The Birds are back in town after a .500 west coast road trip.
Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! And happy Labor Day.
It was a pretty good weekend for Orioles baseball, capped off with yesterday’s 6-1 win over the Rockies. Zach Eflin is back from the IL and looked better than ever. He was perfect through five innings and ultimately pitched seven innings with one run allowed. The offense got some timely hits and took advantage of Colorado’s miscues. Coby Mayo is back! He got a hit. And the masked wonder, James McCann, homered and doubled.
You can get all the details of the win in Andrea’s game recap.
Yesterday’s win, combined with a loss by the Yankees, pulled the Orioles to within a half-game of first place in the AL East. The Orioles have currently played one more game than the Yankees. The Yankees will catch up with a game on September 12th when the Orioles are off.
Next up for your Orioles is a three-game series at home with the Chicago White Sox. The 2024 White Sox are one of the worst baseball teams in history. Yesterday they lost their 107th game. They are on a 10-game losing streak, their third streak of at least 10 games this season. One of those was 21 in a row. When the Orioles faced the White Sox back in May the O’s swept them in a four-game series.
This really feels like a chance for the Orioles to put together a feel-good string of games. If you’re worried that this is a trap, you’re not the only one. The way the Orioles have played the past few months leaves plenty of room for doubt. But even a .500 team should kick the stuffing out of the White Sox. So let’s do this.
Links
More on Mayo returning to majors, updates on Vespi and Tate – MASN Sports
If you’re looking for Coby Mayo quotes, Roch’s got ’em.
Orioles’ Honeycutt, O’Ferrall among 2024 picks promoted to High-A – Baltimore Sun
Their stop at Low-A was a short one. Vance Honeycutt, Griff O’Ferrall, Ethan Anderson, Austin Overn, and Ryan Stafford are headed to High-A Aberdeen.
Blue Jays claim Dillon Tate – MLB.com
The Orioles have been lucky with getting guys through waivers this year but they lost Dillon Tate. I wish him well in Toronto, but not too well.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have seven Orioles birthday buddies. Marv Throneberry (b. 1933, d. 1994) played in 121 games with the Orioles, more than any of his fellow birthday buddies. The Orioles traded for Throneberry in June 1961 and traded him away in May 1962.
Jason Hammel turns 42 years old today. The Orioles traded Jeremy Guthrie to the Rockies for Hammel before the 2012 season. The trade wasn’t warmly received by those who liked Guthrie, but Hammel became an integral part of the 2012 postseason team with a 3.43 ERA in the starting rotation.
Also celebrating today are Dusten Knight (34), Rex Hudler (64), John Flinn (70), Nate Snell (72), and Dave Criscione (73).
On this day in 1960, the Orioles defeated the Yankees by a score of 5-0. Milt Pappas pitched a complete game shutout with nine strikeouts. The win pulled the Orioles into a virtual tie with the Yankees atop the American League. Unfortunately they finished the season 12-12, eight games worse than the Yankees.
In 1974, the Orioles swept a Red Sox in a doubleheader with two 1-0 wins. Mike Cuellar and Ross Grimsley both went the distance.
In 2012, the Orioles played the Yankees again. They won 8-2 thanks in part to two home runs from Mark Reynolds. The Yankees used eight pitchers and the game lasted 3:19. The win put the Orioles two games back of the Yankees in the AL East. The two teams both went on to finish the season 19-10.
On this day last year, the Orioles claimed Jorge López on waivers from the Marlins. The vibes were good after the claim but the reunion didn’t go so well. He appeared in 12 games with a 5.25 ERA to finish out the season.
Also on this day last year, the Orioles defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-3. Kyle Bradish pitched six two-run innings and was followed by DL Hall, Jacob Webb, and Joey Krehbiel. Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman homered.