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Hello, friends.
Another day dawns with the Orioles in second place in the American League East, a half-game behind the New York Yankees, who apparently will never lose again, not even in an 18-inning game on Sunday or the Monday game after that 18-inning game.
This is unfortunate for the Orioles place in the standings right at this moment,but they can’t worry about that too much. All they can do is win as many games as possible and the rest will sort itself out. They were able to take the series opener against their Washington neighbors on Monday night as Kevin Gausman turned in his first quality start of the season.
If you haven’t read Stacey’s recap of the 6-4 win yet, check it out here, and if you like it, could you do us a solid and share it on social media? And don’t forget to vote for the Most Birdland Player poll!
A tougher test awaits the Orioles tonight. Ubaldo Jimenez facing Max Scherzer seems like a reverse lock if ever their was one. The limits of the American League’s general superiority over the National League will truly be put to the test.
In a quick non-baseball note, a congratulations for the Capitals fans of Birdland that your favorite hockey team survives another game. I hope they can complete the comeback in Game 7 on home ice.
Around the blogO’sphere
Orioles and Nationals have the annually distressing interleague blues - Baltimore Sun
Peter Schmuck points out that the O’s and Nats are unfortunate to have to play one another while some of their competitors get to play crappy teams. The Yankees, for instance, will get four games against the dysfunctional Mets.
Nationals Matt Wieters gets standing ovation | MLB.com
Wieters’ former home crowd offered him a friendly greeting in his return to Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles put together a nice video package for him as well.
Wieters on his return to Camden Yards - School of Roch
If you can believe it, Wieters had some thoughts on returning to Baltimore as an opposing player, which he gave in pre-game comments to media on Monday.
Source: Britton's second opinion same as first: Left forearm strain, no elbow damage - BaltimoreBaseball.com
There is some good news about the Orioles closer here, though he’s still probably going to be gone for at least a month.
Kevin Gausman on his outing, plus other clubhouse quotes - Steve Melewski
This was the first quality start of the year for Kevin Gausman, and man, he really needed it. He could use one next time around, too. But that’s something to worry about in a few more days.
The Death of the Sinker | FanGraphs Baseball
This article isn’t about the Orioles specifically, although Britton is briefly name-dropped. But it’s interesting because it seems like the O’s focused on finding sinker guys in last year’s draft. So perhaps they’re zagging while everyone else is zigging.
Birthdays and anniversaries
On this day in 1961, Orioles slugger Jim Gentile became just the third player ever to hit grand slams in consecutive innings in a game against the Twins. Gentile added a sacrifice fly later and finished the game with 9 RBI.
A pair of former Orioles have birthdays today: 1979 six-gamer Tom Chism and 1984 12-gamer Ron Jackson.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Harper’s Ferry raider John Brown (1800), Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie (1860), actress Candice Bergen (1946), piano man Billy Joel (1949), baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn (1960), hockey Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman (1965), and Wu-Tang rapper Ghostface Killah (1970).
On this day in history...
In 1386, England and Portugal formalized an alliance in the Treaty of Windsor, an alliance that still survives today and represents the world’s oldest such pact.
In 1865, Confederate General and later Ku Klux Klan member Nathan Bedford Forrest surrendered his forces in Alabama.
In 1945, the last German Instrument of Surrender was signed at the Soviet Army’s headquarters in Berlin. The Germans had surrendered to the Western Allies the day before.
In 1974, the House Committee in the Judiciary opened the formal impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon as a result of the Watergate scandal.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on May 9 - or at least, until something happens later, which it surely will, since the Orioles are playing later, but no guarantees it will be good with Jimenez pitching. Have a safe Tuesday. Go Orioles!