Hello, friends.
The Orioles aren’t quite yet at “need to win every remaining game to make the postseason” territory, but yesterday’s loss puts them ever closer to that point. A golden opportunity was there for them, with a chaotic Blue Jays pitching staff pulling out a bullpen game. They didn’t do much with the opportunity since Kyle Bradish was bad and the offense did less than they should have against that parade of relievers, leading to a 7-3 loss. Check out Paul Folkemer’s recap of the game for more
of the not-so-lovely totals.
One very small silver lining from yesterday’s results is that the Guardians also lost, so the Orioles remain three games back of Cleveland with 13 games to play. They are on the wrong end of the tiebreaker against that team, so it’s an effective four-game deficit. The Blue Jays are also ahead of the O’s, though the O’s do have four more games against Toronto, including today, to change that two game deficit. If the Orioles are lucky, they can get by with 11-2. Maybe it’ll take 12-1.
Obviously, it’s not going to happen. It’s a mere theoretical possibility. The only question is how long it will go before they get mathematically eliminated. On their current trajectory, September 22 is my guess. They are fully capable of playing badly enough to see it happen sooner. They are just as capable of playing well enough to kick it to the final series of the year. The season must be regarded as a disappointment either way.
A much tougher challenge awaits the Orioles today. They’ll be going up against Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays. He has a 2.40 ERA this season and has struck out 227 batters. Sounds pretty good. The Orioles should try having pitchers that good. They counter with Trevor Rogers, who had an even better ERA last year but is sitting at a 4.15 ERA this season. Since June 1, though, Rogers has a 2.88 ERA and 2.78 FIP, which is also pretty good. They’re going to need Good Trevor and then some in today’s 1:37 series finale.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Orioles must make up significant ground for an unlikely postseason berth (Baltimore Baseball)
This was written before yesterday’s loss. The odds got even longer!
Playoff-hopeful Orioles need to ‘turn the page fast’ ahead of crucial finale (Orioles.com)
The Orioles have needed to do a lot of things as this year has gone along and they have not done a whole lot of the things they needed to do.
Bradish irked by “terrible” results as innings climb (The Baltimore Sun)
Between the majors and minors last year, Bradish threw 54 innings. After yesterday’s game, Bradish has thrown 155 innings. One can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection to this and his struggles over the last seven games.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1971, Frank Robinson joined the 500 home run club by hitting a home run in each game of a doubleheader against the Tigers. The Orioles won game 1, 9-1, but lost the second game in which Frank hit his 500th by a 10-5 score. Robinson was just the 11th player in the club at that point in time. There are now 28, none of whom are active players. The closest active player is Giancarlo Stanton at 468 homers.
There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1976-86/92 catcher (and longtime coach and broadcaster) Rick Dempsey, and 1967-69 pitcher Mike Adamson.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: composer Clara Schumann (1819), Hershey founder Milton Hershey (1857), American World War I commander John Pershing (1860), author Roald Dahl (1916), animator Don Bluth (1937), movie maker Tyler Perry (1969), singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (1977), and One Direction singer Niall Horan (1993).
On this day in history…
In 1814, at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there, and Francis Scott Key wrote about it the next morning.
In 1985, the first Super Mario Bros. game was released in Japan. The franchise has nearly two dozen entries today, in addition to many more spinoffs, with a 2023 estimate that the games have sold over 430 million copies combined.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 13. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!
