Saturday Bird Droppings: Even the Orioles couldn’t win forever

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Wait. There must be some mistake. I’m poring over the Orioles’ box score from last night, and it says they...didn’t win? They...scored fewer runs than their opponent? Is that even allowed?

Alas, the impossible has happened: the Baltimore Orioles have lost a baseball game. Their 5-4 defeat to open a three-game series in Tampa Bay was their first loss since July 2 in Minnesota, snapping their epic 10-game win streak. If just one or two small things had gone differently — if Austin Hays had been playing left field instead of Anthony Santander, or if Brandon Hyde had pulled Tyler Wells one batter earlier — the O’s could well have made it 11 in a row. But that’s baseball. Absolutely everything went the Orioles’ way for the previous 10 games, so they were bound to have a night when it didn’t. Check out Stacey’s recap for the highlights, even if, for the first time in nearly two weeks, there is no Most Birdland Player poll in which to vote.

What an incredible run it was. The Orioles’ scalding-hot streak captured the attention of the baseball world and proved that they’ve turned a corner from the hapless pushovers they’ve been in recent seasons. They’re unexpectedly making noise in the wild card race, and even if this doesn’t prove to be the Birds’ year to be postseason contenders, the core of a powerhouse club clearly is beginning to form.

It’s a good time to be an Orioles fan. There’s plenty of room on the bandwagon for anyone who wants to hop aboard.

Links

How the Orioles’ Trey Mancini bonded with a Yankees fan dealing with cancer - The Athletic
Every time you think Trey Mancini couldn’t possibly be more of a class act, a story like this comes along. All the best to Mike Tilley and his brother, Ryan, who is a Camden Chat commenter.

His time to shine: Gunnar Henderson to rep O’s at Futures Game this weekend - Steve Melewski
The legend of GUNNAR HENDERSON continues to grow, as he’ll be the Orioles’ representative in tomorrow’s Futures Game in Los Angeles. I’ll keep my expectations modest and predict only two home runs for him in the game.

Shane McClanahan meets childhood hero Jim Palmer - MLB.com
Rays ace and Baltimore native Shane McClanahan was awestruck upon meeting his childhood hero Jim Palmer. That’s a cool story. Even cooler is that the Orioles won’t have to face McClanahan, the early AL Cy Young favorite, in this series.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! The only Oriole in history with a July 16 birthday is right-hander Eddie Fisher, who won a World Series as a reliever on the 1966 Birds. Mr. Fisher turns 86 years old today.

The last time the Orioles won a game on this date was in 2016, which — just like tonight’s game — took place against the Rays in Tampa Bay. Chris Tillman tossed a gem, working seven innings and allowing just one run, and Brad Brach and Zack Britton followed with a scoreless inning apiece to finish off a 2-1 win. The O’s got both their runs on a J.J. Hardy two-run homer in the second.

And on this day in 1958, left-hander Jack Harshman did it all for the Orioles, not only throwing a complete game but also hitting two home runs to lead a 6-5 win over the White Sox. Harshman was a pretty decent hitter for a pitcher, swatting six home runs that season and 21 in his career.