LOS ANGELES – The Orioles won by 3-2 on Tuesday night. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers with a shutdown bullpen and a go-ahead homer by Ramon Urias.

They were in excellent shape to win the series from the club with the best record in the majors and one with a great home record. But two losses followed, and the Orioles fell to 1.5 games back of the idle Yankees for the AL East lead.

Their bullpen had a strong series, how about that? But their starters and batters did not.

The win one, lose one mode might be enough to get the Orioles to the playoffs but they will need to play better when they get there.

The O’s offense hit .182 this series, scoring 10 runs with six extra-base hits in Los Angeles and they went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

DENVER - The Orioles are in Colorado for three games against the last-place Rockies, who are a bottom-three team in the majors. They are polar opposites of the Dodgers. It’s like drinking San Pellegrino or straight from the garden hose.

The clubs met at Camden Yards last summer and the Orioles won two of three, with each game decided by a single run. The Rockies won two of three in 2019 at Coors Field during the infant stages of the Orioles’ rebuild.

Known as “infant” because it made you cry every hour.

In the Orioles’ lone victory, Keon Broxton played center field and Stevie Wilkerson was in left. Hanser Alberto batted leadoff. Josh Lucas tossed three scoreless innings for his only major league save.

My only memory of that series isn’t Josh Lucas. It’s Broxton swinging at the first pitch thrown to him as an Oriole, by former prospect Jeff Hoffman, and hitting it 474 feet onto the left field concourse. Jaws dropped in the press box simultaneously, creating a sound louder than the home run.

LOS ANGELES – With 28 games left in the regular season, the chase is on for the Orioles. They are chasing a playoff berth and an American League East title, but also chasing the calendar in terms of getting their injured players back with enough time both to perform at their previous levels and also impact the playoff race.

In that regard, Sunday could be a big day for the team in their series finale at Colorado. Right-hander Zach Eflin can return from the injured list that day. He is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.13 in four O’s starts. The last one was Aug. 15 and he went on the IL with right shoulder inflammation after that game.

But now, without a rehab assignment or even having faced any hitters in a simulated game, he is on the verge of rejoining the rotation.

“He is a possibility for Sunday, yeah,” manager Brandon Hyde confirmed today. “I know he was going to throw today, but yeah, there is a chance he can pitch Sunday.”

Meanwhile right-hander Grayson Rodriguez threw off flat ground pregame twice during this series with the Dodgers on Tuesday and again today. Rodriguez, 13-4 with a 3.86 ERA, last pitched July 31 and is on the IL with right lat/teres discomfort. 

LOS ANGELES – The Orioles are slowly getting healthier and manager Brandon Hyde would say “knock on wood” when you mention that. His team currently has 12 players on the injured list. 

Righty reliever Jacob Webb is reporting to Triple-A Norfolk to soon throw for the Tides. Perhaps as soon as early next week, the O’s could get a key piece in their bullpen back. Meanwhile, starter Zach Eflin is eligible to return from the injured list on Sunday and Hyde today confirmed what Eflin earlier told reporters – he will not need a rehab assignment. Perhaps he gets that Sunday start in Colorado.

Eflin and right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (on the IL with right lat discomfort) both did some light tossing pregame today in the Dodger Stadium outfield.

As for Webb, he last pitched on Aug. 2 and went on the IL a few days later due to right shoulder inflammation.

“He’s going to throw here in the next few days,” Hyde said of Webb, who has a 3.08 ERA and .188 batting average against over 53 games. “If all goes well, could be anytime. Sometime beginning of September. Which would be huge.”

Orioles' manager Brandon Hyde wasn’t ready to commit to a six-man rotation when asked about it earlier this week. Too many balls in the air to grab hold of an exact plan.

Actions could be pointing the team in that direction.

By keeping Cole Irvin and also needing a starter for Sunday night against the Astros, the Orioles could commit to the six-man alignment at least for the moment. And it provides extra rest for the entire crew.

