Friday Bird Droppings: On the road after a 5-1 homestand

Happy Friday, Camden Chatters! The mornings seem a little brighter after winning a series against an AL East team, don’t they? The Orioles played an afternoon game yesterday in front of 22,555 fans and sealed the series against the Blue Jays with a 4-2 victory. Andrea recapped the lovely totals, check them out, and vote for Most Birdland Player.

I attended yesterday’s game with my husband and five-year-old daughter. It seemed like a good way to kick off summer break, and we weren’t the only ones with the idea. For a Thursday afternoon, the ballpark was truly hopping. The weather was perfect, it was hot but with a nice breeze. We visited the statues just as Adley Rutschman homered and saw the water from Mr. Splash shooting in the air. It was fun.

But my kid didn’t like the statues at all! It took a minute for us to realize the issue until she said, “I don’t like the frozen people.” She also doesn’t like when Anna turns to ice (spoiler!) at the end of Frozen so she clearly has some issues to work through. We did tell her they weren’t real people, maybe it’ll stick. Anyway, back to baseball.

What an incredible homestand! First the three-game sweep of the Royals, who are absolutely reeling now. They came into Baltimore having lost three in a row; that number now sits at nine. Then the Blue Jays came to town, the best fourth-place team in baseball. The Orioles picked up the series win that had a lot of good moments and trends. I especially enjoyed watching Adley Rutschman’s dominance in the series.

He had been scuffling a bit of late (that’s scuffling for Adley, which is different from regular person scuffling), but he had two days off and came back as good as new. He went 6-for-14 in the series with two doubles and a home run. You love to see it.

After the 5-1 homestand, the Orioles are now back on the road. Their first stop is Chicago, where they will face the fourth-place Cubs at Wrigley Field. No reason the Orioles shouldn’t be able to take that series as well, and we’ll get to see Trey Mancini! Our friend Trey isn’t having a very good year for the Cubs. I wouldn’t hate to see him do well this weekend in his team’s losing effort.

From Chicago, the team will head to Florida for a quick but important two-game series against the Rays, then back home. Let’s keep it going!

Links

Trades ‘always a real possibility’ for Norfolk Tides prospects. ‘It’s baseball. It’s a business.’ – The Virginian-Pilot
Here is a look at the players at Triple-A who are wondering about their future.

Jon Meoli: The Orioles find low-cost production wherever they can get it - The Baltimore Banner
When I read this headline I was worried I'd have to hear some justification or even praising of the fact that the Orioles are winning despite having such a low payroll. But Meoli takes a different route, thankfully, in his examination of how the Orioles look at both their low-cost prospect and their scrap heap pickups.

Everything Looks Like It Comes Easy to Adley Rutschman - Baltimore Magazine
Adley gets the long-form treatment from Baltimore Magazine.

With quicker games and less downtime, Orioles fans approve of new pitch clock: ‘The game just flows now’
I have to say I agree. It's been more successful than I could have imagined.

Two Orioles Fans Went Viral At Thursday’s Afternoon Game - The Spun
Apparently, when your team starts playing well, people start dressing up in costumes for your games. This is after last week when a dude dressed like Andy Reid was sitting behind home plate.

Birthday and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have three Orioles birthday buddies. Joe Saunders, the hero of the 2012 Wild Card game, turns 42 years old today. Chris Gomez, a journeyman utility infielder who spent 2005-07 with the Orioles, is 52 today. And old-timey Oriole, Ernie Johnson, was born on this day in 1924. Johnson’s eight-season pitching career ended with 31 games with the 1959 Orioles.

On this day in 1986, the Orioles traded Dennis Martinez to the Montreal Expos. Martinez, who had been an Orioles for 11 seasons, looked finished that year but went on to reinvent his career with the Expos. He pitched until 1998 when he was 44 years old.

In 2012, Jason Hammel pitched a complete game one-hitter against the Braves. The Braves got their only hit with two outs in the seventh inning. The Orioles won, 5-0.

In 2015, the Orioles hit eight home runs in a 19-3 win over the Phillies. Manny Machado and Chris “Chicken Parm” Parmelee hit two apiece. Also homering were Jimmy Paredes, David Lough, Chris Davis, and Ryan Flaherty.