DETROIT - The Orioles tonight play game No. 148 and for the first time in 2024, they will play the Tigers. The clubs open a three-game series at Comerica Park.

The teams will meet six times in the next nine games, playing back-to-back weekends in Detroit and Baltimore.

While the O's have not played well for most of the last couple of months really, the Tigers are a pretty hot team right now despite their 4-2 loss Thursday to the Rockies.

Detroit has won its last two series versus Oakland and Colorado and is 5-1 in its past six series.

At 75-72, the Tigers begin play tonight 3.5 games back of the Twins for the last American League wild-card berth and the No. 6 AL seed.

DETROIT - As he began his pregame media session in the visitor's dugout ahead of tonight's series-opening game in Detroit, O's manager Brandon Hyde was asked to provide an update on his various injured list players.

“Is this a two-hour program?" Hyde quipped.

Then he used the next few minutes to provide numerous updates on this list of players.

Jordan Westburg: “His hitting progression is progressing. He’s doing better, doing all baseball activities. Swinging the bat in the cage now. All positive. No setbacks as of right now. But when you haven’t swung a bat for a while and you are coming off a broken hand, it takes a little while to gain strength in your hand. So they are building strength in the hand and he is getting used to swinging the bat."

Ryan Mountcastle: “Mountcastle? Unsure, honestly. He is in Sarasota. I’m hoping he is going to start swinging a bat here in the next few days. That’s going to be a hitting progression too. Trying to stay optimistic that we will see him by the end of the season.”

DETROIT - Looking for wins and now two games back in the American League East race, the Orioles play at Comerica Park tonight. They open a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball's winningest club since Aug. 11.

The O's lineup tonight shows Gunnar Henderson leading off, Cedric Mullins batting third and Adley Rutschman hitting fourth. Eloy Jiménez is the DH and Jacskon Holliday is batting ninth at second base. 

Yes, the Tigers (75-72) are a hot team and they are pushing for wins too. They begin play tonight 3.5 games behind the Twins for the final American League wild-card playoff spot.

Detroit has won four of five and 13 of 19 games. The Tigers lead MLB in going 20-9 since Aug. 11.

Best MLB records since that date:

The Orioles will wrap up their next-to-last road trip of the season this weekend when they play three games in Detroit at Comerica Park.

The Orioles have not played the Tigers all year and now they will see them in back-to-back weekends and in six of their next nine games.

While the Orioles have struggled lately going 1-2 at Boston to start this trip and they are now 1-4 the last five games and 2-5 their past seven, Detroit is doing the opposite.

The Tigers had a four-game win streak snapped Thursday when they lost 4-2 at home versus Colorado. The O's will miss ace Tarik Skubal who allowed one run in six innings in that game.

So Detroit is now 75-72 and are 3.5 games behind Minnesota for the last AL wild card spot. Detroit needs a bunch of wins to make a late run and if they get them at the Orioles expense, it could be quite damaging to Baltimore's AL East title hopes.

ABERDEEN, Md. – Selected by the Orioles in the fifth-round of the 2024 MLB Draft, catcher Ryan Stafford out of Cal-Poly, quickly found out that defensive versatility is important to his new organization. 

If a player can play multiple positions and move around the diamond, the Orioles will have them do it on the farm.

“One thing for me that I was really surprised about, I was getting to play other positions,” Stafford told me recently at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. “Like the third day I was in (Low-A) Delmarva I was playing second base. I had no clue I was going to have opportunities to play other positions like the Orioles let guys do. So that is one of the coolest parts.

“I wouldn’t say that was completely new. I played up the middle throughout my childhood, at shortstop and second base is similar. Some similar reads and it is natural for me. But what was new was first base where I played the other day. Played five spots so far, corner outfield, first, second and catch.”

Stafford said he first noticed he might need a few different gloves during the O’s orientation for draft picks in Sarasota.

The Orioles gave up 15 hits, four homers and 12 runs. They went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Their bullpen allowed eight runs. They left eight men on base and that was just in the first four innings.

Monday was a mess.

Tuesday was a step in the right direction.

If ever there was a night the Orioles needed to win, this was it.

Not so much for the pennant-race math with games dwindling and being 1.5 games out of first, but they needed to clean it up. They had lost three in a row and fans were wondering if the AL East was slipping away. They were losing confidence in their team. Some confidence in the clubhouse maybe even was eroding a bit.

