Saturday Bird Droppings: Winning north of the border

Good morning, Birdland!

Anytime the Orioles play the Blue Jays the title for the AL East’s premier feathered mascot is on the line. So far in 2023, our O’s have the edge after winning the first meeting of the year 6-2.

It wasn’t perfect. It turns out Yennier Cano is, in fact, human. His formerly flawless ERA is now a horrid 0.40 on the season, a reflection of the one run he allowed on Friday in Toronto. What a disappointment. How can Brandon Hyde even trust him in big moments anymore?

All jokes aside, Cano wasn’t THAT bad. His sinker even had a little extra juice on it, and he did manage to strike out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in a big spot. We are just so used to him being impenetrable that the slightest struggle came as a shock. He’s gonna be fine!

Ryan Mountcastle’s career-long assault of the Jays continued with yet another home run. He entered the day with a .323/.381/.634 batting line against the Jays all-time. The long ball and walk he worked on Friday will improve that even further.

And how about Kyle Gibson? Sure, this Blue Jays lineup is not currently playing up to its potentially, but it is still chock full of some notable names and a few guys with an OPS near .900. Getting through seven innings and allowing just one run is impressive.

Let’s keep things simple from here and wrap up the series win today. OK? Anything beyond that is a nice little bonus.

Links

After ‘trying to be perfect’ for Orioles, Gunnar Henderson gets his rookie season off the ground | The Baltimore Sun
Don’t count Gunnar Henderson out of the AL Rookie of the Year voting just yet. His overall numbers still aren’t terribly pretty, but they are trending in the right direction, and he is going to be a force in the middle of the Orioles’ lineup soon enough.

Mountcastle continues to dominate at plate vs. Toronto | MLB.com
Some of Mountcastle’s bad luck is turning around this season. His slugging percentage is up more than 40 points, and he’s well on pace to crush last year’s home run total. Now if he could walk juuuuuust a little bit more often.

Why the Orioles will be MLB’s next dynasty | FOX Sports
I’m not really sure why Ben Verlander is a thing beyond his last name, but alas he is. And he said some nice things about the Orioles. So, thanks? I will take a trip to the playoffs and one postseason series win for now and be plenty happy.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Ramón Hernández turns 47. The catcher spent three solid seasons with the O’s from 2006 through 2008. During that time he had a .264/.328/.427 batting line and 7.3 bWAR.
• Gordon Dillard is 59. He tossed three innings for the 1988 Orioles.
• David Wells celebrates his 60th. The lefty spent time all over the AL East, including the 1996 season with the O’s. He had a 5.14 ERA over 224.1 innings in Baltimore.

This day in O’s history

2014 - Chris Davis doubled his season home run total by hitting three long balls in one game as the Orioles beat the Pirates 9-2.