Saturday Bird Droppings: The Orioles finally won a road game

Good morning, Birdland!

It happened! The Orioles won a road game. An incredible feat for a team that has found scoring runs almost as difficult as preventing runs from being scored in recent weeks.

You do have to give the players some credit for fighting back despite being down 5-1 late in last night’s victory. It would be easy enough to be demoralized and pack it in, but instead they played like a team that truly cared about the outcome. Their three best relievers (Tanner Scott, Paul Fry, and Cole Sulser) pitched like the three best relievers. Matt Harvey lasted 5.2 innings. Austin Hays was clutch. Ryan Mountcastle’s bat stayed pretty hot. And Cedric Mullins did Cedric Mullins-y things.

Of course, the good feelings may not last particularly long as they come right back and play an afternoon game today in Buffalo, where they will have to beat Hyun Jun Ryu, a difficult task for even the best of teams.

Links

Time to celebrate: O’s end road losing streak | Orioles.com
What a miserable stretch that was. It gives the impressions that the 2021 Orioles might not be very good.

Mets Claim Chance Sisco | MLB Trade Rumors
This is one of those situations that is likely best for all parties. Adley Rutschman is the future at catcher for the Orioles. Chance Sisco could stand a change of scenery if his career is to flourish, and he now might get the chance to play for a pretty good Mets team.

As the first woman to serve as Orioles public address announcer, Adrienne Roberson is living the dream: ‘I’m doing what I always wanted to do’ | The Baltimore Sun
You hear a lot about the journeys that professional athletes take to work their way up to the pinnacle of their sport. Roberson’s lengthy voyage from beer vendor to PA announcer for an MLB team might be even more impressive than any of those stories.

How loss, on and off the field, led Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells to the back of the Orioles bullpen | The Baltimore Sun
It feels like the Orioles have found something in Wells. He has been a vital part of the bullpen to this point, but his future could include some starts given his varied mix of offerings. The team could certainly use an arm that can last multiple innings.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Luis Hernàndez turns 37 today. The former utility infielder made his way into 66 games with the Orioles between 2007 and 2008, posting a 60 OPS+ and -0.1 bWAR in the process.
• Mike Griffin celebrates his 64th birthday. The right-handed pitcher appeared in 23 games for the 1987 O’s, earning a 4.36 ERA over 74.1 innings.
• Also born on this day is the late Gene Green (b. 1933, d. 1981). He played in just one game for the Orioles, and it came during the 1960 season.

This day in history

1901 - The Orioles and 4500 fans await the arrival of the Boston Americans, who had mistakenly gone to Philadelphia, unaware that the schedule had been changed. The umpire assigned to the game had traveled to Philadelphia as well.

1977 - The Orioles are on the wrong end of the first shutout in Toronto Blue Jays history, thrown by Pete Vuckovich.