After their second straight really frustrating loss against the Rays in a week (and their third straight loss to open a series), the Birds will look to rebound just as they did in Detroit and Boston to still manage to take this series. Winning the next three would be great, but anything less than a 2-2 split here with Tampa could be considered nothing short of a disaster.
To the links.
Wade Miley Hasn’t Been Nearly as Bad as He’s Looked
Birdland is ready to push Wade Miley out on an ice floe, and understandably so. His results have been nothing short of horrid since joining the Orioles. However, Chris Booze of Camden Depot looked into the peripherals, and was astounded at just how unlucky Miley has been. The guy is DUE for some regression to the mean – let’s just hope it starts very, very soon, and lasts throughout the season.
Trumbo Has the Worst 42-HR Season Ever
Ouch. Jon Shepherd of Camden Depot looked up bWAR for all players to hit 42 or more HR in a season, and Mark Trumbo looks to be dead last in that group. His awful play in the field and his dismal second-half hitting are the main culprits. Last night, he twice failed to come through when simply a fly ball would have scored a run – and in the second instance, with one out in the bottom of the ninth – would have tied the game. Instead, he stared at strike three in the latter case. It was painful to watch, as he’s been for pretty much all of the second half when he’s not hitting a home run.
Showalter Speaks After 7-6 Loss
Speaking of tough losses…well, Buck did just that.
Unlikely, Uneven, Unpredictable, and Perhaps Unbelievable: Your 2016 Baltimore Orioles
Matt Taylor of Roar from 34 assigned himself the unenviable task of coming up with adjectives to describe this year’s Orioles. I think I’d throw in “unfortunately unwatchable at times.” Hopefully, like Kimmy Schmidt, they’ll prove Unbreakable, and will continue their unlikely, uneven, unpredictable march toward the postseason.
Hanley Ramirez Blast Caps Wild Comeback as Red Sox Stun Yankees
It looked like the silver lining of last night’s O’s loss was that Boston was going to lose too, keeping the AL East deficit at just one game. Then, those massholes put up five runs in the ninth inning to come back and beat New York and Dellin Betances. The O’s are again chasing two, and the teams in Boston & Baltimore both prove once again that there’s no such thing as momentum in baseball.
And in Ravens News
Battle Plans: How to Down the Browns
Dev Panchwagh lays out the Cleveland-crushing blueprint in his weekly Battle Plans column.