The O’s will spend the next nine games in the friendly confines of Camden Yards, a good opportunity to build their lead in the AL East.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
It’s a good thing the Orioles are such a fun team to watch right now, because the Baltimore fans are going to be seeing plenty of them over the next 10 days.
Tonight the O’s begin a nine-game homestand, their longest of the 2024 season. They’ll open by hosting the defending NL champion Diamondbacks for three, followed by their first matchup of the year with the division rival Blue Jays, capped with three against the Mariners, the only one of those opponents that’s currently above .500.
Nine straight games on their home field is a good opportunity for the O’s to keep the good times rolling. They’ve won each of their three previous homestands — going 4-2 in the first, 4-2 in the second, and 4-3 in the third — and another successful one would give them a good chance of extending their AL East lead, which currently stands at half a game thanks to the Yankees’ loss last night.
None of the three teams visiting Baltimore are pushovers, but none are quite playing up to their capabilities, either. If the O’s continue to pitch like they’ve been pitching recently — Craig Kimbrel excepted, of course — and continue to crush dingers at a breakneck pace, they should be able to take care of business in front of what’s sure to be some lively crowds at Camden Yards.
Links
Peter Schmuck: Is Albert Suárez or Jacob Webb the new interim closer? – BaltimoreBaseball.com
I’ve seen a lot of people jump on the Suárez-as-closer train lately, which is a little surprising to me. He’s certainly performed well for the Orioles, but the guy has pitched five major league games in the last seven years. He’s not exactly a proven commodity.
The Orioles are one of baseball’s hardest-hitting teams – The Baltimore Sun
The Orioles are near the top of the league in basically every stat that measures hitting the ball extremely hard and far. Seems good.
This Isn’t the Same Adley Rutschman | FanGraphs Baseball
Adley has shown a much more aggressive approach at the plate this year, and it’s working wonders so far. But Davy Andrews sees trouble ahead for him if pitchers stop throwing him strikes. Nonsense, I say! Adley can do no wrong.
At the heart of Colton Cowser’s breakout season is his childhood hitting coach – The Baltimore Banner
When Colton Cowser was 9 years old, he didn’t look like a future major leaguer. Hey, neither did I! But then, uh, our paths rapidly diverged.
More questions confronting Orioles – School of Roch
Roch Kubatko wonders, among other things, which outfielder will lose his roster spot when Austin Hays returns. If I had to choose, I think it should be the defensive specialist who tends to make terrible defensive plays when the game is on the line.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Only one O’s player in history was born on May 10: Kam Mickolio (40), the 6-foot-9 right-hander acquired as part of the Érik Bédard trade. Mickolio made 23 appearances for the Orioles from 2008-10.
On this date in 2012, the Orioles became the first AL team ever to lead off a game with back-to-back-to-back home runs. Ryan Flaherty hit his first major league home run to get it started, and J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis followed with dingers before Rangers starter Colby Lewis could record an out. (Lewis then retired the next 16 batters in a row. Go figure.) The O’s won the game, 6-5, in which all five of their hits were home runs.
Random Orioles game of the day
On May 10, 1999, the Orioles lost in Cleveland, 6-4. The O’s were seven games under .500 and playing against the best team in baseball, so that was kind of the expected result. The game marked temperamental slugger Albert Belle’s first game as an Oriole in Cleveland, where he’d spent the first eight seasons of his career. The home fans greeted the unpopular Belle with boos and chants of “Jo-ey, Jo-ey,” and Belle committed a crucial baserunning blunder that ended an O’s rally in a tie game in the seventh. It was also Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar’s first game against the Orioles since leaving them for Cleveland in free agency, and he drove in the game-winning run with a seventh inning sac fly.