Friday Bird Droppings: The O’s embarrassed the Yankees, and we’re so here for it

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Was it really just two days ago that the Orioles were in the midst of a team-wide offensive slump and had lost six of seven? It’s amazing how a couple of wins can dramatically improve a team’s outlook — especially when one of those wins is an utter destruction of the Yankees in front of their shell-shocked fans.

Last night’s series finale was the Birds’ most dominant victory of the year, with the offense setting season highs in runs (14) and hits (20), led by Gunnar Henderson, who was 4-for-4 with two home runs by the fourth inning alone. Literally every healthy O’s hitter joined in on the fun, with 10 different players notching a hit — including James McCann and Jorge Mateo, who came off the bench — and the one who didn’t, Colton Cowser, reaching base three times on two walks and a HBP. Pretty much every Orioles batter who’d been slumping busted out of it on the same night. Add that to Kyle Bradish’s six shutout innings, and it’s a recipe for a good time. John Beers recapped all the fun. Meanwhile, I’m sure that Yankee fans had a calm, reasoned response to their team’s horrific defeat.

The Orioles, whose lead for the top wild card spot had gotten a bit close for comfort after dropping the first two games of the series, will leave New York in exactly the same position as they began it, with a four-game lead over the Yankees. Just one series, a three-game rematch with the Twins in Minnesota, remains before the All-Star break. The O’s are guaranteed to finish the first half at least 13 games over .500, but after picking up some momentum with last night’s big win, they’ll be aiming a bit higher than that.

Links

Henderson leads Orioles’ 20-hit parade in 14-1 victory - School of Roch
The Orioles’ 14-spot was their highest run total at Yankee Stadium since 2014. That was a pretty good year, as I recall.

Orioles’ Hays plans to play in All-Star Game; Henderson reaches out to injured camera operator - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Austin, it would be awesome to see you play in the All-Star Game, but don’t try to be a hero and force it to happen if you’re not fully healthy. The Orioles need you in the second half.

Cleveland Guardians And Baltimore Orioles Complete Trade - Sports Illustrated Cleveland Guardians News, Analysis and More
Chris Vallimont is gone from the organization after one appearance, joining the illustrious list of one-and-done Orioles alongside the likes of Jay Flaa, Zack Burdi, and Radhames Dykhoff. Best of luck, Chris.

Is this the year the O’s draft a pitcher in the first round? - Steve Melewski
MLB Pipeline;s Jim Callis is still beating the Hurston Waldrep drum for the Orioles, but the O’s are of course being coy. Meanwhile, I’m still not convinced that Hurston Waldrep is actually a person’s name.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! The only player in O’s history with a July 7 birthday is Tim Nordbrook (74), a Baltimore-born infielder who was drafted by his hometown club in the ninth round in 1970. He played parts of three seasons with the Birds.

On this day in 1995, the Orioles acquired veteran right-hander Scott Erickson from the Twins for two minor leaguers. Erickson ended up being an integral part of the O’s rotation for more than a half-decade, and while his numbers weren’t eye-popping, he was durable, working 220 or more innings four times (including a league-leading 251.1 in 1998).

And on this date in 2007, O’s ace Erik Bedard pitched the most dominant game of his career — and one of the best in Orioles history — with a two-hit, 15-strikeout shutout in Texas in which he faced the minimum 27 hitters. The only two baserunners he allowed, both on singles, were erased on double plays. Bedard’s game score for that performance was 98, tied for the fourth-best ever for an O’s pitcher.

Random Orioles game of the day

The random number generator spat out the number 2018, so I guess we have no choice but to revisit that brutal season. On July 7 of that year, the Orioles lost. Imagine that! Despite jumping out to a 3-0 first-inning lead in Minnesota, the O’s coughed it up when the Twins scored three in the fifth off starter Kevin Gausman and two in the sixth against reliever Miguel Castro. Chris Davis homered but also struck out, becoming the all-time strikeout leader among O’s hitters with 1,306. The winning pitcher for the Twins was current Oriole Kyle Gibson, who worked seven strong innings after that hiccup in the first.

The loss was the Orioles’ fifth in a row, already marking the Birds’ eighth losing streak of five games or longer that season. And they hadn’t even gotten to the All-Star break! Their record was 24-64. Goodness, that team was bad.