Sunday Bird Droppings: From ugly to uglier for the Orioles

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Remember that modest hot streak the Orioles were on when they played all those bad teams coming out of the All-Star break? Yeah, turns out things have gotten a lot more difficult once they started playing against good teams. Who could have expected such a thing?

This week the O’s haven’t just been bad, they’ve been laughably bad. It started on Tuesday when they got clobbered 13-1 by the Yankees in a horrifically uncompetitive contest. It continued the following night when their defense and bullpen imploded in a come-from-ahead, 10-3 defeat. Friday night saw the Birds blow another three-run lead in an eventual 10-6 loss. And last night was more of the same, with the Orioles hanging around for a few innings before their utter incompetence reared its ugly head again, taking a 12-3 thumping from the Rays. Drew Bonifant recapped the Orioles’ latest blowout.

The Orioles have been outscored 45-13 in their last four games, giving up double-digit runs each time. Their starting rotation is falling apart again, they have nearly no reliable relief pitchers, and last night Pedro Severino (knee) joined Ryan Mountcastle (concussion) on the list of walking wounded.

And things could get a whole lot uglier, if the remainder of the Birds’ schedule is any indication. A whopping 23 of the Orioles’ next 26 games come against teams that are currently over .500, and looking further than that, the Birds have only 11 remaining games this entire season against losing teams.

So strap in, folks. We could be in for an extremely rough ride from here on out.

Links

Quartet inducted into Orioles’ HOF - Orioles.com
There was some celebration to be had last night when a worthy class of Orioles standouts — J.J. Hardy, Mike Devereaux, Joe Angel, and the late Mo Gaba — was honored with induction into the club’s Hall of Fame. Congratulations to all.

Early excitement from Orioles evaporates in 12-3 loss - School of Roch
Roch Kubatko notes that the current Orioles intently watched the pre-game Hall of Fame ceremony from the dugout. If they were hoping to absorb some of that greatness, it, uh, did not work.

Orioles add Mattson to bullpen, cut Greene; Mountcastle could be headed to injured list; Diplán on debut - BaltimoreBaseball.com
The O’s made a series of moves before last night’s game, including recalling Isaac Mattson, who proceeded to allow two runs on a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch. He's fitting right in to this bullpen already.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on this day: 2004-06 right-hander Eddy (not Eduardo) Rodriguez, who turns 40, as well as the late Marlin Stuart (b. 1918, d. 1994) and Johnny Temple (b. 1927, d. 1994).

On this day in 1982, pinch-hitter Terry Crowley smashed a pinch-hit, walkoff grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Royals, 10-6. The O’s had just blown a two-run lead in the top half of the inning, but loaded the bases on an error and two walks before Crowley’s decisive blow.

And on this date in 1996, Eddie Murray hit the 494th home run of his career during the Orioles’ 6-4 win in Milwaukee. At the time, that moved him ahead of Lou Gehrig for 14th most in MLB history. Murray now ranks 27th all-time, with Miguel Cabrera six away from tying him.