There’s no other reason to keep Irvin unless he’s starting or the Orioles don’t want to run him through waivers again and risk a claim, which didn’t happen the first time.

Irvin isn’t any use to the bullpen this weekend after throwing 83 pitches Wednesday at Citi Field. The Orioles added two fresh relievers yesterday in Nick Vespi and Matt Bowman and sent down Colin Selby, who tossed three scoreless innings in two appearances.

Cedric Mullins is in center field tonight after being absent from the lineups in Queens.

Colton Cowser is playing left field and Ryan O’Hearn is in right. Anthony Santander is the designated hitter.

Adley Rutschman is batting fifth. Jackson Holliday is seventh.

Gunnar Henderson is slugging .717 in 28 games against the American League West this season.

The Orioles have homered in 16 consecutive games, tied for the third-longest streak by any team this season behind the Twins (28) and Orioles (22 straight in June) per STATS.

On the day the Orioles lost another starter to the injured list and their total pitchers on the IL grew to eight, they scored nine runs.

That was important as the Mets rallied late, but the Orioles won 9-5 and with the news that right-hander Zach Eflin joined a few others on that IL, more big nights from the Baltimore offense would be very welcomed.

Since the All-Star break, heading into last night, the Orioles had gone 15-15. And yet they were averaging 5.3 runs per game in that span and producing a team OPS of .783. Yeah, not bad.

But in their most recent three games heading into last night, they scored eight total runs on 14 hits and had gone 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

The nine-run outburst was important as was Dean Kremer's second straight strong outing. He allowed one run over six innings on 100 pitches.

NEW YORK – While the Orioles were determining that starter Zach Eflin needed to go on the injured list after he tried throwing yesterday, Coby Mayo went through his pregame routine at Harbor Park in Norfolk and readied for his first appearance in the minors since Aug. 1.

Mayo was optioned on Thursday after spending two weeks with the Orioles. He received 20 plate appearances and was 1-for-17 with three walks and 10 strikeouts.

Playing time began to dwindle in that short period. Mayo appeared in the first five games, including four starts, between Aug. 2-7. He didn’t get back in the lineup until Aug. 11 at Tropicana Field and last Wednesday at Camden Yards.

The fade didn’t tip off Mayo about the organization’s plans for him.

“I would say I was a little shocked, but not really,” he said yesterday in a phone interview. “I knew that if I wasn’t helping the team win, I wasn’t going to play. But at the same time, I feel like I was getting better, I was getting a lot of work done.”

After they suffered a walk-off 4-3 loss to the Mets last night, the Orioles take the field tonight needing to win two straight to take this series at Citi Field before they return home.

The Orioles (73-53) take the field tonight a half-game behind the first-place Yankees (73-52) who begin a home series tonight with the American League Central-leading Guardians (72-52).

Last night's defeat, the Orioles' fourth walk-off loss of 2024, was their third loss in four games and fifth in their last eight. The Orioles are 15-15 since the All-Star break. 

The Birds fell to 23-18 in series openers and to 11-9 when that series opener was a road game.

The Orioles are 12-13 in July and 8-9 in August. They are 58-33 versus AL teams, but just 15-20 against the National League.

NEW YORK – The number of pitchers on the Orioles injured list has grown to eight, including five starters.

Health issues are prevalent throughout baseball, and the Orioles are maintaining their status as shining and painful examples of it. Seemingly at every turn.

Zach Eflin is experiencing some inflammation in his right shoulder that landed him on the 15-day injured list this afternoon. He was supposed to take the ball for Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Mets.

The move is retroactive to Saturday.

“Hopefully it’s just short term,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “After his start his shoulder was a little bit sore. It had been getting better the last few days, and so we were kind of hopeful, but also a little bit concerned about it. He had to make the start tomorrow and had him come out and throw a little bit today. We just feel like the right thing to do right now is to give him a little bit extra time with the shoulder.

NEW YORK – Another injury is forcing the Orioles to change their rotation and curse their luck.

