Orioles Hall of Fame festivities this weekend have been in the background for dramatic victories.
Hello, friends.
The Orioles! Are they finally cooking for the first time since early June? The dramatic come-from-behind victories the previous two days could certainly lead a person into believing that things are moving in a direction that they just haven’t been for quite some time. Jackson Holliday was the hero on Saturday afternoon, pinch hitting in the midst of an 0-20 slump and clearing the bases by swatting a double on the first pitch he saw.
That ended up being enough, thanks to Albert Suárez turning in a solid start and a bullpen trio of Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano, and Seranthony Domínguez holding the line. Nothing about it was guaranteed, especially given how Domínguez pitched in New York last week. Check out my recap of the game for more of the lovely totals.
Saturday’s win brought the Orioles back within a half-game in the AL East and also set them up with a 7.5 game cushion over the closest non-playoff team, the Red Sox. It’s a strong cushion to at least make the playoffs at all with 31 games to play, especially since the Orioles are guaranteed the head-to-head tiebreaker over Boston. No guarantee that fans will feel too excited about being only the third wild card team after the way they played in April and May.
The Orioles are now 76-55 on the season. Although they’re on pace for 94 wins over the full season, they have also been playing .500 baseball since June 10. They could win today and still just be playing .500 going back to June 11, after which their record was 42-22. The O’s are below .500 dating back to July 7, the high water mark for the season so far, when they reached 24 games above .500.
Winning three of four against the Astros would really help to make it seem like the O’s are starting to chase away some of the demons that have kept them trading wins and losses for months. It’s been more than a month since the last time the Orioles were able to win three straight games. In July, they had their walkoff win in the last game before the All-Star break, then won two coming out of the break. It seemed after those first two second half wins that maybe the break had rejuvenated them, only this quickly proved to not be the case.
The good thing about all of this is that the Yankees have been stumbling in their own way in this time, so the Orioles have kept pace. It’s not a disaster. Neither the division nor the season overall have slipped away from the team yet. It’s been easy to lose sight of this after some of the irritating losses of the last month-plus. There are no runaway elite teams this year. The Orioles, even with all of their problems, are near the top of the pile.
Still: It’s more fun for us when they win than when they lose. Hopefully they can find a way to close out the Astros series with an unlikely (based on how we all felt heading into the series and especially after Thursday’s loss) victory of the four-gamer. They’ll be on prime time as they’re trying to do it, as this matchup of two likely playoff teams has gotten Sunday Night Baseball billing. Dean Kremer starts for the O’s, with Yusei Kikuchi pitching for Houston.
Around the blogO’sphere
Albert Suárez found his power source in his legs. He just needs to remember to use them. (The Baltimore Banner)
Real Orioles heads remember commercials in which a fan urged Adam Loewen, “Drop and drive.” It seems the advice still applies for Suárez.
Jorge Mateo says surgery on elbow remains a possibility (Baltimore Baseball)
Although this latest update doesn’t totally close the door on Mateo returning to the team before the season is over, there’s also no timeline for resuming baseball activities.
Nick Vespi has lived on the fringes of the Orioles roster. He’s ready for that to change. (The Baltimore Sun)
The most recent time that the Orioles optioned Vespi is the last time that he can be optioned without having to pass him through waivers. Whether he stays with the club into 2025 or not, the Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle seems to be out of his future.
Markakis, Crowley honored to be inducted into Orioles HOF (Orioles.com)
There are a lot of years in an Orioles uniform between Nick Markakis and Terry Crowley. They officially got a well-deserved honor into the team Hall of Fame yesterday.
How a little advice and a fairer strike zone helped turn Nick Markakis into ‘a doggone star’ (The Baltimore Banner)
Markakis confirmed by video very early in his career that he was getting a “rookie strike zone.” Know any rookies who might be getting similarly screwed in 2024?
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2019 pitcher Chandler Shepherd, 2003 outfielder Gary Matthews, 1999-2000 outfielder Albert Belle, and 1962 catcher Darrell Johnson.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible (1530), actor Sean Connery (1930), TV host Regis Philbin (1931), baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers (1946), animator/director Tim Burton (1958), actress Rachel Bilson (1981), and actress Blake Lively (1987).
On this day in history…
In 1814, British troops burned a number of buildings in Washington, including the Library o f Congress and the Department of War.
In 1944, the Allied forces liberated Paris after nearly four years of occupation by Nazi Germany.
In 1981, Voyager 2 made its closest pass to the planet Saturn. Exactly four years later, the craft had its nearest approach to Neptune
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 25. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!