Sunday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles’ chances are pretty much kaput

Hello, friends.

If you hadn’t already given up on the Orioles having a chance to make it into the postseason, yesterday’s loss probably should have been the end of it. The Orioles have gone and lost three straight games to the Yankees while scoring a combined two runs. There’s never a great time in any circumstance to have this happen but it’s especially bad to do it entering the final 20 games of a 60-game season.

Check out Alex Church’s recap of the 2-1 defeat for another account of a quiet O’s offense. One good thing about the game is that Dean Kremer, unlike Keegan Akin the day before, had a decent outing, giving up just one run over five innings.

This leaves the Orioles 4.5 games down to the Yankees with 15 games to play. Mathematical elimination is not upon them yet, but that’s at the point where practical elimination has occurred. If the Orioles finish by going 10-5, a great stretch of baseball, they’d still only reach .500 and need a 4-10 or worse finish by the Yankees to take the last spot. They would also need the Tigers to finish worse than 10-5.

On its own, that would be a tremendous longshot. It’s made even less likely because the Orioles have played at a 10-18 pace against teams who are better than .500, and all but three of the O’s final 15 games will be played against winning teams. So, the Orioles have to play at some kind of miraculous pace against better teams than they are, while hoping for some kind of epic Yankees collapse that, beyond today, they cannot influence even a tiny bit.

Stick a fork in that. It’s done. At least we can hope that some young players who might be able to be a contributor on the next good Orioles team can close out strong and look like part of the future.

The O’s close things out against the Yankees at 1:05 today. John Means and J.A. Happ are the scheduled starting pitchers.

Around the blogO’sphere

Notes on the homegrown outfield and more (School of Roch)
One thing the Orioles still have to figure out is who is going to start Tuesday’s game.

O’s getting big boost from ‘15 draft class (Orioles.com)
Wherever Dan Duquette is these days, he probably wants people to know he told them so.

McKenna soaks it up in taxi squad experience (Steve Melewski)
Yet another member of the 2015 draft class has been along on the taxi squad during this New York trip.

More than confidence is fueling DJ Stewart’s hot stretch (Baltimore Sun)
I hope he hits another six home runs before the season is over. That would be fun!

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1971, Frank Robinson became the 11th player to join the 500 home run club by homering in both ends of a doubleheader against the Tigers. The O’s lost the nightcap in which Robinson hit the milestone.

In 2002, Mike Bordick played a 96th consecutive game at shortstop without committing an error, setting a new American League record over the one that had previously been held by retired former teammate Cal Ripken Jr.

In 2013, Chris Davis hit his 50th homer of the season as the O’s beat the Blue Jays, 5-3. This gave him both 50 homers and 40 doubles in the same season, a feat only previously achieved by Babe Ruth and Albert Belle.

There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1976-86/92 catcher Rick Dempsey, and 1967-69 reserve swingman Mike Adamson.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: physician Walter Reed (1851), Hershey founder Milton Hershey (1857), World War I-era general John Pershing (1860), novelist Roald Dahl (1916), animator Don Bluth (1937), musician Peter Cetera (1944), movie man Tyler Perry (1969), and singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (1977).

On this day in history...

In 1501, Michelangelo began work on the statue of David.

In 1814, a British fleet spent the night bombing Fort McHenry. The American defenders did not surrender, inspiring one Francis Scott Key to write a poem.

In 1942, during World War II, American marines repelled Japanese attacks on Edson’s Ridge on Guadalcanal, a decisive victory, though the battle was fought on until the following February.

In 1985, Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 13. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!