The Orioles begin a weekend series in Pittsburgh this afternoon. The Pirates (6-1) are playing their home opener at PNC Park.

The Orioles have gone 2-1 in each series at home against the Angels and Royals. They scored 25 runs in the first three games versus the Angels. They scored just 11 runs in the series with K.C, but produced walk-off wins in games one and three of that series.

The Orioles (4-2) have scored 34 runs in their four wins and just two runs over the two losses. After scoring 24 runs in the first two games of the year, they have scored just 12 runs on 21 hits in the last four games. In that span, they are 6-for-24 batting with runners in scoring position.

Through six games, their team batting line is .232/.298/.397/.695 as the Orioles rank tied for 17^th in the major leagues in team batting average, tied for 21^st in on-base percentage, and 16^th each in slugging and OPS.

Their team ERA is 3.33, which is 12^th-best in the majors. Baltimore pitching has allowed three, four, four, four, four and three runs. The O’s bullpen has allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings the past four games.

With a walk-off win in the series opener Monday, the Orioles and Royals will try to get this game in tonight. An O's win would give them a series win heading into the scheduled third game of this series on Wednesday afternoon.

Jordan Westburg's two-run homer in the last of the ninth last night was his first career walk-off homer as the Orioles won 6-4.

They are 3-1 thus far and are 1 1/2 games back of the American League East-leading Yankees at 5-0. The Red Sox are 3-2 while the Rays and Blue Jays are 2-3 in the division.

That was the first walk-off win for the Orioles since Sept. 17, 2023 versus the Rays when Cedric Mullins hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning. It also marked the first walk-off home run by the O's since July 28, 2023 against the Yankees when Anthony Santander connected on a solo shot in the ninth inning.

Last night's win marked Baltimore's second comeback victory of the season, joining Opening Day. Since the start of 2022, the O's 86 comeback wins lead the AL and rank second in the majors behind the Dodgers (88). The Birds totaled 48 comeback wins last year, tied with the Reds for the most in the majors.

The Orioles (2-0), who had 10 series sweeps in the 2023 season, look for their first of the new season when they host the Angels (0-2) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

It's the wrap-up game of a season-opening six-game homestand that continues Monday night when Kansas City visits the Yard.

The O's beat the Angels 11-3 Thursday and 13-4 last night. The O's have only trailed for a half-inning this year, when they were behind 1-0 after the top of the first Opening Day. They have scored two runs in each of their first-inning at-bats in this series.

They led 7-1 after the fourth inning Thursday and 3-1 on Saturday through five innings before they scored nine runs in the last of the sixth. The nine runs came before one out was recorded. Per Elias Sports Bureau, the O's had not scored nine runs in an inning before an out was made since at least 1957.

The 24 runs scored are the second-most the Orioles have scored in their first two games of a campaign in club history (25, 2006). On the mound, their 27 strikeouts are the most to begin a season since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954. The previous most was 23 in the 2016 season. 

In their first playoff game since the 2016 season and first at home since 2014, the Orioles host the Rangers this afternoon in Game 1 of the best-of-five American League Division Series. 

The Orioles have lost their past five playoff games counting four in the 2014 AL Championship Series to the Royals and they lost the one-game AL Wild Card Game at the Blue Jays in 2016.

Baltimore (101-61, .623) won the AL East this season for the first time since 2014. The Orioles ended the year two games ahead of the Rays.

Texas (90-72, .556) lost four of its final six regular season games to end the year tied with Houston atop the AL West. But they lost the tiebreaker and Houston advanced to the postseason as the AL West champs and second seed while Texas moved on as the No. 5 AL seed.

Then the Rangers, after the disappointing end to the regular season, won at The Trop against the Rays by 4-0 Tuesday and 7-1 Wednesday to advance past the Wild Card round to now play the top-seeded Orioles. For the Rangers, they snapped a six-game postseason losing streak and improved to 5-8 all-time in playoff series.

Chasing their 98th win and with a magic number of three to clinch the American League East championship, the Orioles host the Nationals tonight to begin a two-game series at Oriole Park.

The O's (97-59) won the last two games of their series at Cleveland and lead the AL East by 2 1/2 games over Tampa Bay with six to play.

Lefty John Means and righty Kyle Gibson provided big outings that led the Orioles to those wins and provided much-needed rest for the bullpen. They pitched a combined 14 1/3 innings allowing six hits and two runs.

