Sunday Bird Droppings: The Orioles look for a win to leave Detroit with a series victory

Hello, friends.

We arrive on this, the last day of April, with the Orioles still holding the second-best American League record at 18-9. They remain on pace for 108 wins after 16.7% of the season has been played. They would be tied for the lead if not holding the lead outright in four of the other five divisions. These things are fun facts. One less fun fact still looms: After the first few days of May, the Orioles are going to start playing better teams and they’re going to need to tighten some things up to keep on anything like this great pace.

Yesterday’s doubleheader was a prime example. Dean Kremer had something of a clunker in the first game. You can read Alex’s recap of the game for more on that. In the evening game, even with Grayson Rodriguez turning in the best start of his young MLB career to date and the Orioles taking a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, they still made things interesting. Read my recap of the game to get the ultimately lovely totals for the win.

One last game against the Tigers awaits these Orioles. They’ve already managed to do better than the 1-5 record the 2022 O’s had against a then-bad Tigers team, so that’s good. The season series is in the bag whatever happens. The Orioles have won four of the seven. 5-2 would feel a whole lot better than 4-3, especially with the Tigers sending up a 7+ ERA starting pitcher in Spencer Turnbull.

Just win, baby! The Braves, Rays, and Pirates await in order starting May 5. From that date through May 28, every team on the Orioles calendar is currently .500 or better. We’ll probably have a much better time figuring out what’s for real and what’s maybe just a mirage about these O’s by then.

Around the blogO’sphere

Adley Rutschman on solid plate discipline for him and the team (Steve Melewski)
The Orioles came into yesterday’s doubleheader with the most walks in the American League, at 100. It’s a different era around here right now.

Matt Blood gives Orioles prospect update (Orioles.com)
Farm director Matt Blood offered some thoughts on Heston Kjerstad and a few other farm players.

James McCann is the Forrest Gump of baseball (Baltimore Baseball)
What makes McCann Forrest Gump, apparently, is that he never forgets any of the pitchers who’ve thrown to him. Rich Dubroff got McCann to open up on some of his career highlights recently.

Mountcastle hitting into more bad luck (School of Roch)
The 49% hard hit rate with the results that he’s getting are almost unbelievable.

Why a kitten named ‘Oriole’ is alive because of pitcher Cole Irvin (The Baltimore Sun)
Rescued kitten stories are some of the best feel-good stories.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1967, the Orioles tossed a combined no-hitter but still lost their game to the Detroit Tigers. Starting pitcher Steve Barber pitched 8.1 innings and walked 10 batters. Stu Miller got the final two outs of the losing no-no.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2021-22 pitcher Zac Lowther, 2019 catcher Jesús Sucre, and 1997-99 infielder/Randy Johnson destroyer Jeff Reboulet. Today is Reboulet’s 59th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777), actress Kirsten Dunst (1982), and rapper Travis Scott (1991).

On this day in history...

In 1492, Christopher Columbus received the commission from Spain that enabled his exploring. He was deemed both viceroy and governor of any territory he might discover.

In 1803, the United States completed the Louisiana Purchase from France, more than doubling the land mass of the country in a $15 million transaction.

In 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker.

In 1975, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, leading to the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam and the end of the Vietnam War after nearly 20 years.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on April 30. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!