CHICAGO – The Orioles haven’t won as many games as they’ve lost, but they don’t back down, whether it’s from the adversity brought upon them by another injury that wrecks the rotation, or a 99 mph fastball in the ribs and the aggression from dugouts and bullpens emptying onto the field.

Jorge Mateo was drilled on the left side in the second inning tonight by White Sox starter Michael Kopech, dropped his bat and began taking a wide path toward first base. Veering a little closer to the mound with each slow step. Bringing tempers closer to the boiling point.

They exchanged words, but not punches, as the usual scrum formed on the grass. Play resumed after both benches were warned, angering manager Brandon Hyde, and the Orioles held the White Sox to one hit and retired the last 19 batters in a 4-1 win at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Perhaps this was carryover from Dean Kremer nailing Josh Harrison last night on the right triceps. Or just a pitch that got away from Kopech. Mateo’s reaction after absorbing the blow set off both teams, with assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes holding back Rougned Odor as the Orioles second baseman yelled and gestured.

"He gets hit in the back after squaring to bunt and didn't like it," Hyde said. "I don't know the exchange, honestly. I need to look at the replay, what Jorgie did. But it's one of those competitive things that happens and we moved on pretty quickly.

CHICAGO – The Orioles placed rookie starter Kyle Bradish on the 15-day injured list today and recalled reliever Marcos Diplán from Triple-A Norfolk.

The move is retroactive to Tuesday.

Bradish was scheduled to start tonight and then pushed back to Saturday. Now he’s off the active roster after posting a 7.38 ERA and 1.770 WHIP in 10 games.

The last start against the Rays ended with Bradish allowing six runs and a career-high 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He hasn’t completed five innings in his last five outings.

The rotation already underwent a change last week with Bruce Zimmermann optioned to Norfolk. A starter is needed for Saturday and Spenser Watkins is a logical choice because he’s on the taxi squad and threw only one inning Wednesday in Lehigh Valley to keep him available.

CHICAGO – The identity of Saturday’s starter wasn’t expected to be revealed until that morning. The way it’s happened with the Orioles in the past. Everyone loves tradition.

Manager Brandon Hyde surprised the media late last night by breaking his own news. Rookie Kyle Bradish is pushed back to Saturday. Austin Voth is leading another bullpen game tonight.

Hyde wasn’t ready to commit yesterday afternoon until checking the condition of his bullpen. Voth didn’t pitch. He remained in play.

The taxi squad figured to offer a few hints. The Orioles will have one tonight. But they don’t seem interested in making a roster move.

There appeared to be three possibilities, including Voth, who made an emergency start Sunday against the Rays after Jordan Lyles was scratched with a stomach virus. He responded with 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Yesterday’s 2-1 win over the Rays was just so … Orioles.

The bad news about starter Jordan Lyles, scratched in the morning with a stomach virus. An unsavory bullpen game. Trey Mancini’s removal from the lineup with more hand soreness.

So many reasons to fold, so much stubbornness.

They should've lost to a team that beat them in 18 of 19 games in 2021 and was starting Corey Kluber. Instead, they took an early lead and held onto it.

The Orioles were outhit 9-4. They used seven pitchers, none for more than Austin Voth’s 2 2/3 innings. Voth made his first start since June 6, 2021. His longest outing before yesterday was three innings on June 1, 2021.

There’s nothing dads love more than fundamentals. They preach it in Little League. They drill it on empty fields on Saturday afternoons. 

There were probably plenty of beaming fathers in the Baltimore area pointing at their televisions Sunday, turning to their sons or daughters, and saying, “See? Fundamentals.”

The Orioles (30-38) played a clean, fundamental game and turned several phenomenal defensive plays to help Brandon Hyde navigate an unwelcome bullpen game and beat the Rays 2-1 on Father’s Day at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

It started in the top of the second inning, when a picture-perfect relay from right fielder Ryan McKenna to second baseman Rougned Odor to catcher Adley Rutschman turned a Vidal Bruján single into an inning-ending tag play. The Orioles, already leading 1-0 on a first-inning home run by Anthony Santander, kept the Rays off the scoreboard.