Now 1 1/2 games out in the American League East, the Orioles (82-63) play the second game of their three-game series in Boston tonight. It's also the second game of a six-game road trip that later moves on to Detroit.

The Orioles have lost four of five games and are 8-10 their past 18 games. They are 24-25 since the All-Star break and 29-32 since July 1.

The Orioles did not lose any of their first eight AL East series this year, going 6-0-2 in those series and 19-7 in those games. Now they are 2-3-1 their past six series, heading into this one and are 10-11 in their past 21 division games.

The Baltimore offense has scored one, two, one, zero and three runs during the past five games, and their seven runs in this span is last in the major leagues. They have 28 hits in those games for a .178 batting average and .539 OPS. They are 3-for-31 with runners in scoring position in this stretch.

The Orioles are 7-4 against the Red Sox and Baltimore has clinched the season series for a second straight year after going 7-6 in 2023. This marks the first time the O's have won the season series with the Sox in back-to-back years since doing so in four straight from 2012-15. One more win would guarantee a winning percentage of at least .600 against the Red Sox for the 15th time in team history and the first since 2012 (.722, 13-5). The Birds swept a three-game series in Boston from April 9-11, the 14th road series sweep of at least three games against the Red Sox by the Orioles club history and the first since April 2-4, 2021 (three games).

Later this month, the Orioles will present another Brooks Robinson Award to their Minor League Player of the Year. 

Coby Mayo is a strong candidate to get the hardware. Now ranked as the club’s No. 1 prospect with Jackson Holliday graduating from prospects lists, Mayo is ranked No. 9 in the national top 100 for both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com.

In sizing up his 2024 season on the farm, where he played 87 games at Triple-A Norfolk and four on rehab for High-A Aberdeen, Mayo will admit his walk rate dropped a bit but also notes that his production numbers went up. He feels he made progress on defense, taking more groundballs than he can ever remember, he said.

Mayo told me recently that his strong finish at Triple-A in 2023 – he had an OPS of .905 in 62 games – provided confidence he would thrive there this year.

“I think starting in spring training this year, after the season I had last year, gave me a boost that I could have another good year,” he said. “Learned a lot at big league camp and playing well gave me a lot of confidence going into the Triple-A season that I could compete with the best.

In their search for more runs, which they obviously hope lead to more wins, the Orioles are in Boston tonight. They play a three-game series at Fenway Park to begin their penultimate road trip of the season.

They play there remembering that they swept a series at Boston in mid-April, scoring 23 runs on 31 hits. In that set, they were 15-for-37 (.405) with runners in scoring position.

But over their past four games, the Orioles scored one, two, one and zero runs. They lost 2-0 to the Rays on Sunday to lose that series and suffer their sixth shutout. The Orioles have 22 hits in the past four games, batting .179 with a .502 OPS as they went 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

At 82-62 (.569), the Orioles have the second-best record in the American League and fifth-best in the majors. They begin play tonight a half-game out of first place in the AL East with 18 games remaining in the regular season.

The Orioles ended the year going 9-4 versus the Rays and the are 29-17 in division games.

When the Orioles scored 13 runs Monday and nine runs Tuesday night in beating the Chicago White Sox, we had no idea the next few games would prove to be so futile for the Baltimore offense. 

Through Tuesday the Orioles had scored 38 runs over a five-game stretch. Was the offense finally coming around?

As it turned out, no.

In the last four games the Orioles scored one, two, one and zero runs. They actually won one of those games. But in the four contests, the Orioles produced four runs and 22 hits, going 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position. 

Here is something pretty remarkable: The Orioles did not hit a double or triple in the four games. Their last extra-base hit that was not a homer came on Tuesday. 

The Orioles' six-game homestand ends today. They won two of three from the White Sox and have split two games with the Rays heading into the series finale. The Orioles won 2-0 with their ninth shutout Friday night and lost 7-1 Saturday.

The Orioles (82-61) have fallen back into second-place by a 1/2 game behind the Yankees (82-60) with 19 games remaining.

The Orioles have won four of six and eight of 14 and are 42-32 at home and 24-23 since the All-Star break.

