hutchead

Did you honestly believe a 7-0 lead was safe with that team?

Kind of the same thing. If they're out of it, they'll use the opportunity to rest their starters to get a look at their youngsters since they haven't had that chance since they've been in a pennant race. Plus, they'll be deflated for having been eliminated so we would get their worst effort. That's why I'm hoping they stay in it until the last day so we'll get their best effort.

Tiebreaker is whoever had the worse record the previous year. In which case, both teams had identical records. Thus, the eventual tiebreaker is whoever had the worse record in 2019 which was the Orioles. So we win the tiebreaker. I would have said going into the Texas series that Arizona was in the driver's seat. However, now that the Rangers series is over and at worst, we're still tied with them, that now we take over the driver's seat with them having three games at home against Colorado to close the season. Of course, it could come down to whether or not Toronto still has a shot at the playoffs when we get there Friday. If so, they'll be playing like it's post season play against us. But if they've been eliminated by then, they'll have no incentive to win and would like nothing more than to make sure a division rival doesn't get the top draft pick.

I'm looking at the ERA's of tonight's starting pitchers and I see a 9.37 for Glenn Otto and 9.61 for Zac Lowther. So that got me to wondering if this might be the highest combined starting pitcher's ERA's in a game in major league history. I doubt such a statistic can be researched (I tried Google) but I can't imagine anything beating this. Or at least not this late in the year. I suppose there's always someone who carries a 19.50 ERA into the second game of the season after getting rocked in the first inning of his initial start but it's hard to imagine something this bad in September.

I got to see Cowser for the first time down here in Salem last night. That was his final game this season for Delmarva as he sat out today's season finale. I have a question for anyone who might know the answer. Why did he choose to wear number 20? He must know he can't wear that number as an Oriole. I'm hoping he's paying tribute to Frank.

I would call it a 1 1/4 lead because if they gain a game on us, we get the top pick but if they gain a game and a half on us, they would get the top pick. That could happen if either team has a game that gets rained out and not made up. Not likely but possible.

I believe this is correct although I'm too lazy to look it up to verify. I do know that Tankathon currently shows us as owning the top pick which means we win the tiebreaker regardless of how it works: http://www.tankathon.com/mlb

Now that's a stunning turn of events! We started the day 1 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks and they had lost six in a row and heavy underdogs on the road in Seattle. And we had a three run lead going into the final inning of the first game of a double header and a one run lead with a no hitter going into the final inning of the second game of a doubleheader. This had all the makings of us being three games out at the end of the day. Yet we once again own the first draft pick!

Goodbye Elijah. We hardly knew ye!

Try to keep in mind what's really going on here. This is a total rebuild. Yes, Elias let some good players go and traded some good players. But that's all part of the plan. Letting players go reduces payroll and allows him to use that money towards other resources. The trades are intended to bring in good, young players with low salaries. This also leads toward the major league team tanking in the short term which yields better draft choices which combined with the good, young players he traded for, sets the team up with many talented, low cost players on the horizon to be the core of the next good playoff team. Then the money he saved can go towards quality free agents to fill out the remaining holes. It's a proven strategy. We just need to be patient and give it time. Management understands what Elias is doing. Also, Hyde isn't concerned with winning right now as much as he is with developing and evaluating players for the future. I agree that some of his decisions can appear questionable if his main concern was winning but Elias has openly stated that Hyde isn't being judged on wins and losses yet. I'm not saying Hyde is the right manager when it comes time to start shooting for the post season but he definitely can't take all the blame for what is going on today.

Got to talk to Coby a bit here in Salem at the Shorebirds-Red Sox game last night. I told him I wanted to see him in Baltimore soon because we sure needed the help. He grinned from ear to ear and said he would do his best.

Thanks. I'm going to the Shorebirds game tonight at Salem and was hoping to see him play, along with the others.

Does anyone know why Trimble is on the inactive list?

The Orioles now have their largest lead of the season in the chase for the top draft pick - three games over Arizona. But even better than that, the O's would have to win five more games than the Diamondbacks from here on out in order to fall back behind. That's because they have a four game lead in the win column and they also own the tiebreaker. So it's looking more and more real now. Yeah, I know...others will say what good will it do because Elias won't take the best player available. Yada, yada. Maybe he didn't the last two years but he did the last time he chose 1-1 so I have to believe he will again if given the chance.

I watch every inning of every game. However, to minimize the agony, I record every game so I can shorten it as much as possible, skipping the commercials. I'll also admit to watching blowout games in fast forward and only slowing it back down if we somehow make a comeback.

We now control our own destiny. We have the same amount of wins as Arizona and we own the tiebreaker!

I don't know. Arizona has now won two straight and now are just one game ahead of us in the all important win column. Plus 12 of our next 15 games are against teams either in first or second place. And 19 of Arizona's next 26 games are against teams in third place or worse including last place Pittsburgh and last place Texas. We might be primed to make our move!

Wow, just think - we could have had the double play combination of Lawler and Martin!

The funny thing is that Arizona also hasn't won a road game since their no-hitter on April 25. They've lost 23 straight since Bumgarner's "seven inning no hitter."

Many of you know that Arizona set the all time MLB record last night for consecutive road losses at 23 straight. But did you also know that the Orioles have now lost 19 consecutive road games? It sure would be crazy if the Diamondbacks set an all time record for futility in the 150+ years of Major League Baseball, only to have that record broken days later in the very same season by a different club.

For the first time this season the O's are now atop the Tankathon board. But the Rockies must win today for the Birds to stay there and the Rockies currently lead 2-0 heading into the sixth.

The Orioles have now moved up to the number three pick, their highest slot this season. They're just a game and a half back of Colorado for the top pick.

Harvey and Means then crap your jeans!

I thought a good slide toward the home plate side of the bag would have got him there. Doesn't the third base coach indicate which way to slide?

Well, the Orioles got off to a terrible start in what is hopefully Elias' final tankathon season. They owned the 28th pick in the 2022 MLB draft upon leaving Boston. However, they've now rallied up to the number four pick, just two games behind Colorado. The Elijah Green sweepstakes are under way!