Another Opening Day has come and gone, and the Orioles won. It’s been a good one.

I’m a little more dedicated to this sport than the average human. Today, though, I took a new leap – I did the most delinquent, naughty thing I’ve ever done in my life.

I watched the Orioles game in class.

I wasn’t going to miss Opening Day for the Orioles – that’s a very important game to watch, after all. Unfortunately, one of my graduate school classes starts at 3:30 every Tuesday and lets me out at 5:50. The Orioles started playing today at 3:00. I have MLB At Bat on my phone, so I sidled into class, plugged my phone into the wall to keep it charging, and started watching the game on mute.

Without further ado, I present my notes from my Introduction to Information Professions course. I hope Cooperstown needs a new archivist soon.

I even drew baseball enthusiasts Buster Keaton and Joe E. Brown in my notes. But my stupid Comedian Heaven project isn’t the point here.

This was a wonderful day. For the first time, I had to suppress my reactions to a three-run homer (that was for you, Earl Weaver, I’m sure of it) in a public place where I shouldn’t have been watching a sporting event. I was living the dream. Best 1.13 GB of data I’ve ever used.

Your basic scoring summary is this:

• Matt Wieters 2-run homer in the 1st after an Adam Jones double
• Ben Zobrist solo shot in the 4th
• Rays string together some hits and tie things up in the 6th, then take the lead 3-2
• Orioles come roaring back in the 7th; Jones doubles in Roberts and Markakis, and after Wieters is walked Chris Davis hits the aforementioned three-run homer (in honor of Earl, let’s say)
• Matt Wieters actually doesn’t throw someone out at second; the error leads to a fourth run scoring for the Rays

Jason Hammel looked pretty good in his first start of the year, although he did run into trouble and allow the two runs that allowed the Rays to temporarily take the lead. Fortunately for him, the team was very offensively strong today and bailed him out. Jim Johnson was old reliable in the 9th, so no worries there. The rest of the bullpen also looked delightful, so they’re still a strength.

Actually, today the entire team looked really, really good. I’m excited.

I just can’t imagine my professor would be if she knew what I was actually taking notes on during her PowerPoint presentation.

You know how great Chris Davis was last night? Tonight it was Nick Markakis and J.J. Hardy picking up where he left off and driving in runs left and right. Between the two of them, they had five hits on the night. Not too shabby if you ask me, especially since Hardy missed the cycle by a triple.

Everyone played a part, though – Matt Wieters and Adam Jones had two RBIs of their own, and Steve Johnson pitched a heck of a game, only giving up a two-run homer in the first inning and settling down significantly after that (he pitched six innings total). The Blue Jays were stymied after that by Johnson and Luis Ayala – so much so, in fact, that the Orioles were able to close out the game using Kevin Gregg (who struck out the side – what even). That’s an accomplishment for the Orioles.

Basically, the Orioles did everything right tonight. It’s against a team riddled with injuries, so we can’t look at this and go, “WOW OMG THE ORIOLES ARE TEH BESTEST SO GOOD,” but we can acknowledge that at the very least they’ve pulled themselves together and don’t lose to struggling teams anymore. Remember, last year the Jays would have been trouncing the Orioles.

This is this year.

In yo face, Kansas City!

Seriously, this was the 115th game of the season. This is our current record:

This means that if we win one more game, we avoid losing 100 games. We’ve only got 47 games left this season. This is absolutely incredible. Look at this:

I’m not fully sure as to what’s happened here, considering that there are very few changes to this team from last season, but just look at this! Can you believe it? It’s kind of hard to even believe that these are mostly the same Orioles that put up that dismal record last season. Now we’re about to officially escape the possibility of 100 losses.

Also, Manny Machado homered again. So there’s that. Markakis also homered, which tied the game up, and Mark Reynolds of all people had a clutch hit to drive in the winning run this afternoon. Sometimes that happens.

Tomorrow is an off-day, hooray! We’re playing the Red Sox starting on Tuesday, and for once I’m actually liking our chances. Let’s rest up for that series – I’d love the Orioles to prove me right…

Today was Manny Machado night.

There’s an overlooked bit where Miguel Gonzalez pitched eight innings and only gave up one run on a solo homer, but that’s not what anyone’s going to be talking about.

Everyone’s going to be talking about this. (The fact that the same kid caught both balls is incredible, too.)

Sometimes, you just have a good night. Sometimes, your adrenaline is pumping when you’re first called up and you go on a tear. And sometimes, you’re actually living up to your status as a top prospect. Sometimes the hype about you is real. It’s uncertain what Machado’s status is right now, but tonight, he was pretty darn stellar. At the very least, he definitely wasn’t rushed to the front, so to speak.

Speaking of being rushed to the front, Nick Markakis is currently on a pretty good pace:

I get mad at MASN when they run these because it’s not exactly fair to compare a player’s stats mid-season to a bunch of completed seasons. They really love running them in the middle of games, too, so by the time we all talk about them in our postgame wraps they’re already obsolete.

