Orioles reliever Cionel Pérez will begin his injury rehab assignment Saturday at Double-A Bowie.

Pérez was shut down with left forearm soreness, but he completed a bullpen session yesterday. He posted a 4.45 ERA and 1.780 WHIP in 33 games this season but didn’t allow a run in his last five appearances.

“He feels really good,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

Keegan Akin is cleared to throw on flat ground. He’s on the 15-day injured list with lower back discomfort.

“Still doing his buildup,” Hyde said. “He’ll continue doing that. He’s progressing with catch play.”

The media scrums at designated tables and the red carpet fashion show were over. The four Orioles All-Stars could just play baseball tonight. Hoping to do it in the same way that got them to Seattle.

Some succeeded, but it wasn’t a clean sweep.

Austin Hays went 1-for-2 as the starting center fielder for the American League, making him a career .500 hitter in the Midsummer Classic.

The top of the sixth belonged to Yennier Cano, who struck out two batters and stranded two. Adley Rutschman entered at the same time, caught the last four innings and went 0-for-1.

Félix Bautista worked the eighth, a familiar masked face setting the target, and he surrendered a go-ahead, two-run homer to Rockies catcher Elias Díaz.

Orioles director of draft operations Brad Ciolek was excited to nab each of the 12 picks the club has made during the first two days of the MLB Draft. The Orioles selected seven pitchers and five outfielders through 10 rounds.

But one player that showed the club especially loud tools and did so in a pre-draft workout at Camden Yards was round five selection, UNC-Charlotte outfielder Jake Cunningham. The right-handed batter and thrower hit .267/.359/.519 this past season with 14 doubles, 11 homers and 41 RBIs. Ranked as the No. 140 draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 147 by MLBPipeline.com, he has hit 29 homers in 146 career college games.

"I think the one name that we were excited about getting him where we did - we're actually ecstatic about all these guys - is Jake Cunningham," said Ciolek. "He was on our radar last year at UNC-Charlotte. He is a tool shed. He has double plus raw power in BP. He is a plus runner and one of those guys that has instincts for center field.

"In a workout at Camden Yards leading up to the draft, he was up to 111 (exit velocity mph) with wood. So, we are very excited to get all these guys, but to get Jake where we got him, coming into the year he did battle some injuries, but we were excited to get Jake where we did."

You can take a look at this story posted yesterday for write ups on all the draft picks from Day 2 with a few more Ciolek quotes there as well.

Orioles closer Zack Britton earned the save in the American League’s 4-2 win in the 2016 All-Star Game in San Diego, with teammate Matt Wieters catching him in the ninth inning.

Could Félix Bautista be next tonight, with Adley Rutschman setting the target for him?

Bautista became the full-time closer last summer after Jorge López was traded to the Twins, but he already had two saves in a May series in St. Louis. López was on the bereavement list.

The series is referenced a lot when the subject turns to the moment that the Orioles knew they could be a winning team, though they went to Detroit and were swept. The May 12 game was special because the bench was depleted due to injuries, Bryan Baker started in a bullpen game, and the conditions were miserable.

Bautista got the four-out save in a 3-2 win. Jorge Mateo ran down a popup with his back to the infield, spun and doubled off Tyler O’Neill at first base to end the game. Anthony Bemboom received a rare start against a left-hander, Steven Matz – the Cardinals were slow to reveal their starter - and he hit a rare home run in the seventh inning.

NEW YORK - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde worked the room Sunday morning, gathering his players for a pregame talk about the season’s first half and what he expected from them in the second, pointing and calling out the names of his four All-Stars, and giving out enthusiastic hugs.

The bearer of bad news in many instances – spring training cuts, minor league demotions – cherished the opportunity to spread some joy.

“Those types of moments are some of the best parts of this job, and it’s super special,” he said yesterday. “You’re surrounded with guys who have worked their whole lives to get to this point, and to have individual accolades that are incredible, and just to be able to talk to them about that, it’s just a great feeling.

“They’re so excited for this opportunity. The country’s going to be watching. They’re going to be on the red carpet. They’re going to be doing a lot of cool stuff, so I’m just excited for them.”

Hyde feels bad for one.

Jorge López’s first All-Star Game experience was brief. Took him longer to warm up than to pitch. But it was perfection.

López faced two batters in the bottom of the seventh inning and retired them on two ground balls.

Total number of pitches: Three.

One blink and you risked missing it.

Replacing former Orioles Rule 5 pick Nestor Cortes Jr., López made Kyle Schwarber ground to shortstop Corey Seager on a first-pitch, 98 mph sinker.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Orioles closer Jorge López surprised his son, Mikael, with a birthday party during a trip to Boston two months ago, with teammates filing out of the visiting clubhouse, reliever Joey Krehbiel holding a cake, and singing to the 9-year-old between games of a doubleheader. López registered a four-out save in the nightcap. An incredibly sweet moment even without the confections.

López has another surprise in store for Mikael. How his papá was chosen to the American League’s All-Star team.

Mikael was told about it, but he doesn’t really know.

“I’m just so grateful. Being selected for the first time, I can’t even describe it,” López said yesterday inside the visiting clubhouse at Tropicana Field.

“Mikael doesn’t understand yet until he gets there and sees everything. He’s never seen it before. I used to watch it at home or at the hospital when he used to be there. But from what I can remember, he couldn’t see it and understand what the All-Star Game means.”

Austin Hays isn’t tracking the All-Star voting. He didn’t know that the first updates became available yesterday, or that he sat 19^th among outfielders in the American League.

The shoulders didn’t shrug, but his enthusiasm level was fairly low.

Hays would be honored to represent the Orioles at Dodger Stadium. He’s just preoccupied with trying to help them win the games that count.

“I hadn’t seen anything about it,” he said. “I’m just showing up, trying to play every day. I think we’ve got, what, three weeks until All-Star break? So, that’s a lot of games, a lot of baseball left. A lot can happen, a lot of numbers can change in that amount of time. I’ll just focus on that once it gets here.”

Hays, a third-round draft pick in 2016 out of Jacksonville University, received 128,430 votes by yesterday’s count. The Yankees' Aaron Judge led every player in the majors with 1,512,368.

Nationals right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer was named an All-Star for the fourth consecutive season, added to the National League squad on Friday by manager Terry Collins. Scherzer's addition gives the Washington Nationals five All-Star representatives, a record for the club since baseball returned to the District in 2005. Scherzer joins four teammates: outfielder Bryce Harper, second baseman Daniel Murphy, catcher Wilson Ramos, and right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg, as fellow Midsummer...