The choices were laid out again yesterday for Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.

A right-handed opposing starting pitcher and a roster with left-handed hitting outfielders Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad, along with switch-hitter Anthony Santander. Ryan O’Hearn, also from the left side, capable of playing the corner outfield or first base or resuming his usual role as the designated hitter in this situation.

Kjerstad sat Friday night despite hitting a home run and finishing with three RBIs the previous game. Cowser broke a scoreless tie with his homer in the fourth off future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer. Hyde appeared to make the right call – unless Kjerstad would have hit two.

We’ll never know.

Last night’s lineup put Cowser in left field, Mullins in center, Santander in right and Kjerstad as the designated hitter. O’Hearn played first base and Ryan Mountcastle sat until called upon as a pinch-hitter.

The Texas Rangers were trying to come from two runs down and the wildness of the O’s bullpen gave them a great chance. They had cut the O's 2-0 lead to 2-1 in the seventh inning and a key batter, leadoff hitter Marcus Semien, batted with the bases loaded and two outs.

O’s righty Jacob Webb threw him a 2-2 fastball and he hit it hard toward third base. Ramón Urías, the 2022 American League Gold Glove winner at third base, made a nice play to his backhand side and thew out Semien. The ball was hit 96.5 mph off the bat and Statcast gave it an expected batting average of .530.

But the Rangers were turned away.

In a game the Orioles would go on to win 2-1, it was a solid defensive play. And a key one. Actual batting average on the play was .000.

“Yeah. Big play right there,” Urías said in the postgame clubhouse. “Just tried to stay calm. Know the situation and know your runner and I think the main thing is just stay calm.”

Albert Suárez figured it out.

A two-start slump circled the drain tonight, with Suárez regaining the effectiveness that made him so valuable to a club with a bundle of pitching injuries.

Súarez shut out the Rangers over a season-high six innings, Colton Cowser homered for the second time in two nights and the Orioles claimed a 2-1 victory before an announced crowd of 27,666 at Camden Yards.

Craig Kimbrel recorded his 18^th save and 435^th of his career, and the Orioles won their third game in a row after five consecutive defeats. Their record improved to 52-30.

Owner David Rubenstein danced with the Oriole Bird on top of the dugout during the seventh inning stretch and tossed caps to fans. The good times rolled.

To reach the halfway point of their season tonight, the Orioles also drifted back to last October.

Hosting the Rangers brought inescapable reminders of the Division Series sweep. The abrupt finish after winning 101 games. The deathly silence inside the visiting clubhouse at Globe Life Field. Manager Brandon Hyde circling the room to offer hugs and to express his gratitude.

The Orioles don’t return to Arlington until the series that follows the break, though some players will arrive early for the All-Star Game. But seeing the Rangers again was like picking at a scab.

Though Hyde hadn’t talked to his players about it and noted how this was a regular season matchup in June, he added, “I think we’re going to remember. That feeling sat with us for a long time.”

Corbin Burnes wasn’t in the rotation for the playoffs. Texas wasn’t a third-place team. Heston Kjerstad was on the roster but didn’t receive an at-bat.

Jordan Westburg’s line drive at 110.5 mph reached the left field corner in the third inning. Gunnar Henderson, who walked with one out, raced around the bases and dived across the plate to break the tie.

The Orioles had their fourth run to match their total over the previous three games. The bats were back. They just needed the pitching to hold up.

It didn’t.

Cole Irvin lasted only four innings, Yennier Cano allowed two runs in the eighth, and the losing streak reached five games with Cleveland’s 10-8 victory before an announced crowd of 18,574 at Camden Yards.

Irvin was charged with four earned runs and eight total, along with a season-high 10 hits, and he came out after 71 pitches. The rotation has gone eight games in a row without a quality start.

HOUSTON – Outfielder Colton Cowser is returning home this weekend as the Orioles play at Houston's Minute Maid Park. It’s a ballpark he has been in as both a fan and a player.

“Feels like home. Hot,” he said Friday afternoon in the Baltimore clubhouse.

Born in Houston, Cowser still lives in the area. He attended Cypress Ranch High School in Cypress, Texas, about 26 miles northwest of Houston and led his team to the 6A state playoffs as a senior in 2018. He played his college ball at Sam Houston State, which is about 68 miles north of Houston.

A few local TV reporters wanted to talk with him yesterday ahead of the series opener. Cowser estimates he saw about 30 games in Minute Maid Park over the years.

“Lots of memories coming to this ballpark growing up," he said. "Came to a lot of games and really cool, really excited. My mom, talked to her last night and my parents are excited.

HOUSTON – It’s a bit of a family affair in the dugouts in Houston this weekend as the Astros host the Orioles for a three-game series. Two good friends, who are now also brothers-in-law, will manage against each other in the O’s Brandon Hyde and Houston’s Joe Espada.

Their friendship goes back many years and they married sisters.

Espada was Houston’s bench coach since 2018 and took over as skipper last November after Dusty Baker’s retirement.

