Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Somewhere, on a “Days Since Orioles’ Last Humiliation” sign, a sad-sack intern is resetting the counter to zero.
Look, we all knew that the Birds’ visit to Tropicana Field, home of the American League’s best team with the majors’ best home record, had a strong likelihood of going sideways. But even for the Orioles, their effort in game one of the series was truly pathetic. The Rays’ offense went wild against a parade of O’s pitchers, racking up 18 hits and going 9-for-20
with runners in scoring position, including eight RBIs with two outs. Trevor Rogers accelerated his recent collapse with a dreadful 3.2-inning, eight-run disaster that inflated his season ERA to 6.87, and Cameron Foster and Dietrich Enns were torched for four runs apiece. One of those guys is going to be sent back down to the minors today, but this was the kind of performance that makes you think the entire pitching staff should be sent down with him. Check out Stacey’s recap of all the carnage.
I would say it was a new low for the Orioles, but sadly, it wasn’t even the most runs they’ve given up this season (that was 17, to the Red Sox on April 25). As of this writing, the O’s have the sixth-worst team ERA in baseball at 4.74. Their pitching simply isn’t getting it done, and they’re not getting much help from an O’s defense that continues to struggle at every turn. And the Orioles’ offense — which has scored three or fewer runs in eight of their last 11 games — isn’t nearly potent enough to overcome their other deficiencies. The Orioles have a -54 run differential, worst in baseball aside from the Angels. In that sense it’s almost remarkable that they’re “only” six games under .500.
By this time last season, the Orioles’ hopes of contention were already lost. That’s not quite the case yet in 2026, thanks in large part to a mediocre AL field full of lackluster teams, but the O’s can’t keep playing like this if they hope to be taken seriously for the rest of the season. Something needs to improve. Everything needs to improve. But they’ve got five more games this month against the best team in the AL. And in their first test last night, they failed spectacularly.
Links
O’s activate Holliday ahead of series vs. AL-best Rays – MLB.com
Holliday may well have a bright future ahead of him, but a guy who just posted a .574 OPS in 22 rehab games might not exactly be the shot in the arm the lineup needs right now.
Are Orioles looking for alternatives at 3rd with Westburg out? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
With all due respect to Coby Mayo, looking for a more established third baseman might not be the worst idea. But this reader’s suggestion of Nolan Arenado doesn’t quite move the needle.
…Is he, though?
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Four ex-Orioles were born on this day: right-hander Chris Fussell (50), third baseman Fritzie Connally (68), and outfielders Ken Gerhart (65) and “Disco” Dan Ford (74).
On this date in 1959, Orioles pitcher Billy O’Dell not only got the win with seven innings of one-run ball, but also provided all of his own offensive support by hitting a two-run, inside-the-park homer. In the bottom of the second, he hit a shallow pop down the right-field foul line that bounced over the head of Chicago’s Al Smith, allowing O’Dell to chug all the way around the bases. That provided the margin of victory in the Birds’ 2-1 win.
And on this day in 2006, the O’s signed Melvin Mora to a three-year, $25 million extension. Mora was one of the Birds’ best success stories, a 28-year-old utility man acquired in a July 2000 trade who emerged as an everyday starter and an OBP machine, twice making the AL All-Star team. Mora wrapped up his decade-long O’s career in 2009 and was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2015.
Random Orioles game of the day
On May 19, 1963, the Orioles split a doubleheader against the White Sox at Memorial Stadium. In the opener, the O’s eked out a 4-3 win despite no batter getting more than one hit. Joe Gaines had the biggest one with a two-run homer, and Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio — playing against the team that had traded him four months earlier — had an RBI triple. Another Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts, pitched a complete game for the Orioles and also contributed an RBI single at the plate.
The Birds lost the nightcap by an identical 4-3 score. After the O’s tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on John Orsino’s two-out RBI single, the White Sox went back ahead in the 10th on Pete Ward’s run-scoring triple. Orsino single-handedly carried the O’s offense with two home runs in addition to his clutch single, but it wasn’t enough for a victory.
