Monday Bird Droppings: September is not going as planned

Happy Monday, Camden Chatters!

Well, things have sure gone south in a hurry for the Orioles. After losing three of four to the Blue Jays, they needed to make a statement against the last place Red Sox. They did not, though. Unless that statement is that they are, as a team, fading about as fast as they can. After a win on Friday night, the pitching lost all control on Saturday as they gave up 17 runs. Then yesterday they got great pitching from Kyle Bradish but couldn’t score a single run.

So now what? The Orioles start the week 5.5 games behind the Blue Jays for the final wild card spot and six games behind Rays and Mariners for the other two. They now have just 22 games remaining in the 2022 season.

The good news is that, after an off day today, the Orioles get to play two games against the actual worst team in baseball, the Washington Nationals. They then have another off day on Thursday to travel to Toronto for three games against the Blue Jays. The Jays, meanwhile, are playing five games in four days against the Rays.

The best case scenario is that the Orioles sweep the Nationals while the Rays pull off an incredible five-game sweep of the Jays. That would send the Orioles into Toronto just two games behind the Jays.

Do I think this will happen? No, I do not. I think the Orioles are pretty much toast. But I’ll keep hoping, just in case.

Links

Orioles' offense continues to falter in 1-0 loss to Red Sox; Only 3 hits in 6th loss in 8 games; Bautista talks about arm fatigue - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff has the game quotes from yesterday's loss as well as good news about Félix Bautista's arm (it feels good).

Rutschman lives up to billing - MASN Sports
Let's take a break from feeling sad about the state of the team to read praise of Adley Rutschman, courtesy of Roch Kubatko.

Orioles Claim Cam Gallagher, Designate Rico Garcia - MLB Trade Rumors
Cam Gallagher is a catcher who worked as Salvador Perez's backup from 2017 until he was traded to the Padres as the deadline. Now he has been claimed by the Orioles and optioned to Norfolk. He is a strong defensive catcher. Will his backup work continue next season?

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four Orioles birthday buddies, including current Oriole Kyle Bradish. Bradish turns 26 years old today and despite him pitching seven innings with just one run allowed yesterday, his teammates weren’t interested in giving him a win as a gift.

It’s also the birthday of Keith Hughes (59), who played in 41 games for the 1988 Orioles; Mark Thurmond (66), a pitcher who appeared in 92 games with the Orioles from 1988-89; and Albie Pearson (88), whose nine year major league career included 128 games with the Orioles from 1959-60.

On this day in 1964, both Baltimore’s Frank Bertaina and Kansas City’s Bob Meyer pitched complete game one hitters. The good news is that the Orioles were able to get one run thanks the one hit being a double, followed by a bunt and a sac fly. Orioles won, 1-0.

In 1988, Eddie Murray got his 2,000th career hit. He achieved the 3,000 mark in 1995 with Cleveland.

In 2009, the Orioles defeated the Yankees 7-3 thanks in large part to Brian Roberts’s second-inning grand slam. Roberts also hit his 51st double of the season to set a club record. The winning pitcher was Brian Matusz, who gave up just one run in seven innings.

In 2014, the Orioles swept a doubleheader with the Yankees, yay! But Chris Davis was suspended for 25 games after testing positive for amphetamines, boo.