Ditching deadlines and getting back to baseball

The Orioles won last night for the sixth time in seven games. They gained ground in the wild card race. And they still need to regroup.

The non-waiver trade deadline has passed, though plenty of deals are struck in August. It's mostly a superficial deadline that doesn't warrant a countdown clock and mass hysteria.

Players now must pass through waivers before being traded, which isn't an uncommon occurrence. But back to the regrouping. ...

They need to finish coming to grips with the Tommy Hunter trade, which is as popular in the clubhouse as raw sewage. It's a tough sell for players, with the return for one of the most popular figures on the team being a Triple-A shortstop-turned-outfielder who may or may not crack the expanded roster in September.

They smell a salary dump and they're not happy, but this too shall pass.

(The move also created a spot for an optionable reliever, giving the bullpen two with Mychal GIvens and Mike Wright, but that didn't ease the pain yesterday.)

They need to get their starters on track after back-to-back disappointments from Miguel Gonzalez and Wei-Yin Chen. They rallied both nights, falling a run short Thursday and winning by a run last night, because the Tigers can't get any relief.

Dumpster fires ask to stop being compared to the Tigers' bullpen. Manager Brad Ausmus picks up the dugout phone and dials 911. He walks to the mound with a blindfold and a stiff drink.

If the Tigers could fit a lead into a child's car seat, they'd accidentally leave it on the roof.

My point is that the Orioles won't always have the Tigers' bullpen to push around. They've trailed 7-0 and 6-0 the last two nights. It's a bad trend.

Kevin Gausman will try to reverse it tonight. In his last start, he shut out the Braves over 7 2/3 innings and didn't get the decision in a 2-1 win.

Gausman is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two career starts against the Tigers, with six runs and 11 hits in 10 innings. Yoenis Cespedes is 3-for-9 with a home run, but he's gone.

Gausman is still here despite just about every team in baseball checking on his availability and insisting that the Orioles include him in any trade. Executive vice president Dan Duquette orders a sandwich at a deli and is told that it'll cost him Gausman.

Anibal Sanchez faced the Orioles on July 17 and allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings in the Tigers' 7-3 win. He's 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in three career starts against them.

Matt Wieters is 3-for-6 with a home run against Sanchez, but he caught last night and may not be in the lineup. Adam Jones is 3-for-7. Gerardo Parra is 8-for-14, so yeah, he's playing.

Chris Parmelee is 1-for-16, but he's gone.

Parmelee is one of the nicest guys in baseball and I hope he lands with another team. We spoke only a few times in spring training, but he remembered my name the day he arrived at Camden Yards and always included it while greeting me. Maybe I'm easily impressed, but a gesture like that one sticks with me.

Hunter will be missed by the local media almost as much as his teammates. My list of favorite players that I've covered on the beat now includes him.

The clubhouse won't be the same without him. It's going to be more quiet, for sure.

After former director of media relations Monica Barlow passed away in the spring of 2014, the Orioles invited me onto their charter to attend her memorial service in Virginia. Manager Buck Showalter knew we were close friends and saved me a seat.

I accepted the offer with a measure of trepidation. I don't normally travel with the team and didn't want players to feel that I was intruding. I kept my distance - the best I could on a plane - and gave them plenty of space.

We boarded a bus after landing that transported us to the service, and I again found a seat near the back against a window as I attempted to blend into the background and not get in the way. Hunter plopped down next to me, purposely crowding me as if we were inside a sardine can, and proceeded to engage me in conversation for most of the ride.

He pointed out houses and asked whether I thought anyone important lived in them. He made me choose which teammates could fill out a basketball starting five. He cracked jokes to take my mind off our destination and the loss of a dear friend, to make me feel more comfortable while surrounded by players outside the usual baseball environment.

That's Tommy Hunter.

I often defended Hunter because he never could escape the perception that he always gave up home runs or was the equivalent of a white flag waved by his manager when he entered a game. The stats said otherwise, but not everyone cared to read them.

I didn't go easy on him when he blew a save during his brief tenure as closer or was ineffective in a set-up role. He understood that the media had a job to do. But I also appreciated his contributions coming out of the bullpen and especially his compassion on a bus ride in Virginia.