RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesJul 27, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Baltimore Orioles celebrate after defeating the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
The Orioles have less than a week to decide whether they’ll be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. Their two series before that Aug. 3 date, a three-game trip to Detroit and three at home against the Phillies, could be critically important for deciding the near-term direction of the club.
Last night, the O’s looked like a team that plans to stay in the postseason race, winning the opener against the Tigers in a series with big wild card implications. Even with ace Kyle Bradish suffering a rare bad outing, the Birds used a 12-hit, three-homer offensive explosion and a superb combined effort from four relievers to secure an 8-5 victory. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the high-scoring affair.
With so many teams jostling for position on the fringes of the wild card race, we’re at the point where every win (and every loss) shuffles the Orioles’ status in the pecking order. Their victory last night pulled them back within two games of the rained-out Guardians for the final wild card spot, and inched them a game behind the idle Twins. The O’s also pulled even with the Mariners, who lost yesterday, and possibly a half game ahead of the Astros, who were trailing in Anaheim at the time of this writing.
When you see the standings laid out like that, it’s more than reasonable to think that the Orioles have a good shot at earning a postseason spot. But all it takes is another losing streak and suddenly the O’s could find themselves in a lousy position again. Two days from now, they could be four games out of wild card position and languishing behind three or four other teams once more. The margin for error at this point is incredibly slim, even with so many other AL teams struggling to get hot.
For now, the O’s have put two games of distance between themselves and the Tigers. Another Orioles win tonight would deal a further blow to Detroit’s fading playoff hopes. In fact, I think the Tigers might as well just call it a season and trade Tarik Skubal today. No need to let him face the Orioles in the series finale tomorrow. It’s the responsible thing to do.
Tonight, it’ll be Dean Kremer on the mound for the Orioles, hoping to bounce back from his six-run outing in Boston last week, while the O’s offense will hope to greet the Tigers’ Troy Melton with the same offensive firepower they brought yesterday.
Links
O’s continue to build Deadline case with big win in Detroit – MLB.com
Jackson Holliday had four hits, Coby Mayo homered against a righty, and even Tyler O’Neill had a pinch-hit dinger. It was a big night for some of the most-maligned Orioles hitters.
Some might say that getting Ryan Mountcastle and Chris Bassitt back is just like making trade acquisitions. They would be wrong, but they might say it anyway.
Will Orioles extend Trevor Rogers? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
I didn’t expect the Orioles to extend even one starting pitcher this year, and they’ve already done two. But three? No chance.
Kyle Goon: How can David Rubenstein be ‘very pleased’ when the Orioles are this disappointing? – The Baltimore Banner
Kyle Goon is flummoxed about the Orioles owner’s recent vote of confidence for his GM. Is it possible that Rubenstein was just being so dryly sarcastic that we all missed it?
A squirrel on the loose at Comerica Park steals the show during Orioles-Tigers – The Baltimore Banner
Craig Albernaz says, “The whole squirrel thing was nuts.” Alby’s got puns!
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on this day: outfielder Drew Jackson (33) and right-handers Chad Paronto (51) and Bob Milacki (62).
A lot of stuff has happened on this date in Orioles history. In 1971, 16-time Gold Glover Brooks Robinson committed three errors in one game for the first — and only — time in the Hall of Famer’s 2,896-game career. The miscues led to two unearned runs against the Athletics, who took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. But it turned out okay anyway when fellow Hall of Famer Frank Robinson hit a walkoff three-run homer against yet another Hall of Famer, Rollie Fingers.
In 1978, Rich Dauer set an Orioles record with his 10th consecutive multi-hit game, giving him a .583 average over those 10 games. It was a remarkable hot streak for a hitter who batted just .257 in 10 career seasons.
In 1990, Cal Ripken’s MLB-record 95 consecutive errorless games as a shortstop came to an end when he flubbed a grounder from the Royals’ Jeff Schulz in the sixth. It was Cal’s first error since April 13, the third game of the season.
The O’s have also made a bunch of trades on July 28. In 1995, they made a splash by acquiring slugger Bobby Bonilla from the Mets for outfielders Damon Buford and Alex Ochoa. Bonilla provided a big boost to the O’s lineup, batting .300 with an .877 OPS and 39 homers for the Birds from 1995-96. And he is still to this day getting paid by both the Orioles and Mets, thanks to a deferred-payment arrangement he made with each club. He’ll receive $1.19 million annually from the Mets through 2035 and $500,000 from the Orioles through 2028.
In 2000, the Orioles made another trade with the Mets, the only one of GM Syd Thrift’s fire-sale deals that season that paid any dividends for the Birds. They sent shortstop Mike Bordick to New York for three players, including 28-year-old utility man Melvin Mora. Mora blossomed in Baltimore, emerging as a versatile OBP machine with power over the next decade, and was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame after hitting .280/.355/.438 with 158 homers for the club.
And in 2017, the Orioles made a useless trade, sending fan-favorite outfielder Hyun Soo Kim and minor league southpaw Garrett Cleavinger to the Phillies for washed-up starter Jeremy Hellicks...
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