Baltimore Orioles 7, Boston Red Sox 2

The Baltimore Orioles won today. They leapt out of the gate posting three runs on the board in the first and then two more in the second. Alex Cobb struck out six in nearly six frames of work, and the bullpen held it together. Hanser Alberto went three for five with one run batted in and two runs scored. 

Yesterday, there were other outlets saying that the Orioles should be relegated to the minor leagues. It was a tired, stale joke, but then again, it was coming out of Boston so no one should be too terribly surprised. Makes today a bit more fun, though. The Birds led this one from start to finish. It has been throughly documented that Baltimore will not take the division in wire-to-wire fashion and that there will be losses. Where things get fuzzy is when folks start talking wins. Many predicted doom for the Orioles in the form of single digit win total and 50 some odd losses. If memory serves, the worst team ever in a 60 game stretch still won 14 games. 

Every single thing about this season is strange for any number of reasons. On the one hand, in theory, you could try to look past this and frame everything against normal expectations. Or, you could embrace the weird, ruminate on how this small, strange season could disrupt what to expect in any number of delicious ways. The Birds may be in a rebuild, but that doesn't mean that they aren't going to compete each night. As of right now, they are in second place of the vaunted American League East. 

The Orioles play the Red Sox again tomorrow at 1:35 PM EST, and while Alex Cobb can't pitch again, it is at least possible that the Birds could grind another win out.