ANAHEIM, Calif. – Maybe this was a reverse-lock game. A night after the Orioles moved into first place, they put their 15-7 record and three-game win streak on the line with right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and his 2.63 ERA on the mound. He had not allowed more than two runs in any start this year.

The Angels had scored just nine runs during a five-game losing streak, were 2-5 at home and their pitcher, right-hander Griffin Canning, began his night with an ERA of 8.05.

What could go wrong? O's would have this one, right?

Well, the Angels got a Mike Trout leadoff homer and kept swinging it with loud contact in the early innings off Rodriguez as they beat the Orioles 7-4 at Angel Stadium.

Down 7-0 in the fifth, the O’s pulled within three runs but took the loss. They are now 15-8 for the year and 7-4 on the road, and return Wednesday to the ballpark looking for a series win in the rubber match game.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – As the Orioles face lefty Reid Detmers (3-0, 1.19 ERA) in tonight’s series opener with the Angels, they will be a missing a couple of key right-handed bats.

At least to start the game.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle is dealing with knee soreness and outfielder Austin Hays went on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain this afternoon.

The Orioles were seeing some positive signs with Hays’ bat. He is just 5-for-45 for the year, but had some loud outs recently and produced two hits his last four at-bats.

But any further progress will have to wait.

Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg was named the American League’s Player of the Week after batting .478 (11-for-23) with a .913 slugging percentage, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, eight RBIs, a walk, five runs scored and a stolen base in six games.

Westburg led the majors in batting average and OPS (1.413), tied for the lead in total bases (21) and ranked second in slugging. He tied for the AL lead in RBIs and tied for third in on-base percentage (.500) and hits (11).

The Orioles are on an award roll with Colton Cowser winning it last week.

This is only the third time that the team’s had back-to-back recipients. Eddie Murray won it on Sept. 13-20, 1981. Don Baylor was honored on Aug. 10, 1975, followed by co-winners Jim Palmer and Ken Singleton on the 17^th.

Westburg is batting .457 (16-for-35) during a nine-game hitting streak. He’s batting third tonight in Anaheim, where the Orioles begin a three-game series.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Orioles road trip will be in SoCal tonight for the beginning of a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels. They headed west Sunday with some momentum after outlasting the Royals on Saturday night and beating them 5-0 yesterday.

A most welcome strong start from lefty Cole Irvin led to the latest series win, it was just the third outing this year of 6 2/3 or more innings by an Oriole. The Orioles recorded their first shutout of the year after posting 12 last season.

Irvin provided the club its second scoreless start of the new year after Albert Suárez had one Wednesday versus Minnesota. This was just the second quality start by an Oriole in the last 11 games and their eighth on the year. Grayson Rodriguez has three, Corbin Burnes two and now with one each are Irvin, Tyler Wells and Dean Kremer.

Irvin’s outing was versus a K.C. team that had won nine in a row at home until Saturday’s loss. A Royals club that had scored 16 runs in the first two games of this series and began play Sunday averaging 5.14 runs per game – third-best in the AL.

It was an impressive outing, and an impressive series win against a K.C. club that is 2-4 versus the Orioles, but 11-5 against everybody else.

KANSAS CITY – Colton Cowser might chug a fountain drink later today with his postgame meal. Maybe crank up an old Fountains of Wayne tune. He’s got a theme going and should play it out before the team arrives in Anaheim later tonight.

Less than 16 hours after tossing a baseball over his head and into the fountain in left field, forgetting that closer Craig Kimbrel would want to keep it, Cowser launched a four-seamer from Royals starter Seth Lugo into the waterfall in right-center.

A stadium worker retrieved that one, as well, though it didn’t represent any sort of milestone. More like Cowser washing down a delicious irony.

"Did it get there?" Cowser asked. "I still feel terrible about what happened yesterday. I've apologized to Craig so much. But yeah, it's kind of funny, I guess. I don't think it's crazy funny, but put a good swing on it, so pretty proud of myself there."

Jordan Westburg followed Cowser’s third-inning blast with a home run to left that also would have splashed down if not for a fan in the top row of bleachers deflecting it with his hand. Not everyone was on board.

