Orioles’ Alexander leaves for birth of 1st child; Robert begins baseball activities; O’s-Mets lineups

NEW YORK—Blaze Alexander, who’s played seven positions for the Orioles this season, is about to add another job, an important one, to his resume.

Alexander, who’s on the 10-day injured list with lower back discomfort, had begun baseball activities on Monday but hurried out of the Orioles’ clubhouse on Tuesday to catch a flight to Arizona for the birth of his first child.

He’s eligible to be reinstated from the injured list on Saturday.

“We’ll find out. We’ll find out,” Albernaz said. “I’m pumped for Blaze. It’s awesome, first-time dad.”

Albernaz said Alexander went through a thorough workout on Monday.

“He hit in the cage, took some groundballs, threw. There was still some tightness and soreness,” Albernaz said. “He’s doing everything he can to get back as soon as he can, but first things first. He has to go be a dad and be with his first child and enjoy it. When he comes back, we’ll talk more, but he needs to go be a dad.”

Because Alexander is not on the active roster, the Orioles didn’t put him on the paternity list.

Checking in on Robert

Outfielder Luis Robert Jr., who’s on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring injury, was eligible to return on Tuesday but has just begun baseball activities.

“We’ll see. Day-by-day with Luis,” Albernaz said. “The hamstring is tough, especially with the type of game he plays, style of game and the position he plays. We want to make sure that it’s holding up in the right spot and he’s recovering in the right way. I would love to have him back before the end of the year.”

With just 11 games remaining, it doesn’t look promising.

“We’re pumped to get Luis going with some baseball activities today,” Albernaz said.

Watching the scoreboard

The Orioles begin Tuesday night’s game against the Mets three games behind Cleveland for the final wild-card spot. The Guardians play the Chicago White Sox. Toronto, trailing Cleveland by a game, plays Detroit. Texas is 1 ½ games behind the Guardians. They’ll face Boston.

Albernaz acknowledges watching the scoreboard.

“Ultimately, we still have to win games,” he said. “We’re gonna need some help, but also we still have to win the games that we’re playing to give ourselves a chance. It doesn’t matter what else is happening around the league.

“We still have to go out and win ballgames, and that’s my sole focus every single day, but at the end of the day, I do check on the scores … It’s the fun part of the year. We just have to control what we can control.”

Orioles-Mets lineups

Rece Hinds-LF

Pete Alonso-1B

Coby Mayo-DH

Christian Encarnacion-Strand-3B

Gunnar Henderson-SS

Jeremiah Jackson-2B

Yohel Pozo-C

Leody Taveras-RF

Colton Cowser-CF

Shane Baz-RHP

Mets

Francisco Lindor-SS

Juan Soto-LF

Bo Bichette-3B

Carson Benge-RF

Jared Young-1B

Marcus Semien-2B

A.J. Ewing-CF

Brett Baty-DH

Franciso Alvarez-C

Sean Manaea-LHP

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