Wednesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are glad to meet the Mets

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

It turns out that once you stop playing the best team in baseball and get to face the Mets instead, your chances of winning will incrementally improve. Who knew? The Orioles, fresh off being swept in four games by the Red Sox, snapped their losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Mets last night. It was their third win in as many games over the Metropolitans this year. Ben Hansford’s recap has the lovely details.

The O’s get one more game against the Mets tonight, wrapping up their brief two-game set. Can they secure an undefeated season series? That may be a lot to ask for this Orioles club, but stranger things have happened. This will be the Orioles’ final game against an NL team this year as they wrap up their interleague schedule. They’ll finish with either an 8-12 or 7-13 interleague record, which is practically World Series quality compared to how the Orioles have done against AL clubs (29-72).

Links

Most Valuable Oriole award choice is Jones or Trumbo - BaltimoreBaseball.com
When I first saw this headline, I thought, “Trumbo? Seriously?” But actually, yeah, he's one of the top candidates, as sad as that is. And before you suggest Manny Machado, traded players are ineligible for the voting.

Inbox: High expectations for Cedric Mullins? - MLB.com
Brittany Ghiroli opens up the mailbag to answer questions about Cedric Mullins, Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and more.

Duquette on Jones: “I respect the right that the player earned” - School of Roch
Dan Duquette insists there are no hard feelings from the Orioles’ front office about Adam Jones deciding to invoke his 10-5 rights to veto a trade.

Selling off stars, suffering historic loss totals and rebuilding franchises, Dombrowski’s been where Orioles are – The Athletic
Dave Dombrowski has been through a rebuild or two in his long general managing career. He offers his thoughts about the experience.

Camden Depot: Chris Davis: Orioles Contracts and Extensions that Did Not Work
Jon Shepherd looks back on some of the worst contract extensions in Orioles history. As a bonus, see if you can figure out what the picture is and how it relates to the story. (Hint: It’s a literary reference.)

Cody Carroll starts to settle in with O's, looks for consistent results - Steve Melewski
There are a lot of new faces on the Orioles these days, so what do you say we learn something about them? Here’s an interview with one newbie, rookie righty Cody Carroll.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your O’s birthday buddies are 2002 outfielder Chris Singleton (46), 1995-96 utility man Jeff Huson (54), and 1986 eight-gamer Tom Dodd (60). Kind of a motley crew of O’s birthdays, I must say.

On this day in 1975, Earl Weaver was ejected from both games of a doubleheader. In fact, he was thrown out of the second one before it even started, after getting into an argument with the umps while exchanging lineup cards.

In 1979, the Orioles beat the White Sox on a walkoff in the 12th...on an Eddie Murray steal of home. Seriously!

2018 Orioles vs. 1988 Orioles

In their 120th game, the ‘88 Orioles clobbered the Athletics, 10-1, scoring five runs apiece in the first and fourth. The Ripken brothers each had multiple hits and two RBIs, Terry Kennedy drove in three runs, and Fred Lynn homered. Jeff Ballard threw his second consecutive complete game — and also his second consecutive game with exactly 143 pitches. It’s a wonder his arm didn’t literally detach from his body. The win was the Orioles’ 40th of the season and kept them four games ahead of the present-day club.

The Royals blew a late lead to the Blue Jays last night, falling by a 6-5 score. They entrusted Blaine Boyer and his 12.05 ERA to hold a one-run lead in the eighth, and shockingly, it did not work out. With that loss and the Orioles’ win, the Royals are now only a half-game behind the Orioles in the race for next year’s No. 1 draft pick.