Zach Eflin, with four quality starts and wins in his four appearances with the Orioles, went on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with right shoulder inflammation. Left-hander Cade Povich was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

Eflin felt some soreness after his last outing and it didn’t improve to the point where he could stay on the roster. The starter for Wednesday is TBD, with manager Brandon Hyde saying Corbin Burnes wouldn’t get the assignment on normal rest.

Povich started Saturday, allowed two runs in a career-high 6 1/3 innings and was optioned. He’s eligible to return because he’s replacing an injured player.

The Orioles also placed left-hander Keegan Akin on the paternity list today and he’s left the team to be with his wife for the birth of their second baby.

When Tampa Bay Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder reached out to Orioles pitching coach Drew French to talk about righty Zach Eflin it was a bit unusual. It happened not long after the July 26 deal that made Eflin an Oriole and sent three minor leaguers to the Rays.

Snyder was showing great friendship and support for a pitcher he had a wonderful relationship with in Tampa. Even though he would be helping a division rival, this was a case where a couple of personal relationships seemed to top wins and losses.

One was Snyder’s close relationship with Eflin. The other was his emerging friendship with French. That one all started in Florida during spring training in a unique way.

“I actually got connected with Kyle this spring,” French explained during the O's last homestand. “I was staying in Sarasota at the previous home of the Rays trainer Joe Benge (formerly with the Orioles). We talked about Kyle a lot, someone I respected from afar. So, later we got connected and talked several times during spring training.

“When the trade did go down, he did reach out and said I’ve got some info. It is really about respect for the transition of the player that we know what his routine looks like, what his side days are. Just kind of the in-between stuff. In the same division, there is usually not a ton of company secrets thrown out between us. But it was some general stuff that helped us know the player better. Kyle really helped with that.”

Birdland is wishing and hoping that the Orioles can get on a strong roll the rest of this season. With last night's 5-1 win over Boston, they are 72-50 and now it's a 40-game sprint to the finish to win the American League East.

Looking for their first seasons with back-to-back AL East championships since 1973 and 1974, the defending division champion Orioles are now tied once again at the top with the Yankees who did not play last night.

If the division winner were determined only by division games, the Orioles would be in great shape.

They are well ahead of New York in those standings. Here is how the standings would look this morning if we counted only AL East games this season.

.675 - Orioles (27-13)

Zach Eflin made one mistake pitch, and it wasn’t egregious. Gunnar Henderson corrected it with one swing.

Henderson lined a two-run homer onto the flag court in right field in the fourth inning to give the Orioles a lead, Cedric Mullins padded it in the fifth, and Eflin registered another quality start with his new team in a 5-1 victory over the Red Sox before an announced crowd of 25,445 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are 72-50 overall, 6-1 against the Red Sox and 20-35 when the opponent scores first. They moved into a first-place tie with the idle Yankees.

Eflin was removed after 87 pitches and only one run allowed in six innings with a season-high eight strikeouts. He’s made four starts since the Orioles traded for him and all are quality by definition, with six total runs allowed in 25 1/3 innings. The four wins in his first four Orioles starts without a relief appearance are a club record, breaking a tie with Kyle Gibson in 2023.

The 12 starts without a walk this season are most in the majors.

Zach Eflin makes his fourth Orioles start tonight to kick off a four-game series against the Red Sox.

Eflin is 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA since joining the Orioles. He’s allowed five runs in 19 1/3 innings.

In his only start against the Red Sox this season, Eflin allowed three runs and six hits over five innings at Fenway Park. He’s faced them five times and gone 2-0 with a 6.00 ERA and 1.417 WHIP in 24 innings.

Rafael Devers is 6-for-13 with three doubles and two home runs against Eflin. Dominic Smith is 7-for-21 with four doubles.

Eflin and Kyle Gibson are the only Orioles to win their first three starts with their new team in their first three appearances, per STATS. Ben McDonald won his first five starts beginning July 21, 1990 after 12 relief appearances.

