Brian Matusz had another good outing vs. an AL East rival and the Orioles gave the Yankees some help by winning tonight vs. the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.
Matusz gave up just three hits over seven innings as the Orioles beat the Rays 4-0 at Tropicana Field. He lowered his ERA to 3.70 vs. AL East opponents, his lowest mark vs. any division.
Matusz, who got out of a bases-loaded jam in the 5th, walked two with eight strikeouts. He threw 94 pitches, 63 strikes and is now 9-12, 4.40.
Jim...
Matt Wieters looked poised for a big finish to this season, but, just as quickly, his bat has trailed off again.
In the first half of September, Wieters was batting .395,-1-9 with four doubles, but since mid-September, he is just 2 for 22 at bat.
There doesn't seem to be any explanation for it outside of the usual ups and downs of the game. Wieters said he was feeling strong and was really starting to drive the ball and then it all seemed to go away.
To some fans who expected him to be an...
The name Narron is already listed once on the Orioles' all-time roster, and now Connor Narron is looking to put the family name there a second time in the future.
Jerry Narron managed in the O's farm system from 1989 to 1992 and in 1993 and '94, he was a coach on Johnny Oates' staff.
In June, the O's drafted his son Connor in the fifth round out of a North Carolina high school.
Connor bypassed a scholarship to North Carolina to sign with the O's, who sure made it worth his while with...
In addition to giving up a lot of homers this year to Toronto batters, the Orioles have struggled at times to hit Blue Jays pitchers.
That was the case again today as Shaun Marcum gave up just one run over seven innings as Toronto beat the O's 5-2 to sweep the three-game series.
Jim Hunter talks with Buck Showalter following the O's 5-2 loss to Toronto
The Orioles went 0-9 on the year at Toronto and they were out-scored 54-20 in those games. Blue Jays pitchers had an ERA of 2.48 in the...
For Brandon Snyder, the path to the Major Leagues has not been an easy or smooth ride.
He dealt with a position move to catcher and injuries early in his minor league career. Then the last two years he has been unable to put up consistent numbers at Triple-A.
Despite all that, the Orioles have seen other times in the minors when Snyder showed a solid bat and consistent gap-to-gap power.
The drive and passion for the game, "want to" as Buck Showalter calls it, has always been there from...
For the second day in a row, the Toronto Blue Jays used the home run ball to beat the Orioles.
Lyle Overbay led off the last of the 11th and hit an 0-1 pitch from Mark Hendrickson over the right field wall for a 5-4, walk-off win.
That was the Jays fourth homer of the game and seventh of this series. The Jays have hit a Major League-leading 241 on the season.
The Orioles have now lost three in a row and are 0-8 on the year at Rogers Centre. They have lost 13 straight and 22 of their last...
You probably could guess that one reason the Orioles are just 3-13 on the year vs. Toronto is all the homers the Blue Jays hit vs. O's pitching.
Through Friday, Toronto has out-homered the Orioles 30-7.
But, also consider the fact that Toronto's team ERA is 2.51 vs. the O's.
In fact, the Orioles score fewer runs per game vs. the Jays this year than any other AL East staff.
O's runs per game and OPS vs. AL East teams:
*Boston: 4.6 and .729
*New York: 3.1 and .660
*Tampa: 4.1 and...
Well, O's starters couldn't put up great numbers every night.
Kevin Millwood and Chris Tillman have allowed 11 ER over 11 innings the last two games. After a stretch where O's starters recorded quality starts in nine of ten games, missing only when Brian Matusz left a game early after a line drive off his left arm, O's starters now have just one quality start over the past six games.
Their ERA is 6.46 over that time.
Probably just a bump in the road and let's see if Jeremy Guthrie can...
The team with the most homers in the Majors used the longball to beat the Orioles tonight.
Despite being outhit 16-5, Toronto hit three homers in a 6-4 win over the Orioles in game one of the three-game series.
Jim Hunter asks Buck Showalter about the Birds' 6-4 loss to Toronto
The Orioles are 0-7 in Toronto on the year and have lost 12 in a row and 21 of their last 23 games at Rogers Centre.
The O's pulled to within two runs on Corey Patterson's pinch-hit, RBI double in the ninth and...
Now that's the typical Toronto offense, or at least their 2010 version.
They have two hits off Chris Tillman tonight, the Orioles have seven hits, but the Jays have a 3-1 lead on the O's in the last of the fifth at Rogers Centre.
