Leftovers for breakfast

The return of Anthony Santander from the injured list gives manager Brandon Hyde more outfield choices. It also gives him a cleanup hitter, the early numbers dismissed with a wave of the bat.

Santander was slashing .196/.230/.321 with a double, two home runs, two walks and 17 strikeouts in 62 plate appearances before spraining his left ankle in Miami. But he's a presence in the lineup, someone that the opposition must account for, a threat to produce runs from both sides of the plate.

Too bad he can't pitch, but I digress.

Santander had an RBI single in the first inning yesterday and doubled in his next at-bat, making him 6-for-10 with two doubles, a home run, two RBIs and a walk since his return.

The former Rule 5 pick struck out to end the game, stranding two runners, but his weekend was a success beyond how the Orioles were swept again.

Teams aren't pitching around Trey Mancini, who singled in his first two at-bats yesterday and delivered his 23rd and 24th RBIs of the month, but Santander offers some protection if needed. He allows the Orioles to extend innings and open up an offense that's susceptible to clogging.

"I was pretty pleased overall, especially in the last two days, of how we took our at-bats," Mancini said. "We got back in that cycle of hitting for the guy in front and the guy behind us, and if the pitches weren't there we were taking our walks and keeping the line moving. So that's the mentality we've always set out to have."

Santander's walk against Nationals left-hander Jon Lester in the first inning Saturday drew as much notice from Hyde as any other plate appearance. It loaded the bases and led to Ryan Mountcastle's grand slam.

Hyde wants to see more players grasp the importance of it.

"I think our guys need to understand that it's not always about getting on a pitcher early, it's about taking the at-bat and battling and working a walk, which then leads to mistakes later," he said. "That's what happens to a lot of our pitchers a lot of times, to be honest with you, on the other end."

* The Orioles needed a fresh bullpen arm yesterday - they actually could have used more, but settled for one - and recalled Brandon Waddell from Triple-A Norfolk. They sent down Travis Lakins Sr., who actually was fresh after last pitching on Thursday.

This was a performance-based decision.

Lakins allowed six runs and seven hits with three walks in his last two appearances, covering only 2 1/3 innings. He surrendered an unearned run and two hits in eight innings in April, though he also walked five batters, and posted a 16.20 ERA and 2.550 WHIP in 6 2/3 innings in May.

Opponents batted .080 against him with a .313 OPS in April and have a .355 average and 1.137 OPS in May.

The bullpen isn't entirely flexible with Shawn Armstrong, Adam Plutko and César Valdez out of options and Tyler Wells a Rule 5 pick. Lakins has two options and numbers that suggested he was vulnerable to a demotion.

* The road trip continues tonight in Minnesota, where the Orioles went 0-3 in 2019. They also went 0-3 against the Twins at Camden Yards.

The 2020 regional travel kept the teams separated.

The Orioles haven't swept a three-game series in Minnesota since 1999.

Perhaps the Twins can provide a tonic for the Orioles, losers of six in a row and 13 of 15. The teams share the same 17-29 record, and the Twins are 8-15 at home.

"We're trying to stay positive," Hyde said. "Obviously, this has been a tough few weeks, but taking the positives out of it, we're starting to swing the bat better. (Austin) Hays is swinging the bat well, (Freddy) Galvis, two more hits (yesterday). Santander had a few punchouts but he swung the bat well this series. It's nice to have him back. It's nice to see (Maikel) Franco swing the bat well while he was in there, and Ryan Mountcastle with a nice piece of hitting, too.

"Hopefully we can continue to have good approaches offensively. And I want to believe that our bullpen is going to pick it up a little bit. Paul Fry was great, two scoreless innings, and César in the eighth. So hopefully we can start pitching a little bit better, because our offensive approach looks like it's improving."

* Hyde removed Franco yesterday in a double switch in the fifth inning. Franco needed the rest after Josh Bell barreled into his knee at third base in the third inning.

Franco appeared to be seriously hurt, but stayed in the game. He motioned to the dugout and rolled onto his side as Bell checked on him. Franco jogged up the line to test the knee and convinced Hyde and head athletic trainer Brian Ebel that he could continue.

The day also included an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.

Asked whether Franco is OK, Hyde said, "He should be."

"Kind of a knee-to-knee," he said. "Josh Bell coming in, they bopped knees there. It wasn't a twist or a turn or anything. More of a knee-on-knee collision."

* Because it's impossible to get too much Adley Rutschman news, the organization's top prospect hit a game-tying, three-run homer yesterday in the ninth inning in Richmond.

Double-A Bowie won in the 10th on Jaylen Ferguson's sacrifice fly that scored Patrick Dorrian.

(Ferguson was a ninth-round draft pick in 2015 out of Arlington High in Texas signed by scouts Ken Guthrie and Nathan Showalter.)

Rutschman's ball traveled 445 feet for his fourth homer of the season. He went 3-for-4.