Tuesday Bird Droppings

Congratulations to this week's winner in CC Pick 'Em: Astronaut Mike Dexter! AMD's gutsy pick of the Giants over the Eagles led him to victory, and he currently holds a one point lead in the competition. 

Let me tell you, it's a little tough finding good droppings today between all of the "Red Sox are terrible" stories. 

Orioles knock back Red Sox, 6-3 | Orioles Hangout
Robert Andino’s three-run inside-the-park homerun capped a go-ahead four-run rally in the sixth, backing a solid effort by Tommy Hunter and five O’s relievers. Chris Davis contributed a pair of RBI hits, and Vladimir Guerrero became the all-time hits leader from the Dominican Republic on a great night at Oriole Park.

Wieters says Matusz will bounce back | baltimoresun.com
"He's still a left-hander who has four pitches," Wieters said confidently. "He's had some tough breaks lately, but he's throwing the ball better in his last stint up than he was early in the year. … I know how hard he's going to work in the offseason to be ready to go."

Matusz actually did not have the worst season ever | Camden Depot
According to rWAR, Brian Matusz will likely finish with the 66th worst season for a pitcher at -2.6, tying such luminaries as Jim Bullinger, Ross Grimsley, and Dick Pole. (Heh, Dick Pole)

Spoiler Alert - O's and Astros still Playing Ball | Call to the Pen
The art of the spoil was alive and well Monday night, as two teams that were a combined 64 games out of first place might have found a way to alter the scope of the postseason.  These two teams were the Baltimore Orioles, and the Houston Astros.

Orioles DH Vladimir Guerrero passes Julio Franco for all-time hits by Dominican-born player | MLB.com
They keep telling us this is important, so here's an article about it.

Wild Card. Tied. | DRaysBay
DRaysBay recaps last night's Yankees-Rays game.

So It’s Come to This- The Red Sox Lose the Game and the Wild Card Lead | Over the Monster
Over The Monster recaps the Red Sox-Orioles game. 

Orioles Insider: Coming soon to a front office near you ...
"I don’t see the Orioles hiring some whiz kid to take over the front office. I don’t see anyone under, say, 45 getting that job. And I’d assume it would be someone that Showalter knows and/or respects and someone with a scouting, player-evaluation background." Because that's worked SOOOOOOO well the last few times we've tried that approach. There's nothing about these sentences that doesn't make me want to cry at my desk. -duck