It was just the second time this year the Orioles got back-to-back outings of seven innings or more from their starter. That also happened June 24-25 with Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish.

The Orioles are 51-15 (.773) when they get a quality start and 18-2 (.900) when their starter goes seven innings or more.

The Orioles have nine series sweeps this season and are trying for No. 10 today at Houston after posting wins of 8-7 and 9-5 at Minute Maid Park.

With last night’s win, the Orioles improved to 50-26 away from Oriole Park, the best road record in the major leagues. This is also just the third time in O’s history they have posted 50 or more road wins, topped by their 52 in 1997. The 1980 team also won 50 road games.

The Orioles (95-56) have a 2 1/2-game lead atop the American League East on the Rays (93-59) with 11 games left. They have a magic number of eight to clinch the AL East championship, and need to go 5-6 or better to win 100 games.

The Orioles are 7-1 in Houston since the 2021 season. That year they swept a three-game series in June, scoring 27 runs. Last August, they won two of three in Houston, holding the Astros to four runs in those three games.

The Astros (84-68), now leading the AL West by just a half-game over both the Rangers and Mariners, have lost four of their last five and six of eight games. They are 7-10 in their past 17 games and are now 38-39 at home on the season.

Not only have the Orioles been the best team in the American League East to this point of the year – leading the division by four games – but they have been the best team in head-to-head games within the AL East.

AL East vs. AL East in 2023:
.634 – Orioles (26-15)
.600 – Rays (24-16)
.556 – Red Sox (20-16)
.381 – Yankees (16-26)
.324 – Blue Jays (12-25)

So the O’s .634 win percentage in AL East games is about equal to the .633 win percentage for the year. The O’s are currently on a 102-win pace.

The Birds' nine-game road trip will end this weekend and they have now shifted from the West Coast to the East Coast for three games in Boston at Fenway Park. The Orioles are 3-3 against Boston this year and the teams have not played since April 26. They have not played at Fenway Park since losing two of three games there to begin the year March 30-April 2.

One reason the Orioles are in first place is their solid play in the division this year. They lost their first two AL East series of the year to the Red Sox and Yankees and have not lost a division series since, going 9-0-2 since early April.

Anaheim, Calif. – The Orioles' road trip has moved to California as the Angels (64-73) host them (85-51) tonight at Angel Stadium to start a three-game series. 

The Orioles improved to 28-13-3 in series play and to 12-7 in rubber match games after taking Sunday’s game 8-5 at Arizona to win that series 2-1.

The Orioles scored just two runs in losing Friday, but scored 15 runs on 25 hits, going 8-for-20 with runners in scoring position, in the series’ final two games.

Los Angeles (64-73) has struggled big time recently and got swept three in a row over the weekend at Oakland with losses by 9-2, 2-1 and 10-6. The Angels have lost six of seven and 10 of their past 13 games.

On Aug. 1, they were 56-51 and had decided to not trade Shohei Ohtani at the trade deadline. But they are 9-22 since that date.

PHOENIX – After scoring 23 runs on 34 hits in their three-game series at home with the White Sox, the Orioles offense got off to a slow start on their nine-game road trip that began Friday night.

They were held to one run over six innings by former O’s draft pick Zach Davies and to two runs on the night in a 4-2 loss to Arizona.

The Orioles (83-51), who have 28 games remaining in the regular season, begin play today leading the Rays by 1 1/2 games atop the American League East.

Baltimore is trying to avoid a three-game losing streak tonight, which would be their longest since dropping four in a row June 27-July 1.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish (9-6, 3.03 ERA), a native of Peoria, Ariz., about 13 miles from Phoenix, will get the start today in his home state, making his 25^th start.

PHOENIX – Just 12 days after ending a nine-game West Coast road trip, the Orioles are about to begin another. This one will end back East at Fenway Park, but it starts tonight at Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks and continues Monday in Anaheim, Calif. at the Los Angeles Angels.

The first-place Orioles (83-50) have been a strong road team this year and are 41-24 in road games and 13-6-2 in road series. They are 16-5 in road series-opening games.

They have a better win percentage on the road (.631) than at home (.618, 42-26).

The Orioles are coming off a 6-3 homestand where they went 2-1 each against Toronto, Colorado and the Chicago White Sox.

Despite a 10-5 loss to the White Sox Wednesday afternoon, the Orioles finished August going 18-9 and they are 29-15 in the second half. They have won six of eight, nine of 12 and 20 of the last 29 games. Their 18 wins in August, matched their win total from April when they were also 18-9.

