Sunday Bird Droppings

And the last thing he said to me -- "Buck," he said - "sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the breaks are beating the boys -- tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Greek...

On to the sad aftermath of last night's victory...

Baltimore Orioles' Nick Markakis out at least 6 weeks due to broken thumb - ESPN
"It's definitely broken. He's out. We're hoping he can get back in time to play deep in the playoffs for us," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "It breaks my heart personally, and for him. I know how much this time of the season means to him. We'll go forward from there."

Orioles hit 3 HRs, beat Sabathia and Yankees 5-4 - Yahoo! Sports
And as we know, it was a costly victory for the Orioles.

Blown call costs Yankees in loss to Orioles; Girardi heated after game - NYPOST.com
"If the Yankees lose the AL East by a game, they can hang the blame on Jerry Meals’ two bad eyes." And if they win, does Derek Jeter's floating strike zone get a playoff share? What about Nick Swisher's phantom HBP?

Steve Melewski: Markakis: "I knew I broke it" (Markakis audio added)
"When it first happened I knew I broke it," Nick Markakis said. "I couldn't bend my finger. Pain wise, it is not as bad as I thought it would be, but I knew it was definitely broken as soon as I took my batting glove off. I knew as soon as he hit it. I knew how it hit me. One of those accidents."

Steve Melewski: Clubhouse reaction to the Markakis injury
"We have to rally around him," said Adam Jones. "It (stinks), what do you want me to say? It's September and one of our best players is down for the the rest of the year. It (stinks). What can we do about that? Complaining won't heal his hand tomorrow."

School of Roch: OK, so now what?
Roch Kubatko takes a look at the lineup implications of losing Nick Markakis.

Ex-GM Andy MacPhail planted seeds for Baltimore Orioles' rise into contention - NY Daily News
You know when you've made it to "phoning it in" status as a sportswriter? When you write six paragraphs based on an innocuous one-sentence quote that's barely relevant to the headline.

This Race Could Be for the Birds - WSJ.com
And in non-Nick Markakis news...Honey Badger GM don't care. (h/t PBR)