Monday Bird Droppings: Where it’s time to play the Yankees again

Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! I hope you had a nice weekend. The Orioles had an OK time in Detroit, splitting the four-game with the Tigers to start their road trip. If you missed yesterday’s game, starting pitcher Spenser Watkins definitely pitched better then the box score. You can read about that and the rest of the details of the O’s 6-2 loss in Alex Church’s game recap.

Now the Orioles head to New York for a three-game series with the Yankees. Weirdly, this is the first time the two teams are meeting since May 14-16. It was a nice stretch of not having to see the team, isn’t it? The Yankees were buyers at the deadline and are 2.5 games out of the second wild card spot. I sure hope they don’t get it!

If the Orioles can keep up the way they’ve been playing since the second half began, maybe they help keep the Yankees out of that last playoff spot. At 9-6 since the second half began, the Orioles have actually been pretty fun to watch! I love not feeling like I should turn off the tv in the third inning, don’t you?

Of course, there is a difference between the Yankees and most of the teams the Orioles have played since the break. But I’ll keep the hope up as long as I can.

For more on the upcoming series between the Orioles and Yankees, check back to this website at 10 a.m. for the series preview.

Links

Baltimore Orioles Stat of the Day: Mountcastle Mashing
This isn't so much a story as a paragraph about Ryan Mountcastle. He currently has 17 home runs and 58 RBI, the most for a rookie since Trey Mancini in 2017.

Ramón Urías will be the Orioles’ primary shortstop down the stretch. He could have several double-play partners. - Baltimore Sun
Ramón Urías deserves the chance to play, but who will he be on the field with? Jahmai Jones? Richie Martin? Rylan Bannon? Or you know, Pat Valaika.

Orioles Make Three Roster Moves - MLB Trade Rumors
It can be hard to keep track of all of the Orioles' transactions, so here are the latest ones that took place before yesterday's game. Tanner Scott is hurt, Keegan Akin is back, and Thomas Eshelman is thrown out.

Miami baseball alum Danny Valencia raking leads Israel historic olympic win
Things are going pretty well for the former Oriole in the Olympics.

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies. Parker Bridwell turns 30 years old today. Bridwell appeared in two games for the Orioles in 2016 and was later traded to the Angels for cash. Bridwell had a good season for the Angels in 2017 and everyone was all “Noooo! What is wrong with the Orioles! Bridwell was gonna lead us to the promised land!” But then he was terrible in five games for the Angels in 2018 and hasn’t been in the majors since.

It’s also the 42nd birthday of Matt Riley, who was the first ever Oriole to be younger than me. Now they are all younger than me and have been for some time.

On this day in 1964, Brooks Robinson hit a ball that hit the left field foul pole in Kansas City. The umpire, John Rice, called the ball in play and Brooks was thrown out at third base. After the game the ump was basically like, “oops.”