​CINCINNATI, OHIO – JULY 05: Third baseman Blaze Alexander #23 of the Baltimore Orioles looks on during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on July 05, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images) | Getty Images We’ve got a late one tonight. Let’s hope the Orioles make it worth staying up for.The O’s kick off a three-game series against the Athletics at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park with a 9:40 ET start time for the opener. These next six games against the crummy A’s and Rockies represent the Orioles’ best chance to make some hay in the wild card race, or, if they go particularly poorly, could put the dagger in the Birds’ 2026 season for good.The Orioles are glad to welcome Blaze Alexander back to the lineup tonight. Blaze has been out since July 12, the last game before the All-Star break, when an errant pitch from the Royals’ Lucas Erceg broke his left hand. The O’s have badly missed Alexander’s bat. He was arguably the Orioles’ hottest hitter before he went on the shelf, batting .365 with a .942 OPS since the start of May. Let’s hope the extended absence hasn’t cooled him down.With Alexander back in the fold and left-hander Jacob Lopez on the mound, Craig Albernaz is giving Gunnar Henderson the night off, just the second game all season in which he hasn’t been in the lineup (the other was on May 3 against the Yankees’ Max Fried). Gunnar, in the midst of his most challenging season as a big leaguer, has been long overdue for a day off, which hopefully will give him a bit of a mental reset.In Henderson’s absence, Jackson Holliday will bat from the #3 hole for the first time this year, and Alexander will jump right back into the fire at the leadoff spot. With Tyler O’Neill on the IL, Dylan Beavers will get a rare start against a lefty. Pete Alonso will once again nurse his sore calf in the DH spot, and lefty-masher Coby Mayo will man first base and the cleanup role.Orioles lineup:SS Blaze AlexanderDH Pete Alonso2B Jackson Holliday1B Coby Mayo3B Christian Encarnacion-StrandRF Leody TaverasCF Christian FranklinLF Dylan BeaversC Carlos NarváezRHP Brandon YoungAthletics lineup:CF Henry Bolte2B Jeff McNeil3B Zack GelofRF Lawrence Butler1B Tommy WhiteDH Max MuncyLF Carlos CortesC Jonah HeimSS Alika WilliamsLHP Jacob Lopez