Saturday’s Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles flipped the script

Good morning, Birdland!

The Orioles have lost a lot of games this season and won very few. Many of the wins have been by slim margins while the losses tend to be embarassing. Finally, the O’s flipped the script and whooped up on the Cleveland Indians Friday night, beating them 13-0. Andrea had the recap on CC last night.

Chance Sisco had the best game of his big league career. John Means kept dominating opposing lineups. Anthony Santander registered three hits. The bullpen tossed four shutout innings. Heck, even Rio Ruiz got in on the fun.

Even bad teams need this lopsided laughers on occasion. It makes the rest of the struggles a touch more bearable. It reminds us that the Orioles can actually compete with any other team despite the disparity in win-loss record. Of course, this feeling is likely fleeting and these guys will go back to routinely losing rather soon, but it’s a moment to cherish for now.

Links

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is enjoying his job despite the losses - Baltimore Baseball
Well, that’s nice. Ya know, enjoying your career is really what it’s about. If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.

DL Hall And Grayson Rodriguez To Represent Orioles At Futures Game - Birds Watcher
In recent years, the Orioles have sent Ryan Mountcastle and Chance Sisco to this game. Plus, Yusniel Diaz took part last season and hit two home runs in his last action as part of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. Typically, these games are packed with players that do end up being pretty darn good in the bigs, but it’s far from a guarantee.

Sean Gilmartin Accepts Outright Assignment - MLB Trade Rumors
This feels like a good move for all involved. The Orioles need as much pitching as possible and Sean Gilmartin is a solid reliever that will almost certainly make his way back to Baltimore at some point this season.

For O’s, rout of Indians a sign of things to come - MLB.com
It would really cool if John Means, Chance Sisco and Anthony Santander player really important roles on the next good Orioles team. Even better, it would be great to see even better players emerge to put that trio into roles that may better align with their eventual ceilings. Either way, it’s fun to watch those three play right now.

How 23-win Orioles could possibly end up with more than one All-Star - ESPN
He’s talking about Means, of course. I’m not going to hold my breath. The southpaw has had an awesome season, but he’s a rookie and has not thrown a ton of innings. If, for whatever reason, Trey Mancini is squeeze out of the discussion in the outfield, then Means is really the only alternative.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

Pedro Viola, a left-handed pitcher on the Orioles for six games between 2010 and 2011, turns 36 years old today.

It is also the birthday of the late Paul “Dizzy” Trout (b. 1915, d. 1972), a longtime pitcher for the Detroit Tigers who retired after the 1952 season. But he then made a comeback effort with the Orioles five seasons later, facing five batters, recording one out and allowing three runs over two appearances before he was released by the O’s and going back into retirement.

Not much has happened in Orioles history on June 29, according to Baseball Reference. So, here a few notable events that have taken place on this day away from Birdland:

1975 - Steve Wozniak tests the first prototype of the Apple I computer.

1987 - Vincent Van gogh’s Le Pont de Trinquetaille painting sells at a London auction for $20.4 million.

2007 - Apple releases its first iPhone.