“It’s going to be definitely a great experience and a great thing for our family,” said Hyde this afternoon at Minute Maid Park to a crowd of reporters that cover each team. “Me and Joe go way, way back. He was my hitting coach (with Greensboro in the South Atlantic League) when I was managing in 2006. We’ve known each other a long time and I’m really proud of him and happy he got this opportunity. Going to be cool to see him in the dugout in a little bit different seat this year. Going to be a lot of fun.”

Hyde and Espada were candidates for the same big league managing job several times as they both worked their way toward getting the jobs they have today.

The Orioles begin their three-game series in Houston with Colton Cowser out of the lineup for the second consecutive day.

Ryan O’Hearn is making his second start in left field, with Cedric Mullins in center and Anthony Santander in right.

Jordan Westburg is the third baseman. Adley Rutschman is serving as designated hitter.  

Texas native Grayson Rodriguez is making his first career start in Houston. He faced the Astros last season at Camden Yards and allowed two runs in six innings.

Rodriguez has made three starts this month and allowed five earned runs in 19 1/3 innings. He’s walked two batters and struck out 16.

NEW YORK – The Orioles are two-thirds into a series hyped by media as a do-or-die matchup. Lose two games or get swept and don’t bothering playing out the rest of the season.

The club tried to downplay it after the last homestand. Manager Brandon Hyde and his players can read the standings. They also can read a calendar.

If you’re still reading this, here are a few thoughts and opinions about what’s transpired at Yankee Stadium.

* The fuss over the hit-by-pitches in the first game was over the top.

Not unexpected, mind you. Just way over the top.

The Orioles’ bats hadn’t even cooled Sunday afternoon and manager Brandon Hyde already was asked about the upcoming series against the Yankees. Fans hadn’t cleared the parking lots. Players hadn’t finished their showers and meals. Kids still ran the bases with music playing from “Frozen” and “The Little Mermaid.”

(If you have young children or grandkids, you know.)

Under the sea is fun. Being under the Yankees is not. But the gap has closed to 1 ½ games with the Orioles going 4-2 on their homestand.

The Orioles are 22-12 against teams currently above .500. The Yankees hold the best record in baseball at 50-24 despite losing back-to-back games in Boston. The matchup in the Bronx comes on the heels of a series against a Phillies team that has the best record in the National League.

"We get a day off first, which is well deserved and needed for a lot of our guys," said manager Brandon Hyde, his immediate response to a question about going to New York.

The Orioles continue to hold their own and most of the time do better than that against other winning clubs. Will this bode well for the rest of the year? Will it mean something come October?

Again, great questions. October is a whole other story, and we'll get there when we get there. But the way the O's play against quality opponents has to bode well for where they will be after 162 games have been played.

Against teams that are over .500 as of the end of their game Sunday, the Orioles record is now 22-9 (.710) and they are 9-1 in series. They have won series against the Yankees, Minnesota, Seattle, Philadelphia and Atlanta losing to Milwaukee. They have won two series each against Boston and Kansas City.

Those numbers could change as Boston was one game over (36-35) going into its Sunday night baseball game. Also St. Louis, which went 3-0 versus the Orioles, was 35-35 as of last night.

But the O's are doing quite well and against current division leaders they are 8-5, going 3-1 versus the Yankees, 2-1 against Seattle and Philly and 1-2 against Milwaukee. 

Though it’s true that Corbin Burnes warms up to the Garth Brooks tune “Friends in Low Places,” the ace right-hander also keeps gaining admirers with every start. And some of them are high in the ranks in the Orioles organization.

He’s become so popular that teammates are willing to beat up Zack Wheeler for him.

Burnes registered his 10^th quality start in a row, Gunnar Henderson hit his eighth leadoff home run of the season, and Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman and Jordan Westburg also went deep within the first five innings in a 8-3 win over the Phillies before an announced sellout crowd of 44,525 that pushed the weekend total at Camden Yards to 133,067.

Burnes allowed two runs in six innings and the Orioles headed into their lone off-day of the month at 47-24 and two games behind the first-place Yankees, who play tonight in Boston. They lost the series opener in the 11th and won back-to-back games against the team with the best record in the National League.

Henderson has 22 home runs on the season, and he really had to work for today’s. He got the count full against Wheeler, fouled off three pitches and dropped a sinker into the Orioles’ bullpen at 419 feet – the ninth pitch of the at-bat producing his 10^th career leadoff shot. His most recent before today came Monday at Tropicana Field.

Orioles bench coach Fredi González took maybe one step away from the umpires gathered at home plate for the exchange of lineup cards and left-hander Cade Povich already had climbed the dugout steps and began his walk to the mound for his warmup tosses.

Teammates paused to let the rookie lead them.

He did a fine job of it after the game began.

Making his second major league start and first at home, Povich shut out the Braves over six innings before manager Brandon Hyde turned to a bullpen that wasn’t at full strength. Matt Olson turned on a Keegan Akin four-seam fastball and sent it 423 feet to right field for a game-tying two-run homer.