It continued in the sixth, when Odor scooped a Taylor Walls grounder from the dirt and underhand lobbed it to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle to get Mike Baumann out of a jam. Another scoreless frame, and a 2-1 lead preserved.

The Orioles’ innings eater won’t be eating much today.

Jordan Lyles was scratched from his scheduled start against the Rays this afternoon due to a stomach virus, manager Brandon Hyde told the media before Sunday’s game. Reliever Austin Voth will start in Lyles’ stead, but isn’t expected to go more than a couple innings.

“We found out at about 7:30, 8 o’clock this morning,” said Hyde. “With the off-day tomorrow, that’s the one positive thing of this is that we do have a day off tomorrow, so I can use a lot of bullpen guys today and give them a day off tomorrow.”

Lyles hasn’t missed a turn in the rotation yet this season, making 13 starts and compiling a 5.10 ERA as Hyde’s veteran workhorse.

Voth, who was claimed off waivers from the Nationals on June 7, has pitched only 3 ⅓ innings with the Orioles, all in relief, surrendering two runs and striking out three. The 29-year-old righty started 22 games over five seasons in Washington.

The Orioles scratched Jordan Lyles for today’s start against the Rays and replaced him with Austin Voth.

An explanation is coming later.

Lyles hasn’t gone more than 5 1/3 innings in his last four starts, and his ERA has risen from 4.10 to 5.10. No word on how today’s switch impacts the rotation moving forward.

The Orioles are off Monday.

Voth has made three relief appearances and allowed two runs in 3 1/3 innings since the Orioles claimed him off waivers from the Nationals.

KANSAS CITY - A light rain began to fall at Kauffman Stadium on Friday night as the bottom of the sixth inning got underway.

But the deluge had already transpired.

The Royals (20-37) poured runs on Bruce Zimmermann in the lefty’s most dismal outing in what has been a string of them. Zimmermann (2-5) allowed a career-high seven runs on 10 hits in just 4 2/3innings in an 8-1 loss in Kansas City.

The Orioles (24-35) have dropped the first two games of their four-game series, surrendering 15 runs in 18 innings.

Zimmermann’s rough night stood in stark contrast to that of Royals starter Jonathan Heasley (1-3), who allowed just one hit - an Anthony Santander single in the first inning - and no walks to go with seven strikeouts over seven innings of scoreless baseball. 

KANSAS CITY – Pitchers like Jordan Lyles are a dying breed.

Organizations are more cognizant of pitch counts than ever, and inning-eaters like the 31-year-old Lyles are increasingly hard to find.

But manager Brandon Hyde isn’t eager to assist in their extinction.

“I love the fact that he does not want to come out of the game,” Hyde said while speaking to the media in Kauffman Stadium’s away dugout. “I love the fact that he feels like it’s his game. He wants to win it or lose it."

Lyles’ throwback style is more pronounced on the Orioles’ largely inexperienced starting staff, as young hurlers like Tyler Wells, Kyle Bradish and Bruce Zimmermann are still learning how to go deeper into games.

The Orioles are optioning pitcher Spenser Watkins to Triple-A Norfolk after removing him from the injured list.

Watkins has been throwing in the bullpen with no discomfort in his right elbow. The club wants him to make some starts in the minors before perhaps returning him to the active roster.

Bruce Zimmermann, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish are starting in the four-game series in Kansas City that begins Thursday night. The Royals are starting Kris Bubic, Jonathan Heasley, Daniel Lynch and Brad Keller.

The Orioles begin a four-game series in Toronto on Monday and unvaccinated players are forbidden from entering Canada, which shifts a lot of attention to roster moves made by the club.

Manager Brandon Hyde said it’s “possible” the Orioles put some players on the restricted list because of their vaccination status.

Pitcher Austin Voth has joined the Orioles and is headed to the bullpen.

Voth was claimed off waivers yesterday from the Nationals.

