The Orioles are off today as they travel to Miami.
Hello, friends.
The Orioles. (sigh) You can’t win them all, of course, but it would have been nice if the first post-All-Star break loss didn’t demonstrate some more of the same problems with the offense that were plaguing it in the month or so before the break. Instead, they only got five hits on the way to a loss to the Rangers on Sunday afternoon. Check out my recap of the game for more of the not-so-lovely totals.
The silver lining for the series is obvious. Win two out of every three games the rest of the way and the Orioles will be fine. They’re on pace for a 98-win season. They’re the only team in the American League to have reached 60 wins. They’ve got a two game lead on the Yankees, who have lost 20 out of 29 games. The O’s have had their share of issues through the season but they’ve mostly played great baseball even with their problems, and there’s a lot of reason to believe that they can continue to do this.
If the Orioles want to try to shore up some of their problem areas, I won’t mind. There are eight days to go until the trade deadline arrives. That the team has a use for a closer-capable setup man and a #2 or #3 starter is demonstrated with some regularity even while they’ve been winning. The series of questions remains: Who will even be available? Will Mike Elias feel like this person is an upgrade to what’s already here? Will he be willing to pay a possible prospect premium to land that pitcher?
Elias might not even know these answers yet because teams on the fringe of the wild card in either league may not be ready to wave the white flag until this time next week. Only five teams can feel safe in quitting on the season. The rest might as well keep on believing that today’s the day they’re going to start a six-game winning streak to change their fortunes.
Sometimes you even get that winning streak! The 2017 Orioles won seven straight games in late August, at the end of which they were only 1.5 games out of a wild card spot. Given that their two most valuable trade pieces, Zack Britton and Manny Machado, were not in the middle of good years, holding on and seeing what happened (or lightly buying by adding Tim Beckham) wasn’t exactly wrong to do. It just didn’t work out since they went 7-22.
The time between now and the trade deadline will also see the Orioles do a lot of the work towards signing their draft picks. As of this writing, they’ve only inked three of the 21 players drafted. More will be coming after negotiations wrap up and physicals are taken to finalize things. They’ll probably wait to announce the first round pick, Vance Honeycutt, until they’re back at home this weekend.
Although the Orioles have the day off today, their immediate AL East rival Yankees and more-distant-but-present rival Red Sox will both be in action. The Yankees have a 1:05 game to close out their series against the Rays. The Boston squad is in Colorado to take on the Rockies beginning at 8:40 Eastern.
Around the blogO’sphere
Orioles seeking more rotation help for postseason push (Orioles.com)
I would include a link to this article even if it didn’t align with my ongoing comment that Dean Kremer as the #3 starter isn’t the best that the Orioles could be. The fact that Jake Rill agrees with me doesn’t hurt, though.
Orioles fail to complete sweep but leave Texas after strong showing (The Baltimore Banner)
The Banner’s Danielle Allentuck goes through some of the silver lining from the series. Yesterday’s loss was disappointing but it was a positive series overall.
O’Hearn provides update on sore knee, Kjerstad relieved to be playing again after concussion (School of Roch)
I was surprised to see Ryan O’Hearn pinch hit and play a little left field yesterday after his being hit in the kneecap on Saturday.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There is one lone former Oriole who was born on this day. Happy 30th to 2017-21 reliever Tanner Scott. There are those who would like him to be a 2024 Oriole as well.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Statue of Liberty poet Emma Lazarus (1849), longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek (1940), actor Danny Glover (1946), wrestler Shawn Michaels (1965), and singer/actress Selena Gomez (1992).
On this day in history…
In 1793, Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie arrived at the Pacific Ocean after crossing by land through present day Canada, completing the first recorded crossing of the North American continent.
In 1812, the future Duke of Wellington led a British, Portuguese, and Spanish force to victory over the French in the Battle of Salamanca. A key engagement in the Peninsular War, this French defeat led to Napoleon abandoning southern Spain.
In 1893, poet Katharine Lee Bates composed the song “America the Beautiful,” sung during the seventh inning stretch of some weekend Orioles games to this day. Her inspiration for the song was a recent visit to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 22. Have a safe Monday.