Dean Kremer and Ramón Urías each left Saturday’s game against the Rockies due to injury.
Hello, friends.
The Orioles. (sigh) You could be forgiven, based on how things went over the now-thankfully-over month of August, for believing that the team is no longer capable of playing two good games in a row. Definitely not three in a row. They didn’t do that once in August. Saturday could have been two good games in a row, except they didn’t play well, so here we are. The O’s were beaten by the Rockies, 7-5.
To make matters worse, the Orioles suffered another couple of injuries that could end up impacting the team’s fortunes in the days or even weeks to come. Starting pitcher Dean Kremer was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning after taking a line drive off of the vicinity of his wrist. MASN cameras showed in the aftermath a gnarly welt with a ton of swelling almost instantly after the play happened. The O’s said x-rays were negative for a break, so we’ll see how this one shakes out.
The other injury came later in the game, as productive August hitter Ramón Urías dashed to third base to try to tag out a runner who was attempting to steal. Urías rolled his ankle while stepping onto the base and he came out of the game right away, too. An extended absence for him would hurt right now. This is not a sentiment that in May I would have imagined being possible.
These injuries coincide with September call-ups happening today. Unlike the old days, when you could bring up as many guys as you could fit onto the 40-man roster and wanted to fit in your dugout, bullpen, and clubhouse, rosters expand by just two from the usual 26 – one position player, one pitcher. Reporting yesterday indicated that prospect Coby Mayo would be returning, and it’s been all-but-formalized that starting pitcher Zach Eflin will be activated off the injured list to start today, so he’s the other.
If either Kremer or Urías needs to go onto the injured list, the Orioles could make further changes. They could also make further changes if they decide that someone who’s here right now isn’t cutting the mustard and is better being sent to the minors or released. Everyone has their own idea of which player belongs in which of these groups.
One bit of silver lining to the Saturday setback is this: Every other AL team who matters for the Orioles postseason fortunes also lost. The Yankees lost, and so did the Royals, Twins, and Red Sox. That leaves the Orioles with a 1.5 game deficit in the AL East, a three game cushion (plus tiebreaker) over WC2 and a four game edge over WC3, with a 7.5 game advantage (plus tiebreaker) over Boston, the closest non-playoff team. There are 25 games left to play.
The Orioles had darn well better find a way to get out of the Mile High City with a series win here on Sunday afternoon. The finale is set to get under way at 3:10 Eastern time. Eflin is lined up to start for the Orioles, with Cal Quantrill pitching for the Rockies.
Around the blogO’sphere
Orioles expected to promote infield prospect Coby Mayo as rosters expand (The Baltimore Banner)
Last night’s MASN broadcast indicated that Ryan Mountcastle has been bouncing back slower than hoped from his wrist injury. I think Mayo making the September 1 return is a sign of the Orioles believing this.
Careers of Jackson Holliday, father Matt Holliday share a link: Matt Bowman (The Baltimore Sun)
What were the odds of this connection happening in time for the Orioles playing in Colorado, where the elder Holliday spent much of his career?
With his fourth team this year, Matt Bowman made seamless transition with Orioles (School of Roch)
Multiple articles about Matt Bowman!
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 2007, my friend got married, my other friends got me really drunk, and I attempted to passionately defend the Orioles, during which rant I became aware that Boston’s Clay Buchholz had pitched a no-hitter against the O’s in the second start of his MLB career.
There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2023 three-game reliever Eduard Bazardo, and 1963 reliever Dean Stone.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: composer Johann Pachelbel (1653), author Edgar Rice Burroughs (1873), country artist Conway Twitty (1933), actress Lily Tomlin (1939), singer-songwriter Gloria Estefan (1957), and actress Zendaya (1996).
On this day in history…
In 1870, the French and Prussians fought the Battle of Sedan, a catastrophic defeat for France that saw about 100,000 men out of its army of 130,000 captured, including then-Emperor Napoleon III.
In 1939, Germany launched its invasion of Poland, marking the beginning of World War II.
In 1974, a SR-71 Blackbird made the flight from New York to London in one hour, 54 minutes, and 56 seconds. This set a record that has not been beaten to this day.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 1. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!