The Orioles designated infielder Chris Owings for assignment to make room for Voth, who’s wearing No. 51.

Owings was 6-for-56 with two doubles, 10 walks and 24 strikeouts in 26 games. He signed a minor league deal on March 15 and served in a super-utility role.

Owings was activated from the bereavement list yesterday.

Austin Voth isn’t at Camden Yards today, but Orioles manager Brandon Hyde knows how he’s using the right-hander beginning this week.

Voth, claimed off waivers from the Nationals, is going to work in long relief – a role that’s subject to change, of course.

“I just know him from seeing him the last few years with the Nationals,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It’s a guy that’s given innings out of the ‘pen in his career, spot started at times, been a starter. You’re always looking for starting pitching right now, and we’ll bring him here and see what he can do, and hopefully he can give us some length out of the bullpen to start off with.”

Voth’s arrival won’t change Keegan Akin’s duties as a multi-inning reliever. The Orioles don’t have any plans to put him back in the rotation.

“I still like to use him in the role that he has been in,” Hyde said. “That could, obviously, change with injuries or things that are going to happen in the last half of the year, more than half of the year, obviously, at this point. But I would prefer to keep him where he is right now just because he’s pitching so well in that role.

The Orioles welcome the Cubs to Camden Yards tonight for the first time in five years. A two-game series that features Kyle Bradish starting and Adley Rutschman setting the target.

Rutschman is 0-for-17 since his double in the eighth inning of a May 30 game against the Red Sox.

Bradish is 1-3 with a 6.82 ERA and 1.545 WHIP in seven starts. He’s averaging 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

In four starts since his 11-strikeout game in St. Louis, Bradish has allowed 17 runs and 25 hits with eight walks and 19 strikeouts in 16 innings.

Trey Mancini, who’s the designated hitter tonight, has reached base in 28 of his last 29 games since May 8 and owns a .433 OBP with 13 walks during that stretch.

NEW YORK – Desperate for some fresh arms out of the bullpen after Monday night’s 13-6 trouncing at the hands of the Mets, the Nationals promoted Jordan Weems and Francisco Perez from Triple-A Rochester, moves that cost Andres Machado and Austin Voth their jobs.

Voth was designated for assignment, potentially ending the right-hander’s nine-year relationship with the organization. A fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft, he made his major league debut in 2018 and enjoyed his best run of success in 2019 but progressively struggled more and more since.

In 19 appearances this season, Voth compiled a gaudy 10.13 ERA and 2.143 WHIP. Over 92 total appearances since making his debut, he had a 5.70 ERA and 1.453 WHIP.

“I was more frustrated, because I sat down with him daily to try to figure it out,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We looked at all kinds of stuff, all kinds of numbers. We tried some things with him, and he was open to them. You saw some signs that maybe this was going to work, and unfortunately it didn’t. It’s tough. I really believe he was going to get through it, and it just didn’t happen.”

Voth, who was out of options, can either be claimed off waivers by another club or be traded. If he goes unclaimed, he’ll have the ability to decide whether to report to Rochester or sign a minor league contract with another organization.

NEW YORK – Monday night’s series opener was a miserable one for the Nationals, who got down 12-3 after four innings and never had a chance during what wound up a 13-6 loss to the Mets. If that was merely a one-off, with no lingering effects, it would be one thing. But the fear is that that lopsided loss will have a carryover effect, because of what it did to the Nats pitching staff.

When Erick Fedde was knocked out after only 1 1/3 innings, then Andres Machado and Austin Voth lasted only 1 1/3 inning each in relief, then Paolo Espino had to go three innings in mop-up duty before Josh Rogers pitched the final frame, the Nationals left themselves in a precarious pitching position for the rest of the series.

With that in mind, the club made a couple of roster moves today to bring in a couple of fresh arms. Right-hander Jordan Weems and left-hander Francisco Perez were called up from Triple-A Rochester and will be available out of the bullpen tonight. Each has some prior big league experience. To create roster space for them, the Nationals optioned Machado back to Rochester only three days after he was recalled and designated the long-struggling Voth for assignment, potentially ending his time in the organization.

