Sunday Bird Droppings

About Last Night

Mariners show off power with five homers, 16 hits in beating Orioles 12-6 | The Seattle Times
Seattle belted five homers, collected 16 hits (nine of them for extra bases) and rolled to a relatively easy 12-6 victory Saturday over Baltimore.

Showalter, Wilson and Wieters after O's blowout loss in Seattle - Steve Melewski
Might Buck Showalter have changes in mind for the Orioles rotation? "It’s kind of tough out here this far away. You’ve got to prepare before games, which you try to do, and during the games, which we tried to do. Unfortunately, Norfolk played (12) innings, used seven pitchers. (Ashur) Tolliver got hurt tonight. So we’ve got some plans in place. We’re working on it right now."

Looking Ahead

Mariners notebook: Iwakuma to face Orioles for first time since no-hitter | The News Tribune
So that's promising, I'd say.

O's notes on O'Day, Givens, Wright (Harvey to pitch at Aberdeen) - Steve Melewski
It doesn't sound like Mike Wright is seen as an immediate answer, given Buck's answers to reporters. "His results have been better than he’s pitched. Good. It’s not bad. Just a few things that maybe he got away with that he wouldn’t get away with here. I think, couple of more starts, you’re going to really like where he is. We’re trying to leave him alone and let him get settled in there a little bit."

Which Orioles deserve to be All-Stars, and their chances of heading to San Diego - Baltimore Sun
I'd quote Clint Eastwood and say "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it," but it does, at least partially.

Orioles minor league report: Brian Gonzalez having a big year with Shorebirds - Baltimore Sun
Brian Gonzalez allowed one run on three hits in six innings Thursday, lowering his ERA to 2.47 in 15 starts. Last year, Gonzalez was 4-9 with a 5.71 ERA.

Birthdays and History

Happy Birthday to former Orioles Tommy "The Judoka" Hunter, Jeff Rineer, and Al Pilarcik. They share it with famous folks like Louis XI (1423), King of France (1461-83); Samuel de Champlain (1567), French explorer; George M. Cohan (1878), American father of musical comedy; Franz Kafka (1883), Czech author; Dave Barry (1947), American humorist and author; Jan Smithers (1949), actress (Bailey-WKRP); Jean-Claude Duvalier [Baby Doc] (1951), Deposed Haitian president-for-life; Montel Williams (1956), TV talk show host; Stephen Pearcy (1959), vocalist (Ratt); Tom Cruise (1962), American actor; Julian Assange (1971), Australian founder of Wikileaks.

On this day in Baltimore baseball history... nothing much happened.

On this day in world history...

324 Battle of Adrianople: Roman Emperor Constantine I defeats his co-emperor Licinius, who flees to Byzantium

1187 Battle of Horns of Hattin: Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, destroys Jerusalem's crusader army

1863 Battle of Gettysburg: the largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in a major victory for the Union during (US Civil War)

1884 Dow Jones published its first stock index - the Dow Jones Transportation Average

1996 British House of Commons annouces Stone of Scone, used in the coronation of Scottish and British monarchs, will be returned to Scotland after 600 years

Consider this your discussion space for Volleyball: U.S. vs. Russia in Dallas.