Some time recently on Bluesky, I saw someone make a comment that resonated with me. They said that the thing about the Orioles this year is that it feels like every loss is going to lead to a ten-game losing streak and every win is merely a temporary reprieve. I’ve forgotten who said it; if it was you, good job.

It does feel that way about the 2026 Orioles. A segment of people, myself included, are primed to feel this way after what we experienced in April and May of last year, with the attached disappointment of the second half of the 2024 season as well. One game of a helpless pitching staff, one game of a helpless offense, it all can seem like any win is just an accident and they’ll be right back to losing the next time. They are going to have to rip off an extended stretch of good baseball to ward off this feeling. They haven’t been capable of that for quite some time.

Winning today certainly would not be enough to do it, because even if they explode for like 20 runs, that will mean nothing unless they can sustain the effort into the weekend’s series and beyond. Even so, it would be nice if the Orioles win today, because it’s more fun when they win than when they lose, you know? This is especially true for each day’s game recapper here on Camden Chat. That’s me today. So come on, Orioles. Win one for yourselves, win for your position in the standings, and also, you know, maybe win for me?

This is the lineup in support of Shane Baz, who, as you likely already recall, was acquired by the Orioles from the Rays. Nine games into his Orioles career, Baz has two games where he has pitched well and seven games where the sum total of what happened in them is that Mike Elias looked like an idiot for trading four prospects and a draft pick for this guy and then giving him a contract extension before he ever threw a pitch for the team.

Steven Matz is the Rays starting pitcher. It’s weird that Matz is on the Rays. He has a 3.86 ERA through seven starts, and will cost less over his two-year contract than Chris Bassitt will cost for one year.