That being said, this tells us what everybody already knows: Nick Markakis is good at hitting in the leadoff position. I think he should stay there forever. I think a lot of people agree with me, too.

Unfortunately, nobody cares about that at all because of Machado tonight, so. Yeah. MACHADO WOOOOOOOO.

You can go back to watching the Olympics now.

There was originally going to be a Morris Marina and a few paragraphs of me complaining here, but that was all deleted after an incredible seventh inning by the Orioles.

To recap briefly: Zach Britton put the team in a 5-0 hole after two innings, then settled down for a bit before giving up two more runs. Mercy came in the form of Kevin Gregg of all people in the 5th inning after Zach couldn’t record an out in the inning. To put this in perspective compared to Zach’s pitching last year, MASN ran this graphic during the game:

There’s really nothing else to say. Zach’s walks are up and his strikeouts are down, and it’s all being sponsored by Kia. He’s not exactly the Star on a Reasonably Priced Team, now, is he? Look at that thinly veiled Top Gear joke.

Zach’s location is also clearly struggling – I mean, look at those home runs he gave up tonight. It’s like we have two Tommy Hunters on the team right now. Zach was rushed to the front and he’s suffering in return this season; someone on Twitter pointed out that his 2012 is mirroring Matusz’s 2011, and I’m inclined to agree (which is why I retweeted it). I think Zach could use some more time in Norfolk, but he wasn’t exactly doing well there, either, so maybe some time in Bowie will both help him develop and snap him out of this.

Anyhow, that wasn’t so brief, so let’s get to the part where the Orioles were at a 7-3 deficit and CAME BACK ALL IN ONE INNING. Mark Reynolds doubled and was singled in by Omar Quintanilla, Nick Markakis singled, and then J.J. Hardy stepped to the plate and absolutely demolished a ball out to left field. At first I was going to point out Markakis having three hits and Wieters having two solo shots as the only good things from this game offensively, but then the team came through and did this, so I guess I’m in no position to complain.

Nothing happened after that for a very, very long time. The Orioles bullpen even pitched nine scoreless innings of relief – a complete game shutout. It wasn’t until the bottom of the 14th that the Mariners somehow managed to put an Oriole on every base and pitch to Adam Jones, who lined a pitch out to right that wouldn’t be caught. Finally, we were victorious (although the @CharmCityYakyuu Twitter account was working overtime to keep up with this game).

You can all go to sleep now.

Oh, and one last thing that I want to toss onto the end of this recap: DONUTS!

Hold on, did we just beat the Yankees? We did, we did!

It kind of sucks because nobody was paying attention when we beat them. Everyone was watching the Olympics and complaining about how badly NBC is doing at broadcasting them. There’s a lot of things I could complain about there, to be honest, but that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is to gloat about beating a team that I frankly wasn’t sure we’d be able to beat given our current state. Go us!

How’d we do it?

This guy helped quite a bit. (Screencap by me some time ago.)

Miguel Gonzalez went a solid 6 2/3 innings tonight. He didn’t walk anyone, struck out eight, and, although he did give up all four runs (and a balk in the second inning), ensured that he kept the Orioles in the game the entire time, leaving with the good guys leading by one. Darren O’Day, Pedro Strop and Jim Johnson covered him after that, making sure nobody else crossed the plate, and we actually got a victory against the team leading the division!

On the offensive side, Nick Markakis drove in two of the Orioles’ five runs tonight, which is always good news for someone who’s recently come off the DL – he had three hits on the evening. Wilson Betemit also homered, which was quite nice, and Omar Quintanilla and Mark Reynolds also had a hand in us scoring runs. We scored five runs in total, which for us lately is quite a bit.

Actually, we’ve scored quite a bit as of late. This could be a turning point for us. If we’re able to win this series, it might just give us the confidence we need to pick ourselves back up fully and go on a run.

Our only run came on a Markakis homer in the 9th. Like this recap, it’s too little too late.

Okay, maybe the recap’s a little less substantial than a home run that prevented the Orioles from being shut out completely because it’s just a pile of words, but you get my point – this isn’t a very exciting game to recap, especially since everyone was watching the Olympics instead, myself included. Here’s the important bit, though…

…of the five runs Tommy Hunter gave up today, four came on home runs. FOUR.

Now, we’ve known he has a problem with giving up homers for a while. Today, it made up 80% of his runs allowed. That’s a problem that needs immediate fixing – if we were to get a lead (and not blow it horribly like yesterday), I’d be constantly nervous with Hunter on the mound because he’s so prone to coughing up the long ball. Your starting pitcher’s supposed to inspire confidence, not constant concern.

I really, really hope we win tomorrow just so we don’t look like complete idiots. Seriously. Also, Duquette, you’ve got until Tuesday to make something happen. Get on that, my man.

I spy with my little eye a Rube Goldberg machine. And a winning baseball team, but not in this picture.

This game happened whilst I was at work. Naturally, since I was unable to see even a second of it, the Orioles won. We’re going to play I Spy with the MLB.com recap now and find some interesting things about this team.

