Kevin Brown just said on air, "Boy, it must be tough to be a Red Sox broadcaster this year" - referencing the same infamously being said about O's broadcasters by a Sox crew - and that's one reason why he's the best.
Craig Kimbrel had three days rest, a two-run lead, and had to face a pretty bad 6-7-8 in the Nationals lineup. Couldn't do it. Feeling like the Orioles are going to have some tough decision to make there, because this ain't working.
With the Orioles getting their 99th win of the season, this is officially the best Orioles regular season in the lifetime of anybody age 42 or younger. It's going to take one more win to clinch the AL East.
Not too many days the last few years where you could feel some pride as an Orioles fan. Trey Mancini's made the Home Run Derby into one of those rare days. So awesome to see this.
Coming back from commercial for the bottom of the first, the MASN camera finds Yennier Cano sitting out in the Orioles bullpen, holding a Félix Bautista bobblehead. My heart, it melts.
Joan Jett drops in to the MASN booth for this inning. Asked for her Orioles origin story, she said that in 1969 her dad took her to her first game at Memorial Stadium, O's vs. Athletics, Jim Palmer pitching vs. Catfish Hunter and Palmer threw a no hitter. Memorable first game!
The Orioles are now 57-52. If recent projections are to be believed, it'll take 85 wins to take down a wild card spot. They need to go 28-25 to get there.
As Mr. Splash fired the hose at section 86 after Adley Rutschman's home run, my wife and I bandied this question back and forth and I'm curious what you think: Was Mr. Splash already on the Orioles payroll before this, and if so, what's his regular job with the team?
In the last inning of baseball, Ryan McKenna: Entered the game as a pinch runner, was thrown out trying to steal a base, and was unable to make a competent throw home on a shallow fly ball to right field with a man on third base.
Ben McDonald just told a story on MASN that one year on road trips out west, Billy Ripken would call his wife and find out the answer to Final Jeopardy after it aired on the east coast and then bet rookies $100 that he "knew" the answer.
The Orioles are now 32-39. That's a full-season pace for 73-89. Not only are they not on pace to lose 100, they're not even on pace to lose 90. Keep it up!
You do have to wonder if Kevin Gausman's trade value comes from other teams looking at the mess that is the Orioles pitching development and thinking, "We can make this guy better in seven seconds."
With a 13-17 record through their first 30 games, the Orioles are playing at a 70-92 pace over a full season. And that's with no Means, and it's not Adley time yet. This doesn't suck!
The Orioles are now 69-61. They have equaled the win total of the 2007 and 2011 Orioles with 32 still to play. This win puts them 1.5 games back of the last AL wild card spot.
The Mariners could hardly have scripted a better tribute to Félix Hernández's career than to have their starting pitcher pitch nine shutout innings and their offense scored no runs against Cole Irvin and friends. The Orioles win and the haven't been swept streak rolls on.
Imagine being so much of a loser team that Bryan Baker making a "chirp chirp" gesture at your dugout after an inning-ending strikeout leads to the benches clearing.
If you're wondering about how tonight's Orioles game is going, the score is "Kevin Brown is explaining how there are bars where you can go and throw axes, to Jim Palmer's absolute laughing disbelief"
On the MASN broadcast, the crew is discussing whether the sprinkler celebration is coming back. Cowser did it earlier. Melanie said that she heard players went shopping for a hose yesterday. Are we actually going to see a hose prop back for a second year?
Last night, the three teams who needed to win to help the Orioles wild card standing combined to score one run. Tonight, those same three teams have combined to score two runs. Thanks for nothing, losers.
Kevin Brown remains a treasure, even or perhaps especially in the midst of stupid Orioles losses. After Yennier Cano was spotted warming and new reliever Vinny Nittoli entered instead: "The Orioles decided to leave the Cano, take the Nittoli."
MASN broadcast waits until it's over to drop this historic fact: The Orioles have just become the first team in MLB history to score 13+ and shut out their opponent in back-to-back games. Baseball can be fun.
Pretty cool that the Orioles are two games out of a wild card spot in late August, their flagship station broadcasts on three frequencies, and all three are airing a preseason football game.
One thing I did not expect to be doing in July 2022 was looking at other scores around MLB and getting annoyed that the Phillies didn't beat the Blue Jays to move the Orioles up the wild card standings.
The Orioles are two games back of a freaking wild card spot and it's almost the end of July! What a wild season. Even without the new extra WC spot they'd only be three back. Something interesting is happening here.
The Orioles are now 67-59. They've pulled within 1.5 games of a wild card spot in the AL. This is the first time the Orioles are eight games above .500 since they were 25-17 in May 2017.
Perhaps tired of sparring with local reporters, John Angelos went out and got himself some friendly words in the New York Times. Does he come across any better? Make any Orioles fan feel relieved he's in charge of the team? No. Just stop talking, man!
Jim Palmer on Ryan Mountcastle after a particularly sad strikeout: "He shouldn't be hitting fourth with the way he's hitting this month, or really since the All-Star break." He sure shouldn't!
Ben, after Gunnar Henderson hits a mammoth 2-run HR: "Show him who you are, kid!"
Kevin: "I'll tell you who he is. The American League Rookie of the Year."
Rougned Odor in the post-game interview, after getting the walkoff error - the Orioles third in four games - for the win: "This is a long season and I believe that we're going to have a lot of good times like this."
For the third consecutive rain delay, MASN is airing this game from 2020 which it is deeply weird was ever dubbed an "Orioles Classic" in the first place. Starting to wonder if this is some kind of plea for help from a person who'd like to be fired rather than quit.
Austin Hays delivers a two-run single and one lingering Orioles question has been answered: Yes, Mr. Splash will still spray his section even on a rainy night. And it wasn't even an extra-base hit! He's as drunk with power as ever.
The Orioles are now 68-61. They've equaled the win total of the 2008 team. More importantly, Gunnar Henderson is here, he homered, and his hair is so glorious that a helmet cannot contain it.
(Colton Cowser catches the final out)
Jim: "You know what that means. MOO-y bueno."
Kevin: (beat, then a chuckle) "You have spent too much time around me."
The slight delay between the Oakland video feed and the announcers in Baltimore is really apparent this inning. Kevin and Ben are doing well to make it not noticeable most of the time. MASN has got to stop making them do this. The network should be embarrassed.
Adley Rutschman got the most All-Star votes among AL catchers, but a new MLB gimmick threw all that out and hosed him out of his deserved starting spot. We’ll find out if the Orioles star makes it as a reserve on Sunday.
Asked post-game about the origin of the new Orioles homer hydration station, Cedric Mullins says, "I think it was McCann. He went on Amazon. I have no idea what he typed in to get it."
We're now up to three plays this season where an obvious replay that would have benefited the Orioles is not overturned. Mateo plainly beat the pitcher to the bag on every available angle, yet somehow New York replay center comes back "call stands." I'll never understand.