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Happy Sunday, Camden Chatters! I hope that many of you are in the midst of a lovely three-day weekend. Surely your weekend has been lovelier if you haven’t been paying attention to your Baltimore Orioles. They have lost two in a row to the Royals, putting even more space between the two teams in the race for the worst record.
Your hapless Orioles almost won yesterday’s game, taking a one-run lead into the ninth before closer Mychal Givens gave up a walk-off two-run homer to Whit Merrifield. You can read all about and the latest disappointing Dylan Bundy start in Paul’s game recap.
The Orioles will try to avoid the three-game sweep today at 2:15 with David Hess on the mound.
Links
Showalter on why just one call-up - Steve Melewski
More call ups are coming, plus Josh Rogers's start on Monday will probably be his last before he is shut down for the season. Shut Bundy down while you're at it, boss.
The 10 worst MLB players in August | Yardbarker.com
Only one of them is an Oriole! That feels like an improvement.
Orioles' Tim Beckham starts big September off in productive fashion - Baltimore Sun
I want Tim Beckham to be good. At least he seems to be in September?
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have so many Orioles birthday buddies, including former Oriole and current Royal Jason Hammel. Hammel was an important part of the exciting 2012 team, but he’s having a rough go of it this year, pitching to a 5.93 ERA out of KC’s bullpen. Today is Hammel’s 36th birthday.
It’s also the birthday of:
- Rex Hudler, who played in 14 games for the 1986 Orioles with just one plate appearance. Hudler played in 774 games over 13 seasons in the MLB and turns 58 today.
- Drungo Hazewood, whose entire major league career is made up of six games for the 1980 Orioles. He would be 59 today, but passed away in 2013.
- John Flinn, who pitched in 22 games for the 1978, 79, and 82 Orioles. Flinn turns 64.
- Nate Snell, a relief pitcher for the 1984-86 Birds. When trying to talk about current Rays pitcher Blake Snell, I often call him Nate or Ian. Nate Snell turns 66 today.
- Dave Criscione, who played in seven games for the 1977 Orioles. That is his only major league experience. He turns 67 today.
- Marv Throneberry played for four teams in his seven-year career, including two with the Orioles from 1961-62. Today would have been his 85th birthday; he passed away in 1994.
On this day in 1960, Milt Pappas pitched a three-hitter as the Orioles beat the Yankees to pull within .003 of them in the division. They went on to finish in second place, eight games out.
In 1974, the Orioles swept a doubleheader against the Red Sox, winning both games 1-0. Ross Grimsley and Mike Cuellar threw back-to-back shutouts.
In 2012, the Orioles beat the Yankees 8-3 thanks in part to two home runs by Mark Reynolds. Reynolds was on fire that entire three-games series, going 5-for-11 with four home runs and two walks. The win brought the Orioles within two games of first place.