The O’s have caught the Yankees atop the AL East and they could be very well represented in the Midsummer Classic. Life is good in Birdland.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Yesterday was an eventful day for the Orioles. And all of those events were good ones indeed.
On the field, the Birds trounced Texas with an 11-2 laugher, which of course doesn’t erase what the Rangers did to them last October but at least provides some semblance of payback. Corbin Burnes dominated with seven strong innings and just one run of damage, while the O’s crushed four home runs to give them 57 for June, one shy of the franchise record for most home runs in a month. Check out Mark Brown’s recap for all the glorious details of the Orioles’ emphatic win.
While that was happening, the Yankees were getting torched in Toronto, falling behind 5-0 after five batters and eventually losing, 9-2. With that, the Orioles moved into a tie for first place in the AL East — and are technically ahead by three percentage points, with one fewer win than New York but also one fewer loss. May the O’s never abandon first place again.
Additionally, during the game, MLB released the final results of Phase 1 of the All-Star voting, and a whopping six Orioles finished first or second in the voting for their position. That means each of those six will advance to Phase 2, where they’ll go head-to-head in a new round of voting against the other finalist at their position.
The O’s infield is particularly well represented. Adley Rutschman garnered the most votes at catcher (more than 2.7 million) and will head to Phase 2 against the Royals’ Salvador Perez (1.4 million). It’s worth noting that Rutschman also won Phase 1 of the voting last season, but was outvoted by the Rangers’ Jonah Heim in Phase 2. At shortstop, Gunnar Henderson earned just under 2.7 million votes and will go head-to-head against the runner-up, Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr., a worthy but clearly inferior candidate.
First baseman Ryan Mountcastle was the other Oriole to win Phase 1 at his position, besting the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. by about 300,000 votes. We’ll see if Mountcastle can again defeat Guerrero, who’s perhaps more of a household name, in Phase 2. At third base, Jordan Westburg placed second in the voting, nearly 1 million votes behind Cleveland’s José Ramírez. It’ll be a tall order for Westburg to overtake Ramírez in Phase 2, but the O’s sophomore clearly deserves a spot on the team one way or the other.
Anthony Santander will be among four Phase 2 candidates for two outfield spots (Aaron Judge, as the leading vote-getter among all AL players in Phase 1, automatically earns a starting spot). Santander will be up against the Yankees’ Juan Soto, Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, and Houston’s Kyle Tucker. His overall numbers don’t quite stack up to theirs, but his blistering hot June has put him in the conversation.
And in one of the biggest surprises, Ryan O’Hearn will advance to Phase 2 among designated hitters, going up against the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez, who edged him by just over 300,000 votes in Phase 1. Like Westburg, I don’t see O’Hearn getting more votes than his more established opponent, but it’s a credit to his fantastic season that he’s made it this far.
The voting for Phase 2 begins at noon ET on Sunday and closes at noon on Wednesday. Orioles fans, let’s get two-thirds of our starting lineup to the All-Star Game!
Links
Another Burnes quality start and four-homer game lead Orioles to 11-2 romp over Rangers (updated) – Blog
One thing the Orioles didn’t have in last year’s ALCS sweep against the Rangers was Corbin Burnes. Last night the O’s new ace showed what a difference maker he can be.
Orioles Pride Night celebrates inclusivity in baseball – The Baltimore Banner
It was a hugely successful night at Camden Yards last night, and not just because of the final score.
MLB Pipeline 2024 mock draft June 27 – MLB.com
Jim Callis’s mock draft has the Orioles selecting Iowa right-hander Brody Brecht with the #22 pick. Taking a pitcher in the first round would be a first for Mike Elias’s O’s tenure, but crazier things have happened.
Jon Meoli: 5 reasons to temper trade deadline expectations for the Orioles – The Baltimore Banner
Ugh. Way to harsh our mellow, Meoli.
We need to talk about Gunnar Henderson. Plus, the price of pitching progress – The Athletic
Gunnar Henderson is on pace for, as the Athletic puts it, “the greatest season by a shortstop in the history of baseball.” This just in: he’s pretty good.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! One player in O’s history was born on this date: the late Don Baylor (b. 1949, d. 2017). The outfielder, a second-round pick by the Birds in 1967, spent his first 511 games with the Orioles before being traded to the A’s as part of the Reggie Jackson trade. Baylor played for another 13 MLB seasons after that, winning the AL MVP award in 1979 with the California Angels, and later managed the Rockies and Cubs.
On this date in 2000, the Orioles won a wild, 11-inning game in Boston, 8-7, in which the Red Sox ran out of bench players and had to use pitchers Pete Schourek and Tim Wakefield as pinch-hitters. The O’s collected 16 hits in the contest, five of them by left fielder B.J. Surhoff, who extended his hitting streak to 21 games. He should have saved some of those hits for later, because the streak ended the next day.
Random Orioles game of the day
On June 28, 2006, the Orioles played two games for the price of one — a doubleheader against the Phillies — and won them both. In the opener, the O’s notched seven runs against rookie left-hander Cole Hamels, making just the seventh start of what became a 15-year major league career. Ramón Hernández and Brian Roberts both homered and Érik Bédard shoved for seven scoreless innings.
In the nightcap, the O’s pounded out 20 hits, eight of them for extra bases, in a 12-5 laugher. Every batter in the starting lineup had at least one hit, and Miguel Tejada and Nick Markakis each had four. All told, the O’s scored 19 runs on 31 hits in the twin bill. Not a bad day’s work.