The best thing the Nats could do to help avoid more problems tonight, though, is get a quality start out of Patrick Corbin. Corbin finally earned his first win of the season when he allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings to the Rockies. He shut out the Mets over five innings earlier this month and held them to two runs in four innings on opening day.

The Nationals also will try to keep their quietly improving lineup producing tonight against Trevor Williams. Williams has faced them twice in relief this season, allowing two unearned runs in 4 2/3 innings. He’s making only his third overall start, having yet to exceed 65 pitches in total. Nelson Cruz, who had to leave Monday night's game after getting hit by a pitch on his left ankle, is not in the lineup but could be available off the bench.

NEW YORK – The Nationals sent Erick Fedde to the mound at Citi Field tonight, first and foremost, in an attempt to win their series opener against the Mets. They also sent Fedde out there, second and furthermore, in an attempt to get enough innings from their starter to help set the stage for the rest of the series, knowing they need somebody to make a spot start Wednesday afternoon.

If Fedde – and Patrick Corbin on Tuesday – could provide enough depth to keep the bullpen from being overworked, manager Davey Martinez could then use long men Paolo Espino and Josh Rogers in tandem on Wednesday, negating the need to summon an inexperienced minor league starter for one game.

It took less than two innings tonight for that hopeful plan to go up in flames.

Fedde was rocked by the Mets for six runs and eight hits in only 1 1/3 innings, setting the Nationals on a runaway path toward a lopsided 13-5 loss and leaving the organization in an unenviable position as it now tries to figure out who’s going to pitch the next several days.

"It's brutal," the right-hander said. "It lets the whole team down. If anything, if you're able to at least go six (innings) and give up a bunch of runs, you put the team in a better position going forward. But today was just really unacceptable in a sense. I feel bad for the guys in the bullpen. I put them behind the 8-ball probably for the next week or so."

The story of Wednesday’s 1-0 victory surely was the performance of the Nationals pitching staff, which became the first to shut out the Dodgers lineup in nine months. And specifically the Nats bullpen, which tossed three scoreless innings with zero margin for error and wound up stranding runners on base in each of those frames, including in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth.

It served as a reminder what this bullpen is capable of doing, when given the opportunity to be used as intended all along.

“I’ve said it before: We get some starting pitching, we get deep – deep to me is somewhere in that sixth inning or so – and we got the lead, our bullpen can hold us down,” manager Davey Martinez said afterward. “Today was an example of that with a really good team and a really good lineup.”

Erick Fedde’s six strong innings allowed everything else to fall into place, with Carl Edwards Jr. taking over for the seventh, Kyle Finnegan for the eighth and Tanner Rainey for the ninth.

Truth be told, though, the bullpen’s performance didn’t come out of nowhere. This unit has been performing well all season, with a couple of notable exceptions.

A day-night doubleheader is no easy challenge for a major league manager, certainly not when it comes two weeks into a season in which no starting pitcher has completed six innings and no days off had been savored until Monday night’s scheduled series opener was rained out.

The Nationals, though, did just about everything they could this afternoon during a 6-1 victory over the Diamondbacks to make life easy on Davey Martinez.

They got a strong outing from Josiah Gray (one run in 5 1/3 innings). They got a key rally to take the lead. They got good work from a couple of their top relievers. And then they tacked on three late insurance runs, allowing closer Tanner Rainey to take a seat and Austin Voth to pitch the ninth instead.

Too bad more fans weren’t here to witness it. The announced paid attendance of 9,261 officially was the smallest in Nationals history (excluding 2021 games with COVID-19 capacity restrictions), though that number doesn’t include anyone who purchased a ticket to Monday night’s originally scheduled game and already exchanged it for a future game. (The previous low in club history was 10,999 on Sept. 20, 2010 against the Astros.)

Tiny gathering or not, those who did brave 47-degree temperatures and a strong wind out of the northwest were treated to a quality performance from the home team, which opened this 10-game homestand on a positive note.