KANSAS CITY – Corbin Burnes tried to turn away from a hard one-hopper, felt the ball slam off his right hip, scrambled to retrieve it, failed on his first attempt and threw out the runner by a hair.

This was one batter into his start.

Burnes waved off manager Brandon Hyde and head athletic trainer Brian Ebel as they began walking to the mound. Like he knew that he wouldn’t be the starter knocked out early.

The Orioles sent 12 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored seven runs against Royals left-hander Cole Ragans, the same pitcher who blanked them on one hit in 6 1/3 in Baltimore. The same pitcher with the 1.93 ERA.

A relaxed-turned-tense 9-7 win at Kauffman Stadium improved the Orioles to 13-7 and ran their sweepless streak in the regular season to 98 series. The offense was stagnant last night until Adley Rutschman’s grand slam in the seventh, but it took good care of Burnes.

KANSAS CITY – Jackson Holliday is on the bench tonight with the Royals starting left-hander Cole Ragans.

He isn’t the only left-handed bat removed from the lineup, but it gets most of the attention with the 1-for-27 start and 15 strikeouts from baseball's top prospect.

Cedric Mullins and Colton Cowser are replaced by Jorge Mateo and Austin Hays, respectively. Ramón Urías is playing third base, with Jordan Westburg at second.

Urías has a hit in his last five games with an at-bat, including last night, after an 0-for-14 start. He was in the lineup once since April 5 until tonight.

Mullins is batting .353 during a 10-game hitting streak.

The Orioles are mashing some home runs to start the 2024 season. Through Wednesday’s games, they ranked as the most homer-happy team in all of Major League Baseball.

They led the majors in homers and homers per game and actually, and yes, it’s very early, they are a record pace for Orioles homers.

The most any O’s team ever hit was the 1996 Birds with 257. At their current pace, if maintained, this team would hit 270.

And sure, maybe that pace won’t be maintained. But last year the O’s scored a lot of runs thanks in large measure to outstanding runners in scoring position hitting stats. 

By the way, this O’s group is faring well there too, third in the AL as of yesterday with a team average of .293 with RISP.

After a 7-4 win over the Minnesota Twins Monday at Oriole Park, in a game in which the Orioles never trailed, they host Minnesota again tonight with a chance to win this series. 

The Orioles (10-6) are on a pace to win 101 games, matching their 2023 total, at this early stage of this season. The O’s begin play today 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees for the American League East lead. They are 6-4 at home and 5-1 in series-opening games.

The Orioles hit three homers last night. They have hit nine in their past three games, 14 in the last five games and 24 on the season. That is a total that leads the AL and is one behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the major league lead. The Birds average 1.5 homers per game, second in the majors to Milwaukee's 1.6

The Orioles hit two or more homers eight times this season and they are 7-1 in those games.

The Baltimore offense is starting to pick up. In winning five of their past seven games, the Orioles have scored 42 runs while hitting 15 homers. In those games the team batting average is .283 with a .343 OBP, a .504 slugging and .847 OPS.

Cole Irvin had his back to home plate and a huge smile on his face. Both arms raised. Eyes wide. A combination of pure joy and utter disbelief.

Cedric Mullins saved him from allowing a run in the top of the first inning, and did it in remarkable fashion. Now it was Irvin’s duty to show his appreciation in the proper fashion.

Accept the lead that came quickly to him and don’t lose it. Care for it until handing it over to the bullpen.

Relievers became responsible for it by the fifth, sooner than manager Brandon Hyde desired but a group effort that got the series started on a winning note. And Mullins wasn’t done contributing.

Jordan Westburg delivered a two-run double in the first inning, Ryan O’Hearn led off the third with a homer, Mullins finished with a sacrifice fly and two-run homer, and the Orioles never trailed in a 7-4 victory over the Twins before an announced crowd of 14,611 at Camden Yards.

He had to wait until his third at-bat today and the 14^th of his major league career, but Jackson Holliday’s first hit came in the last of the seventh today. And it helped fuel a game-winning, two-run rally for the Orioles.

