Sunday Bird Droppings

Baltimore Orioles vs. Tampa Bay Rays - Recap - June 08, 2013 - ESPN
"Jeremy Hellickson pitched six scoreless innings and six different players drove in runs Saturday to help the surging Rays beat Baltimore 8-0, move a season-high seven games over .500 and nudge ahead of the Orioles into third place in the AL East behind the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees." Fourth place in the AL East with 34 wins, but that's the same number of wins as Detroit, who leads their division. Just sayin'.

Orioles reinstate Strop from DL | Fox News
"The Baltimore Orioles reinstated relief pitcher Pedro Strop from the 15-day disabled list on Saturday. Strop had been sidelined with a lower back strain since May 23." Yup, lower back strain. They're sticking to that story.

American League All-Star ballot voting results update has Orioles and Miguel Cabrera as leading vote-getters | MLB.com: News
"Outfielder Adam Jones and shortstop J.J. Hardy vaulted to the top of the leaderboard at their respective positions in a voting update released Saturday, joining first baseman Chris Davis to give Baltimore three players in position to start the 84th Midsummer Classic as of the latest look at the balloting." Now, start winning games again, guys, so you can stay there.

The Orioles drafted Carl Yastrzemski’s grandson | HardballTalk
"Here’s one noteworthy pick from the third and final day of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. Mike Yastrzemski, the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, was selected in the 14th round (429th overall) today by the Oriole." And he's a lefty, too..

Orioles select Maryland-area player in draft - The York Daily Record
"The Gatorade Maryland Baseball Player of the Year, Alex Murphy had committed to Wake Forest, but he made it clear Friday that he plans to sign with the Orioles and begin his professional career. "I'm going to sign," he said. "I've worked my whole life to get this opportunity, and I'm going to take advantage of it." The slot bonus money for the 189th pick is $218,500." Good job giving away all your leverage, kid.

Steve Melewski: Today's Orioles draft picks
Today, of course, meaning Saturday. Because the draft isn't today. It was yesterday. When this article was posted. Don't be silly. Steve Melewski does not time travel.

Former Orioles closer Chris Ray finds new career as owner of craft brewery - baltimoresun.com
"The end greets so many ballplayers like a concrete wall — faceless and unforgiving. Take away the 97-mph fastball or the 400-foot home runs and daily fulfillment no longer seems so easily attainable. Chris Ray, though, he had beer. Don't worry. It's not how it sounds." I swear, there's no way he looks 31 now.

No former or current Orioles players have a birthday today, as far as I can tell. In 1986, "The Orioles beat the Yankees 18-9 in in the longest nine inning game ever played in American League history. The contest takes four hours and sixteen minutes to complete."