Each Monday, in this spot, I’ll try to give you fan’s look at what transpired with our Birds the past week and what lies ahead for the club. My only promise is that the piece will be totally biased and from a real fan, so here it goes
1. BREAKING NEWS…ROAD Series Win!
After dropping two of three to the Washington Nationals, the Orioles rebounded against the National League East Division leading Atlanta Braves (44-32) winning two of three. Given that these two teams are battling for the National League East title, that’s not too bad for a team with just 23 wins. The series win in Atlanta was the first road series win since two game sweep of the Mets (31-44) June 5-6. It was also just the Birds third road series win on the season.
2. Brotherly Love!
This week in DC, Corban Joseph appeared as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s matchup against the Nats and recorded an RBI on a force out to second basemen Wilmer Difo. Aside from recording his first MLB RBI, Joseph and his brother Caleb made Orioles and MLB history that night, as well. Not since Cal and Billy Ripken patrolled the infield together between 1987-1992 have two brothers appeared on the field at the same time in an Orioles uniform. 28 brothers have been on MLB rosters since 1980, with the most recent being Melvin and Justin Upton for 2015 San Diego Padres. Hopefully Corban got the ball that he recorded his first RBI with and the Joseph family has a lineup card keepsake from that night.
3. Obligatory Chris Davis Weekly Update
After an eight game hiatus, a renewed and refreshed Chris Davis returned to the lineup last Friday night versus the Braves. Davis recorded his first consecutive multiple RBI games of the 2018 season. I wouldn’t call this a breakout weekend as he went just 2 for 12, but he did have five RBI, two walks, and two extra base hits. His five RBI this three game set amount to 25% of his season RBI total of 20.
4. Hello, Old Friend
Before Friday’s game versus the Braves, several Orioles exchanged pleasantries with former teammate Nick Markakis. Markakis, admitting to finally feeling healthy after several years of nagging neck and shoulder injuries, is having quite the season. Markakis was slashing .326/.381/.483 heading into Sunday’s matchup and was second in MLB with 31 multi-hit games with 31. He is also the leading National League outfield vote getter for the 2018 MLB All Star game and at age 34 has seemingly found the “fountain of youth”. It’s great to see Nick having a great year with a Division leading team.
5. By the Numbers…
1 – In the 7-5 victory over the Braves this past Saturday, Zach Britton recorded his first save of the season
5 – Number of Chris Davis RBIs since his hiatus. That’s 25% of his season total (20) in just 3 games.
7 – This past Wednesday, Steve Wilkerson became the 7th Oriole to make his MLB debut this season
20 – The Orioles will play 20 interleague games this season, having just completed a week’s worth of games versus the Nationals and Braves. They are 6-9 through the first 15.
This week the American League West invades Camden Yards with a four-game set versus the Mariners, followed by a three game weekend set against the Angels. Some nice giveaways this week – Monday, June 25 is “Halfway to Christmas” and the Buck “Snow-Walter” snow globe giveaway. Saturday, June 30 is “O’s Hawaiian Shirt Night”.
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Every weekday morning at 8 AM, we publish our “Daily Feature” — it’s our favorite piece of the day, the one we don’t want you to miss. You can read our “Daily Feature” here on BSR or have it emailed to you by adding your address to the sign up box in the sidebar (or below if you’re browsing BSR on a mobile device).
