the press dining room before joining the MASN broadcast.

One was scheduled, the other spontaneous.

Purely coincidence that Kyle Bradish struck out the side in the top of the first inning and the Orioles scored twice in the bottom half, taking a lead they would protect throughout the game. And how Bradish escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the second, retired 11 batters in a row and held the Rangers to one run in 6 2/3.

Yennier Cano surrendered a two-out, game-tying double to Corey Seager in the eighth, but the Orioles offered an immediate response with the first two batters reaching against Cole Ragans and Austin Hays delivering an RBI single in a 3-2 victory over the Rangers before an announced crowd of 25,124 at Camden Yards.

Félix Bautista struck out the side and recorded his 13^th save, and the Orioles improved to 34-19, recapturing the second-best record in baseball. They still haven't been swept.

During an outstanding season when they have played .635 baseball and have the third-best record in the major leagues, the Orioles (33-19) have lost only four series. They have not been swept in any of them.

For the latter statement to remain true, they’ll have to beat the Texas Rangers (33-18) today. Texas has won the first two games of this series to move ahead of Baltimore for the second-best record in the major leagues and to have a chance for a sweep today.

The Orioles have not only not been swept in any series, they have not lost the first two games of any series until Texas beat them this weekend by 12-2 Friday and 5-3 yesterday.

The American League West leaders, Texas had lost eight of its last nine games versus the Orioles, going 0-6 in the season series last year, until its win on Friday night at Oriole Park. Per Elias Sports Bureau, this series is just the second time ever that the Orioles and Rangers have met with both teams at least 13 games over the .500 mark. The other time it happened was in August 2016.

With a series win this weekend, Texas is 7-1-1 in its last nine series and 11-2-1 in its last 14 series. Their series record for the season thus far is 12-4-1.

The third straight extra-innings game was not the charm for the Orioles. And on a night when they pitched Aaron Judge well and he was 0-for-3, right-handed closer Félix Bautista made one poor pitch in the last of the ninth.

Two outs from another impressive win, the Orioles did not get them, losing 6-5 in 10 innings to the Yankees. This time there was no extra innings magic.

This created some frustration around Birdland no doubt as O's fans like to beat the Yankees just about as much as any club and nothing is more frustrating than seeing Judge homer against Baltimore.

The homer in the ninth was his 14th of this season and his eighth in the past nine games. It was his 38th in 91 career games versus O's pitching.

They could have just walked him, right?

NEW YORK – A road trip that is supposed to knock down the Orioles didn't make a dent for the first half of it. Didn't leave a mark.

They just kept winning, in comeback fashion or after taking an early lead. Sometimes, they do both.

Give them a problem and they find a solution – unless it's Aaron Judge, of course.

Adam Frazier had a two-run double in the first inning tonight off Gerrit Cole, Cedric Mullins homered in the third and Gunnar Henderson homered in the fourth. A fast start but not untouchable, with the Yankees storming back to tie the game in the fifth.

The response was immediate. The Orioles twice loaded the bases in the sixth while disposing of Cole, settled for a go-ahead run on Terrin Vavra’s ground ball and turned to their bullpen. A formula that usually works, except Judge homered off Félix Bautista with one out in the ninth to send the Orioles into extras for the third straight game.

The Orioles have won three straight American League East series, going 7-2 against Boston, Tampa Bay and Toronto. That mark will get challenged tonight as they open a three-game series in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. New York has been playing well lately, and has the best record in the majors since May 2.

The Yankees start right-hander Gerrit Cole (5-0, 2.01 ERA) tonight with lefty Nestor Cortes (4-2, 5.21) on tap tomorrow, so a real challenge is at hand for the surging Orioles.

But the Birds (31-16), who are three games behind Tampa Bay for both the best record in the majors and for first in the AL East, are coming off their impressive three-game sweep of Toronto. Playing in a ballpark where they went 0-10 in 2018, they swept that three-game series, outscoring the Blue Jays 20-10 over 30 innings of baseball in downtown Toronto.

On the year, the Orioles have the second-best record when AL East teams play each other:

.611 – Tampa Bay (11-7)

NEW YORK – Orioles infielder Ramón Urías is beginning his injury rehab assignment Wednesday night at High-A Aberdeen.

Urías is serving as the designated hitter, according to Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.

The IronBirds are hosting a seven-game series against Jersey Shore, which includes Wednesday’s doubleheader that resulted from an April 22 postponement.

Urías is on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. He hasn’t played since limping off the field following a ninth-inning single on May 8.

Hyde didn’t specify how many days Urías would spend at Aberdeen. Urías has targeted a weekend return to the Orioles, when they host the Rangers.

NEW YORK – The Orioles will try to improve on their 13-2 record in series-opening games tonight when they visit the Yankees in the Bronx. They trail the first-place Rays by three games.

