Bird Watching - First Place Birds Continue West Coast Swing
Right after the All-Star break, the Birds jumped right into the thick of things. At Oakland, at Anaheim, and at Seattle. They lost 2 of 3 to the A’s but then rebounded and won 2 of 3 vs the Angles and are sitting at 56-45 with three more against Seattle on their 10 game west coast trip. The O’s hold their spot at the top of the division by 3 games with Toronto and New York right behind them.
West Coast Swing
Orioles had a rough series against the Athletics, losing 2 of 3 including losing the first game due to a walk off homer by Josh Donaldson, and then getting steamrolled on Sunday. The Athletics are a damn good team and are probably the World Series favorites at this point, and they looked the part.
The Birds bounced back in a big way against the Angels by taking the first two games before dropping a close third game. Could have been a sweep if the bullpen didn’t give it away, but oh well, 2-3 from the best home team in the league, I’ll take that. Orioles’ starters also held the Angels to 6 ER over the series. Pretty damn good to hold the second highest scoring offense in the league to 6 runs in a series.
July Notes
Orioles are 13-6 in July and haven’t lost back-to-back games since June 28th and 29th. It has been a strange offensive month for the Birds, they have hit the second most bombs in the month with 22, but have the 23rd best average at .245 for the month. It has been no secret that the Orioles depend on the long ball for their runs, in their 56 wins they’ve hit 90 home runs, in their 45 loses, Only 33. Not a lot of small ball being played in Baltimore.
Starting pitchers have been fantastic as of late. Hell, Wei-Yin Chen threw 8 shutout innings last night, which never happens. Ubaldo Jimenez sprained his ankle in a parking lot (typical O’s injury) and is on the DL and it seems to have given the other starters a boost. Miguel Gonzalez, who once seemed destined to find a spot in the pen has shut us all up by going 1-0 with 23.2 IP and only 5 ER in his last 3 games. Bud Norris pitched a hell of a game against the Angels this week, which seemed to pump up the team. Took a liner off the leg, stayed in, struck out Mike Trout looking with the sacks full and led the Birds to a win.
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Trade Deadline
With the trade deadline approaching, there are names being thrown all over. We don’t even know if the Birds are going make a move. Who are they gonna go after? A more established catcher? There’s no one really out there worth it. Second base? Unless the Os want to eat some of Utley’s gigantic contract I doubt they try him. Martin Prado maybe, but where does that leave Schoop? Stick with Schoop.
Big focus at the deadline should be starting pitching, but again, who out there is worth it? David Price? Yes but I think there’s a 0 percent chance the Rays trade him in the division, especially with how they’re playing recently. There have rumors that the Rockies are willing to trade Jorge De La Rosa and want Gausman back, with all due respect Colorado, you can go fuck yourselves. I can only imagine how fast DD said no and hung up to that. It was also reported that the Orioles offered Miguel Gonzalez to the Padres for Ian Kennedy, wouldn’t be a bad trade, but Gonzo has been pretty solid as of late. I would be all for trading some prospects (Rodriguez, Harvey) if it means we get back established talent that can help the Orioles win now then I’m for it, until then we’ll have to sit back and see if DD can work any of his magic.
P.S. Don’t bring back Jim Johnson.
P.P.S Idk about this sign…Let’s just say its a cultural difference.
Upcoming
3 more at Seattle then the Birds come home for a series against the Angels. I think they can take 3-4 from the Mariners. Lets pad that first place lead Birds then finally return home to the Yard.
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