Wednesday Bird Droppings: Where we’re all dazzled by Dylan Bundy

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in third place in the American League East. They remain eight games back of the division-leading Red Sox.

More importantly, the Orioles have now won six straight games to pull themselves up to 1.5 games back of the second wild card-holding Twins. Pending the result of the Angels out west, finishing after I’m writing this, the Orioles might even find themselves with just one team to pass.

Did you watch that game last night? Holy smokes! (I missed it.) Who knew that the Orioles were allowed to have pitching as good as Dylan Bundy provided last night? A complete game shutout! It’s almost unbelievable. He struck out twelve batters as the Orioles beat the Mariners, 4-0. The O’s have now won seven out of ten games.

Check out Stacey’s recap of the game if you haven’t seen it yet, and don’t forget to vote in the Most Birdland Player poll.

A day game awaits this afternoon where the O’s will have a chance to pull off a second straight sweep. If they did happen to win the game, they would end up with a new season-high seven game winning streak. I’m getting dangerously close to starting to feel good about the Orioles, which makes me more nervous than anything.

Around the blogO’sphere

Surging Orioles offense near levels of last season’s record-setting June (Baltimore Sun)
Turns out that when you hit really, really well, good things happen for the team!

As reliever Donnie Hart rejoins Orioles, his heart is heavy for his hometown of Houston (Baltimore Sun)
The Orioles already optioned Hart back to the minors in order to get Bundy back onto the big league roster. Wishing the best to everyone in Houston.

World Series matchups we most (and least) want to see - SweetSpot- ESPN
Orioles-Nationals filed under “Matchups that wouldn’t completely suck.”

Bundy goes distance in 4-0 win (with quotes) - School of Roch
Buck on Bundy, plus a little bit of Bundy on Bundy.

Mancini breaks slump, notes on Hart, minors award winners - Steve Melewski
It hasn’t been the greatest August for Trey Mancini so far, but he’s been showing signs of life lately.

How are the Orioles still alive in the AL wild card race? (FanRag Sports)
I ask myself this question almost every day, although the day after Bundy has thrown a CGSO, it’s much less of a surprise.

And this last one from our friends at SB Nation’s Beyond the Box Score doesn’t directly have anything to do with the Orioles, but...

The Red Sox have an offense problem (Beyond the Box Score)
Doesn’t this headline just make you happy? Where’s Robert Andino?

Birthdays and anniversaries

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today. Give yourself a cookie if you remember 2001 seven-gamer Kris Foster.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Frankenstein writer Mary Shelley (1797), physicist Ernest Rutherford (1871), Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams (1918), McLaren Racing founder Bruce McLaren (1937), funny man Lewis Black (1948), actor Michael Chiklis (1963), and actress Cameron Diaz (1972).

On this day in history...

In 1282, would-be Han Dynasty ruler Chen Youliang joined battle against would-be Ming Dynasty ruler Zhu Yuanzhang in a five-week naval battle at Lake Poyang, setting up the Ming rebels as the force to take over when the Yuan Dynasty later collapsed.

In 1799, a British force captured the entirety of the Dutch fleet during the War of the Second Coalition.

In 1918, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin was shot and badly hurt by an assassin, eventually leading to the “Red Terror” decree.

In 1967, Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first black Supreme Court Justice of the United States.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 30 - or at least, until something happens later, which it surely will, because the Orioles are going to be finishing off their series against the Mariners. Have a safe Wednesday. Go Orioles!