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Sunday Bird Droppings: Let's get the heck off of the west coast

The Orioles lost last night, but can salvage a .500 road trip with a win this afternoon. Then they finally get to come home.

Last night's game was a bit of a let down. I didn't really expect the Orioles to do much against Madison Bumgarner, but watching Kevin Gausman struggle was pretty disappointing. After the game Gausman expressed his frustration with the strike zone, as he thought he was being unfairly squeezed. Here is the strikezone map of the game over at BrooksBaseball.net. Do you agree with him? Regardless, the results were a mess as you can find detailed over in Mark's game recap.

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Showalter sets optimistic timetable for Darren O'Day's return from injury | CSN Mid-Atlantic
Buck says that he has a "lot of confidence" that O'Day will be ready to return when he is eligible on August 27th. I feel like that's what they always say.

O’Day’s injury should be Duquette’s signal to acquire veteran lefty reliever - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Speaking of Darren O'Day's injury, Dan Connolly is advocating for the Orioles go to out and get themselves someone who can retire lefties. Names mentioned are Boone Logan, Brad Hand, and Ryan Butcher, all of whom the Orioles looked at leading up to July 31st.

Orioles spotlight: Left-handed reliever Donnie Hart - Baltimore Sun
But what about lefty Donnie Hart, is he not enough? Hart is in his second stint with the Orioles this year and so far I have no complaints. We'll see if that lasts once he's been in the league a little while, but for now so far, so good.

Orioles notebook: Chris Davis showing signs of breaking out of slump - Baltimore Sun
This was written before Davis went 0-for-2 with two walks in last night's game, but I'm not going to give any lefty grief for not getting a hit off of Madison Bumgarner. I hope he is coming out of his slump, because the team could really use him.

Orioles Hall of Famer pushes for DH representation in Cooperstown | fredericknewspost.com
Harold Baines was dropping wisdom in Frederick last night.

Ryan McKenna thriving with Orioles' short-season A affiliate - seacoastonline.com
Your typical local boy does good article on 2015's 4th round pick, Ryan McKenna. He said he's learned a lot about how to carry himself as a professional ball player, saying: "Wear collared shirts, look neat, don’t throw anything." Did he spend a lot of time throwing things before someone told him not to?

A Look Back at Alex Rodriguez's Highlights Against the Orioles
A-Rod spent a lot of years feasting on Orioles pitchers. Paul looks back at a few of the more memorable games.

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Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have a number of random Orioles birthday buddies. They are: Tommy Shields, who played in two games with zero plate appearance for the O's in 1992; Mark Leonard, who hit a whopping .067 over 10 games for the '93 Orioles; and Mike Cook, who pitched three innings in two games, also for the '93 Birds.

On this day in 2009, Felix Pie hit for the cycle against the Angels. His final hit was the triple, and as he stood on third base clapping his hands, Angels manager (and noted grump) Mike Scioscia glared at him for daring to have fun. Later Pie apologized, although I wish he had told Scioscia to stick it where the sun don't shine.