Sunday Bird Droppings: The Orioles try to even up their all-time record in KC

Hello, friends.

What a difference a good outing from a starting pitcher makes! The Orioles made their way back into the win column thanks to some solid work from Tyler Wells and some clutch hitting from Tyler Nevin. Do we have any more Tylers we can call on? Camden Chat’s Tyler Young, maybe? It was a nice win! Check out Paul Folkemer’s recap of the 6-4 victory for the lovely totals, and don’t forget to vote in the MBP poll.

The other great thing about yesterday afternoon’s win is that Adley Rutschman had three hits in four at-bats, all batted balls struck at least 95mph or harder. That netted him two doubles and a single for the first three-hit game of his big league career. I’ve been wanting to believe that Rutschman is on the verge of a breakout for a while and I hope that performance turns out to be the start of Rutschman getting on a hot streak.

Perhaps we’ll find out more today - Rutschman was the DH yesterday, so he is probably going to catch today. Although he had the three hits, Rutschman is still seeking his first MLB RBI. With 69 plate appearances under his belt, he’s now passed Chris Owings (68 PA) for most times at the plate without an RBI for the Orioles this year. I didn’t enjoy writing that sentence. This is 48.9% of the way to a Caleb Joseph no RBI season. If Rutschman’s getting hits, it’s only a matter of time until there’s someone on the right base for him - or that he just gets a hold of one for his first big league homer.

The Orioles and Royals are set to close out this four-game set this afternoon at 2:10. A win for the Orioles means they even back up their all-time Kansas City record as well as split this four-game series. Dean Kremer is set to make his second start of the year for the O’s, while Brad Keller, the best Royals starting pitcher to date this season, pitches for KC. Maybe a bad matchup! But maybe the O’s offense will just have a breakout game, who knows?

At 25-35, the Orioles are currently on pace to finish the season 68-94. There are six teams in MLB with worse records than this. If they win today, that will improve to a 69 win pace; a loss would drop the pace to 66 wins as a four-game set in Toronto looms starting tomorrow. Things could start getting worse, so hopefully they can grab another win against these struggling Royals before they get out of town.

Around the blogO’sphere

This, that, and the other (School of Roch)
Among the notes here, Roch says “don’t be surprised if” Kyle Stowers ends up on the Orioles in Toronto. This would seem to be an indication that at least one outfielder is going to land on the naughty list (officially the restricted list) due to the Canadian government not allowing unvaccinated travelers into the country. Other teams have been having to replace players when traveling to Toronto; the O’s schedule has just worked out so their first trip up there isn’t until now.

Orioles place Urías on injured list, recall Martin (Baltimore Baseball)
A tweaked oblique has sent Ramón Urías to the injured list. Manager Brandon Hyde said he’s hoping for only the minimum 10-day stay. I feel like teams say that a lot more often than actually occurs.

Bruce Zimmermann felt he was tipping pitches. The fixes haven’t been so easy to adopt. (The Baltimore Sun)
The Sun has been on top of Zimmermann thinking that he was bombed by the Red Sox and Yankees because they picked up a tell in his delivery of changeups - his best pitch early on. He’s tried to tweak his delivery to avoid this problem, which has been causing him other problems.

A fast start for the dynamic duo with Norfolk (Steve Melewski)
GUNNAR HENDERSON and Jordan Westburg had each homered within their first two games for the Tides. Good way to make an early impression! Westburg homered again last night, giving him an early 1.559 OPS with the Tides. That’ll work. Henderson had a hit and walk last night, with an also-nice .893 OPS after a week there.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 2004, the Orioles played host to the Giants for a doubleheader. In the first game, a 9-6 loss in 11 innings, Barry Bonds homered for San Francisco and Rafael Palmeiro homered twice for the O’s; this marked only the third time in history that members of the 500 home run club hit homers in the same game. The O’s won the second game in 12 innings; Bonds was intentionally walked four times.

The most recent Orioles victory on June 12 was not as far back as 2004. Still a few years back, though, as it came in 2015. That year’s O’s bombed the Yankees, 11-3, to get back to .500 at 30-30. The team reached as high as seven games over .500 by the end of the month before falling back. Chris Davis, Caleb Joseph, and Jimmy Paredes all had three hits in the game for the O’s.

There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1993-95 outfielder Damon Buford, and 1977-80 catcher Dave Skaggs. Today is Skaggs’s 71st birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: actress Priscilla Lane (1915), 41st president George H.W. Bush (1924), jazz man Chick Corea (1941), and model/actress Adriana Lima (1981).

On this day in history...

In 1429, a French army with Joan of Arc at its head won a victory in the Battle of Jargeau, capturing the city as well as its English garrison commander, the Duke of Suffolk. This was the first French victory with Joan on offense.

In 1775, martial law was proclaimed by British general Thomas Gage in the colony of Massachusetts. Gage claimed any colonists who laid down arms would be pardoned, with two exceptions: Samuel Adams and John Hancock would be hanged on capture.

In 1939, the Baseball Hall of Fame opened its doors in Cooperstown, New York.

In 1967, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Loving v. Virginia that any state laws prohibiting interracial marriage are unconstitutional.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 12. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!