Sunday Bird Droppings: The Orioles losing streak has now hit a dozen

Hello, friends.

If you decided to do anything other than watch the Orioles play a doubleheader against the White Sox yesterday, you made the correct choice. In the span of two seven-inning games, the O’s extended their current losing streak from 10 to 12 games and pushed a stretch of runners in scoring futility to 0-22. It is very nearly unbelievable, until you look at the roster.

You can read Andrea’s recap of the first game and Alex’s recap of the second game for the not-so-lovely totals as the Orioles fell to 17-35 on the 2021 season. They are currently on pace for a 53-109 season, which would be one win worse than the most recent full season Orioles team mustered. The rebuild is what it is, but it would be nice if that did not have a period of going backward at the MLB level.

In post-doubleheader remarks to media, manager Brandon Hyde said that the past few weeks of Orioles baseball have been “embarrassing at times.” That does sum it up pretty well. They are not hitting. Pitchers not named John Means have generally not been pitching well. The defense has been periodically suspect, especially concentrated around the catching position.

It is unclear when any of this will change. The White Sox series, at least, has been marked by the absence of Trey Mancini for most of the first three games. He could be back in the lineup for the series finale today. But the first nine losses had a healthy Mancini and he wasn’t enough to propel the Orioles to victory on his own. It sucks!

The team is now 2-18 since the Means no-hitter and 5-21 overall in May. As bad as those Orioles teams were, neither the 2018 or 2019 Orioles ever had a full month of games where they won fewer than six games. There are two chances left for the O’s to get a sixth win before May comes to an end. One of those chances comes against the White Sox starting at 2:10 Eastern this afternoon. Keegan Akin and Lucas Giolito are the scheduled starters for the finale.

Around the blogO’sphere

Elias talks trade potential in radio interview (Steve Melewski)
Elias said, “The guys that are on this team and can be on this team for several more years, it’s less likely that we are going to trade them.” He went on to predict a more quiet trade period this year. With the bullpen stinking en masse, there are not many candidates, anyway.

Prospect spotlight: OF Deson is ‘Spiderman’ (Orioles.com)
Mishael Deson was part of the Mychal Givens trade return. He’s expected to make an Orioles organization debut later in the year when the Gulf Coast League gets going.

Orioles losing streak reaches dirty dozen; Hyde is candid about frustration (Baltimore Baseball)
This may well be the story of the 2021 Orioles: “We have some guys we wanted to look at this year. We’re finding out about them from an evaluation standpoint and that’s good. But you want to put a competitive product out on the field.”

Orioles see logic and challenges with short bench (School of Roch)
I would offer the counterpoint that having a 14-man pitching staff doesn’t benefit the Orioles very much when 11 of the 14 pitchers are bad.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1982, Cal Ripken Jr. batted eighth for the Orioles against the Blue Jays after having not played the second game of a doubleheader the previous day. This was the first of his 2,632 consecutive games played.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2013 four-game reliever Jairo Asencio, 1993-95 pitcher Mike Oquist, and Baltimore-born 1962-67 pitcher John Miller. Miller, who pitched in 23 games for the 1966 World Series-winning Orioles, passed away last year at the age of 79.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: voice actor Mel Blanc (1908), King of Swing Benny Goodman (1909), Bob Evans Restaurants founder Bob Evans (1918), football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers (1943), Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello (1964), and musician CeeLo Green (1974).

On this day in history...

In 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake after having been found guilty of heresy by an English-controlled court.

In 1635, the Thirty Years’ War shifted as several German states signed the Peace of Prague, unifying against outsiders. The war went on for another 13 years.

In 1911, the first Indianapolis 500 was held. The winner of the inaugural race, Ray Harroun, drove a Marmon Wasp.

In 1922, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated. Then-Chief Justice William Howard Taft, himself a former president, delivered the dedication, which President Warren G. Harding accepted on behalf of the American people.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on May 30. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!