Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had a simple message for his team after rolling up season highs for hits (20) and runs in a 14-1 laugher over the New York Yankees on Thursday night.

“It doesn’t mean anything tomorrow,” Hyde said. “Tomorrow is a new day and we’re facing a really good Twins team with really good starting pitching. This game is over with at this point.”

Hyde and the Orioles know all too well the challenge they’ll be facing on Friday when they open a three-game series with American League Central-leading Minnesota in Minneapolis.

The Twins won two of three games in Baltimore last weekend, allowing a total of three runs and 12 hits. The Orioles managed to win the series finale, 2-1, on Sunday by scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jordan Westburg was on the receiving end of a 101.3 mph fastball from reliever Jhoan Duran with the bases loaded to force across the game-winning run.

After losing the first two games at New York, Baltimore rebounded to win the final two contests to earn a split of the series — outscoring the Yankees, 20-4, in the process.

“After two games of kind of not our best baseball we played two really good games,” Hyde said. “That’s a good feeling going into Minnesota.”

Not such a good feeling is the fact the Orioles will be facing 6-foot-9 right-hander Bailey Ober (5-4, 2.70 ERA) in Friday night’s opener.

Ober was outstanding in his last start, a 1-0 victory at Baltimore last Saturday that saw him hold the Orioles to just a pair of singles over seven innings while striking out eight. Joey Gallo’s fourth-inning homer proved to be the difference in the contest.

“That was a ‘wow’ game and performance,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said of Ober’s lone career start against Baltimore. “That was the best I’ve ever seen him throw.

“It was almost a perfect outing, just watching him go to work like that. It was great. I can just keep talking about it. It was phenomenal.”

Hyde had similar things to say about shortstop Gunnar Henderson after Thursday’s win over the Yankees.

Henderson, the American League’s Rookie of the Month for June, finished 4-for-7 with two home runs and five RBIs with all four hits coming during the first four innings while Baltimore built a 13-0 lead. He became the first major league player to have four hits and two homers in the first four innings of a game since Matt Carpenter accomplished the feat for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs on July 20, 2018.

“That was amazing,” Hyde said. “To be able to go opposite field (for a home run down the left-field line) like he did in the top of the first, just spraying the ball around hard. A really exciting young player with a ton of tools.”

Left-hander Cole Irvin (1-3, 6.32) will start the opener for the Orioles, who trail the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays by four games heading into their final series before the All-Star break.

Irvin is 0-0 with a 1.54 ERA in two career starts against the Twins, including a one-run, six-hit effort over five innings in Sunday’s 2-1 victory.

–Field Level Media

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais had every right to laud the performance of his club on Thursday, given the circumstances that accompanied the opener of their four-game road series against the defending World Series champions.

The Mariners arrived in Houston an hour or so prior to sunrise after playing in San Francisco on Wednesday night yet summoned the vigor to pull out a 5-1 victory over the Astros.

Some of their success was tied to the decision to send starting pitcher George Kirby to Houston early, and Kirby responded by carrying a shutout into the seventh inning. The Mariners got an additional boost from the longball, with Eugenio Suarez and J.P. Crawford combining for three home runs to pace the offense on a night in which fatigue could have served as an additional foe.

“Again, these guys are dragging,” Servais said. “Ton of credit to our team to show up. Energy was good knowing that you’re tired but you know who your opposition is. You’ve got to bring your best game to beat them and we played a really good ballgame.”

Right-hander Luis Castillo (5-6, 3.05 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Mariners on Friday. He did not factor into the decision of his last start, a 7-6 home victory against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday after allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits with six strikeouts over six innings.

Castillo, who had dropped four consecutive decisions before defeating the Washington Nationals on June 26, is tied for seventh in the American League with 114 strikeouts.

Castillo is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA in two career starts against the Astros. In his most recent appearance against them, he allowed four runs on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts over seven innings but did not factor into the decision of a 6-4 home loss on May 5.

Rookie right-hander Hunter Brown (6-5, 3.76) has the starting assignment for Houston on Friday. He allowed three runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts over four innings in a 5-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday and is winless over his past three starts, posting an 0-2 record with a 5.74 ERA. Brown has 20 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings in that span.

Brown will face the Mariners in the regular season for the first time. In two postseason appearances against Seattle in the 2022 AL Division Series, he worked three scoreless innings while allowing two hits and one walk with one strikeout.

The Astros opened their final series of the first half with another anemic offensive showing. Houston mustered just one extra-base hit against four Mariners pitchers with rookie Corey Julks, who finished 3-for-3 with the lone RBI, accounting for nearly half of the Astros’ seven hits.

With Jose Altuve (oblique) joining Yordan Alvarez (oblique) and Michael Brantley (shoulder) on the injured list, the Astros will continue to scramble. Houston manager Dusty Baker burned his designated hitter in the seventh inning when he pinch hit for nine-hole hitter Martin Maldonado with Bligh Madris, who carried a .118 average to the plate. Madris promptly struck out.

“The challenge (of constructing a lineup) is who I think matches up with that particular pitcher, how they’re swinging at that time,” Baker said. “I go on stats also, who’s hitting who well. Some of these guys haven’t faced anybody but they have some projected numbers. I try to use all those things when it comes to the lineup.”

–Field Level Media

Already owning the worst record in baseball, the Oakland Athletics may not have speedy center fielder Esteury Ruiz in the lineup when they open a three-game road series against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

Ruiz, who leads the majors with 43 stolen bases, injured his right shoulder while diving into first base during Wednesday’s 12-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers. He left the game and was replaced in center field by Tyler Wade. Ruiz was scheduled to have an MRI exam and wasn’t in the lineup when the Tigers beat the A’s 9-0 on Thursday.