Tampa Bay, wrapping up the first series of a 10-game road trip today, has lost six of 10, eight of 13 and 10 of 16 games. The Rays are winless in their past five series, going 0-3-2 and are 22-24 since the break.

O's center fielder Cedric Mullins launched his 15th home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth inning Saturday and has homered twice in his last five games. He has reached safely in his last nine games since Aug. 29, batting .385/.529/.654 (10-for-26) in that span.

ABERDEEN, Md. - After a junior year at North Carolina where he batted .318 with an OPS of 1.124 and hit a school-record 28 homers, outfielder Vance Honeycutt has gotten off to a slow start to his pro career with the Orioles.

He is not the first high draft pick to take some early 0-fers and he began his run this week at High-A Aberdeen going 0-for-16 with 10 strikeouts in four games. He did not play last night for the IronBirds. Before moving up he went 7-for-31 (.226) with Low-A Delmarva.

“I’m taking it in stride, but there is also room for improvement,” Honeycutt 21, told me Friday at Aberdeen’s Ripken Stadium. “Working on some simple things here and there to clean up some stuff and simplify things a bit. Just some physical things we are working on, nothing major.”

The Orioles made Honeycutt their top draft pick, No. 22 overall in round one, in the draft in July. He had a big career at UNC and is ranked as the current O’s No. 3 prospect behind Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo by MLBPipeline.com. He is No. 5 via Baseball America.

“We are working on stuff every single day, whether there is success or failure. It’s a long journey and it’s not defined by a couple of days,” said Honeycutt.

Winners of back-to-back series, collectively going 4-2 versus the Rockies and White Sox, the Orioles' homestand continues tonight as they host the Rays to start a three-game series.

After beating the White Sox 13-3 and 9-0 in the first two games of the series, the O’s were held to seven hits in Wednesday’s 8-1 loss as they failed to complete their sixth sweep of the season.

The Orioles (81-60) had a three-game win streak snapped but have won four of six and seven of 12 games. They are 3-1 in September, 23-22 since the All-Star break and 28-29 since July 1.

With the New York Yankees' 3-0 win today over the Cubs, the clubs have identical records atop the division. The O's need to win to stay a 1/2-game ahead.

Gunnar Henderson homered Wednesday night and set an O’s record with his 35^th homer – the most ever by a Baltimore shortstop. He had shared the record with Cal Ripken Jr. (1991) and Miguel Tejada (2004).

If you read the comments section here or check anywhere where O’s fans make their feelings known - and they are not shy about that - there are many times the fans are frustrated with the Orioles offense.

Like when they produce just one run against the lowly White Sox after scoring 22 runs in two games. Or score just 10 at Dodger Stadium. Or get 10 one day versus Boston but just one the next as they did Aug. 16 and Aug. 17.

There is an up and down nature to the scoring and several players have had their share of ups and downs. Sometimes the homers come, and runs are plentiful and sometimes not. At times they frustrate their supporters with a lack of hitting with runners in scoring position.

But after all of the above, the 2024 Orioles offense looks like it will finish the year ranking both among the best in the majors in 2024 and among the best in O’s history.

Here is a stat that will surprise a few fans and I didn’t know it until I look it up: The O’s are actually scoring more runs per game in the second-half, even after the team OPS in August was .691, the lowest of any month this year.

Hired July 8 as the Orioles' first female president of business operations, Catie Griggs is on a fact-finding mission right now. In her first press conference with O’s media yesterday she said since her first official day Aug. 19, she has spent time getting to know the city, her new team and her new co-workers.

Soon she will head up improvements that will be made to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, with some coming next year but more significant ones likely for the 2026 season.

“Right now I’m learning,” said Griggs. “That is priority No. 1. I know what I don’t know. I have reasonable experience running a baseball team from the business side. But I’ve never run a team from the business-side here in Baltimore.”

She was the first major hire for new owner David M. Rubenstein and his new ownership group. Griggs served as president of business operations for the Seattle Mariners since July of 2021 before resigning and taking the job with the Orioles. That was after four seasons as the chief business officer for Atlanta United in Major League Soccer. She oversaw all aspects of the Mariners organization outside of baseball operations.

To better get to know the fan experience at Oriole Park she took part in it. Already sitting in 15 different areas of the ballpark.

With 22 runs scored in back-to-back wins over the White Sox, the Orioles look for a three-game series sweep tonight. That would also give them a seven-game sweep of the season series.

