Sunday Bird Droppings - Tillman ready for season debut

Good Sunday morning, where Jon Schoop and Wade Miley nurse their collective bruises, Chris Tillman finally gets to work and Zach Britton doesn’t. Get used to that last one for a while.

If you missed last night

Bundy wins his fifth, Machado and Mancini homer in win (quotes added) - Steve Melewski
“I was grinding. Me and Caleb (Joseph) were grinding together back there. I didn’t really have much of curveball or slider today until that last inning. I didn’t have my curveball all game. Just tried to grind as much as we could and get outs.”

Tillman taking the mound for first time in 2017 - School of Roch
Chris Tillman is making his first start since Sept. 28, 2016 in Toronto. The right shoulder bursitis that forced him onto the disabled list on March 30 has cleared and he’s finally ready to debut after five rehab starts in the minors.

We’re gonna need triage over here

Castillo's shoulder, Britton's MRI and more notes (O's win 6-5) - School of Roch
Catcher Welington Castillo remains confident that he can come off the disabled list when eligible on Thursday. Castillo took batting practice today and will play catch on Sunday. He’s no longer experiencing the same discomfort in his right shoulder that surfaced in spring training.

Miley expects to make his next start, Hart on loss of Britton - Steve Melewski
“Yeah, I feel fine,” Miley said. “I could pitch tonight if they needed me. I feel like my wrist is fine. I think it is one of those things where they are trying to be cautious.

Orioles' Zach Britton concedes he came back too soon, to receive second opinion on forearm - Baltimore Sun
“I think the doctors and the trainers wanted me to be a little more cautious with it at the time, maybe take another week. I felt pretty good and wanted to come back to the team. I was kind of over sitting on the bench watching games and felt I was in a good enough position to come back, but obviously I wasn’t.”

Orioles' Jonathan Schoop gets Saturday off -- at least -- and other pregame updates - Baltimore Sun
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop was wearing an ice pack on his right hand after being hit by a pitch during Friday night's game. X-rays showed no fracture, but he was replaced in Saturday night's starting lineup by Ryan Flaherty.

Let’s think of nicer things

Orioles' Trey Mancini appears to be settling back into groove at the plate - Baltimore Sun
Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini finally had to work his way out of a prolonged hitting slump over the final two weeks of April. But he seems to have rediscovered the sweet swing that allowed him to make a dynamic major league debut in September and follow it up with a power surge in his first few games this year.

Orioles take wild week in stride, showing what makes them successful - Baltimore Sun
"I don't want to lessen, trust me, what happened in Boston, and the challenges there," manager Buck Showalter said. "I don't, because it was tough. But we got through it, we got out of there. We were more frustrated we didn't win three or four games, because they were there for us. Just like New York, we had a really good chance to win two of three there and we didn't. Our guys are thinking more about the baseball part of it as much as anything else."

Birthdays and History

Happy Birthday to former Orioles Mark Smith, Brook Fordyce, and Hall of Famer Dick Williams. They share today with famous people including Composer and pianist Johannes Brahms 1833; composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840; actor Gary Cooper 1901; Eva (Evita) Peron 1919 ; NFL Hall of Famer and Baltimore Colts legendary QB Johnny Unitas 1933; Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell 1961; and actress Traci Lords 1969.

On this day in Baltimore baseball history... nothing of note happened.

On this date in world history....

1898 - The first Intercollegiate Trapshooting Association meet was held in New Haven, CT.

1912 - Columbia University approved final plans for awarding the Pulitzer Prize in several categories.

1912 - The first airplane equipped with a machine gun flew over College Park, MD.

1915 - The Lusitania, a civilian ship, was sunk by a German submarine. 1,201 people were killed.

1940 - Winston Churchill became British Prime Minister.

1954 - The United States and the United Kingdom rejected the Soviet Union's bid to join NATO.

1994 - The Edvard Munch painting "The Scream" was recovered after being stolen 3 months earlier from an Oslo Museum. This version of "The Scream", one of four different versions, was painted on paper.

Consider this your discussion space for NCSA: University of Maryland Club Softball vs University of Delaware Club Softball.