Baltimore Orioles rained out in Washington – rescheduled 8/4

After a nearly two hour and thirty minute rain delay, last night’s game between the Baltimore Orioles and Washington was finally declared a rain out. My personal opinion was that Washington could have called the game well before they did given the radar, forecast, etc, but I also understand the unpredictability of weather and the need to get the game in. While they do provide impromptu rest for players during the season, they also impact starting rotations and teams’ plans.

Both teams announced shortly after the postponement that last night’s starters will be pushed back to this evening’s series opener in Baltimore. It does come across as a bit strange to call tonight’s game a series opener against the same team that the Orioles in theory were facing yesterday and Monday, however MLB views these games as two separate series’ of two games each. The same is true of the Subway Series, Chicago Series, Bay Bridge Series, etc.

Last night’s game will be made up on Monday, August 4th at Nationals Park, which was a mutual day off for both sides. (A start time has not yet been announced, however it’s probably not out of the realm of rationality to assume a 7 PM game.)

In other news, Adam Jones was invited to participate in next week’s Home Run Derby at the all-star game, and he’s accepted. Nelson Cruz of course was also invited, however he declined the invitation. This will be a first for Jones, and while it’s well-deserved it also leaves Orioles fans questioning what this could do to his swing heading into the second half.

I suppose that it’s a bit unfair of me or anyone for that matter to say that Jones shouldn’t participate in this event. After all, if everyone thought like that there would be no Home Run Derby. However plenty of players have participated in that event, only to have laissez-faire second halves of the season. Obviously we can’t know for sure if that’s going to happen with Jones, however given that he’s never been a part of this event it’s very understandable that he’d choose to participate.

Courtesy of Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

On another front, the O’s can’t seem to get out of the way of controversy these days. Following John Lackey‘s veiled comments regarding Nelson Cruz this past weekend in Boston, Buck Showalter said that Lackey should “check his own backyard.” David Ortiz was never mentioned by name, however a few MLB Network analysts threw his name into the scrum. So Ortiz fired back with a profanity-laced tirade about people thinking he gets a “free pass.”

Whether or not he gets a free pass is really up to the beholder; however Ortiz of course is a very personable player, very charismatic, and a hero in Boston. It’s also unclear to whom this was directed; if it’s Buck Showalter, he should probably think twice because Buck made one comment about the entire escapade and he mentioned no names whatsoever. If it’s MLB Network (who brought Ortiz’s name into the fray), that might be a different story.

I suppose I can understand Ortiz being upset over his name being brought up in this light. There have long been muted accusations of PED use, as Ortiz allegedly failed a drug test for an unspecified substance before PED use was banned in baseball. (Notice I said allegedly.) That aside, if a player is truly clean, I can understand the angst at having your name brought up.

However again, Showalter didn’t name names when he said what he said. And the fact is that PED use has been and continues to be an issue league wide. There’s not one team or organization that hasn’t been affected by it. So perhaps it would behoove Ortiz to keep that in mind priort to popping off in the media. And it would also behoove MLB Network to throw names out into the mix in the manner that they did. Incidentally, this begin and ends with Lackey – as Showalter often says, sometimes you just have to tip your cap. It might have behooved Lackey to do just that after Cruz’s 5-for-5 game as opposed to inserting his opinion on the player’s past.