Jose Bautista, who hit a solo homer in the first last night, did so again tonight on a 2-1 pitch from Tillman. It was his Major League leading 51st homer of the year. He has hit 32 at home and 27 since the All-Star break.
Vernon Wells hit a two-run shot, his...
In addition to all O's fans and the local media, the national media has certainly taken notice of the club's turnaround under Buck Showalter.
Some of those media members were the same ones praising the club last winter, saying they were a team on the rise.
ESPN's Jayson Stark was on MASN's and 105.7 the Fan's Scott Garceau Show on Thursday and talked about the improvement under Buck.
Here are his comments:
"I don't think this is an accident. It's really incredible, the way it...
The stands are empty. The players were in shorts and orange shirts with no names or numbers on the back. The atmosphere was relaxed.
But some important baseball work was going on. The O's instructional league camp at Camden Yards resumed Thursday amidst warm temperatures and sunny skies at the ballpark.
There are 15 players taking part and some of the organization's top young talent is on hand.
"It's going great. Last year I got to take BP here. Having these prospects here is a...
He was headed for Arizona, but now it's going to be Australia for Tyler Townsend.
The O's first base prospect has had a change of plans and will not play for the Scottsdale Scorpions.
"Originally I was going to Arizona for the Fall League as a taxi squad player, which means I could only play in one or two games a week. You know, I missed so many at bats this year that they presented the opportunity to go to Australia and get more at bats and more games in.
"It just seemed like a better...
What a strange season for the Baltimore Orioles.
Some of the worst baseball seen from this team as they hit rock bottom. Now, some of the best baseball seen in years and hope for the future.
Hope. Enthusiasm. Confidence. Success.
Words that are very important for this long-suffering franchise and its long-suffering and dedicated fans.
The winning run under Buck Showalter has provided a lift for everyone in the organization.
When the O's were on a pace to lose 120 games, they became a...
In the first two games of the series at Fenway Park, O's starters allowed just 2 ER over 11 innings in O's victories. But Kevin Millwood gave up six runs tonight as Boston beat the Orioles, 6-1.
Boston avoided a three-game sweep, which would have been the O's first at Fenway Park since June 10-12, 1994. The Orioles lost for just the fifth time in 17 games.
Gary Thorne asks Buck Showalter about the O's 6-1 loss to the Red Sox
David Ortiz hit a three-run homer in the 4th and drove in...
The Orioles have been so good since Buck Showalter took over that, even after starting the second half with a record of 3-14, they now have a winning record since the All-Star break at 32-31.
They are 29-17 in 46 games under Buck. They could lose their last 11 games at this point and still finish over .500 since he took over on August 3rd.
That seems amazing to me. There were so many times in recent seasons we just hoped to see the O's play .500 ball for a 10 or 20-game stretch. It...
For the third day in a row, Ty Wigginton produced the RBI that untied a game and led the Orioles to a win.
Tonight at Boston, Wigginton's three-run homer in the 7th, just inside of the Pesky Pole in Fenway Park's right field, gave the O's a 4-1 lead and they beat the Red Sox, 9-1.
Gary Thorne talks with Buck Showalter following the O's 9-1 win over Boston
The O's have taken the first two games of the set and it's their first three-game series win at Fenway since July of 2004.
The...
Clay Buchholz was shutting down the Orioles again.
He led 1-0 with a man on first and two outs in the top of the sixth when Felix Pie hit a pop up on the right side of the infield. It should have been caught by second baseman Marco Scutaro, but he missed it amidst some Fenway Park wind and the O's tied the game, 1-1 on the unearned run.
Adam Jones who was on first, fortunately, ran pretty hard around the bases and scored easily when the ball dropped into short right field.
The O's had...
The Orioles may be on the road right now, but Camden Yards is still hosting some ballplayers for the next two weeks.
The O's were not able to have their normal instructional league for minor leaguers this year due to the field and stadium renovations going on in Sarasota.
So they have brought 15 minor leaguers to Baltimore where, beginning this past Monday, they are getting daily individual and team work with drills, instruction and teaching from six coaches.
Players including Manny...
Okay, I know you can't call two wins in a row a winning streak.
Taking a liberty here, but the O's now do have a two-game winning "streak" at Fenway Park. They beat the Sox 6-1 on the Fourth of July in the final game of a series and followed it up with last night's 4-2 victory. Both games were started by Brian Matusz, by the way.
Why is this important? Because it is the first time the O's have put together back-to-back wins at Fenway since May 30, 2005. Yes, that is over five years...
