Tuesday Bird Droppings

5 in a row now. That's swell. Those types of streaks will do strange things to a man's mind. For instance, I awoke this morn to a notion that Jason Hammel may just have , not only a Quality Start and a Win in him, but he may just be up to snuff to be the first O's pitcher to get a Complete Game tonight. I dunno...that could just be an after effect of an inordinate amount of beer consumption over the weekend. Anyway, nice to dig into K.C.'s 'pen in the first game of a 4 game series. Hopefully that'll pay dividends going forward. And nice of Boston, NY, and Cleveland to each lose last night. So, although TB and Texas won, the O's gain some ground on the A.L. East leading Sox and some additional breathing room on two teams hanging on the periphery of the Wild Card chase.

Oh, and I guess something of some particular note happened that sent the baseballin' press all a-twitter last night...

School of Roch: Big start for Hammel?
If he struggles the O's will get a good look at Ervin Santana tomorrow.

Orioles' payroll getting closer to $100 million | Comcast SportsNet Baltimore
Let's talk about salaries, baby.

2013 Orioles Midseason Top 30 Prospect List | Baltimore Sports and Life
Res Ipsa Loquitur

Orioles, Nats TV ratings are up: DC Sports Bog
Some numbers on MASN viewership thus far this year.

Ryan Braun Suspended For Rest of Season | FanGraphs Baseball
If you must have a link to read of this tawdry affair...

Report: Yankees to reunite with Alfonso Soriano | HardballTalk
The 2013 Yankees: The New Colossus. 'Give us your old, your bad, your aging sluggers nearing the end of their career. The wretched refuse of your team's roster. Send these, the terrible, washed up to me.'

Nate Silver – Renowned Statistician, Author and Founder of FiveThirtyEight – Joins ESPN in Multi-Faceted Role " ESPN MediaZone
The World Wide Leader has recruited a witch.