In the American League stats heading into last night’s games, he was still No. 1. The Orioles' Austin Hays was the American League’s leading hitter batting .319 and leading Bo Bichette at .318 by that narrow margin with Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz next at .316.

We know Hays will not make the All-Star team through the fan vote, as he has not advanced to the next phase of balloting. But he still could be selected to play for the American League on July 11 at Seattle.

“Would be a huge honor. It is just an accolade that is next to your name forever. That is something I’ll be able to tell my kids one day if that were something to happen. It would mean a lot to me, but we’ll see what happens,” said Hays earlier in this homestand.

Hays has been pretty relentless this season in his up-the-middle of the field approach. He told me during spring training he would work hard this year to use the whole field but starts with that gap-to-gap approach and felt he got away from that in the second-half of last year.

In 2022 he got off to a start like he has done now with a .834 OPS in late June and then it was just .626 in the second half. He was banged up a bit but stayed on the field without keeping up his early-season batting success.

While Triple-A Norfolk moves past its first-half title in the International League and keeps posting prospect-studded lineups, outfielder Kyle Stowers is in Sarasota rehabbing an injury to his right shoulder.

The Orioles optioned Stowers for a second time on May 15, after he was hitless in his last 21 at-bats. He’s 2-for-30 in 14 games, with three walks and 12 strikeouts.

Stowers’ last game with Norfolk was May 21. He hasn’t played in more than a month after being shut down with inflammation in his shoulder.

The second stop with the Tides lasted five games, with Stowers going 3-for-18. Work done with hitting coach Brink Ambler was put on hold, for much longer than the seven-day IL period.

“Part of it was he was just trying to get back to what he has done really well. Controlling the strike zone, making sure he’s able to take care of fastballs, things like that,” Ambler said.

Orioles reliever Mychal Givens will pitch Sunday for Triple-A Norfolk, the firmest update available today on rehabbing players in the organization.

Givens allowed a run and two hits with a walk in two-thirds of an inning yesterday in Game 1 of a doubleheader. He's recovering from right shoulder inflammation.

The club is performing daily evaluations on center fielder Cedric Mullins and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who remain on their injury rehab assignments with Norfolk. Mullins started both games of last night’s doubleheader, while Mountcastle appeared in the opener.

Mullins isn’t in Norfolk’s lineup tonight. Mountcastle is batting second and serving as the designated hitter.

“We’re still kind of taking it day-to-day with both guys, but we’re encouraged that they came out of both those games feeling good,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

He might be the American League’s leading hitter for yet another day today with his .323 batting average. And that is six points ahead of Bo Bichette of Toronto, next at .317. But the Orioles' Austin Hays is not even ready to ponder being in contention for a batting title.

“We are not even at the All-Star break yet. So, we have a long way to go before I can say that,” he told reporters today at Oriole Park, echoing comments he made during the recent road trip.

Hays' most recent batting tear – he had five straight multi-hit games, going 12-for-21 – was slowed Wednesday when he took an 0-for-3 at Tampa Bay.

But his 67-game numbers for the year are still pretty special. His batting line shows a .323/.362/.520/.882 to go with 21 doubles, two triples, eight homers and 31 RBIs. A player that hit .256 and .250 the past two years is now well, well above that.

His OPS+ was 107 in 2021 and 104 in 2022, slightly above league average. Now it is 144, or 44 percent above the league.

When I interviewed right-hander Tyler Wells (6-2, 3.20 ERA) a few days ago for this article, we also talked about a topic not included in the previous article. That is his innings load for this year.

At some point in the second half it will have to become a topic of discussion for the O’s front office and manager Brandon Hyde. How far can they push Wells with his innings total for this year? And keep in mind they hope he is still pitching in October too.

The most innings as a pro that Wells has pitched were 119 1/3 in the minors in 2018. At the big league level, his career most is the 103 2/3 innings he pitched for the Orioles last year. He is at 81 2/3 innings right now (17^th most in the American League). At his current pace he would pitch around 186 innings this season.

