…But the Ravens were on Monday Night Football to open the season and no one cares.
Seriously, the Orioles recorded the fourth lowest all-time attendance with their game against the Jays last night in Baltimore. Fewer than 10,000 people turned out to see what was actually a very good game between the suddenly respectable Birds and the homer-happy Jays. The Orioles finally beat the Jays having gone 0-12 against them so far this year. Not only that, but last night’s win means the Orioles are no longer the worst team in AL. The birds have jumped over the Seattle Mariners and are closing in on the Indians and Royals.
The resurgent birds need only to win eight more games to eliminate the possibility of a 100-loss season, something that seemed like a foregone conclusion a couple of months ago.
The Orioles did not get away unscathed. Brian Matusz left the game after throwing only nine pitches and recording only one out. A line drive of Yuniesky Betancourt struck Matusz square in the throwing arm. He was removed for purely precautionary reasons. Brain Roberts was also hit by a pitch in the leg and left the in the eighth. The fastball from Jason Frasor nailed Roberts just above his knee and he crumpled to the ground. After getting up and gingerly jogging to first he would be removed from the game for Josh Bell.
All in all it was another well-pitched, well-played game by the Orioles it is almost becoming mundane. The Orioles have just been quietly winning series after series and playing very solid baseball under new manager Buck Showalter. Since Showalter took over the Orioles are 24-15, that is the best record in the majors. This team that seemed prepared to do nothing else but limp to the end of the season beaten, bloody and full of questions is only two games under 500 for the second half. The Orioles pitching staff after putting up ERAs over five in June and July posted a 3.38 ERA in August and so far in September having played against some of the top offensive clubs in the league have posted a 4.07 ERA.
This turn-around is just simply remarkable. That is why tonight is Buck Showalter t-shirt night, and I will be getting one.
I wrote at the end of August that the true test of this resurrection will be September. This month remains nothing less than an absolute crucible in the most literal sense of the word. A crucible can be defined as situation where elements are placed under severe stressors to force change. An AL East round-robin at the end of the season fighting to regain respectability in a town that just showed you where you rank by all the empty seats last night, I would call all of those things stressors; the Orioles are changing. They are winning. They are playing like the team we all thought they were in March. This is the Orioles we all expected to see. You may have been overshadowed by the Ravens last night (great win by the way, if you listen closely you can hear the sound of Rex Ryan shutting the Hell up) but I know one local establishment that still had the most dedicated fans rooting you on, even if it was on the smaller TV.
