Dan Connolly

Myriad O’s thoughts: Jones looks like Jones; Gausman close to a W; insipid scheduling

One swing does not necessarily end a season-long slump. But could it jumpstart a player out of a rough stretch?

Perhaps. The Orioles sure hope so. They’d like to think Adam Jones is on his way back to being Adam Jones after a fifth-inning home run and then a ninth-inning, two-run single Tuesday in the Orioles’ 5-3 win at Minnesota.

Maybe it’s just a blip, and doesn’t change anything. But I will say this: Jones sure did end his home run drought with authority.

Jones hadn’t homered since April 16 in Texas – his lone clout of 2016.

That changed Tuesday, when Jones absolutely clobbered a Jose Berrios’ hanging curve into the second deck mezzanine level in left center at Target Field.

Dan Connolly

Dan Connolly has spent more than two decades as a print journalist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate first covered the Orioles as a beat writer for the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record in 2001 before becoming The Baltimore Sun’s national baseball writer/Orioles reporter in 2005. He has won multiple state and national writing awards, including several from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013 he was named Maryland Co-Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. And in 2015, he authored his first book, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." He lives in York, with his wife, Karen, and three children, Alex, Annie, and Grace.

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  • You want to know what part of the schedule makes no sense? How about the fact that the Orioles have to travel to the West Coast (without an off-day) for only THREE games next weekend against the Angels.

    This is despite the fact that the Orioles also have to play in LA against the Dodgers AND in San Francisco AND in San Diego this year.

    That is some poor scheduling by MLB.

  • That's a head-scratcher too. It's not easy to put together a schedule especially with an odd number of teams in each league. But there are some decisions that make no sense every year.

  • This dann inter league play has really screwed things up. I for one is dead against it. World series means nothing anymore. Bud Selig has messed up baseball so much. When something is good why does it have to change????

    • The crazy thing is, at least with the "rivalry" games, people still come out to see them. If it's making money, it's not gonna go away.

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