For now, Wells has tabled any discussion or concerns about his innings load for this season.

“For me, I’m not even focused on it,” he told me in Chicago. “If they want me to take the ball, I’m going to take the ball. You know that is the kind of person I am. I did that last year, taking the ball as long as I am healthy. I don’t think I’m really focused on that. I trust that our medical staff is doing their part in it and I know that Hyder is always doing his part with that. I know that the front office is too. Whenever it becomes a talking point with them, and they want to address it with me I am always listening. But for me right now I’m not worried about it.”

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The question didn’t have anything to do with Austin Hays.

A reporter used manager Brandon Hyde’s pregame media session yesterday to get an opinion on Adley Rutschman receiving the most votes among American League catchers for the All-Star Game. But Hyde was more interested in Hays’ status among the outfielders.

He’d get back to Rutschman shortly. The player who didn’t need hyping.

Told that Hays is 15^th in balloting, Hyde immediately responded with, “That’s terrible.”

“We got a campaign going of some sort?” he asked, the tone playful but the disappointment real.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles couldn’t walk inside the dome today until they let the dust settle from the latest roster shakeup.

Make another change in the bullpen. Fiddle again with the backup catcher and 40-man roster.

Listen as the club creates beautiful music. Cover ears when it gets bad. Hold breath until it’s over.

The bats made loud sounds in the first two innings, with home runs by Aaron Hicks and Anthony Santander pushing the Orioles to a big early lead. It almost disappeared while the bullpen was rocked in the sixth, but Yennier Cano got three outs and Félix Bautista the last four for his 20^th save in an 8-6 victory over the Rays before an announced crowd of 20,906 at Tropicana Field that included sections of orange behind the visiting dugout.

They, too, were loud.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson returns to the Orioles lineup and the leadoff spot tonight against the Rays after being scratched Sunday with the stomach flu.

Henderson is the designated hitter.

Ryan O’Hearn is batting cleanup again and playing first base.  

O’Hearn is batting .349 with a 1.003 OPS in 29 games with the Orioles. Only five players have hit .350 or higher in their first 30 games with the Orioles, and seven have registered a 1.000 OPS or higher, per STATS.

Austin Hays is 9-for-17 in his last four games and 12-for-25 in his last six. He’s collected at least two hits in his last four games, the longest streak of multiple-hit games in his career.

CHICAGO – The Orioles showed up for the series finale at Wrigley Field today looking for some runs after scoring just five in the series' first two games, losing both. They knew they would again play without injured regulars Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle.

Shortly before gametime, they added Gunnar Henderson to the list of those they would be without. But at least this was not an injury. Manager Brandon Hyde told the Peacock broadcasters during the game that Henderson was not feeling well. He had recently missed a couple of games with a lower back issue, so that actually came as good news.

The news would get better mid-game on the way to a 6-3 Orioles win.

Trailing 3-2 to the top of the sixth, the Orioles put together their best rally of the weekend, scoring three runs on five hits to take a 5-3 lead. They won by that margin to salvage the final game of this series before Monday’s off-day and a series with first-place Tampa Bay that begins Tuesday.

Ryan O’Hearn started the go-ahead rally with a single off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon. Aaron Hicks doubled to deep right to put men on second and third, and a sac fly by Ramón Urías tied it 3-3. Lefty Anthony Kay came in from the Cubs’ bullpen and was greeted with Adam Frazier’s RBI single to center and an O’s 4-3 lead. That was just their second lead this series. Two batters later, Jorge Mateo’s RBI single made it 5-3 and sent another runner to third. But Mateo was thrown out trying to get to second.

CHICAGO – The Orioles have not been swept in a three-game series this season, and they must win today at Wrigley Field to keep that stat intact.

The Chicago Cubs (33-37) have won the first two in this series by scores of 10-3 and 3-2. Both games were one-run games going into the later innings, but Chicago scored six runs in the sixth inning to blow it open Friday and they held on Saturday for the narrow win.