Akin put his hands on his hips in disgust. Povich wouldn’t get his first win. Colton Cowser wouldn’t waste his only at-bat of the night.

Austin Hays is in left field again tonight after collecting three hits in the series opener against the Braves.

Hays is slashing .347/.377/.592 (17-for-49) since returning from the injured list on May 13. He has 10 hits in his last 21 at-bats.

Jorge Mateo is batting .353 when ahead in the count this season. He’s at second base again and Ramón Urías is at third. Jordan Westburg goes to the bench.

Cedric Mullins is in center field, putting Colton Cowser on the bench. Ryan O’Hearn is in right field and batting cleanup.

Anthony Santander is serving as the designated hitter.

CHICAGO – Get the rain delay out of the way first, this one lasting 1 hour and 40 minutes. Send Kyle Bradish to the mound. Try to complete the first four-game sweep against the White Sox since 1995.

Try to do it before the weather takes another nasty turn.

Who knew that Bradish would be nastier?

Bradish didn’t allow a hit for seven innings, but the combined attempt at history failed when Danny Mendick came off the bench in the eighth and belted a leadoff home run against Danny Coulombe.

The Orioles didn’t get their seventh no-hitter. No matter. They left town with a 4-1 victory over the White Sox before an announced crowd of 14,992 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

CHICAGO – Kyle Stowers is in left field today and Ramón Urías is the third baseman, as the Orioles try to win a third consecutive game after being swept in St. Louis.

Ryan O’Hearn is in right field. Colton Cowser returns to center field after last night’s leaping catch at the fence to rob Tommy Pham of a home run and end the game.

Jordan Westburg’s RBI double last night snapped an 0-for-13 streak. He’s the second baseman today.

Gunnar Henderson and Houston’s Kyle Tucker are tied for the major league home run lead with 17. Henderson is swinging 56.1 percent of the time with two strikes, with eight of his home runs coming in those counts, per STATS.

Albert Suárez is making the start after the Orioles put Dean Kremer on the 15-day injured list with a strained right triceps. He’s made 10 appearances, the last seven in relief, and registered a posted a 1.78 ERA and 0.947 WHIP in 25 1/3 innings.

Anthony Santander can hit if he’s sent to the plate. His swollen and bruised left knee can handle it. But playing the outfield is on hold.

Santander is receiving treatment on the knee after he slammed it into the right field wall in the third inning Wednesday afternoon while chasing Bo Bichette’s fly ball that deflected off his glove and resulted in a two-run double.

The knee already was tender, and Santander aggravated it in the eighth inning while running the bases. He was replaced in right field in the top of the ninth and served as the designated hitter the past two games.

“The knee’s feeling OK,” he said. “It’s still swollen and bruised. A couple more days it’s gonna be fine.”

Santander said the soreness has been “the same” since Wednesday.

Anthony Santander led off the fourth inning yesterday with a single and poked a double down the left field line to begin the eighth before the pain from a bruised knee led to his removal in right field. Colton Cowser, who shaved his beard to “change things up,” broke his bat on a fourth-inning single and snapped a 7-for-55 streak. Austin Hays played in his first game since April 20 in Kansas City and delivered a pinch-hit double in the seventh after beginning the season 5-for-45.

Cedric Mullins was removed for Hays after popping up and striking out to extend his slump to 5-for-59.

That’s the latest update on the Orioles outfield. Some promising moments that proceeded Adley Rutschman’s walk-off home run. Not a clean sweep when it comes to perhaps busting out of funks.

The Orioles improved to 27-14 heading into their off-day and are winning without everyone at peak performance. Some players are far from it. And the club must monitor Santander’s knee – he played chess in the clubhouse afterward rather than being in the trainers’ room, which seemed encouraging – and Hays’ calf that forced manager Brandon Hyde to pinch-run for him despite his reinstatement this week from the injured list.

Minds aren’t closed to certain roster upgrades. However, the Orioles don’t appear to have reached a point where they’re going to actively pursue an outfielder in trade or from the waiver wire. They seem more inclined to trust track records and their internal options.

Kyle Stowers and Austin Hays are on the bench for the start of tonight’s game against the Blue Jays, as the Orioles try to avoid their first three-game losing streak.

Colton Cowser is in left field and Ryan O’Hearn is in right.

Cowser is 7-for-54 since hitting a home run off the Angels’ Reid Detmer in the seventh inning of an April 22 game in Anaheim.

Cedric Mullins remains in center field. He grounded out to end last night’s game and is in a 5-for-57 slump.

O’Hearn has reached base in 11 of his last 12 games. He’s hitting .391 with a .783 slugging percentage against breaking balls this season after posting a .232 average and .444 slugging last season, per STATS.

A lopsided loss yesterday didn’t knock the Orioles out of first place. They begin a three-game series tonight against the Blue Jays with the best record in the American League.

They are thriving under circumstances that haven’t been ideal. They aren’t catching all of the breaks. They aren’t at a peak health level.

They just find ways to win on most nights.

What are some of the obstacles that they’ve had to clear?

The rotation has stayed unsettled.