Sunday Bird Droppings: The Orioles go for a sweep and a sixth straight win

Hello, friends.

The Orioles! Specifically, the Orioles pitching staff. Who would have thought that we would see the kind of results we’ve seen from these guys over the last week or so? Of course, we must keep in mind that the O’s have been going up against a bad Nationals offense for wins two and three of the current winning streak, and a bad Tigers offense for wins four and five, but still: This is cool. The O’s pulled off a 5-1 win on Saturday night to make it five in a row. Check out Stacey’s recap of the game for the lovely totals.

With Saturday’s win, the Orioles are 13-7 on the season so far. That’s a pace of 105 wins over a full season. I’m going to take the under on that one. It’s worth enjoying while it lasts. The team remains 4.5 games back of the Rays in the American League East. They’re in sole possession of second place in the division, holding a half-game edge over the Yankees, 1.5 games on the Blue Jays, and three games over the Red Sox.

This is what the Orioles needed to do against these guys, and so far they’ve done it. It’s fine to be a little wary of what will happen when better teams come along. That’s a problem for later. So far, the O’s are taking care of business against their soft April schedule. Beating the bad teams is something they couldn’t manage as consistently last year and it’s one of the reasons they ultimately fell short of a postseason bid.

Hopefully, the Orioles can keep taking care of business in the series finale against the Tigers this afternoon. It’s going to be Grayson Rodriguez pitching for the Orioles, with former Orioles prospect Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound for the Tigers. Eduardo is coming off of an outing where he held Cleveland scoreless for eight innings while striking out ten batters. Grayson is still looking for his first consistently good MLB start.

It would be nice if the offense can start to pick up some of the slack, especially when the pitchers start facing better teams. There are a number of Orioles who are mired deep in a funk right now. Anthony Santander’s having a tough time. Adam Frazier hasn’t hit much since the opening series. Ryan Mountcastle’s luck sucks. Gunnar Henderson remains below the Mendoza Line even as his OBP is fine.

Maybe today will be their day. The game is set to get under way at 1:35. Check back on Camden Chat then and you can join in our game thread as we root for a sixth straight victory.

Around the blogO’sphere

Injury updates for Tate, Givens (School of Roch)
Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters before yesterday’s game that Dillon Tate will start a rehab assignment with Aberdeen on Tuesday, with Mychal Givens set for his own rehab assignment a few days later.

As Orioles roll, the leash for Gunnar Henderson should keep lengthening (The Athletic)
Some people are strangely ready to shove Gunnar Henderson to the side after what’s admittedly been a weird and not always good first few weeks of the season for him. Dan Connolly, to his credit, is not one of them.

Simple adjustments: Grayson Rodriguez and the evolution of his changeup (The Baltimore Banner)
The changeup will be an important weapon for Rodriguez in the Battle of the Rodriguezes that’s coming later today.

Three keys to Orioles fast start (Orioles.com)
Number one on the list is Adley Rutschman, which checks out.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2022 five-gamer Louis Head, 2009 six-gamer Sean Henn, and 1957 seven-gamer Buddy Peterson.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: playwright William Shakespeare (observed) (1564), 15th president James Buchanan (1791), physicist Max Planck (1858), baseballs Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley (1900) and Warren Spahn (1921), actress Shirley Temple (1928), rock-and-roller Roy Orbison (1936), wrestler/actor John Cena (1977), comedian John Oliver (1977), and model Gigi Hadid (1995).

On this day in history...

In 1014, High King of Ireland Brian Boru led a force that defeated Viking invaders in the Battle of Clontarf. It was a victory for the Irish, but Brian Boru, his oldest son, and grandson were killed in the battle.

In 1985, Coca-Cola unveiled New Coke, which was gone and replaced by the original in fewer than three months.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on April 23. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!