With the O's trailing 4-3 after Milwaukee's Blake Perkins homered off Yennier Cano in the top of the seventh, Jordan Westburg led off the home seventh and punched a single into left.

Then Holliday had his big moment.

Off reliever Abner Uribe, he hit a 1-0 two-seamer at 99.3 mph into right field for a groundball single at 101.4 mph off the bat. Westburg scampered to third and a rally was brewing in Birdland. That hit made Holliday now 1-for-14.

Gunnar Henderson followed with a line single to right to score a run and tie it 4-4, and Holliday made a dash for third and beat the throw. That was important as the next batter, Adley Rutschman, grounded into a 6-3 double play. But because he was on third, Holliday scored the go-ahead run for the 5-4 lead.  

It’s nothing personal.

DL Hall was a popular teammate inside the Orioles clubhouse. His friends hated to see him traded, though the return softened the blow. But he came back to Baltimore wearing a different uniform and with the intent to beat them.

Ryan Mountcastle and Jordan Westburg hit home runs in the first inning. The pleasantries were over.

Gunnar Henderson delivered an RBI single in the second at 112.8 mph off the bat and Adley Rutschman homered in the third to break a tie. Hall was taking a beating. But the Brewers can dole out their own punishment, and they went hard after Dean Kremer and the bullpen.

Nothing personal.

The question inevitably comes in casual conversations or radio and television interviews.  And the phrase “pleasant problem” is the chaser.

The constant change in Orioles lineups, with players rotating in the field as if waiting for the music to stop and plopping down, is becoming a less familiar sight. We haven’t gone back to the ‘70s. They want wide margins of victory over wide lapels. But manager Brandon Hyde isn’t gonna fix what ain’t broken and he’s found an order that’s difficult to break up.

An infielder stocked with versatile players is beginning to solidify with Gunnar Henderson at shortstop, Jackson Holliday at second base and Jordan Westburg at third. The first base options remain Ryan Mountcastle or Ryan O’Hearn, the latter serving as designated hitter in the past three games before last night and six overall.

They’ve only played 13.

Jorge Mateo might be in the tightest bind because he isn’t used at third base. It’s pretty much middle infield, which is tougher to crack than a bank safe, or maybe a token appearance in center.

The Boston Red Sox began this series with the Orioles riding high at 7-3 after a season-opening West Coast road trip. Their team ERA was 1.49 at first pitch Tuesday night, the club’s lowest mark through 10 games since the Live Ball era which began in 1920.

But in this series, in which the Orioles swept them three in a row, Baltimore produced 23 runs on 31 hits, hit five homers – four last night – and went 15-for-37 (.405) batting with runners in scoring position.

Last night was their sixth comeback win of the 2024 season and they outscored Boston in the series 19-2 from the sixth inning on.

The Orioles have put up big numbers later in games this year. In fact, through the fifth innings of their games so far, they have been outscored 28-23. But from the sixth inning on, they have outscored their opponents 47-14. So they are -5 in runs in the first five innings and +33 from the sixth inning on.

That is a remarkable stat.

During my postgame show on WBAL Radio last night, a caller said the Orioles win showed they are resilient and can overcome adversity. Well, they indeed did do that in a 7-5 win over the Boston Red Sox.

They are now 7-4 overall, 3-2 on this road trip and won another series, and can sweep it tonight behind Grayson Rodriguez (2-0, 2.19 ERA) at Fenway Park.

Jordan Westburg has hit two homers this year - one was a walk-off at Camden Yards and last night it was a go-ahead homer in the top of the seventh. With his club down 5-4 and two men on, he blasted a two-out shot out to the left of center. It was a ball he hit 111.2 mph and drove it 432 feet. It turned a one-run deficit into a 7-5 lead which the Orioles would hold.

Westburg said he was just trying to keep the line moving when he got into one. 

“I just viewed all those situations as ways of our guys passing the bat back to the next guy, trying to string together innings, string together some runs, get back in the game,” he said. “It got up to me and I was kind of doing the same thing. I wasn’t trying to do too much. I was just trying to get the bat to the next guy in the lineup. And it just so happened that it went out."