The Orioles won the first two series on this homestand against the Blue Jays (2-1) and the Rockies (2-1). After their 9-0 win last night against the White Sox, they will secure yet another series win with a victory tonight at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are 26-13-3 in series this season and are 13-7-1 in home series.

The win Monday night improved the Orioles' record to 29-14 in series-opening games and White Sox falls to 12-31 in such games.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez pitched six scoreless on one hit in the win Monday. He and three relievers teamed on a four-hitter for the Orioles' ninth shutout of the season. It was the club's fifth shutout in the last 29 games. 

Orioles starting pitchers have an ERA of 2.63 over their past nine games. And O's starters have allowed three earned runs or less in 25 of the last 29 games. Their ERA in those 25 games is 2.72.

After their latest win and latest victory in a close game Friday night, the Orioles can win another series with a victory tonight at home against Colorado.

Baltimore (80-48) begins play tonight leading Tampa Bay by three games atop the American League East. The Orioles have won six of seven, 17 of 24 and 31 of their last 44 games.

Their 5-4 Friday win over the Rockies improved the Orioles' record to 23-11 in one-run games, and they have now gone 81 straight series without being swept.

The O's have scored 48 runs the last seven games and hit 12 homers their past six games.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish (8-6, 3.03 ERA) will make his 24^th start tonight for the Orioles, who are 15-8 in his games this year, winning his last four starts.

The Orioles are looking for another series win tonight as they host the Toronto Blue Jays to wrap up a three-game series. Toronto won in 10 innings 6-3 Tuesday night while the O’s won 7-0 last night on a four-pitcher, five-hitter.

It started with the starter.

Right-hander Dean Kremer pitched six scoreless on five hits with five strikeouts. He improved to 12-5 with an ERA of 4.31. He has an ERA of 3.06 over his past nine starts. Jacob Webb, Yennier Cano and Shintaro Fujinami finished the outing retiring nine in a row. Webb has thrown 8 2/3 scoreless on two hits with 12 strikeouts in nine games as an Oriole.

AL wins leaders:

13 - Zach Eflin, TB
12 - Dean Kremer & Kyle Gibson, O's, Chris Bassitt, Toronto

They played nine straight games on the West Coast, going 6-3 and tonight the Orioles begin a stretch of nine straight games at home. They will host the Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox for three games each through Aug. 30.

The Orioles (77-47), now a season-best 30 games over the .500 mark, lead the AL East by three games over Tampa Bay, by 8.5 over Toronto, by 11.5 over Boston and by 17 games over the New York Yankees. Tampa Bay begins a series tonight at home versus Colorado.

The Orioles were off on Monday after a 12-1 win at Oakland Sunday to complete their seventh three-game sweep of the season. They scored 28 runs in the Oakland series after scoring 17 runs in the first six games of the road trip.

The Orioles are 24-14 on the year against AL East teams. And, since losing their first two division series of 2023, they are 8-0-2 over their past 10, going 22-10 in the 32 games in those series.

They are 8-2 this year and have outscored Toronto 60-31, going 3-0 at Toronto in May, 2-1 at home in June and 3-1 at Rogers Centre in a series that ended Aug. 3.

The Orioles' West Coast road trip began with an impressive series win at Seattle against a red-hot Mariners team, and they won the last two games of the series in 10 innings. They lost two of three at San Diego, but a win today would give them a three-game sweep at Oakland to end the trip.

A winning road trip is already secured and so is a series win at Oakland. But they will end the trip at 6-3 with a victory this afternoon.

The Orioles (76-47) have a chance to go 30 games over the .500 mark today and take a 2 1/2 game lead over the Tampa Ray Rays atop the American League East. Toronto is 8 1/2 games back with Boston 11 behind and New York 16 games out.

The Orioles scored eight runs in three games in Seattle, scored nine runs in three at San Diego and have scored 16 runs in the first two games at Oakland. They have 25 hits in this series with five doubles, a triple and three homers.

They have gone 8-for-22 (.364) with runners in scoring position this series after going 8-for-34 (.235) with RISP the first six games on the trip.

After an off-day, the Orioles' road trip moves on to Oakland tonight for the start of a three-game weekend series. 

The Orioles (74-47) lead the American League East by two games over Tampa Bay, which also plays on the West Coast tonight against the Los Angeles Angels. 

