It’s April 29, 1996, and finally — FINALLY — the Orioles beat the Rangers. In their seventh and final try this season, the Birds rallied from down 7-3 in the fifth inning to win 8-7 and move back into first place in the American League East.

B.J. Surhoff doubled and homered, driving in three runs during the O’s rally. Mark Devereaux also hit a homer and Roberto Alomar is hitting .370 after three more hits.

That they even had to rally shows that there are still problems in the rotation. Starter Kent Mercker was awful again, giving up five runs before getting pulled in the third inning. His season ERA is over 9.

Manager Davey Johnson had no choice but to turn to the recently demoted Jimmy Haynes out of the bullpen. The young righty responded well, throwing 5 ⅓ innings and giving up just two runs. He struck out six, but — sigh — also walked six as he picked up his first win of the season.

“It’s been real tough,” Haynes said. “I’m glad the fans are still there with me, and I hope they’ll continue to be there.”

“He pitched great,” Johnson added. “Just what we needed.”

Mercker, on the other hand, was frustrated. He had a tense exchange with Johnson in the tunnel to the dugout after the manager pulled him from the start early.

“I see why he did it,” Mercker said. “It’s just frustrating for me because I know I’m better than that.”

It’s only April and one starter has already been demoted and another is struggling badly. In his Sun column, Ken Rosenthal is already speculating about external additions, throwing out names like Kansas City’s Kevin Appier and Mark Gubicza. “Make no mistake about it: The Orioles need another starting pitcher.”

Things will really start to heat up now, with the Yankees — a half game behind the O’s in the division — coming to Camden Yards tomorrow. The season is really underway now.

Arthur Rhodes will be making his second start of the season. “If Arthur’s pitching like he’s been pitching, to me 65 percent of the ballgame is starting pitching,” Johnson said. “If you can get six or seven innings out of him, that’s what’s most important to the team.” We’ll see what he can do.

Here’s the box score with the lovely totals. 

Devo and B.J., come get your bricks!

Yankees (12-10) at Orioles (14-11), 7:35 p.m. ET

Starting Pitchers
NYY – LHP Andy Pettitte, 3-1, 3.09 ERA
BAL – LHP Arthur Rhodes, 3-0, 0.60 ERA

A gunman killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Australia (note: the wire story on the front page says 32 were killed, but the official total ended up being 35). A 29-year-old man with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at a popular tourist destination — a colonial prison — on the island state of Tasmania.

“Various massacres would pale into insignificance when you look at what has happened in Tasmania,” said Tasmanian Police Commissioner John Johnson. 

Because Australia is not America, within weeks of the shooting, the government implemented strict gun control laws in the face of staunch pro-gun advocacy. They also did a gun buyback program, in which more than 650,000 guns were surrendered to police and destroyed.

As the anniversary approached this week, there were some remembrances in Australian media about the shooting that forever changed the country.

Welcome to a recurring segment where I find fun things in today’s (in 1996) Baltimore Sun!

Accompanying an interesting story about the city forestry department caring for urban trees is this photo of a weeping cherry tree donated by Al Capone to Union Memorial Hospital, which treated his terminal syphilis.