In late May, the Orioles won four straight at Chicago, but they were all close wins by 8-6, 6-4, 5-3 and 4-1. In this series, the O’s have won 13-3 and last night by 9-0.

They’ve scored 22 runs on 27 hits the last two games, with three doubles, a triple and two homers and they are 11-for-36 batting with runners in scoring position.

In going 6-0 on the year versus the Sox, the O’s have outscored them 45-17. On offense, they have hit .287 with an .887 OPS and 10 home runs. The Baltimore pitchers have a 2.67 ERA and have allowed a .528 OPS to White Sox hitters this year.

Right-hander Albert Suárez (7-4, 3.14) has been on a five-start pitching role and will make his 20^th start tonight. He is 2-0 with a 1.19 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in those five games, allowing four earned runs over 30 1/3 innings with five walks to 24 strikeouts.

When Wyatt Langford of the Texas Rangers hit a walk-off grand slam off Yankees closer Clay Holmes late last night, it moved the Orioles back into first place in the American League East.

Holmes, who suffered his 11th blown save, gave up two hits and two walks in the ninth and saw his slider hit 407 feet to lose the game 7-4.

The Orioles (81-59) were last in first on Aug. 20 and now they begin play today a 1/2-game ahead of the Yankees (80-59).

The Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 9-0 last night at Oriole Park and have won four of five and seven of 11, going 23-21 since the All-Star game. New York has lost five of seven and is 22-19 in the second half. 

The chase is on for the AL East title with 22 games remaining.

With Monday's 13-3 win in the homestand opener against the Chicago White Sox, the Orioles tonight are taking another run at a three-game win streak.

They have been hard to come by lately. Their last came from July 14-20 when the Orioles won the last game of the first half versus the Yankees and the first two of the second half at Texas. The last time the team won on three straight days, they did so on four straight, from June 26-29.

Since July 20, the O's have won two in a row six times but each time lost the third game. Tonight maybe the seventh time is the charm.

Monday's game was one of their highest scoring games of the year for the O's bats, topped only by a 17-5 win June 20 at Yankee Stadium. Their 18 hits yesterday were topped only by the 20 hits in that same June game.

By comparison, the Orioles got 10 runs on 18 hits and six extra-base hits in three games at Dodger Stadium. Then they had 13 runs, 18 hits and six extra-base in one game versus the White Sox.

On a day the Orioles had one of their highest-scoring games of the year and a day when every starter both had a hit and scored a run, one Oriole had two hits and now the club hopes he can get hot again.

Catcher/DH Adley Rutschman had two hits – one a bloop single – and drove in a run. It was just his third two-game game since Aug. 10.

Since posting an .848 OPS in June, Rutschman put up a .482 OPS in July and a .625 mark in August. Before Monday’s game, he was batting .149 with an OPS of .460 his previous 12 games.

Before the O’s beat the Chicago White Sox 13-3, manager Brandon Hyde said Rutschman was physically fine. Nothing bothering him or keeping him from putting up numbers. Now he just has to get out of an extended slump.

“It’s just been a tough couple of months. Tough since the All-Star break,” Hyde said pregame. “You know, he’s grinding. He’s trying every single day to try to get the feeling back. He is putting in so much work, where we have to monitor it honestly. He is such a huge part of our offense and our team, and he knows that. So, he is probably putting way too much pressure on himself also. I think that is why you see the swing decisions are sometimes not Adley-like. Because he is trying to make an impact and to get back to who he is.

The Orioles had losing months in both July and August, but they began September with a win Sunday by 6-1 at Colorado. The O's won the series over the Rockies.

The Orioles had gone 0-5-1 in their past six series versus National League opponents. But their win at Coors Field gave them their first series win over an NL team since they beat Atlanta and Philadelphia in Baltimore in mid June.

The Orioles have gone just 19-24 this season versus National League teams. During the six-series winless run that ended yesterday they were a combined 5-12 against the Cubs, Marlins, Padres, Nats, Mets and Dodgers. 

But now at 79-59 for the season, the Orioles have 24 games remaining. With the Yankees loss Sunday, they are 1/2-game back in the AL East.

Of the games remaining, the O's have three against a club well under .500, six games versus clubs over .500 and 15 against teams hovering around .500.