Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the O’s just lost a series that they absolutely should have won, all because they did a whole lot of dumb stuff.
The Birds’ latest embarrassment came against their regional rival Nationals, who completed a season series win, four games to two. The O’s dropped yesterday’s rubber game because Kyle Bradish couldn’t throw strikes, Coby Mayo couldn’t throw the ball to first, and the Orioles couldn’t figure out how to hit a guy with a 5.40 ERA. Your 2026 Orioles, ladies and gentlemen. Alex Church recapped the fruitless O’s effort.
The O’s have won just one of their last seven series — against the Dodgers, oddly enough — and are 9-13 in that span. Their defeat yesterday clinched their third consecutive losing month. They’re one loss away from matching their season-low of eight games under .500. At 39-46, they’re also just two games better than the 2025 Orioles — the gold standard of underachieving O’s teams — were at the same point of the season. And the Orioles are 0-2 since Mike Elias told reporters that he intends for the team to be buyers at the trade deadline. He’s got a little over a month to change his mind.
Three months into the season, the Orioles haven’t gotten any better. Elias and the players continue to talk a big game about how a turnaround is just around the corner, how the team just needs more time for things to click, and they’ll soon become a force to be reckoned with. There is, unfortunately, no evidence that such a thing is ever going to happen. They haven’t cleaned up their sloppy play and poor fundamentals at all; if anything, they’ve only gotten worse throughout the season. And with each passing day, the Orioles’ chances of putting together an extended winning stretch are getting slimmer and slimmer. They’ve passed the halfway mark of the schedule and are only sinking deeper into quicksand.
Adding an extra layer of pain is watching the Orioles get passed in the standings by teams that weren’t even supposed to be contenders this year, like these Nationals. The Nats were thought to be a rebuilding club that was a year or two behind the Orioles’ progress; instead, they’re an above-.500 team that has thoroughly outclassed the Birds this year.
Then there’s the Orioles’ next opponent, the White Sox, who are coming off of three straight 100+ loss seasons, including a historically abysmal 41-121 just two years ago. This year the White Sox are the most out-of-nowhere success story in baseball, leading the AL Central with a 43-39 record, 5.5 games better than the Orioles. The White Sox had barely started to rebuild and are already an exciting, hungry team full of promising young players. The O’s, meanwhile, have completely flatlined in what was supposed to be their window of contention. It’s sad.
The Orioles are overdue for a brutally honest assessment of their organization and the many mistakes that have led to this point. That kind of thorough accounting might not take place until the offseason, which means we’re stuck watching this team in its current form for the next few months.
Lucky us.
Links
Orioles start fast and fade in 6-4 loss to Nationals, Bradish ties career high in walks (updated) – School of Roch
Remember the first inning? That was nice. Everything that happened afterwards, not so much.
Adley, Beavers activated as Orioles DFA Huff, option Jackson – MLB.com
I know that Jeremiah Jackson hasn’t hit much since his hot April, but what exactly is the thought process that leads the Orioles to send him down instead of a completely unnecessary third catcher?
Sail250 air show flies over Camden Yards during Orioles-Nationals game – The Baltimore Banner
Kudos to the Blue Angels for giving the Camden Yards crowd their only entertainment yesterday.
Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson on slump: ‘One of the most frustrating things’ – The Baltimore Sun
Says Gunnar: “It sucks. It’s baseball.” The motto of the 2026 Orioles, everyone!
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And happy 25th birthday to Gunnar Henderson. The O’s shortstop has already racked up quite a few accolades in his young career, including AL Rookie of the Year in 2023 and fourth place in the MVP voting in 2024. His 2026 season, as we all know, hasn’t gone quite as well. But what better day than his birthday to start turning things around?
Former Orioles born on this day include infielder Emmanuel Rivera (30), left-hander Pedro Viola (43), and righties Travis Lakins Sr. (32) and the late Dizzy Trout (b. 1915, d. 1972).
On this date in 2007, the Orioles’ Aubrey Huff hit for the cycle in a 9-7 loss to the Angels. At the time he was just the third player in the 54-year history of the Orioles to accomplish the feat, but the O’s have since done it four more times.
And in 2013, Chris Davis bashed his league-leading 30th homer of the year in just his 82nd game, part of a two-dinger day against the Yankees. He ultimately finished the season with an MLB-best 53 home runs. Man, vintage Chris Davis was something else.
Random Orioles game of the day
On June 29, 1990, the Orioles defeated the Twins, 6-2, at the Metrodome. Baltimore’s own Dave Johnson earned the win with 6.2 innings of two-run ball, and Curt Schilling — yes, that one — finished things off with 2.1 scoreless frames to earn his first career save. The O’s offense collected 12 hits, including three by Ripken brothers Cal Jr. and Billy, and catcher Bob Melvin drove in two runs. Despite the win, the Orioles remained well under .500 at 33-41.
Read the full article here
