Dan Connolly

Somehow, some way, Orioles are now over .500

With this Orioles’ team, there have been too many stops and starts to mention. And you’re always waiting for something to wipe out the positive mojo.

But, after their 7-6 win against the Seattle Mariners on Monday night at Camden Yards, here are some trends worth pointing out.

Take a deep breath for a moment, I suppose, before you begin worrying again.

The Orioles (66-65) are over .500 for the first time since June 11, when they beat the New York Yankees to improve to 31-30. That’s a span of 70 games.

They are now 1 ½ games behind the Minnesota Twins (who were idle Monday) for the second American League Wild Card spot.

And they’ve jumped over the Mariners (66-66), at least for a day. So now, amazingly, the only team between the Orioles and the Twins is the Los Angeles Angels.

A week ago it seemed like nearly every team in the AL was ahead of them.

That’s what happens when you win five straight, and everyone else basically stays in neutral.

So, the Orioles don’t quite control their destiny, but they continue to work toward that goal.

And the two teams that are ahead of them were sellers at the July 31 trade deadline. Go figure.

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.

View Comments

  • Just an observation... the bullpen's been awful leaky lately. Lots of walks, pitching behind in the count resulting in hits & runs scored. I'm happy to see Buck getting off the bench & pulling the starter sooner when it's obvious they're running out of gas... but beginning to get concerned about what had been the most consistent aspect of the team.

  • Great to see them battle through last night. A bit of a sloppy performance, but got the W. need to be a bit smarter on the base running, giving away runs there, but I do like the aggression. Tillman not too bad.

  • all the Os can do about it is win since we have no more games against L.A. or Twins...and maybe that's a good thing.

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Dan Connolly

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