Five series into the second half, the Orioles are playing some of their better, more consistent baseball of the year. They are past the uncertainty of the Trade Deadline, being kept in games by their starting rotation, weathering injuries by watching depth players seize opportunities and competing on a regular basis as the calendar shifts into its home stretch.

All that applied over the majority of their recent four-game series split in Detroit, despite the club dropping Sunday’s finale, 6-2, to the Tigers at Comerica Park. The result disguised what was a close game before Detroit rallied against the Orioles’ short-handed bullpen in the seventh, with the two teams trading multiple first-inning runs before Spenser Watkins and Tyler Alexander dueled into the middle innings.

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But the Orioles could not tack on against Alexander, Erasmo Ramírez or three other Detroit relievers, falling for just the sixth time in 15 second-half games. The loss officially went to the former Tigers farmhand Watkins, who was charged with four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first start against his previous organization.

“To have that opportunity, finally, after years of seeing it from the outside in, was incredible,” Watkins said. “There were a lot of emotions early on, and I had to wrangle them in during that first inning. But after that, I felt comfortable.”

The right-hander figures to continue getting opportunities over the season’s final two months. For the Orioles, August and September will continue to be about evaluation and the development of their young players, both at the big league level and below. Here are a few questions that need to be answered in that time:

Can the banged-up Orioles finish strong?

Like many teams, the Orioles have dealt with an abnormal number of injuries coming off the shortened 2020 season, their latest being the left knee sprain that landed setup man Tanner Scott on the injured list Sunday. They also have several key contributors playing through nagging injuries, namely Anthony Santander, Maikel Franco and Austin Hays. All have something to prove heading into 2022.

For Santander (right ankle), it’s that he’s more the impact slugger he was in 2020 (11 HR, .890 OPS in 37 games), than the reduced version he’s been so far in 2021 (6 HR, .658 OPS in 65 games). Franco (right ankle) is an impending free agent and might be playing for his next job, hitting .213 with 11 homers and .631 OPS in 86 games. For Hays, it's about proving he can stay healthy after years of interruptions due to various ailments; he’s played every day for nearly two months now, hitting .224 with five homers and an OPS of around .660 in that stretch.

All did things this weekend to further those causes. Leading off in Cedric Mullins’ (off-day) place, Hays doubled and scored the Orioles’ first run in the first inning. Franco homered Saturday and chipped in defensively Sunday, throwing out Eric Haase from the seat of his pants after bobbling a grounder in the fourth. Santander singled, doubled and drove in a run, enjoying his second multi-hit game this week. He’d collected multiple hits only once in 28 games prior.

“Look around the league, everybody is in the same boat,” manager Brandon Hyde said of injuries. “You see guys in and out of lineups. I think we’ve been really fortunate, credit to our medical team for doing a great job of keeping us fairly healthy. I’d just like to finish that way, keep guys on the field as much as I possibly can.”

Can the current group of pitching prospects separate themselves?

At the onset of Spring Training, the Orioles expected Dean Kremer and Keegan Akin in the rotation, with Mike Baumann, Zac Lowther and Alexander Wells -- all among the club’s Top 30 Prospects at the time per MLB Pipeline -- profiling as important depth for a season that was guaranteed to require it. Fast forward to the present day, and little has gone to plan.

Kremer made the team out of camp but cratered by late June, demoted back to Triple-A for an extended (and ongoing) stay. Akin didn’t break camp, was slowed by a freak knife injury to his throwing hand and recently missed more than a week in COVID-19 protocol; in between, he’s pitched to an 8.14 ERA and lost his rotation spot to Wells. Baumann was slowed by an elbow injury early and remains at Triple-A, while Lowther was used sporadically before landing on the injured list with a shoulder strain.

Only Wells is currently in the big league rotation, scheduled to make his third career start this week against the Yankees in New York. For Akin, the opportunities will come out of the ‘pen, with the continued speculation about whether he fits best there long term.

Will any O’s chase hardware?

For the two Orioles chasing individual feats, the next two months will make or break those pursuits. The first is Mullins, who leads the American League with 125 hits even after sitting out Sunday’s finale. Since the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954, only one Oriole has led the AL in hits -- Cal Ripken Jr. in 1983. Ripken also won league MVP honors that year.

The other is Ryan Mountcastle, for whom this series gave a glimpse of his competition in the AL Rookie of the Year race. Opposite impressive Tigers rookies Akil Baddoo and Haase, Mountcastle went 6-for-13 with a homer and three RBIs over the final three games in Detroit, doubling home Hays with the Orioles' first run Sunday and scoring their second on Santander’s double. Haase (18) and Mountcastle (17) rank second and third among AL rookie home run leaders. Only Rangers outfielder -- and ROY favorite -- Adolis García (23) has more.