The Orioles lost their last two games at San Diego. But over longer stretches they have won four of seven, 11 of 17, 17 of 27, 25 of 37 and 26 of 40. Playing .612 ball, the Orioles have the best record in the AL and third-best in MLB behind the Braves and Dodgers. 

Oakland (34-87) has had a miserable season pretty much since the start of the year. They began the season going 3-16 and 5-23.

It has gotten a bit better recently, with Oakland going 22-37 (.373) over the last 59 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 contests. Oakland is playing .281 baseball after 121 games. At this pace they would finish the year at 46-116. The last two Major League teams to finish with a winning percentage under .290 are the 2003 Tigers (43-119, .265) and 1962 Mets (40-120, .250).

The Orioles lost Friday night at Seattle but won back-to-back 10-inning games by 1-0 and 5-3 to take another series over the weekend and improve to 73-45. It was an outstanding start to a nine-game West Coast road trip that continues tonight at San Diego.

O’s batters scored just eight runs on 17 hits at T-Mobile Park against a Mariners club that Sunday was leading the American League in team ERA. But they still took two of three as their pitchers allowed just three runs on 10 hits the last two games.

Before the late-game heroics yesterday by Cedric Mullins and before Shintaro Fujinami got the last three outs for a save, starter Kyle Bradish delivered another quality start. He gave up two runs and five hits over six innings on 90 pitches. He lowered his ERA to 3.18. The Orioles are now 37-11 for the year when they get a quality start.

The O’s scored first on Sunday and are now 43-11 (.796) when scoring first – the best record in the majors.

The Orioles improved to 37-18 (.673) in games decided by one or two runs and to 48-25 (.659) in games decided by three or less. They lead the majors in both stats.

SEATTLE – The Orioles begin a three-city, nine-game West Coast road trip tonight with the first of three games against the Seattle Mariners. The trip later takes them on to San Diego and Oakland before they return home on Aug. 22 versus Toronto.

The Orioles (71-44) began today leading the AL East by three games over Tampa Bay after they won Thursday while the Rays lost. The Orioles avoided being swept yet again with a 5-4 win over Houston.

It was the sixth time this year they lost the first two games of a three-game series but won the third game. They also did that versus Texas, at Milwaukee, at the Chicago Cubs, versus Minnesota and against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oriole Park.

So the Orioles have now gone 76 consecutive series without being swept since May 13-15, 2022 when they went 0-3 at Detroit. This is the fifth-longest streak in MLB history. The next team to catch on that list would be the New York Yankees from 1922-24, who went 83 consecutive series without being swept.

The Orioles have now won five of seven, eight of 11, 12 of 18 and 22 of their past 31 games. They are 17-9 in the second half.

The Orioles led their series-opening game with Houston 2-0 after one inning last night and 5-0 after the second. They led 6-2 after seven and 6-3 after eight. But they lost it in the ninth, 7-6, as Houston took the opener of a three-game series. 

The Orioles had been 61-3 this season when leading after eight frames. And right-hander Félix Bautista had converted 10 straight save chances and was 19-for-20 in his past 20 save opportunities. But he could not hold the 6-3 lead Tuesday night.

Bautista suffered his sixth blown save and first since June 24 versus Seattle. The 19-for-20 run dated back to May 24. He gave up four runs, tying a career high. 

So the O’s try to bounce back tonight behind right-hander Jack Flaherty (8-6, 4.28 ERA). He is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.50 in his one Orioles start.

Last Thursday at Toronto he gave up four hits and one run over six innings with two walks and eight strikeouts on 92 pitches. He also had a shutout on 58 pitches through five innings. His fastball touched 97 in the first inning – the fastest pitch he has thrown this year.

The Orioles have scored 17 runs in winning the first two games of their series with the New York Mets. They go for a three-game sweep this afternoon which would lift them to a season-high 28 games over the .500 mark if they get that done.

The Orioles beat the Mets 10-3 Friday night and 7-3 last night to open a three-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays atop the American League East. They lead Toronto by 7.5 games and are 11 up on New York and 11.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox.

The Orioles have won three in a row, six of seven, 10 of 14 and are 20-7 in the last 27 games, playing .741 ball in that span.

The Orioles have now scored five runs or more 15 times in the last 27 games and they are 15-0 in those games. The Birds have scored 37 runs in the last five games and 50 in their past seven.

In going 6-1 in the last seven games, the Orioles have a run differential of +31, winning those games by six, two, 10, five, seven and four runs.