Sánchez is out for a while, the deadline is coming, and at least Young had a nice game.
Good morning Birdland,
Last night’s game was very cool until it wasn’t at all. Brandon Young pitched an immaculate inning and turned in the best start of his debut season. The Orioles bats ambushed Clay Holmes and got out to a 6-2 lead heading into the eighth inning.
But Bryan Baker turned in a nightmarish appearance, serving up a pair of two-run homers and failing to record an out. And then, the Orioles bats couldn’t get anything done in extras, leaving Jackson Holliday stranded while Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, and Ryan O’Hearn failed to cash in on the Manfred runner in the 10th.
It definitely goes into the category of “Worst Losses of the Year.” The team was coming off of a road sweep. The crowd was loud and engaged on a Tuesday night. It felt like a turning point type of game. If they could win here, they could get another sweep. And another sweep might get the Orioles within arms reach of a wild card spot. Buy! Buy! Buy!
Sure, I was getting ahead of myself just a bit, but the vibes were great. Until that eighth inning. Now, the O’s are 10 games under .500 once again. They didn’t lose any ground in the wild card race, stuck at 7.5 games back. But they also failed to gain a game on a night they should have won. It was the sort of game they HAVE to win. And they didn’t. The story of the season.
Links
Immaculate inning a lifelong memory for O’s rookie — and one lucky young fan | MLB.com
Baseball is so crazy. Young has had some struggles during his first taste of MLB action. But you would not have known in on Tuesday. He was dicing up the Mets for much of his outing. His pitches were dipping and diving. He looked incredible. Maybe he was able to reinvent himself. Or maybe it was just a really good night. The wonders of baseball.
Gary Sánchez Likely To Miss 8-10 Weeks | MLB Trade Rumors
More bad news for the catching position. It really sucks for Sánchez, who was heating up at the plate, and at least gave the Orioles a viable offensive option at the position. Hopefully he can get healthy by September. That is likely when the Orioles will call up Samuel Basallo, and having someone with Sánchez’s background in the dugout as Basallo gets his feet wet would be advantageous.
Inside the Dugout: The anxiety of the 2025 trade deadline | The Baltimore Banner
Jon Meoli chats through the rosiest of possibilities for the Orioles between now and the trade deadline, just before smashing that dream and giving you a dose of reality. The Orioles will probably be sellers at the end of the month. It might ultimately be better for the club long term anyway. But it’ still a bummer.
Leftovers for breakfast | Roch Kubatko
This includes a quote from Gunnar Henderson, presumably taken prior to last night’s game, in which he says “You can’t give a single game away…knowing this team, we’re not gonna do that.” Oof, yeah, about that…
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Steve Luebber turns 76 today. He pitched in seven games out of the bullpen for the 1981 Orioles.
This day in O’s history
1959 – Milt Pappas and Jerry Walker, both 20 years old at the time, each shut out the Senators to sweep a double-header. Brooks Robinson, who has bounced between the majors and minors for a few years now, is called back up to Baltimore.
1992 – Brady Anderson and Mike Devereaux lead off a game against the Twins with back-to-back home runs. The O’s win 4-2