Tuesday Bird Droppings: Orioles loss number five is alive

Hello, friends.

Well this is quite a pickle, isn't it? The Orioles now find themselves mired in their season-worst losing streak at five games. A legitimately good pitcher in Kenta Maeda awaits to pitch to them tonight. They have lost 3.5 games to the Red Sox in the last five days, and what once seemed like the beginnings of a comfortable division lead is so very, very narrow.

The starting rotation is a unit that is a mess and for which there are no answers. The Orioles are having to shuffle minor league relievers on the 40-man up to the big league level on a daily basis. There are basically four long men in the bullpen because they can't get away with any fewer than that.

As the old cliche goes, you're never as good as you look when you're winning and you're never as bad as you look when you're losing. The Orioles now must be desperately hoping that cliche is the truth, because they look really, really bad. Maybe it's the west coast road trip, which has another two games left on it before they can limp back to civilization. What a disaster this is turning into. Things aren't a whole lot of fun right now.

And on that note, let's roll through some links.

Around the blogO'sphere

With rotation struggling, Orioles soon to face ex-teammate and current Dodgers starter Bud Norris - Baltimore Sun
We're all ready for Norris to no-hit the Orioles on Wednesday, aren't we? Because that's about the only way that I can see that going.

Orioles hoping O'Day will be ready post All-Star break | CSN Mid-Atlantic
Not that a lack of Darren O'Day is what's hurting this team right now, but still, I'll be glad when he's back, and if he really is on the way back - note the headline is just "hoping" not that O'Day will "definitely" be back - that is good news.

Forget the John Farrell whispers, Red Sox should focus on upgrading their rotation | FOX Sports
This is Ken Rosenthal's notes column, in which he notes that Orioles attendance is down - though don't pile on him, because he acknowledges that April's crappy weather was a contributing factor, as is a lack of weekend home Red Sox series.

Jones on Kim: "People are eating their words on pointless opinions" - Steve Melewski
Adam Jones remembers all the people who were hating on Hyun Soo Kim in spring training, and he is not amused by those haters.

Revisionist history: Analyzing the Orioles top first-rounders since 2001 (Baltimore Baseball)
This article should not be read if you just ate.

Pirates place Jameson Taillon on DL, will promote Steven Brault - Bucs Dugout
You recognize these names as the player who was drafted immediately before Manny Machado, and one of the players who was traded for Travis Snider. Gosh, how I detest that trade in retrospect...

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are a number of former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2000 short-timer Jay Sturgeon, 2008-10 bullpen lefty Alberto Castillo, another 2000 short-timer, Tim Worrell, 1965-68 Oriole (and '65 ROY) Curt Blefary, and 1958-60 pitcher Arnie Portocarrero.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, your birthday buddies for today include: Civil War-era admiral and torpedo damn-er David Farragut (1801), circus man P.T. Barnum (1810), The News pal Huey Lewis (1950), baseball Hall of Famer Goose Gossage (1951), Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson (1958), The Sopranos actress Edie Falco (1962), rapper RZA (1969), and World Cup champion/gold medal soccer player Megan Rapinoe (1985).

On this day in history...

In 1687, Isaac Newton published his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, in which is contained, among other things, Newton's laws of motion.

In 1809, the French and Austrian Empires waged the largest battle of the Napoleonic wars, as 300,000 men fought in the Battle of Wagram. The French were victorious, and thus ended the War of the Fifth Coalition. The first, second, third, and fourth coalitions all lost too.

In 1937, the meat product known as Spam was first introduced to the market by Hormel.

In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win the singles title at Wimbledon (tennis).

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on July 5 - or at least, until something happens later. Have a safe Tuesday. Go Orioles!