The Orioles are 43-27 (.614) at the 70-game mark. A team playing .614 ball over the full year would win 99.5 games. So we could round up and say they are still playing at a 100-win pace.

The Orioles were shut out into the fifth inning yesterday when Adley Rutschman mashed a game-tying two-run homer off lefty Justin Steele. Rutschman hit a 406-foot blast to left-center for his 10^th homer. He and Kansas City’s Salvador Perez are the only catchers in the major leagues with 10 or more homers.

Over his past 18 games since May 26, Rutschman is batting .329 (24-for-73) with three doubles, three homers and six RBIs, and with an .881 OPS.

CHICAGO – The Orioles had been good this year both on the road and in series-opening games, but that combination did not lead to a win today at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

Playing better baseball after a three-game sweep this week of National League Central-leading Pittsburgh, the Cubs hit three homers this afternoon in one inning off Baltimore lefty Cole Irvin and then had one big inning later versus the O’s bullpen in a 10-3 win over the Orioles.

The Cubs (32-37) won for sixth time in seven games as a big crowd of 37,515 cheered them on in the opener of the weekend series. Chicago is 10-7 the last 17 games.

The Birds had scored 42 runs in winning six of their past seven games, but did not score big today in the opening game of their five-game road trip.

The Orioles fall to 43-26 overall, to 21-13 in road games, to 16-7 in series openers, to 9-3 in road series openers and to 6-11 all-time against the Cubs.

CHICAGO – The Orioles lost their first two American League East series of the 2023 season with series losses to Boston and the New York. They have not lost a series in the division since then.

Their 4-2 win over Toronto on Thursday afternoon in Baltimore gave the Orioles another rubber match game win, another series win and another AL East series win.

They are now 11-4 in five straight AL East series wins against in order Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, New York and Toronto. They have at least one series win against every other team in the division during the AL East series win streak.

As the latest Orioles road trip begins this afternoon at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field and the Orioles play the Chicago Cubs, the team will again this weekend call on its depth to help win games.

Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver called it “deep depth” and the 2023 Orioles are showing some of that.

Ramón Urías is making his second career start at first base this afternoon, as the Orioles concluded their homestand.

Manager Brandon Hyde is stacking his lineup with right-handed bats, including James McCann catching, Ryan McKenna in left field and Joey Ortiz at second base.

Austin Hays is leading off, with Gunnar Henderson in the cleanup spot.

Tyler Wells has posted a 3.24 ERA in 13 games (12 starts), and his 0.853 WHIP leads the majors. He’s allowed five runs in his last three starts over 18 innings.

Wells has made eight career appearances against the Blue Jays, including two starts, and allowed 10 runs and 18 hits in 14 2/3 innings.

Austin Hays got past the illness that kept him out of the Orioles lineup prior to the last road trip. The bottle of Pedialyte in his locker yesterday was gulped more as a preventative measure with four day games in a row. Restore fluids and prevent dehydration.

Hays is trying to remain upright while teammates keep dropping around him.

Cedric Mullins is in Sarasota rehabbing from a strained groin. Ryan Mountcastle went on the injured list Tuesday with vertigo. Austin Voth went on the IL yesterday with elbow discomfort.

Reliever Danny Coulombe was unavailable recently due to illness, going eight days between appearances. Two other relievers, Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate, are on injury rehab assignments this week.

The tale would be much sadder except that the Orioles are winning. Five in a row before last night’s 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays. More than every team other than the Rays when the night began.

The Orioles won another series opener and the Royals lost another one. And, because of that the Orioles need one win over the next two days to record yet another series win. 

Austin Hays homered and doubled and the O’s got RBIs also from Jorge Mateo and Anthony Santander in Friday’s 3-2 win over Kansas City. The Orioles are now 39-24 and remain 6.5 games back of Tampa Bay, which beat Texas.

The Orioles are 15-6 in series-opening games and 6-4 in such games at home. K.C. falls to 4-17 in the first game of a series.

The Orioles had allowed 23 runs and 36 hits when they played in Kansas City in early May, yet they took two of three in that series. So they are now 3-1 on the year versus the Royals and 12-5 against AL Central teams.

