The Orioles won two out of three this weekend, but tougher times are ahead
Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! Hope you had a lovely weekend an stayed cool in the heat.
The Orioles spent the weekend winning two out of three from the Rockies. The first game of the series was a downer, but the sting faded with an 18-0 win on Saturday and a 5-1 win yesterday afternoon. I hope you all enjoyed it, because the Blue Jays are coming to town today for four games in three days, and they are really good now. I don’t care for that. They have a 5.5 game lead in the AL East and are 8-2 in their last 10. It could get ugly.
I was at yesterday’s game and was happy to see Tomoyuki Sugano have a nice rebound game after all of his recent troubles. I don’t know if Sugano will be on the team in a week, but I do hope he does well for the rest of the season no matter what uniform he’s wearing.
Speaking of a bounce back, how about Tyler O’Neill? O’Neill was signed to mash lefties for the Orioles, but his early struggles and injuries were a contributing factor to the big hole the Orioles dug for themselves at the start of the season.
To this point, it’s correct to say that his signing has been a disappointment. But since he returned from his most recent IL stint, he has started to look like the player that Mike Elias hoped he was getting. In just 12 games, he’s raised his batting average from .188 to .214 and seven of his 12 hits have been for extra bases. That includes home runs in each of the last three games.
I know, 12 games is a small sample size. And the last three were against the worst team in baseball. I’m not declaring that O’Neill is back to the player he was for the Red Sox last year, but you do have to start somewhere. And maybe this is there? It’s better than watching him flounder, that’s for sure.
Every time O’Neill gets a big hit, I see someone in the comments section jokingly hope he keeps it up so that he’ll opt out of his three-year contract. I get the impulse, but if can hit well enough to be a positive force on team, maybe him sticking around won’t be so bad. Maybe we could hope that O’Neill is turning things around because he could be a big part of the team the next few years. The Orioles will need the hitters.
I do think we just have to live with injuries, though.
Links
Rutschman and Akin ready to rejoin Orioles, plus other notes – MASN Sports
Adley Rutschman should be in the lineup tonight. Welcome back, Adley!
How Cedric Mullins’ possible Orioles’ send-off felt extra special – The Baltimore Banner
Cedric Mullins doesn’t have much time left as an Oriole. He will be missed.
Sugano delivers strong performance ahead of trade deadline in Orioles’ 5-1 win over Rockies – BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff has the details of Tomoyuki Sugano’s strong start yesterday, looks at Coby Mayo’s adjustments, and ponders the trade deadline.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have three Orioles birthday buddies, including Bob Milacki (61). Milacki pitched for the Orioles from 1988 to 1992 and had a key role in the 1989 “Why Not” team, making 36 starts and pitching 243 innings. And until John Means threw his no-hitter in 2021, Milacki was a part of the only Orioles’ no-hitter in my lifetime. In 1991, Milacki pitched six no-hit innings before exiting with injury. Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson, and Gregg Olson closed out the no-no.
Also celebrating today are 2019 three-game Drew Jackson (32) and 2001 relief pitcher Chad Paronto (50).
On this day in 1971, Frank Robinson hit a game-winning home run off Rollie Fingers to beat the A’s, 3-2. Brooks Robinson made three errors in this game, which made up 18.75% of his errors for the entire season.
In 1979, Rich Dauer had two hits in a 5-4 win over the Angels. It’s his 10th straight games with at least two hits. Over that span, he went 24-for-48. His streak did not reach 11 games.
In 1995, the Orioles traded Alex Ochoa and Damon Buford to the Mets for Bobby Bonilla. In 61 games for the Orioles that year, Bonilla OPS’d .936 with 10 home runs and 12 doubles.
In 2000, they traded Mike Bordick to the Mets for Melvin Mora and three others. Bordick re-signed with the Orioles the next season, and Mora went on to have solid career with the Orioles through 2007. He was a two-time All-Star, and in 2004 he led the league with a .419 OBP.
In 2001, Mora celebrated his first anniversary with the Orioles by becoming the father of quintuplets. His wife, Gisel, gave birth to three boys and two girls. That’s right, the quints are 24 years old today. We’re old, folks.
In 2017, Hyun Soo Kim was traded to the Phillies for pitcher Jeremy Hellickson. It was a sad end to the HSK era in Baltimore. Hellickson made 10 starts for the Orioles with a 6.97 ERA.
One year ago today, the Orioles defeated the Padres, 8-6. They scored all eight runs with only two extra-base hits, a Cedric Mullins double and Ryan O’Hearn triple. Ryan Mountcastle had four RBI with a pair of two-run singles. Albert Suárez started and allowed three runs in 4.2 innings. Cionel Pérez got the win with a scoreless seventh.