Ruiz certainly was missed as Oakland was blanked for the 10th time this season.

“It’s his throwing arm and the dive back in, he felt something and wasn’t sure if there was a pop, but we’re going to get it examined,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said.

Ruiz, 24, picked up his 43rd stolen base Wednesday before injuring his shoulder. That set the franchise record for stolen bases by a rookie. Former Oakland outfielder Mitchell Paige stole 42 bases as a rookie in 1977.

The American League record for stolen bases by a rookie is held by Kenny Lofton, who stole 66 bases with Cleveland in 1992.

“(Ruiz is) fearless out there,” Oakland catcher Shea Langeliers said. “He’s going to go. He knows what he’s doing. He’s so fast … it’s a big advantage for us when he’s out there on the bases.”

Ricky Henderson owns the A’s record for stolen bases in a season. Henderson stole 130 bases in 1982, which is also the modern-day major league record for stolen bases in a season.

The Red Sox are coming off Thursday’s 10-6 victory over Texas, which gave Boston two wins in the three-game series and five victories in their last six games overall.

Following Thursday’s win, Boston manager Alex Cora said, “We don’t know yet,” when asked who would start Friday. However, later the club announced that lefty Brennan Bernardino (1-0, 2.70 ERA) would get the nod. He would serve as the opener, as he pitched both Sunday and Tuesday, going 1 1/3 innings in each game. He started Tuesday against the Rangers and came in to start the second inning Sunday in Toronto.

Bernardino has pitched in 24 games this season with the one start, logging a total of 26 2/3 innings thus far.

That fits the Red Sox’s plan as earlier this week Cora said two of Boston’s final three games before the All-Star break would likely be bullpen days for his team. However, he also added that right-hander Nick Pivetta (4-5, 4.92) may get a considerable amount of work in one or both of those games.

Pivetta began the season in Boston’s starting rotation but was moved to the bullpen after he compiled a 6.30 ERA through his first eight starts. He’s recorded 31 strikeouts in 24 innings since May 21, however, and has a 2.63 ERA during that stretch.

“You cannot go five innings, six innings right away with (Pivetta),” Cora said. “You have to be careful because we haven’t stretched him out. … I think physically he can do it (start), but you gotta be careful. And obviously bullpen-wise you have to be careful too.”

Pivetta has made three career appearances against Oakland, all of them starts. He’s 3-0 with a 0.41 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 22 innings.

Oakland is scheduled to send righty Luis Medina (2-7, 6.37) to the mound. The 24-year-old rookie has yet to pitch against the Red Sox.

Medina earned the win in his last start, a 7-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox last Friday. He limited Chicago to one run on four hits in five innings but also walked five.

–Field Level Media

Not only are the New York Yankees looking to rebound from one of their worst showings of the season, they do so while anticipating what Carlos Rodon’s debut will be like.

After injuries delayed Rodon’s first season with the Yankees by a little over three months, the left-hander will pitch for the first time with New York when the club hosts the Chicago Cubs in the opener of a three-game series on Friday.

“It’s good to finally check that off the list and finally get to work now and pitch at Yankee Stadium,” Rodon said Monday. “I had quite a few setbacks but this part (of the rehab) was clean. I just want to pitch whenever my name is called.”

Rodon takes the mound after the Yankees absorbed a 14-1 loss to the visiting Baltimore Orioles and settled for a split of the four-game series on Thursday. The Yankees allowed a seven-run third inning and 20 hits to match their largest margin of defeat this year.

Rodon joined the Yankees on a six-year, $162 million contract after going 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 31 starts for the San Francisco Giants last season. The sixth-place finisher in the National League Cy Young Award voting, Rodon was considered the top pitcher in free agency and the Yankees signed him shortly after retaining captain Aaron Judge.

Rodon strained his forearm in spring training and then compounded the initial injury with back issues. After three rehab starts, the Yankees cleared Rodon for his season debut to give them a second lefty along with Nestor Cortes, currently on the injured list (shoulder).

“He looks really good to me, he looks ready to me,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday afternoon. “I think he’s in that place too. I definitely sense from him the last couple of times he’s ready to go. Now it’s just getting built up. So I’m excited to get him back in play tomorrow.”

Rodon is making his fifth career start at Yankee Stadium. With the Chicago White Sox, he was 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA facing the Yankees on the road.

Rodon also is 2-3 with a 3.45 ERA in seven career appearances (six starts) against the Cubs, who were swept in a three-game set in New York last season.

Chicago is 3-8 over its past 11 games since a 9-1 win over St. Louis in London on June 24 moved them to within one game of .500. The Cubs were unable to complete a three-game sweep in Milwaukee when they took a 6-5 loss on Thursday.

Cody Bellinger was 4-for-4 with three RBIs and finished a triple shy of the cycle in the loss. He is hitting .467 (21-for-45) during a 12-game hitting streak and .360 (23-for-64) since returning from a knee injury June 15.

“It’s a big one in New York,” Bellinger said after the series finale with the Brewers. “I still feel pretty good. The series could have gone either way for all of those games. Coming out with a split (was) not great, not terrible.”

The Cubs were without Dansby Swanson on Thursday. The shortstop is day-to-day with a bruised left heel he sustained on Wednesday.

Jameson Taillon (2-6, 6.93 ERA), who was 22-11 with a 4.08 ERA in 61 starts over the previous two seasons with the Yankees, opens the series for the Cubs.

Since getting his second win this season on June 13, Taillon is 0-2 with a 7.63 ERA over his past three outings. Most recently, he allowed six runs in five innings in a no-decision Sunday against Cleveland.

Taillon’s only previous start against the Yankees was a no-decision while he was with Pittsburgh, when he allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings on April 22, 2017.

–Field Level Media