Saturday Bird Droppings: The Orioles are back up to .500

Hello, friends.

The Orioles were able to momentarily escape their losing streak against the Yankees by playing another team on Friday night. They got to face the Rays, who are by no means an easy team, and got themselves back in the win column and up to .500 with a 6-3 win.

It was a fun one, which is not to say there were no frustrating moments. It’s fun when Hanser Alberto homers, and Pedro Severino, and Anthony Santander. It’s fun when anyone on the team homers, but those were the three guys who did last night. There is some potential on this team.

One big mystery was answered yesterday. Chris Davis re-appeared. It turned out that his absence was a precaution because he was battling symptoms that were actually from some sinus issues. He did not start in Friday’s game, though he pinch hit and struck out twice. He enters Saturday two strikeouts shy of 16th place on the career strikeouts list.

If you’re looking ahead to tonight’s Orioles game, you’ve got to wait until a 7:35 first pitch. Wade LeBlanc and Tyler Glasnow are the scheduled starting pitchers. With a win, the O’s will get back above .500 and guarantee themselves a second three-game series win to begin their season.

Around the blogO’sphere

Hyde on Davis, Iglesias, Stewart, Eshelman, and more (School of Roch)
There was a lot to update on before last night’s game.

Means’ uptick in velocity? A mattress helped (Orioles.com)
Turns out that John Means was hitting 96 the other day because he spent his COVID isolation throwing at a mattress.

Pedro Severino and the worst thing a catcher can do to his hand (Fangraphs)
Sometimes, the Orioles only get noticed when they do something bad.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1994, Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,000th consecutive game, a 1-0 victory by the Orioles over the Twins, with then-starter Arthur Rhodes going the distance for a shutout. There were another nine games before the strike hit and the season ended.

In 2000, Mike Mussina took a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the O’s beat the Twins, 10-0. Mussina finished with a complete game one-hitter for the third time in his career.

In 2003, the Orioles traded Sidney Ponson to the Giants for Kurt Ainsworth, Ryan Hannaman, and Damian Moss. This trade felt significant to me at the time and was ultimately irrelevant.

In 2005, Rafael Palmeiro was suspended after his positive test for the steroid stanozolol was announced.

Busy day. Whew!

Today is the 35th birthday of legendary Oriole Adam Jones. Happy birthday! Also born today: 2002-03 pitcher Travis Driskill, 1975-77 reserve Tony Muser, and 1959 three-game pitcher George Bamberger.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: explorer William Clark (1770), national anthem lyric writer Francis Scott Key (1779), novelist Herman Melville (1819), Yves Saint Laurent co-founder Yves Saint Laurent (1936), rapper Chuck D (1960), and Baltimore-born Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz (1964).

On this day in history...

In 1801, during the First Barbary War, the Baltimore-built schooner USS Enterprise captured a polacca called Tripoli in a battle off the coast of modern-day Libya.

In 1914, World War I spiraled towards the large conflict it became when the German Empire declared war on the Russian Empire.

In 1965, Frank Herbert’s Dune was published. It’s been cited as the best-selling science fiction novel ever written.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 1. Have a safe Saturday. Go O’s!