Good morning Birdland,
It looked like the Orioles were still operating on east coast time and up past their curfew in the 3-1 loss to the Mariners on Tuesday night
.The first inning was somewhat encouraging. Taylor Ward opened with a double and later scored on a Samuel Basallo single. But the entire lineup collected just one hit for the final eight innings. Brutal. It was an almost identical experience to the last time they faced Logan Gilbert, which was just a few days ago in Baltimore.
At least Brandon
Young was good again, though not as dominant as he has sometimes been. Still, it was another quality start (six innings, three runs, four hits, four walks, two strikeouts) for the sophomore, who still sports an impressive 3.18 ERA on the year.
Because the Orioles offense was so bad, the game also wrapped up rather quickly. It took just two hours and 18 minutes from first pitch to final out. So if you did make the poor decision to stay up and watch this game, at least you still made it to bed at a somewhat reasonable time.
This west coast swing is just getting started, unfortunately. There are eight games left on this road trip, including two more in Seattle. Kyle Bradish will be on the bump tonight, and the Orioles could use a return to form for the righty. He has allowed 10 runs over his last two starts (eight total innings). They need more from him, though he is far from the only one that has hid the skids recently.
These next few days, much like the lengthy home stand a couple of weeks ago, feels make or break. If they can go .500 or so on this road trip, they will be in a good spot. If they fall apart, it could make sense to start looking towards July with a sellers’ eye.
Links
O’s get their closer back as Helsley returns from IL stint | Orioles.com
In case you missed it, Ryan Helsley is back with the Birds. Anthony Nunez was sent down to Triple-A Norfolk to make room. The O’s closer says he is without pain and felt good during his two rehab outings. It’s tough luck for Nunez, who has had a rocky (but often impressive) first taste of the majors this year. He also has all of his options remaining, so he is the easiest member of the group to send down to Norfolk for now.
Digging into the mailbag | Roch Kubatko
Nothing major in here, but it does include injury and rehab updates for several notable Orioles. The Orioles could use the help, though most of their success will be determined by the players already on the roster. They need their stars to perform more than they need their complementary players to get healthy.
Jon Meoli: How Blaze Alexander and Coby Mayo fixed both their seasons and the Orioles’ third base problem | The Baltimore Banner
Alexander and Mayo have shown themselves to be major league caliber players. But are they third base starters on a competitive team? Eh, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Even still, the outputs have been better recently, and that is worth appreciation.
Manny Machado: ‘I’ll always be an Oriole at heart’ | Baltimore Baseball
Manny wasn’t here long enough to get his number retired, and he won’t go into the Hall of Fame as an Oriole. But his contributions to the organization are still sizable. He will likely get a spot in the Orioles’ Hall of Fame someday, and when people look back at his career it is undeniable that many of his biggest moments came in orange and black.
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
Orioles birthdays
- Shane Baz turns 27 today. The Orioles traded for him this past offseason, and then handed him a big extensions. So far, his performances have been mixed, though the potential remains evident.
- The late Dave Pope (b. 1921, d. 1999) was born on this day. He spent parts of two seasons with the Orioles from 1955-56, playing in 98 total games in that time.
This day in O’s history
2005 – Orioles star Miguel Tejada plays in his 822nd consecutive game, tied for the ninth-longest streak in MLB history.
2008 – Top prospect Matt Wieters hits his first career home run as the Orioles beat the Mets 6-4.