The Orioles are home tonight for the first time since July 31, one day past the trade deadline. They split four games in Cleveland, lost two of three in Toronto and won two of three in St. Petersburg, Fla., though the finale made it appear much worse. Strange how that works. Win a series and eat and dress in a quiet clubhouse.

The roster has changed. The knack for handling adversity, whether injuries or performance based, is the same. Let’s see how far that goes.  

Let’s also hit the pause button again coming out of the off-day and collect some thoughts.

* The Craig Kimbrel reset lasted longer than expected.

It’s still happening.

Of the six Orioles that joined the team during the deals leading up to the trade deadline, we can pretty much say that four of them are doing well thus far. One is trending up and one is trying to stay out of O’s fans' doghouse.

The struggling new Oriole is obviously lefty reliever Gregory Soto. In his first four O’s appearances, he gave up nine hits, eight runs, one homer and three walks in just 2 1/3 innings. He allowed nine hits in 15 at-bats with an ERA of 30.86.

But the Orioles are obviously not going to bail on him after four outings. Soto was an All-Star in both 2021 and 2022 with Detroit and had a 48 percent whiff rate on his slider when they acquired him. The O’s need to get that pitch going to complement his high-90s fastball.

The O’s acquired Eloy Jiménez from the White Sox and some fans wondered why with his injury history and .642 OPS this year. But he came as a player that had produced a .790 career OPS and a Silver Slugger Award in 2020.

Then Jiménez went 11-for-21 through Friday night, batting .524 with an OPS of 1.143. He did not play in Saturday's win, so he maintains those lofty stats heading into today as an Oriole.

After right-hander Zach Eflin pitched the Orioles past the Rays with a 4-1 win Friday night, the O's will look for another victory tonight. If they get it they will have another American League East series win.

Colton Cowser led off Friday's affair with his 18th homer in the first. Cowser has homered in back-to-back games and he's hit four longballs his last 11 games. Cedric Mullins hit the O's second solo shot of the night, his 12th in the sixth inning. 

The Orioles are 7-1 this season against the Rays and 5-0 at the Trop where they have outscored the Tampa 29-8. Baltimore is 15-5 its last 20 games against Tampa Bay and 24-13 in the last 37.

The O's are now 25-12 versus AL East opponents and 13-5 in AL East road games.

The Orioles send ace righty Corbin Burnes (12-4, 2.63 ERA) to the mound tonight in Game 2 of this three-game series.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Grayson Rodriguez will be shut down for at least 10 days and undergo more imaging on his right shoulder in about three weeks after receiving the diagnosis of a strain that executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias described today as “pretty mild.”

Elias met with local media in the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field and provided an update on Rodriguez, who’s the No. 2 starter in the rotation with a 13-4 record, 3.86 ERA and 1.243 WHIP in 20 games.

Rodriguez was scratched from Tuesday night’s start in Toronto after experiencing discomfort in his right lat/teres while warming in the outfield. Albert Suárez replaced him and tossed five scoreless innings.

The immediate concern centered on the possibility of a similar absence to 2022 with Triple-A Norfolk. Rodriguez missed three months with a lat/teres strain, ruining the Orioles’ plans to promote him.

His current injury isn’t as serious and he’s expected back in the rotation by late September. The discomfort is centered more in the region of the teres major muscle but also involves his lat.

If it seems like the Orioles don’t issue many intentional walks, they don’t and the stats back that up.

Heading into the Tampa Bay series, the O’s pitchers have issued just seven intentional walks this season. Only three American League teams issued less, five by New York, four by Cleveland and two by Houston. Only six major league clubs have issued less than the O’s in 2024.

Oakland pitchers lead the AL with 26 intentional walks with Boston next at 22, Toronto 21 and Texas 20.

The O’s philosophy seems to be pitch the big boppers carefully and work the edges of and off the plate. And if you walk him you walk him.

During the Toronto series, I asked manager Brandon Hyde about a specific instance during Wednesday’s game with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. but also in general how the club handles such situations when a big hitter is up.