MLB-INJURY-UPDATE: According to an MLB Insider report this morning, the Baltimore Orioles will receive a huge lift this week with the return of two outstanding aces. However..

Now they’ll try to go for a series split on Sunday afternoon

Hello, friends.

The Orioles! Okay, maybe they don’t deserve the exclamation point after only one win. The Orioles. We don’t have to sigh, at least not based on last night. They chased away the malaise from the first two games in Cleveland with a solid win over the Guardians, combining a good outing from the starting pitcher, an offense that put together some great at-bats and got great results from that, and a defense that didn’t make any crucial mistakes.

Check out Stacey’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals, including, if you want to feel optimistic about a game or two, continuing signs that Jackson Holliday’s looking better in his return to the MLB level, and maybe even that Adley Rutschman is starting to leave behind the slump that has plagued him for over a month. Oh yeah, and new starting pitcher Zach Eflin had a pretty good game too.

Last September, the Orioles came into Cleveland and lost the first two games of a four-game series before rallying to win the final two. The stopper for that third game, where the O’s snapped a losing streak, was John Means, who put the team on his back as the offense was gasping for air. Hopefully Corbin Burnes can keep doing Corbin Burnes things this afternoon to help the O’s get the series split. We’ll find out starting at 1:40 today.

The Yankees were victorious over the Blue Jays yesterday, so the Orioles and Yankees bring identical records into the games today. That’s a tie in the games back column, although as things stand right now, the O’s have the head-to-head tiebreaker. The O’s just have to find a way to keep on winning, which feels so difficult over the last month-plus with some batters nursing big slumps and some relievers struggling.

After last night’s win, the Orioles are on pace to win 95 games by season’s end. Do you think that the O’s will be able to achieve at least that many wins? Do you think that’ll be enough for them to win the AL East if they do? Just like last year, when the O’s were dueling the Rays, every game feels like it matters so much and every loss is so deflating, so it’s easy for faults to be magnified beyond what they really are.

I’m nervous about where things will settle down, but I try not to get too down about it because we know this is an incredibly talented team with some of the great young players in the game.

Around the blogO’sphere

Colton Cowser having success as Orioles leadoff hitter (Orioles.com)
Cowser jumping up to leadoff against righty pitchers has been one thing that’s worked out lately.

Orioles depending on Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo as they adjust to new ‘universe’ (The Baltimore Sun)
The Jackson Holliday at-bats since his second arrival with the Orioles have been looking pretty darn good.

Props for players that left via trades and more on Honeycutt (Steve Melewski)
Included here are a couple of quotes from Scott Boras, who is first round pick Vance Honeycutt’s agent, that sounds positive about communication with the Orioles front office.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 2005, the Orioles fired manager Lee Mazzilli after an eighth consecutive loss and 16th loss in 18 games dropped them to 51-56. The team fell further under interim manager Sam Perlozzo, finishing off 23-32 after he took over.

If you think the Orioles should be considering a midseason firing of Brandon Hyde, I think you’re nuts.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2021 infielder Jahmai Jones, 2007 outfielder Jon Knott, and 1996-2000/2003-05 infielder/outfielder B.J. Surhoff. Today is Surhoff’s 60th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: poet/playwright Percy Shelley (1792), designer Louis Vuitton (1821), jazz man Louis Armstrong (1901), 44th president Barack Obama (1961), and director Greta Gerwig (1983).

On this day in history…

In 1693, according to tradition, Dom Perignon invented champagne.

In 1914, the conflict we now know as World War I saw another escalation, with Britain declaring war on Germany in response to Germany’s invasion of Belgium.

In 1944, the family of Anne Frank was discovered and arrested by the Gestapo in Amsterdam.