Friday Bird Droppings: The road woes continue for the Orioles

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Well, any positive momentum from the Orioles’ series win against the Yankees last weekend faded quickly. Against a threadbare Athletics club full of no-names, which became even no-namier after a few players landed on the Covid-19 IL, the Birds dropped three out of four games in Oakland to fall to 4-9 on the year.

In a reversal of form, the O’s scored four runs — their second-highest total of the year — but gave up six, only the second time this season they’ve allowed more than five runs. Harrison Jozwiak recapped the unsuccessful series finale.

Between the Oakland series and their season-opening sweep in Tampa Bay, the Orioles fell to 1-6 on the road this season, and it’ll be a minute before they return to the friendly confines of Camden Yards. The O’s continue their west coast trip tonight with three games against the Angels, where, thankfully, they won’t have to face Shohei Ohtani as a pitcher. They will, however, have to face him as a hitter, so good luck.

After that, it’s off to Yankee Stadium for three, where the Bombers will surely be looking for revenge after the O’s upended them in Baltimore last weekend. Let’s hope the Orioles spoil their plans — and learn how to win some games on the road in the process.

Links

Mancini on his ejection as O’s fall at Oakland - Steve Melewski
Trey Mancini was tossed out of a game for the first time in his career after a controversial call at first base, but he hopes his ejection can “light a little bit of a fire” under the Orioles. I’m not sure that's a thing, but hey, maybe it can.

How Orioles reliever Dillon Tate turned one pitch into two — and made his others better in the process - Baltimore Sun
This article was posted hours before Tate had his worst outing of the year, giving up two runs to the A’s yesterday. But he’s still been pretty good overall, and Nathan Ruiz explains how.

‘We understand what it’s like’: How the Orioles are supporting Delmarva's international core - Maximizing Playoff Odds
If you hadn’t noticed, the Shorebirds' roster consists overwhelmingly of international players, but the Delmarva coaching staff is doing everything it can to help the youngsters feel right at home. These are the kinds of things that fans don’t really think about but can make a huge impact on an organization.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on this day: left-hander Jimmy Key (61), righty Dave Schmidt (65), and the late catcher John Orsino (b. 1938, d. 2016).

The Orioles haven’t won a game on this date since 2017, when Trey Mancini and Jonathan Schoop homered to support starter Jayson Aquino, who threw six quality innings to pick his first — and what would be his only — major league win.

And April 22 was a good day for Nick Markakis, who picked up game-winning hits on this date in back-to-back seasons. In 2012, he stroked a 10th-inning RBI single to give the O’s a 3-2 win over the Angels, the second of what would be 16 straight extra-inning wins for the Birds that year. And in 2013, Markakis walked off the Blue Jays with a run-scoring hit in the bottom of the ninth.