BOSTON – Jackson Holliday stretched with his teammates on the field. He took batting practice while father Matt and younger brother Ethan stood behind the cage. He paused to sign some autographs before grabbing his bats and heading back to the clubhouse. Fans yelled his name.

He looked every bit like a major leaguer, except for that youthful face, of course. But he’s used to the reactions and enjoys them. It comes with a boyish grin.

Holliday worked this afternoon to keep his emotions in check. Soak in the experience but don’t let it distract. Understand the fuss but also blend, as he’s always tried to do.

Jackson’s first major league at-bat arrived with one out in the third inning and he struck out on a 2-2 sweeper from Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford while Colton Cowser stole second base. Baseball’s top prospect went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and his first RBI in the Orioles' 7-5 come-from-behind win at Fenway Park.

Jordan Westburg hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Chris Martin after the Orioles loaded the bases for the third time. The Red Sox maintained their sloppy ways with a walk, passed ball, catcher’s interference call and two wild pitches to set up Westburg for his second home run – a 432-foot shot to left-center at 111.2 mph off the bat.

PITTSBURGH – Corbin Burnes moves up a day in the rotation and starts Tuesday afternoon’s series opener against the Red Sox in Boston.

The Orioles are flip-flopping Burnes and Cole Irvin, who’s bumped back to Wednesday night. Grayson Rodriguez starts Thursday night before the club returns home.

Burnes would have worked on six days’ rest if he remained on his normal turn.

Today’s lineup in Pittsburgh is a duplicate from yesterday, with the same names and order. James McCann is catching. Jordan Westburg is playing third base. Jorge Mateo is at second.

Manager Brandon Hyde hadn't written out the exact same lineups - names and positions - in consecutive games since Aug. 5-6, 2022 against the Pirates.

PITTSBURGH – Maybe it was the sunshine and dry conditions that flustered the Orioles. They couldn’t get Pirates starter Bailey Falter to live up to his name. They needed him to leave. Nothing good would happen until he was back inside the clubhouse.

The game still ended poorly, but at least there were flickers of hope. Too bad they'd get burned in extra innings.

Danny Coulombe escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the 10th, but the Orioles failed to score in the top of the 11th and Oneil Cruz singled off Jonathan Heasley to plate Henry Davis for a 5-4 walk-off win at PNC Park.

Cedric Mullins made a sensational diving catch to rob Ke'Bryan Hayes, but Cruz lined a first-pitch sweeper into right field and the Pirates stormed the field.

The Orioles went 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position. They scored on a ground ball, two fly balls and a fielder's choice. But they still had a chance.

The Orioles are leaving the cold and rain of Baltimore and flying into the cold of Pittsburgh. But no rain.

Daytime highs for the three games are 43, 48 and a balmy 56 degrees. But a new concession item at PNC Park is “The Renegade,” a foot-long hot dog draped in potato pierogis, pot roast, pickles and onions.

Let me start by saying cheddar potato pierogis are the best. I’d eat a box of 12 for dinner back in the day – boiled and slathered in melted butter. Better than pan-fried crispy. I want to pasta texture.

I’ll also say that the pickles are unnecessary and unwanted on this item. Save ‘em for a burger or barbeque sandwich.

And finally, this is a long-winded way of setting up the mailbag.

He was back playing second base at Camden Yards last night. But this time, Adam Frazier was not playing for, but rather against the Orioles.

Frazier enjoyed his time as an Oriole and was a key contributor to a 101-win team that won a division championship.

He has high praise for pretty much everything Oriole – especially his former teammates, manager Brandon Hyde and the Baltimore coaching staff.

“The whole staff really from (manager Brandon) Hyde on down, the hitting side, everything. Really bonded with those guys. The preparation that they were able to give us day in and day out, the (scouting) reports, it was top notch.

“You come to the Yard every day and you didn’t have to worry about this or that. It was just - take care of your business, help each other out and go win a game. It’s very refreshing. Some places I have been over my career, it hasn’t always been about that. It’s top notch,” said Frazier.