Orioles end emotional trip to New York with a win

NEW YORK—A day after their radical remake, the Orioles managed to win a game in Yankee Stadium, their fourth in six games here this season.

Three new players joined the team in New York: Cody Carroll, Breyvic Valera and Donnie Hart.

Carroll came to the Orioles in the Zach Britton trade, Valera as part of the Manny Machado deal. Hart, who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk, began his ninth stint with the Orioles this season.

Valera’s debut featured an RBI single and an error in the Orioles’ 7-5 win over the New York Yankees. Carroll pitched a scoreless seventh. The Orioles have used 47 players this season.

A day after two late trades sent Kevin Gausman, Darren O’Day and Jonathan Schoop away, there were still raw emotions in the Orioles’ clubhouse.

It was eerily quiet after Tuesday’s 6-3 loss, but much happier a day later.

The Orioles had 15 hits. It was the fourth game in the past five they’ve had precisely 15 hits.

Trey Mancini and Renato Nunez each had three hits.

“Yesterday was a strange day to say the least,” Mancini said. “Saying goodbye to all those guys was tough. But that’s how the business works. The year hasn’t gone our way, hasn’t gone how we wanted it to. You have to move on.”

Cobb gets the win

Alex Cobb won his first game since June 5. Cobb, who had lost seven straight, improved his record to 3-14 by allowing one run on seven hits in six innings.

“At a certain point of that stretch, I’m just hoping not to get a loss,” Cobb said. “I’m not even hoping for wins at that point. I’m just hoping not to lose. To walk off the mound first off knowing I can’t lose that game and then having a pretty good chance to get a win, it’s going to take a lot of clawing and fighting for wins right now.

“We get the point of where we are as an organization, it’s going to be some bumps and bruises along the way and we’re going to have to fight for everything we get. But if you understand that and you embrace it, kind of go with the journey that we’re on, then it makes it a little easier. But wins haven’t been easy to come by and they aren’t going to be that easy, so it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get those.”

Cobb’s ERA has been falling, and it’s now at a season-low 5.83.

In his first season with the Orioles after six with Tampa Bay, Cobb hoped to be part of a contender. Instead, the team is heading in a much different direction than he had anticipated.

“When I was younger, I remember talking to veteran players,” Cobb said.

“They would tell me how fortunate I am to be in the system when we were winning ballgames. They would say stories of being on losing teams, just how miserable it really is. I’m getting a little taste of reality on that with seeing all these good players that we have being shipped off and just the overall, the way the season’s going.

“Seeing it come to a head these last couple of days with the trade deadline, it’s not fun. You’re saying goodbye to guys that you’ve become friends with and not only that, you see what the future’s going to have in store for us with a lot of young players. With that, usually you have a lot of losses that come your way, too. I think you have to embrace it and know that we’re going to have to do our part as older players, some of us veteran guys on the team, and go with the lumps along the way and really help the younger guys out.”

O’Day’s Goodbye

Surprisingly, O’Day was traded along with Gausman to the Atlanta Braves. O’Day had surgery on his left hamstring last month, ending his season.

Atlanta assumes the approximately $12 million left on O’Day’s contract.

O’Day said Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette approached him a few days back and asked for his approval for a trade. Like Adam Jones, O’Day had the right to refuse a deal because he’s been in the major leagues for 10 years, five with the Orioles.

O’Day will be 36 in October, and knows that his time in the game is growing short.

“We talked about it, and I’m getting up there in age and I only have so many chances left to win,” O’Day said.

“It looks like the Orioles are rebuilding, and I think that’s the right thing to do and likely won’t be competing for the postseason next year, so the opportunity to go to Atlanta where they’re kind of on upswing as an organization is one that I didn’t hesitate to give my consent to.

“One of my fondest memories was 2012 when we kind of brought good baseball back to Baltimore to a hungry fan base, and I guess Atlanta is kind of on that upswing now and it probably feels a lot like that. It’s an exciting opportunity to do that again.”

O’Day concludes his Orioles career with a superb stat line: 28-14 with a 2.40 ERA. He made 391 appearances, sixth in team history.

“I would imagine yesterday was a pretty tough day in the clubhouse, so it would have been nice to be able to be there and maybe help some guys through it and be able to say goodbye,” O’Day said. “I’m working on texting and calling guys. It’s pretty unorthodox to be traded when you’re out for the season, but it is what it is. It’s a new beginning. I’ll go through and talk to all these guys individually.”

O’Day came to Baltimore for the 2012 season and quickly became indispensable.

“I’m very grateful for the time I’ve spent there,” O’Day said. “I’ve never been on a losing team until last year. And last year, I have no idea what hit us, but something hit us pretty hard. Outside of that – the past calendar year – we’ve been a winning team. We had a blast. My favorite stop in my baseball career so far has been Baltimore and we put together some pretty good teams there for a while.

“I think we eventually paid the price that is coming to fruition now just from trying to compete every year. Eventually that’s going to catch up to you and the front office and the ownership did what they thought was right, which I agree with. I think it was the right thing to do. You can’t argue with that. It’s the business aspect of baseball and us as professionals have to accept that.”

Sad Day for Dickerson

Orioles third base coach Bobby Dickerson was especially sad to see Schoop traded. He watched Schoop grow up in the Orioles’ organization and coached him throughout his major league career.

“For me, he’s the epitome of what you look for,” said an emotional Dickerson.

“He’s a smart baseball player. His organization matters to him. People matter to him, and he’s a super talent. Power hitting middle infielder with great makeup. I don’t know … you dream of those players. You really do. You dream of getting them, when you get them, you get close to them. I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve had some really good defensive players. I’ve had some really good offensive. Good defense, great makeup. It’s tough.

“To get so close to him through the years, the finality of it that he’s gone. Truthfully, potentially, I may never see him again. Lives change. I’m sure I’ll see him, vacation in Curacao or something like that. I’m talking about, if he’s in the National League, and we don’t play them, I may not see him. Careers change, my career changes and goes in a different direction. There’s a human element here, not just professional. It’s a rough day.”