A whole bunch of crazy things happened in last night’s game and the Orioles came out on top. It’s agonizing and fun!
Hello, friends.
The Orioles? The Orioles! They did it again last night, with “it” in this case meaning that they played a game where a lot of awesome stuff happened, and also a lot of annoying and terrible stuff, with the game frustratingly going into extra innings after a Craig Kimbrel blown save, and with all of us in agony over how they were going to blow it in extra innings and let the Yankees win.
That’s what it felt like, and then, they just… didn’t blow it. The Orioles scored two tenth inning runs and although New York got its own Manfred Man across the plate in the bottom half of the inning, that wasn’t enough. Dillon Tate closed it out as the O’s won again. That’s win #48 on the season, with the team now on pace for a 107-win season. They are back to 1.5 games behind the Yankees for the AL East lead.
Notably satisfying in the middle of all of the drama was the fact that the whining loser Yankees intentionally hitting Gunnar Henderson burned them, their classless fans cheering the HBP and then briefly silenced after Henderson scored an ultimately crucial fifth Orioles run on a line drive misplayed by Juan Soto, who started all of this by weirdly running into Jordan Westburg on a routine ground ball on Tuesday.
After all of that, the Orioles come into this afternoon’s game against the Yankees needing a win to keep their remarkable “consecutive series against division opponents without a loss” streak alive, the new streak that has become the interesting one since the regular season sweepless one ended. The O’s haven’t lost a series against the AL East since these same Yankees beat them in April 2023. The streak ends unless the O’s win this one.
There’s no reason to think that they can’t, except for our accumulated life experiences of the Orioles playing the Yankees, which have not been erased even as the O’s went 7-6 against New York a year ago and even though they’re 4-2 against the Yankees this year. They won a pressure-filled game last night where so many winds were blowing against them and they still did the darn thing.
Also, the regrettably (for me) excellent Luis Gil is making the start for the Yanks. Though it was annoying when Gil stymied the O’s about six weeks ago, he’s been on a crazy run since then and has a 2.03 ERA for the season. Cole Irvin, set to start the 4:05 game for the Orioles, has been pretty good overall. After watching Albert Suárez and then Cade Povich walk a bunch of dudes, I hope Irvin can find some success and not hand out free passes.
Oh yeah, and even though it feels like it happened two days ago now, the Orioles announced before Wednesday’s game that Kyle Bradish had Tommy John surgery. So now we can all really, really get to thinking about who might get traded and what that trade might bring back in terms of quality players who can help the Orioles win the AL East and advance in the postseason.
Around the blogO’sphere
Orioles add Maton to active roster and option Stowers (School of Roch)
Some roster movement yesterday that wasn’t connected to the Bradish news, with Norfolk infielder Nick Maton getting the call and Kyle Stowers sent back to the minors. This is probably connected to Jordan Westburg’s bruised hip. Connor Norby was not eligible to return without an injured list placement.
Jim Palmer has COVID, causing him to miss MASN broadcasts (The Baltimore Sun)
Get well soon, Jim! I’m hoping I can take a summer vacation this year without developing COVID while I’m on the trip, which happened to me each of the last two years. The virus still sucks.
Some Jackson Holliday rookie cards pay tribute to infamous Billy Ripken card (The Baltimore Banner)
Apparently, you might be able to get your hands on a Jackson Holliday card where the knob of the bat says “fun face.” Being the particular kind of nerd I am, I’m reminded of when Dragon Ball Z was initially dubbed for the American audience and they changed garb that said “HELL” to read “HFIL” – which was called, in the dubbed dialogue, the Home For Infinite Losers. They could have just said Yankee Stadium.
Seth Johnson is the Orioles prospect who’s ready to climb the ladder (MLB Pipeline)
The folks at MLB Pipeline have a prospect with every team who’s due for a promotion. They think Johnson, who the Orioles got as part of the three-team Trey Mancini trade in 2022, is due.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Happy 29th birthday to Félix Bautista! I’m looking forward to his return next season more than ever. A number of former Orioles were also born on this day: 2019-21 pitcher Thomas Eshelman, 2011-12 pitcher Kevin Gregg, 2008 infielder Juan Castro, 2007 catcher Paul Bako, 1985 pitcher Phil Huffman, and 1962-75 catcher Andy Etchebarren.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: actor Errol Flynn (1909), Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson (1942), musician Lionel Ritchie (1949), and actress Nicole Kidman (1967).
On this day in history…
In 1631, the village of Baltimore – that is, the Irish one – was attacked by Barbary pirates, resulting in a sack that saw more than 100 residents carried off to become galley slaves.
In 1863, West Virginia was admitted to the United States, becoming the 35th state of the Union.
In 1944, the American navy scored a decisive victory over the Japanese after the second day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, which saw the American forces sink three Japanese carriers and destroy over 500 aircraft.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon had the conversation that later became the subject of a suspicious 18.5 minute gap in tape recordings after his involvement in the cover-up of the Watergate break-in was revealed.
In 1975, Jaws was released in theaters. The movie went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. Today, Jaws doesn’t even crack the top 50 (all of whom grossed over $1 billion,) but if you count only North American box and adjust for inflation, it’s seventh, with an adjusted gross of $1.4 billion – behind The Ten Commandments and ahead of Doctor Zhivago.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 20. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!