Friday Open Thread

..and then THAT happened.

O's filling up the loss column -- baltimoresun.com
Connolly at the Sun: With yesterday's loss to Detroit, the Orioles (43-65) are now at their worst record at the 108 game mark (2/3 of the way through the season) since the 1991 campaign: a year in which they finished with 95 losses.

MLB.com: News
Guthrie apologizes to reporters for shutting them out on Wednesday.

Rick Dempsey - MASNsports.com
The Dipper BELIEVES in the Orioles.

Cumberland Times-News - Small markets feeling huge for football
Mike Burke waxes realistic about how the "wall of summer" has finally arrived for both the Orioles and the Pirates, and has a sort of "who's going to stink it up worse" analysis for the remaining games (with Cleveland thrown in for good measure.)

Fantasy blogs are abuzz about Tillman and Matusz. See here and here.

Short Hops: Matusz takes smart road to big leagues - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball
Scott Miller notes that while Aaron Crow holds out for more money (first from the Nationals, now from Kansas City), some guy named Matusz who was drafted 5 spots in front of him is already in the majors. Maybe a lesson there, both for Crow and for Steven Strasburg. 

Erbe Unhittable As Baysox Cruise - OurSports Central - Independent and Minor League Sports News
Brandon Erbe threw 8 innings of no-hit ball for the Baysox last night. No real word on why he wasn't allowed to start the ninth, but one assumes his pitch count was way up at that point.

Gholson: In the Nick of Time (Aug. 7) : Columnists : Times Record News
Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. But in his last season with the Orioles before being traded to the Yankees, he was 3-21.

Chen picks up rare victory for Royals - USATODAY.com

Despite giving up 10 hits and a walk, ex-Oriole Bruce Chen got his first win in nearly four years, as KC beat the Mariners 8-2.

Finally, it has nothing to do with the Orioles, but I'm a huge Mad Men fan, so..... The season opening episode (airing August 16) is entitled Out of Town and is set in Baltimore; it will feature a number of 1960s landmarks such as Haussner's and the Belvedere Hotel. 

This is your Open Thread.