Chris Tillman won again. It’s amazing to think that he’s doing so well given his struggles, but there’s something different about him that is plainly visible. Do you know what it is?

Joe Maddon does:

The Rays were unable to get anything going off Tillman until the seventh, when a pair of doubles — including a two-run double from Sam Fuld — forced his exit in favor of reliever Darren O’Day. The biggest difference, according to Rays manager Joe Maddon? Confidence.

“He’s definitely a more confident pitcher than maybe the last time we did see him,” Maddon said. “I thought he pitched well. He did not give in.”

What a difference believing in yourself makes, huh?

Also, just look at this quote from the same article and tell me what you see here:

That lead came courtesy of a five-run fifth inning, a rare offensive outburst from a lineup that has struggled for the better part of six weeks. Facing Shields, the Orioles put runners on first and second one out into the fifth inning, with Nick Markakis singling and J.J. Hardy taking Shields’ pitch off his ribs. After Jim Thome walked to load the bases, Adam Jones punched a two-run single into left field to give the O’s the lead. Matt Wieters worked a walk to reload the bases and Davis emptied them on a double into the left-center field gap.

First off, let’s get the concern out of the way – Hardy’s x-rays came back negative. He’s fine; it’s just a bruise. Now that we’ve gone through that, let’s look at exactly what the key element was here that allowed the team to score five runs in one inning (with four of the RBI on the day coming from Chris Davis).

I think it’s confidence again, and here’s why.

Once you see someone in your lineup get a hit, you begin to realize that the pitcher on the mound is hittable. Once you realize the pitcher is hittable, you believe that you can get a hit, too. When your entire team believes that you can all get hits, you actually focus and get them. The hits come in bunches, and you score runs. Only one run today came on a homer (Chris Davis hit a solo shot in the seventh), with the rest being a bunch of smaller consecutive hits. That’s exactly what this team needs to do to get the job done. Home runs aren’t always the answer, but confidence always is.

One more thing before we’re done – we know what was wrong with Gonzalez last night, even if he won’t blame his struggles on it – he has the flu, or something very much like it. Apparently several people in the clubhouse are struggling with the same illness, so here’s some metaphorical chicken soup for you all – YOU WON A GAME, PITCHED WELL AND DIDN’T SCORE ALL YOUR RUNS ON THE LONG BALL. YOU’RE GOOD AT BASEBALL. REMEMBER THAT. Feel better, everyone, and remember that you’re better than you think at this game!

Really, we need you to be confident. Oakland’s coming in tomorrow.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been using this All-Star Break to get things done. I’ve been buying new furniture, catching up on my art commissions, and doing other stuff that I’m generally too busy to do most of the time. The Orioles are just as busy as me. Well, maybe not as busy as me, but pretty busy.

Here’s a little bit of what’s been going on in Birdland whilst we’ve been away:

• On Monday, Nick Markakis was reinstated from the DL, which means he barely made it back before the All-Star Game. Like, literally. He made it back one day before.
• Matt Wieters, Jim Johnson and Adam Jones all played in the All-Star Game, at one point all being in the game at the same time (Wieters caught Johnson with Jones in center field).
• Dan Duquette forgot we were banned from Korea. Whoops.

No, really, he did. See this quote from the article? Look:

What markets are the Orioles in now that they weren’t a year ago?
“We have scouts in Korea. We’ve been active in the Cuban market. We have some recommendations from Europe.”

Oops. Yeah, not in Korea anymore, Duquette. Whoops.

Now we just have to wait on one big nugget of news: Kevin Gausman. There’s a good chance he could return to LSU for his senior season, which would be a huge blow for the Orioles (and for Hostess, who would lose a big sponsorship opportunity this year). We don’t know exactly what’s going on, and there are conflicting reports on the matter, but we’ll know by the end of the week – the signing deadline is this Friday.

Let’s wait and see if the Orioles figure this out. Until then, enjoy your break!

At least it wasn’t a no-hitter.

To be fair, we’ve seen better days for this team, but when they manage to load the bases twice in one game and don’t push a run across either time (including a runner being thrown out at second base from the outfield before another runner could arrive home) things get frustrating.

Fortunately, my National League team had its first-ever no-hitter in its 50 years of existence, so this loss didn’t hurt as much as it could have.

But there was this on Wednesday:

Adam Jones is The Most Interesting Center Fielder In The World.

Oh.

I’m not quite sure we had that, considering that we didn’t even get a hit until the fifth inning. The Rays didn’t exactly have it after their first inning, though – they scored all five of their runs in the first (Wei-Yin Chen struggled, a rare thing this season) and then all of their intensity went to David Price, who pitched a very solid 7.1 innings tonight. Really, you could argue that the only person who had any intensity at all tonight was David Price.

I really hope we have something resembling intensity tomorrow, because this skid is getting kind of old. I never thought I’d say that since I was so used to losing, but there you go. I’m actually hungry for more wins from this team and believe they can get them.

Oh, one more thing – Nick Markakis. Wrist surgery. 3-4 weeks without him now. Yep.

Maybe I should just go and focus on the Mets for now.