Terrin Vavra gets another start in right field, with Anthony Santander serving as designated hitter.

Adam Frazier is batting fifth again and starting at second base, followed by left fielder Austin Hays.

Pretty standard lineup.

Kyle Bradish’s final start in 2022 came at Yankee Stadium, where he held New York to an unearned run and three hits in five innings but also walked five batters.

The next mountain for the Orioles to climb is in the Bronx.

You just don’t see it in the skyline. Got to check the schedule and the standings.

The Yankees climbed out of last place in the division and are in third, three games behind the Orioles. They’ve won four in a row, six of seven, eight of 10 and 11 of 14.

In other words, they’re the Yankees again.

The 2023 version of the Orioles is even more impressive at 31-16, the second-best record in baseball. They just swept the Blue Jays in Toronto and have won 22 of their last 31 games.

A scout who includes the Orioles among the teams he tracks regards Kyle Bradish as a starter capable of winning on a consistent basis in the majors. He grades Bradish highly and agrees to disagree with others in the profession who aren’t quite as sold. They’ve debated it. No two reports are exactly alike.

“He has something,” the scout said this week.

Bradish had more than the Angels could handle tonight.

Facing the team for the first time that drafted and traded him, Bradish allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings in a 3-1 victory over the Angels before an announced crowd of 15,702 at Camden Yards.

Austin Hays homered in the fifth to expand a lead, and the Orioles improved to 28-15 with a chance to win the series Thursday afternoon.

If the Orioles want to win another series, they are going to need two wins the next two days in this four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. They have split the first two, with Baltimore winning 7-3 last night.

The Orioles (27-15) remain 4.5 games behind Tampa Bay, which won again Tuesday night. Overall, the Orioles are 5-3 on this 10-game homestand; they are 14-7 in home games for the season and 9-2 in their last 11 games versus the Angels.

They have won five of the last seven games, 10 of 16, 18 of their past 26 and 23 of the last 33 games.

In two games this series, their offense has hit five homers, scoring 12 runs on 15 hits. But over the past nine games, the Orioles have scored 28 runs, or just 3.1 per game. Baltimore batters have hit five homers in two games and seven in the last four. The O’s have gone 10 straight games without a game of 10 hits or more.

But the O’s pitching has been solid over the past 11 games dating back to the start of their series at Atlanta, with a team ERA of 3.05 during that span. The O’s pitching staff has allowed 28 runs the past nine games (with a 2.70 team ERA), and 37 in the last 11. The rotation ERA is 3.56 in this 11-game stretch, with five quality starts. The Orioles are 10-1 this season when they get a quality start.

Joey Ortiz is starting at shortstop tonight as the Orioles continue their series against the Angels at Camden Yards.

Jorge Mateo is on the bench after stopping an 0-for-19 skid last night. He’s 5-for-43 this month.

Terrin Vavra remains in right field. Anthony Santander is the designated hitter.

Ryan Mountcastle returns to first base after coming off the bench last night and contributing a double and home run.

Ryan McKenna is 3-for-6 as a pinch-hitter this season.

Cedric Mullins lined a triple into right-center field tonight in the fifth inning and the dry spell was over. The Orioles had their third hit, the first for extra bases. The new splash zone in section 86 was activated, with a hose dousing fans thirsting for a run.

They settled for the water.

Mullins would make certain that they got everything they wanted by the eighth inning. Heavy pouring of offense, the massive hydration with throats raw from cheering, a memory to cherish.

The center fielder hit a three-run homer to complete the cycle, just as the dugout urged him to do, in a 6-3 win over the Pirates before an announced crowd of 25,682.

Austin Hays was the last Orioles player to achieve the cycle, on June 22, 2022 against the Nationals. Mullins sent a changeup from Duane Underwood Jr. onto the flag court with two outs after Terrin Vavra, celebrating his 26th birthday, extended the inning with a walk.

In going 3-3 in the last two series against the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays, the Orioles won their series-opening game at Atlanta, but lost that series. They lost their series-opening game at home versus Tampa Bay, but won the last two games to take that series.

Baltimore enters a weekend series with Pittsburgh at 24-13 and playing .649 baseball. It is a pace that over a full season would produce 105 wins.

The Orioles are 2-1 this homestand, and over longer stretches have won 16 of 22, 18 of 25 and 20 of their past 28 games. With Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Tampa Bay they improved to 6-6 in games versus American League East teams and to 2-2 in four AL East series. The Orioles are 9-3 in series for the year, winning eight of their past nine. Their 24-13 record is third-best in the major leagues.

They are 11-1 in series-opening games and play one tonight to begin a three-game set with the Pirates, who are 8-4 in such games.

The Orioles are 11-5 at home and are 8-2 in their past 10 home games. They lost their first home series of the year against the New York Yankees, but have since won four in a row over Oakland, Detroit, Boston and Tampa Bay.