Monday Bird Droppings

Recaps from yesterday's win can be found at The Sun, Orioles.com, Chicago Tribune, and MASNsports (with post-game Buck).

Orioles notebook: Cesar Izturis draws big reaction for 1,000th career hit
Cesar Izturis draws big reaction for 1,000th career hit. Left-hander Troy Patton demoted to Triple-A Norfolk; catcher Craig Tatum will take his roster spot. THE TATER'S coming back!

Orioles Insider: Guthrie has no issues with White Sox's Pierre
"Guthrie knocked Pierre down twice and hit him another time, prompting one reporter to ask Guthrie after the game whether "Something is going on with you and Juan?" Guthrie chuckled at the question and then said: "Nothing is going on between Juan and I. I am very happily married. There are no rumors."

Steve Melewski: Guthrie: "To see it happen in the last week is a great sign."
"I'm just trying to be more aggressive. That's about the only thing I can put a finger on. Throw more strikes and my goal is to walk zero guys each game and make them hit the ball." That's some pretty good goals.

School of Roch: Patton's parting words
"It's really a tough situation," he said after the Orioles optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. "I came up here to be a long relief guy and it just happens to be the one week of the season that literally no long relief guy was needed. I wasn't needed to go in the games." Images you're an O's AAA pitcher called for long relief this summer and you don't get in because of six consecutive quality starts by O's starters. You'd be wondering if you're in the right locker room after Day 3.

School of Roch: Good and bad from Norfolk (updated)
The good? Nolan Reimold had a great day, going 4-for-5 with a double, homer, 2 RBI and four runs scored. The bad? Brandon Erbe. And boy, was it bad.

Buck Looks Good, But How About Andy ??? | Rex Snider's Blog | WNST
"Well, we’re six games into the Buck Showalter era and this Orioles team looks like a cast of players we haven’t witnessed in a very long time. Adam Jones is hustling. Felix Pie suddenly has a clue. Matt Wieters is working the count. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when a LEADER is in charge, huh?"

Beckham leaves game with groin injury | whitesox.com: News
So, at first, Gordon Beckham thought his problem was his cup pinching him (wow, does that sound unpleasant), but later figured out he had actually hurt himself.

Bobby Grich, Don Baylor relish 'forever' friendship | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle
You can forgive Bobby Grich if he cringed the first 20 times he heard Don Baylor's name. Grich was the Baltimore Orioles' first-round draft pick in 1967. Baylor was the Orioles' second-round selection. "I negotiated with them for almost a month, trying to raise my bonus," Grich recalls, "and the scouts kept using Don Baylor as a negotiating ploy. They'd say: 'We weren't even sure we wanted to draft you. We wanted to make sure we got Don Baylor.'" To which Grich replied: "Maybe you should have drafted Baylor first."

O's Notebook: Simon thriving in closing role - Carroll County Times: Orioles
Buck Showalter has said that he's not wedded to the idea of a single closer. Alfredo Simon may turn out to be ideal for the new Baltimore Orioles' manager. Simon, who earned his 17th save Sunday despite allowing a two-run ninth inning home run to Ramon Castro, has impressed Showalter.

It was Peter Angelos vs. Steve Bisciotti in latest skirmish over MASN & Ravens TV rights |  WNST
“Peter didn’t like the deal once he read through it all and saw the terms,” said a MASN source. “He contended that a network should NEVER pay a team a rights fee for programming if it’s not all entirely live. So we had to go back to the Ravens and tell them we weren’t going to pay them the same fee we had provided in the past. We knew it was about to get ugly.”

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Derek Jeter passes Babe Ruth on career hit list
So, my take away thought on this is - Harold Baines had more hits than Babe Ruth?

IN THE MINORS

Tides Swept Away by Bats, 8-7 | Louisville Bats News
A franchise-record 11-game home winning streak was achieved by the Louisville Bats as they completed a sweep of the Norfolk Tides with an 8-7 win on Sunday night at Louisville Slugger Field. Catcher Corky Miller led the Bats offense as he went 3-4 with three RBI and a run scored.

Baysox Complete Conquest of New England | Bowie Baysox News
The Bowie Baysox beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9-5 Sunday afternoon to wrap up their second series victory in a six-game road trip through New England. Left fielder Brandon Waring led the Baysox offense with a 3-for-5 day as he hit two home runs and recorded five RBIs.

BERNARDO BELTS FREDERICK TO 8-6 WIN | Frederick Keys News
In the series finale of the four-game series in Winston-Salem, the Keys prevailed with a two-run victory, 8-6. Frederick dominated most of the game but ran into a heap of trouble in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Dash plated five runs in the inning to cut their deficit to just one run. The Keys closed the door, however, in the final two innings as they improved to 21-21 in the second half of the season.

Flacco Lifts 'Birds to Walk-Off Win | Delmarva Shorebirds News
Neither team scored another run until the ninth inning. Gary Helmick drew a lead off walk. Then, Ty Kelly blasted a single into right field to advance Helmick to second. Kieron Pope was hit by a pitch to the load the bases. Two batters later, Mike Flacco rifled a single into right-center field to score both Helmick and Kelly to give the 'Birds a walk off 2-1 win.

IronBirds Score Five In Ninth, Beat Scrappers | Aberdeen IronBirds News
Trailing 7-3 heading into the ninth inning, the Aberdeen IronBirds scored five runs on three hits to take the lead and beat the Mahoning Valley Scrappers Sunday evening 8-7.

Bluefield lost 8-1
Six hits yielded just one run. Ain't gonna win that way.

and the GCL Orioles were off.