Yard Work podcast: Episode 5

It's a shame nothing memorable or exciting happened this past week with the Orioles.

Ok, despite the poor attempt at humor, the last seven days have been some of the most action-packed this season. The Orioles completed a 10-game homestand with an impressive 7-3 record, made more impressive when you consider that mark includes the Birds dropping the first two games against the Red Sox.

But, following a split with Boston, a series win against the Yankees, and a sweep of the Royals, the Orioles left for Toronto a season-high 12 games over .500 and atop the AL East. Steve Melewski and I will take a look back at the homestand, which featured some exceptional starting pitching and a minor disagreement between Royals starter Yodano Ventura and Orioles shortstop Manny Machado.

Speaking of Ventura and Machado, Major League Baseball recently handed down its punishments in response to Tuesday night's brawl. Machado received a four-game suspension while Ventura got nine games. It sounds fair on the surface, but once you remember Ventura's nine games will likely only equate to missing one start, the eyebrows begin to raise. We'll comment on the incident and how the Orioles will fare without their superstar infielder.

Pitcher Yovani Gallardo is set to return to the Orioles on June 18 for a home start against the Blue Jays. Before he returns, however, Gallardo will make a third rehab start with Triple-A Norfolk on Monday night. What does he hope to get out of his final rehab start and what does his pending return mean for the rest of the starting rotation? Ubaldo Jimenez was rocky again in his start Tuesday against the Royals, but he made pitches when he needed to and recorded the win. Was it enough to keep him out of the bullpen? We'll discuss all of that and more in this week's episode of Yard Work.

Note: The Yard Work podcast will be recorded each week; therefore, all Orioles records and statistics will be current at time of recording, but may be different when podcast is downloaded. Please don't hold that against us!