Now that the Birds’ third and final West Coast swing is in the books – and ended with a bang – they’ll need to continue playing lights-out at home over the final six weeks or so of the season. They find themselves a half-game out of first place, but with a bit more of a favorable schedule – at least as far as home/away goes – than their main competition.

The AL East Home-Road differentials remaining: #RedSox -14, #BlueJays -6, #Orioles +5. Sox/Jays are both good, but should be concerned.

— Ken McKusick (@FilmstudyRavens) August 15, 2016

Concern Over Gausman Leaves Orioles with Another Rotation Worry

In his weekly MASN guest column, our own Andrew Stetka expresses some concern over Kevin Gausman. While his results have been decent in the second half (Saturday night notwithstanding), his lack of aggressiveness in the strike zone is still a bit of a head-scratcher. It was just this tentativeness that led to his issues on Saturday night. To top it off, he complained about the ump – not a great look.

Zach Britton and the Luck Factor

Evan Davis Today’s Knuckleball says that Zach Britton may be getting a bit lucky, which is something someone says about every dominant pitcher or awesome hitter every season, so don’t get too worked up about it. Zach had some awful luck several times last season, so if the universe wants to correct itself all at once here in 2016, that’s just fine with me.

Schoop & Machado’s Post-Homer Celebration Turned into a Football Tryout

MLB’s Cut4 has the Vine heard ’round Birdland yesterday, that of Manny Machado knocking Jonathan Schoop to the ground after Schoop’s go-ahead dinger with two outs in the ninth inning.

The State of the O’Day-less Orioles Bullpen

While the Birds dodged a bullet with Steve Pearce avoiding the DL, another key player in Darren O’Day is unfortunately headed back to it, this time with a shoulder injury. That doesn’t bode well for a bullpen that was showing some cracks even with O’Day around. Alex Conway of Camden Chat explores the issue further, concluding that the team-wide struggles vs. LHH are of utmost concern. Until roster expansion, the ‘pen will be held together with duct tape and super glue. Hopefully O’Day’s injury doesn’t linger, and Brad Brach can turn into Brad Brach again. And Zach Britton stays awesome. Lots of hoping.

The Orioles are Who We Thought They Were

Josh Sadlock of Baseball Essential channels his inner Dennis Green (RIP) and runs through the laundry list of fan complaints about the O’s. He published this piece before the San Francisco series, which is actually kind of perfect, since everybody who was complaining about the Birds’ approach & results in Oakland seemed a bit quieter after home runs gave the O’s two wins on the other side of the Bay.

And in Ravens news…

Camp Notes: Survival of the Coolest

Dev Panchwagh sat through the heat at Ravens Training Camp on Saturday, and was impressed with Will Davis, Keenan Reynolds, and Ronnie Stanley. Check out his notes over at RSR.