Tuesday Bird Droppings: The Orioles bashed their way to win #80

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

It appears the Orioles have found their bats. Turns out they were waiting in Boston all along.

The O’s washed away the bad vibes of their two straight losses to the Astros with a hard-hitting victory over the Red Sox last night, tying a season high with five home runs in a 14-8 slugfest. For those who weren’t able to stay up past midnight to finish watching this rain-delayed slog of a game, Tyler Young’s recap has got you covered on all the fireworks.

The win, by the way, snapped one of the most bizarre streaks in all of sports. The Orioles finally won a game in which Anthony Santander hit two home runs, after going 0-8 the first eight times he’d accomplished the feat. How does that even happen? I can’t wrap my mind around it.

The Birds now have 80 wins, one victory away from guaranteeing a .500 season and two away from a winning record. They’ve got three more games to hopefully rough up a Red Sox pitching staff that looked dreadful in the series opener (not that the Orioles presented a master class in pitching last night, either). Then it’s off to Yankee Stadium for three — where we can only hope Aaron Judge will have already hit his 61st and 62nd homers, so the O’s won’t have to worry about being the victims of any milestones — and back home against the Blue Jays to finish the season.

If last night’s offensive explosion was any indication, the Orioles could make these last nine games a whole lot of fun.

Links

Jordan Lyles: Much more than innings eater for the 2022 Orioles - Steve Melewski
Jordan Lyles’ teammates can’t say enough about how valuable a mentor he’s been to the young pitchers. Whether that’s important enough to justify picking up his $11 million option is a decision the Orioles will have to make this winter.

How a group of Orioles prospects leveraged their bond to excel on the field this summer - Maximizing Playoff Odds
Jon Meoli writes about the unlikely friendship between four O’s prospects from different backgrounds playing at different levels of the minors. Hudson Haskin sounds like the awkward one of the group, which I find quite relatable.

Orioles trying to get young pitchers through September grind - School of Roch
Baseball seasons are really long, you guys. And some of the Orioles’ young pitchers are feeling the effects of an unprecedented workload.

Orioles option Akin to Norfolk, recall Gillaspie; Urías, Vavra out; Henderson slumping - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Taxi squad catcher Cam Gallagher grew up as an Orioles fan watching Cal Ripken Jr. play. Hey, so did I! Then Gallagher became an MLB-caliber athlete while I, uh, didn’t.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And a very happy 92nd birthday to Dick Hall, a member of the Orioles Hall of Fame and two-time World Series champion who was the anchor of the Birds’ bullpen for nearly a decade. Enjoy your day, Mr. Hall! Other former Orioles born on Sept. 27 include right-hander Carlos Lopez (74) and one-game lefty Radhames Dykhoff (48).

Speaking of Dick Hall, on this date in 1970 — his 40th birthday — he pitched three perfect innings of relief to earn his 10th win, and would go on to finish the season with more wins (10) than walks (six), the first pitcher in 51 years to do so.

The Orioles’ last win on this date was in 2020, when they concluded their pandemic-shortened season with a 7-5 victory over the Blue Jays in Buffalo, finishing with a 25-35 record. Cedric Mullins hit two triples in the game, driving in two runs from the #9 spot, while five Orioles relievers combined for six innings without allowing an earned run.

And this day in 1996 was one of the darkest chapters in recent Orioles history, as O’s second baseman Roberto Alomar spat in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck during a first-inning argument. Alomar received a five-game suspension for the incident — widely regarded as too light a sentence — and didn’t have to serve it until the following season, making him eligible to play in the ‘96 postseason with the Birds.