Kansas City (18-45) has lost four in a row, seven of eight scoring 19 runs in that time and is 4-14 in its last 18 games. The Royals are 7-7 in one-run games while the Orioles are 12-7.

The Orioles didn’t wait until the later innings tonight to flip the switch on their offense.

Austin Hays swung at the first pitch thrown by Daniel Lynch, began to backpedal up the first base line before turning his body, and slowed the pace as the ball settled into the seats in the left field corner.

Gunnar Henderson singled in the second inning, stole second base and scored on Jorge Mateo’s single.

Unlike Hays after his swing, the Orioles were pointed in the right direction.

Henderson produced his first career three-hit game, Tyler Wells was charged with two runs in 6 2/3 innings, and the Orioles began their homestand with a 3-2 victory over the Royals before an announced crowd of 18,076 at Camden Yards.

MILWAUKEE – The Orioles try to avoid their first sweep this afternoon with Austin Hays in center field and batting cleanup, and Gunnar Henderson replacing Jorge Mateo at shortstop.

Ryan Mountcastle has returned to the lineup after being on the bench for two of the last five games. He’s 4-for-26 in his last seven and batting sixth today.

Anthony Santander is in right field and batting third. He’s 0-for-20 on the road trip.

James McCann is catching and Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.

Ryan O’Hearn is starting in left field. Aaron Hicks, who’s 7-for-19 with the Orioles, is on the bench.

SAN FRANCISCO - Coming off a tough day for the pitching staff and continuing a stretch of games without center fielder Cedric Mullins while beginning a six-game road trip against .500 or better clubs, this is a challenging time for the Orioles. 

And we thought May was going to be the hard part?

The Orioles did fine in May, going 16-12 and that included the 13-9 record in a span of 22 games versus winning record clubs. They more than held their own after a 1-0 March and 18-9 April.

But as they begin a weekend series at San Francisco’s Oracle Park tonight, the Orioles have lost back-to-back series for the first time all year.

They still hold one of MLB’s best records at 35-21, but in case you thought there was ever a time they could lighten up on the gas pedal, there doesn’t seem to be. The Giants are 28-28 and have played better going 22-15 since April 22. Milwaukee is next up and is 29-26.

Austin Hays is out of today’s Orioles lineup against the Guardians because of an illness.

Ryan McKenna is in left field. Aaron Hicks is making his Orioles debut in center.

“Haysy’s a little bit under the weather today,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Hopefully, he’s available to get some big hits for us late in the game. But going to start Mac in left today with the big park out there.

“Aaron’s a little bit more comfortable in center field as of right now and took balls off the bat in center yesterday, so that’s why we decided to go that way.”

The Orioles signed Hicks to a major league deal yesterday to replace center fielder Cedric Mullins, who’s on the 10-day injured list with a groin strain.

During his postgame interview Sunday after he drove in two runs as the Orioles beat Texas 3-2, outfielder Austin Hays noted that his pre-game planning work was paying off during the games.

He is having one solid season for the Orioles. Over 50 games, Hays is batting .311/.354/.506/.860 with 13 doubles, two triples, six homers and 23 RBIs. He ranks fourth in the American League in batting average and 12th in OPS. 

His OPS was .719 last season and now he has gained 141 points on that. Hays ranks in the top 19 percent of the majors in average exit velocity and the top 16 percent in barrel percentage. He's hitting the ball hard and getting quality results. 

This time, in a pregame interview, Hays explained more fully what he meant by that comment on Sunday. And what was coming together so well for him in his pregame work and pregame planning with the club’s hitting coaches.

“Specifically (I was referring to) how the pitcher’s ball moves on his fastball and his offspeed stuff and being able to go into the cage and set the machines up for those exact movements and angles and train what I need to think to be able to attack the ball the right way. In the pregame work, we put together a plan and have a visualization of what the ball is going to look like. Especially if it is someone we haven’t faced before or in a while,” he said.