Friday Bird Droppings: Basking in an improbable win

Happy Friday, Camden Chatters! How about that win last night? Holy cow! I had all but written the game off. I was just sitting on my couch, waiting for the final out to be made so that I could write something sad about the series loss.

Instead, I watched as Kyle Stowers picked a heck of time to hit his first career big league home run. Down 0-2, Stowers hit the dinger off of the normally very tough Liam Hendriks. It was an incredible moment for the rookie and gave the team new life. They went on to win in 11 innings on a long fly ball from Anthony Santander that scored Cedric Mullins, who was acting as the Manfred Man.. You can get the full details on the win in Mark Brown’s game recap.

So where do we stand? Well, the Rays, Blue Jays, and Mariners all won so the Orioles won’t gain any ground. The Rays have won six in a row, which is super annoying, and are currently atop the wild card pile. They are four game ahead of the Orioles with the Blue Jays just a half-game behind them.

In case you want to be annoyed by the Red Sox, they had the bases loaded with no outs against the Blue Jays in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game and couldn’t score. The Blue Jays went on to take the lead in the top of the 10th.

The Mariners remain 2.5 games ahead of the Orioles in that third and final wild card spot. 2.5 games doesn’t feel like a lot, but it’ll be a tough task. Especially with the Orioles headed on the road to place the first place teams in the AL West and AL Central, the Astros and Guardians.

I will be honest with you all, I don’t think our favorite team is going to the playoffs. They just needed to make more progress in the last few weeks and instead they have been treading water.

I’m at peace with it, though. This team is incredible and even if they do fall short as I expect they will, I will look back with nothing but fond memories. This team gave us good, exciting baseball for almost the entire season. They have had three straight winning months!

I do think from time to time about a universe where not only was Adley able to start the year on the team, but also where John Means and Grayson Rodriguez never got hurt. I think in that timeline the Orioles are at the top of the wild card pile, don’t you?

Anyway, back to reality. While the Orioles are playing the Astros this weekend, the Rays are on the road against the last-place Red Sox, the Blue Jays host the Angels, and the Mariners are home against the Guardians. About time they have to play a winning team!

I may think the odds the Orioles go to the playoffs are slim, I will still be scoreboard watching until it’s a done deal.

Links

Chirinos works to be great teammate, saying "It's not about you; it's about the team" - MASN Sports
Robinson Chirinos is an old man by Orioles standards, and he knows how to say all the right things. He gives good hug after home runs, that's for sure.

MLB Pipeline's Jim Callis 'Extremely Skeptical' Orioles Prospect DL Hall Is Starting Pitcher - PressBox
Jim! Why do you say these things? Oh, because they're true? Carry on, then.

Hyde on Wells, Garcia, lineup, and roster expansion - MASN Sports
Tyler Wells is closer to a return, Brandon Hyde wishes he could have more pitcher, and more from Roch Kubatko.

AL ROY Update - Baltimore Sports and Life
Julio Rodriguez for Rookie of the Year? Or should it be Adley?

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies. Today is the 28th birthday of pitcher Tyler Wells. Happy birthday, Tyler! Wells is on the injured list but has been making his way back and hopefully we’ll see back on the team soon. The former rule five pick has put up a very solid season as a starter but has been out since the end of July.

Also celebrating today is 2021 Oriole Maikel Franco. Franco, who is turning the big 3-0 today, is currently playing third base down the road for the Washington Nationals.

On this day in 1966, the Orioles were down 2-0 to the Red Sox when Vic Roznovsky and Boog Powell hit back-to-back pinch hit home runs in the ninth inning. Impressive! The Orioles went on to win in 12 innings.

In 2012, the Orioles traded Matt Lindstrom to Arizona for Joe Saunders. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal at the time, but Hokie Joe became a part of Orioles’ lore when he outpitched ace Yu Darvish in the 2012 Wild Card game, the O’s first playoff game since 1997.