Sunday Bird Droppings: The Orioles found a way to lose another of “those” games

Hello, friends.

The Orioles are a very bad baseball team. This is not a shocking or controversial statement to anyone reading it. Yet how do they still manage to surprise us even when we know that they are bad? Yesterday’s 10-7 loss to the Blue Jays, where the team squandered a 7-4 lead in the ninth inning, was nearly unbelievable even with low expectations for these jabronis. And still they lost. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the latest disappointment for the not-so-lovely totals.

Perhaps we are the fools for believing that Paul Fry would be up to the challenge of picking up the easiest full inning save that exists, getting three outs before giving up three runs, all while facing the bottom of the Temporarily Buffalo lineup. Surely we are the fools for believing that the recent run of success from Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells meant that he would be able to come in to a bases loaded situation and get the big outs.

Maybe it’s not even fair to blame either one of those pitchers, because the game-tying hit off of Wells came on a little flare that Statcast judged as having a .180 expected batting average, so right fielder Anthony Santander really should have been able to catch it. But he did not, either because his still-hobbled ankle kept him from getting into the ideal position or because the sun was in his face and his sunglasses were on his hat. I don’t really know, but it sucked.

Losses like yesterday’s are the kind that make me think, well, if I have to watch the Orioles lose games like this, they might as well get the #1 pick in next year’s draft out of it. Despite their abysmal 23-47 record, they are still not in position for that pick! The Arizona Diamondbacks entered Saturday with a 20-51 record and a 15-game losing streak. That is also a very bad baseball team. We’ve got another three and a half months or so to figure out who is worse.

Matt Harvey takes the mound for the Orioles as they try to still pull off a win in this home series at 1:05 today. Is Harvey capable of pitching well enough to give the O’s a good chance to do that? Recent experience tells us that he is probably not capable of that. The offense will need to saddle up again.

Around the blogO’sphere

How could Orioles’ catching changes impact 2022? (School of Roch)
Roch thinks the O’s are likely to turn to a veteran to back up Adley Rutschman’s inevitable arrival next year, which seems like a pretty good guess to me.

Cedric Mullins star turn for Orioles has All-Star campaign heating up: ‘He’s gotten better in every single way’ (The Baltimore Sun)
Mullins pulled into a tie for the team lead in home runs with his 12th of the year yesterday. It’s going to be a shame if he doesn’t make the team.

Wells’s confidence fueling recent success (Orioles.com)
The round of stories about Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells looked a lot more interesting before yesterday’s game than after. If Santander had been able to make a game-ending catch on what looked like a catchable ball, it might be different.

O’s open to Tyler Wells as starter (Steve Melewski)
Between them, Mike Elias and Brandon Hyde answer a lot of questions by saying they’re open to a lot of things that are never going to happen. I have a suspicion this is one more thing in that category.

For Orioles prospect Drew Rom, ‘great to be back’ (Press Box)
Rom has a 37-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio for High-A Aberdeen so far this year. I like that! I will like it more if he can bring the ERA down below its current 3.93.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

The most recent Orioles win on this date came in 2018, when five pitchers combined for a five-hit shutout of the Nationals to improve the Orioles record to 21-51. Miguel Castro was the winning pitcher for the O’s.

One current Oriole has a birthday today. Happy 27th to Thomas Eshelman, who is probably hoping for some more big league starts as a belated birthday present. Also born on this day: 2011-12 reliever Kevin Gregg, 2007 catcher Paul Bako, 2008 shortstop Juan Castro, 1985 two-game pitcher Phil Huffman, 1977 four-game pitcher Tony Chevez, and 1962-75 catcher Andy Etchebarren.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: “Mr. Guitar” Chet Atkins (1924), actor Martin Landau (1928), TV home improvement man Bob Vila (1946), singer-songwriter Lionel Richie (1949), and actress Nicole Kidman (1967).

On this day in history...

In 1631, Baltimore (Ireland) was sacked by Barbary pirates, with many occupants of the village carried off as slaves.

In 1863, West Virginia was admitted to the Union, becoming the 35th state.

In 1944, the largest carrier vs. carrier battle in naval history, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, ended after two days with a significant American victory. Three Japanese carriers were sunk in the battle and over 500 aircraft were lost. The US Navy suffered no ship losses while losing less than 150 planes.

In 1975, Jaws was released into theaters. The film made nearly half a billion dollars at the box office, a record at the time, on a budget of $9 million. It’s now regarded as the beginning of the “summer blockbuster” movie trend.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 20. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!