Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles humiliated the Yankees

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Whatever else may happen this season, whatever else has already happened this season, at least the Orioles have this: they went into a festive Bronx atmosphere last night and completely trounced an utterly hapless-looking Yankees team.

Yeah. That was fun!

The Yanks were playing their first home game since acquiring big-name sluggers Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo at the trade deadline, and a crowd of nearly 30,000 was ready to get loud and cheer on their club’s resurgence into postseason contention. Instead, the O’s stunned them into silence, scoring seven runs even while going hitless with runners in scoring position. The Birds based four home runs and ran the bases with reckless abandon, showing the type of energy and spark that the moribund Yankees couldn’t come close to matching, while Jorge Lopez conquered his fifth-inning demons for a quality start despite five walks. If you missed any of the fun — including a hijinks-filled cat chase in the bottom of the eighth inning — check out Tyler Young’s recap of the action.

After the game, the night got even worse the Yankees when ace Gerrit Cole was scratched from tomorrow’s scheduled start after testing positive for COVID-19.

I wrote in the series preview that nothing would be funnier than if the Orioles could sweep the Yankees in what was supposed to be their joyous homecoming. The odds are still against that happening, but they’re one-third of the way there. The Orioles are 10-6 since the All-Star break, and it’s actually fun to watch them play baseball right now, something that often hasn’t been the case this year.

Links

López goes six innings, Orioles hit four homers in 7-1 win - School of Roch
Roch Kubatko has more details about the Orioles’ decisive win, including the bizarrely effective performance that was Jorge Lopez’s outing.

Looking back at Orioles trades from 2018 - Orioles.com
After review, Joe Trezza comes to the same conclusion that our Andrea SK did last week: those 2018 deadline trades were pretty much a disaster for the Orioles.

Orioles Release Three Players - MLB Trade Rumors
Case in point: two players acquired in those 2018 deals were released in one fell swoop yesterday after providing almost no value to the Birds. It was not Dan Duquette’s finest hour.

Minor Monday: Jahmai Jones could be nearing promotion to Orioles - BaltimoreBaseball.com
This article (and its headline) was published before the Orioles called up Richie Martin, who has played only 18 minor league games this season, once again giving Jones the short shrift. Seriously, what does the guy have to do?

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! It’s the 38th birthday of 2011-12 infielder Mark “The Sherriff” Reynolds, who hit some prominent dingers during that magical 2012 Orioles season. Also born on this day was 1955 O’s right-hander Dick Hyde, who died last year at age 91.

On this day in 1960, down to the White Sox in the ninth, the O’s both tied and won the game on triples. Jackie Brandt’s two-out triple in the ninth knotted the score at five, and in the 11th, Gene Woodling ripped an RBI three-bagger to win a walkoff.

On this date in 1969, O’s lefty Dave McNally, who was a perfect 15-0 entering the game (and had won 17 straight decisions dating back to the previous season), suffered his first loss in nearly 11 months. He carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh against the Twins but was tagged for a fateful grand slam by pinch-hitter Rich Reese en route to a 5-2 defeat. It began a stretch in which McNally went 5-7 in the final two months, but he still finished 20-7 and finished fourth in the AL Cy Young voting.

And August 3 has been a pretty good day for Orioles legend Eddie Murray. On this date in 1977, the then-rookie Murray homered from both sides of the plate, the first multi-homer game of his career, including a go-ahead two-run blast in the 10th to beat Oakland, 8-6. Exactly one year later, Murray again blasted a game-winning, extra-inning homer, this time a solo shot in the 10th against the Brewers for a walkoff win at Memorial Stadium.