The Birds’ bats busted out in a big way on Thursday night, as they racked up 15 hits (they had 17 total in the three games in Tampa) and 10 runs in a rout of the White Sox. That was exactly what they needed to do against John Danks, a clear weak link in the Chicago staff. Let’s hope they can keep that momentum going as the meat of the White Sox rotation takes the hill over these next several games. It looks like we’re in for a rainy & dreary weekend, Birdland, but hopefully at least two more O’s wins this series will brighten our skies.
To the links.
Machado on A-Rod, Miami, and Mastering Third Base
Manny Machado, who clubbed his second career Grand Slam on Thursday (watch it here), is featured in this month’s edition of ESPN the Magazine. Marly Rivera sat down to talk to him about learning to play third base, whether he still wants to play short or not, his Miami roots, and more. Come for the Manny chat, stay to read Chris Davis’ quotes making fun of Machado’s dog.
Braves Looking to Buy Draft Pick – Could O’s Sell?
Rumor has it that the awful Braves are looking to take on some team’s bad contract in exchange for a competitive balance draft pick. As Mark Brown of Camden Chat reminds us, the Orioles under Dan Duquette seem to have no problem parting with these picks. He throws out some potential bad contracts that the team may be looking to unload. Interestingly, he doesn’t consider Hyun-Soo Kim in there, which brings me to this tweet from Camden Depot:
Kim+pick for Markakis+cash would not surprise me.
— Camden Depot (@CamdenDepot) April 29, 2016
The potential Nick Markakis prodigal son storyline lives on. Rejoice, you vocal minority of the fan base, rejoice.
Let’s Split: Gausman Transitioning from Splitter?
Amid Kevin Gausman’s encouraging outing the other night, I found myself wondering where his split-change was. He didn’t seem to be throwing many of them, especially against left-handed hitters who seemed primed to whiff as the pitch darted away from them. For Baltimore Sports Report, BEV’s Scott Magness takes a look at a pitch that seemed to replace many of the expected split-changes on Monday, Gausman’s slurve.
Showalter Speaks After 10-2 Win
Buck Showalter’s post-game quotes on why Tyler Wilson wasn’t left in to finish the fifth inning, Manny being awesome, and more. Unfortunately, Roch doesn’t include the quotes from the end of the presser, where I’m pretty sure Buck was talking about farting. Here, let me find the video…
(Go to about 2:40 where he starts asking about the weather.)
Scout on Rickard: “Made a Believer Out of Me”
Every time some fans are ready to write off Joey Rickard’s hot start and declare that he’s crashing back to earth, he gets hot again. Wednesday, he hit a three-run home run. Last night, he was on base three more times (two hits and a walk) and scored twice. Dan Connolly of Baltimore Baseball talks to one AL scout, who is convinced Joey is a legitimate, everyday player. Maybe stop declaring the Joey Baseball show over, cynics.
And in NFL News…
Ravens Fail to Improve on Day 1
Well, the long wait is finally over, as the first round of the NFL Draft took place last night. Most Ravens fans are less than enthralled this morning, after the team took Notre Dame tackle Ronnie Stanley in Round 1. RSR’s Tony Lombardi says the team failed to improve on Day 1 of the draft. Ugh.
