Saturday afternoon Orioles game thread: at Royals, 7:10

Jorge López returns from the bereavement list to start on the mound for the Orioles.

There’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that the Orioles are starting to sign their draft picks already. Second-round pick Connor Norby was the first to put pen to paper on his first professional deal on Friday. Eighth-rounder Creed Willems announced his intentions to sign earlier in the week. And on Saturday afternoon the big fish was reeled in as fifth overall pick Colton Cowser signed his deal, which came with a $4.9 million bonus, about $1.3 million underslot. That is all awesome, and we should be seeing the college players in action with an affiliate later this summer.

The bad news is that, for now, the major league squad remains quite poor. And there won’t be an immediate fix for that. But they will play another game tonight anyway, and they might even win it. Who knows.

Orioles’ Starting Lineup

1. Cedric Mullins, CF
2. Trey Mancini, 1B
3. Ryan Mountcastle, DH
4. DJ Stewart, LF
5. Anthony Santander, RF
6. Ramón Urías, SS
7. Domingo Leyba, 3B
8. Pedro Severino, C
9. Pat Valaika, 2B

RHP Jorge López (2-12, 5.95 ERA)

Royals Starting Lineup

1. Whit Merrifield, 2B
2. Carlos Santana, 1B
3. Salvador Perez, C
4. Andrew Benintendi, LF
5. Hunter Dozier, 3B
6. Jorge Soler, DH
7. Ryan O’Hearn, RF
8. Michael A. Taylor, CF
9. Nicky Lopez, SS

RHP Brady Singer (3-6, 4.52 ERA)