At least they still have a lead of two games in the AL East, for now.
Hello, friends.
The Orioles. (sigh) What is there to even say right now? They’ll probably be okay in the long run, but that doesn’t make it any more fun to watch them limp through another series against an NL Central team that has up to this point in the season been underwhelming. This division is just kryptonite for the O’s, except for the Reds. It’s weird and it’s not fun. Last night’s 4-0 loss was a dismal affair. Check out John Beers’s recap of the game for the not-so-lovely totals.
It’s not like the Orioles lacked for scoring opportunities. They had nine hits, and across the whole game they had a total of 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position. It’s just that they got hits in, uh, zero of those 11 AB. That’s some rough luck. Not that it was all luck, either. Some of those at-bats were of the kind that can be described as dog dookie, except with a less nice word than dookie. It’s not bad luck when a guy goes down on a strikeout on three pitches.
Some things definitely WERE bad luck. Adley Rutschman hit a warning track fly ball to left field that was probably only kept from being a home run by swirling winds that were cutting down balls hit to left. Had Jordan Westburg’s double off the top of Walltimore been about a foot higher, that would have been a two-run homer and the game would have at least felt less bleak for not being a shutout. Some nights, the ball just doesn’t bounce your way… like when the Cubs had a ground ball hit off second base and bounce into the outfield, turning into a double that led to a run scoring.
The fact that the Orioles were facing Shota Imanaga last night makes it at least a little bit more understandable. He has done well in his MLB debut season. I wish the O’s had signed him; whether that’s because of Mike Elias being risk-averse about giving five years to a player coming over from Japan, or whether it was because of John Angelos not being willing to invest in the payroll for a quality starting pitching free agent, we’ll never know.
This isn’t much of a consolation thought, anyway, because the Orioles are going to have to beat good pitchers to go as far as we want them to go this season – hopefully repeating the AL East and then making a deeper postseason run. We know that they can do it! The Orioles have come in and kicked some guys with gaudy low ERAs in the butt and left them with a much higher ERA than they had before the game. They’ve done this a number of times this season, to pitchers on a number of different teams.
It’s just not really happening in July. Take out the runs the Orioles put on Oakland in garbage time of the 19-8 loss and they’ve scored 20 runs in their other seven July games. You’re not going to win much when you’re averaging fewer than three runs per game. It’s fortunate that the Orioles are not worse than their current 4-4 record this month. Turning it around for a few days before getting the All-Star break to rest is crucial because after one more game against the Cubs, three games against the Yankees are looming.
New York took a 2-1 win over Tampa last night, cutting the Orioles lead in the AL East to two games. The Yankees have lost their last seven series, something they’ll be looking to break as they go to the rubber match today. For the scoreboard watchers, that one starts at 6:50, close to the start of the O’s game. Nestor Cortes pitches for the Yankees, with Shane Baz in action for the Rays.
The Orioles, meanwhile, have to avoid another sweep at the hands of an NL Central team. It feels bad right now and it’s going to take some hitters turning things around for it to really feel better. Alright, a combined no-hitter might make us feel better about the Orioles, for the day, anyway. I say combined no-hitter because the idea of Albert Suárez pitching nine innings when he’s yet to go beyond six innings is too much even for a wild fantasy.
The series concludes with a scheduled 6:35 start. Justin Steele, who brings a 2.95 ERA into the contest, is set to start for Chicago. Unless there’s a flawless pitching effort to come, the Orioles are going to need to do some more of that ERA inflation.
Around the blogO’sphere
Meet the doctor who revitalized Anthony Santander’s career with lasers and pliability (The Baltimore Sun)
Honestly, if that headline alone didn’t get you to check this out, there’s nothing else I can say to convince you.
Orioles director of player development on Samuel Basallo (Orioles.com)
Basallo is headed to the Futures Game on Saturday to represent the Orioles. Director of player development Anthony Villa was asked what Basallo might have to do to get to Triple-A by Basallo’s 20th birthday next month: “Sam’s ability to control the strike zone and draw walks is an asset where he can continue to improve. Continuing to develop defensively behind the plate, as well as log some innings at first base.”
Hyde likes idea of Orioles non-All-Stars getting rest (Baltimore Baseball)
The Orioles had a grueling June, and while they finally got a couple of days off so far in July, the guys who are going to get a few days off could probably all use a few days off.
Fans select Orioles ball boy to join crew for All-Star Game in Texas (The Baltimore Banner)
If you voted to give the ball boy who made a great play earlier this year an excellent memory, good job.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1968, Earl Weaver managed his first game for the Orioles. They only got four hits in his debut but still won a 2-0 game over the Senators, with Dave McNally pitching a complete game two-hitter. The O’s won six in a row after Weaver took over the helm.
In 1987, the Ripken brothers played together in an Orioles lineup for the first time, and with Cal Sr. at the helm, they became the first family with a manager and two sons on the same MLB team. If you heard Ben McDonald read off this fact on MASN last night as the “today” for July 10, he accidentally read off the July 11 fact on the wrong day. I double-checked after he did it! Billy debuted on July 11, 1987.
There is one lone former Oriole with a birthday today. Happy 31st to Zach Clark, a one-game knuckleballer from the 2013 season who was a product of UMBC. The one game didn’t go very well, but he went into the record books as the 20,378th major leaguer in history all the same.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Scottish king Robert the Bruce (1274), 6th president John Quincy Adams (1767), author and journalist E.B. White (1899), designer Giorgio Armani (1934), Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jhumpa Lahiri (1967), and rapper Lil’ Kim (1975).
On this day in history…
In 1405, Chinese admiral Zhang He began the first of a series of seven voyages that eventually saw him explore as far as East Africa. The Ming dynasty under which he served became a large naval power after these expeditions.
In 1804, the duel between then-Vice President Aaron Burr and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, made famous by a 1990s milk commercial and a 2010s musical, took place. Burr shot and mortally wounded Hamilton in the duel.
In 1914, Babe Ruth made his MLB debut.
In 1960, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, which you might have read in school, was first published.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 11. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!