Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are still hapless against the Yankees

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Is there any chance the Orioles can just forfeit all their remaining games against the Yankees this year?

This isn’t even fun. It’s been complete, one-sided domination. It’s like watching a prize fight between Muhammad Ali and, like, me.

The Yankees beat the O’s for the 10th consecutive game last night, and you can find all the gory details in Andrea SK’s recap. Even when the Orioles do things well — like pulling off an exhilarating five-run rally in the sixth to tie the game, or having Jonathan Villar hit for the cycle — they always, ultimately, do even more things poorly. In this case, it was giving up five home runs, including two in the eighth that pushed the Yanks in front. The O’s have now given up 41 home runs in 13 games to the Yankees, and Mike Tauchman became the ninth Yankee this year to have a multi-homer game against them. Ninth!

It’s simply brutal. And it’s a sobering reminder that the Orioles’ rebuilding process has a long, long way to go before they’re anywhere close to an even playing field with the behemoths of the AL East.

Links

Orioles begin brutal stretch of games with 9-6 loss - School of Roch
As Roch Kubatko points out, last night was just the beginning of a stretch of 13 games against some of the best teams in the majors. This is gonna go great!

A year after the Orioles’ 2018 trade bonanza, how the prospects have fared - BaltimoreBaseball.com
If you’ve been thirsting for Jean Carmona news, here’s my update on the 15 players the Orioles received in last year’s fire sale trades, with some added analysis from Bowie Baysox play-by-play man Adam Pohl.

Condiment shower? O’s know how to celebrate - Orioles.com
The Orioles have started a new tradition of dousing players in condiments after they achieve milestones. I mean, it’s a far cry from pies, but it’s not bad.

Baltimore Orioles: Rays Social Media Team Calls Their Current Club Better Than 1966 Orioles
The Rays’ Twitter feed jokingly proclaimed the club better than the Orioles’ first World Series team, and Aaron Gershon is NOT HAVING IT. As far as scandals go, I’d rank this one pretty far down the list.

Reds claim Gausman off waivers from Braves - ESPN.com
It was just over a year ago that the Orioles traded Kevin Gausman for what was perceived as a middling return package from the Braves. Well, the return still might not be great, but it turns out neither is Gausman.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four O’s birthday buddies, only one of whom is still with us: 2007 righty Victor Zambrano, who turns 44. It’s also the birthday of 1967-71 right-hander Jim Hardin (b. 1943, d. 1991); 12-game outfielder Mike Reinbach (b. 1949, d. 1989); and four-game catcher Cam Carreon (b. 1937, d. 1987), whose nickname, sadly, was not “Carreon My Wayward Son.”

On this day in 1959, the Orioles and White Sox played to a 1-1, 18-inning tie before the game was halted because of a midnight curfew. The box score for that game is kind of stunning. The Orioles’ Hoyt Wilhelm pitched 10 innings of scoreless, two-hit relief after Billy O’Dell’s eight-inning start. White Sox starter Billy Pierce pitched 16 (sixteen!) innings. The top three hitters in the Chicago lineup were a combined 0-for-21. And oh yeah, the 18-inning contest was played in four hours. These days, you’re lucky to get through seven innings of a Yankees/Red Sox game in that time frame.

On this date in 1971, Pat Dobson’s streaks of eight straight complete games and 12 straight wins were shattered in a 12-3 blowout loss to the Yankees. And in 1986, the Orioles hit two grand slams in one inning, with Larry Sheets and Jim Dwyer doing the honors in a nine-run fourth inning against Texas. And the Orioles still lost the game!

It’s getting real, folks. The Orioles have allowed 223 home runs this year after their five-spot last night. They’re only 20 blasts away from setting a new franchise record, currently held by the 2017 Orioles. With 50 games left, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the O’s will indeed allow at least 20 more homers this year.

The Birds are also 36 gopher balls away from breaking the all-time MLB record set by the 2016 Reds. Again, I’m going to say that’s plenty attainable. Especially since the O’s have six more games scheduled against the Yankees.

The 2016 Reds gave up a pair of dingers in game No. 112 of their season, with the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina and Matt Holliday doing the honors. The 2017 O’s allowed one in their 112th game, a Mike Trout blast off Dylan Bundy. It happens. The Orioles won the game anyway on a Manny Machado grand slam.