Roch Kubatko

Staying down, cleaning up

July 20, 2010, 4:59am

Orioles

The Tigers need a third baseman. Brandon Inge broke his hand and will miss the next four to six weeks. The Orioles have a third baseman, Miguel Tejada, who is drawing interest from a few teams, including the Padres. I'm not above playing matchmaker. Nolan Reimold hit a two-run homer last night at Triple-A Norfolk, and Single-A Frederick's Xavier Avery came within a triple of the cycle. The Orioles were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position last night, but I doubt that many people...

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Post-game Samuel and Tillman

July 19, 2010, 6:49pm

Orioles

Not surprisingly, pitcher Chris Tillman was a popular subject after tonight's 8-1 loss. "For a couple nights in a row, we haven't seen good pitching from our young guys. Very inconsistent," said interim manager Juan Samuel, also referencing left-hander Brian Matusz. "Tillman tonight missed his spots tremendously. His command was very, very bad. He was a different guy than what we saw in Texas. We were hoping that he would build on that, but we did not see that tonight. "It's getting to...

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More random thoughts

July 19, 2010, 5:46pm

Orioles

Wednesday afternoon is "Foam Finger Day" at Camden Yards. Which finger? Need a positive from tonight? Nobody was killed. Also, Matt Albers shut out the Rays on one hit over 3 1/3 innings. The one hit was Evan Longoria's single that scored Carl Crawford and completed Chris Tillman's line. Tillman has made six starts this season. In three of them, he's lasted 1 1/3, two and 2 2/3 innings. Cesar Izturis has two more hits tonight. And you wanted to pinch-hit for him! Brian Roberts is...

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Orioles

Tillman toppled (updated twice)

July 19, 2010, 4:29pm

Orioles

Chris Tillman took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his last start. He took a beating tonight. Tillman gave up a run in the second inning and six more in the third before leaving the game with two outs. He allowed seven hits, walked four and hit a batter. The Rays loaded the bases with no outs in the second after Matt Joyce's RBI double, and B.J. Upton walked to force in a run and increase their lead to 3-0. Jason Bartlett followed with a two-run single, and Upton scored on Sean...

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Orioles

The waiting is the hardest part (updated twice)

July 19, 2010, 3:46pm

Orioles

The waiting is the hardest part (updated twice)

Michael Gonzalez is supposed to start tonight's game at Triple-A Norfolk, but rain has delayed the first pitch. Brian Roberts is supposed to play second base and bat leadoff for Double-A Bowie, but rain has delayed the first pitch. Update: They finally got started at Bowie. Eddie Gamboa gave up a solo home run in the top of the first to give Binghamton a 1-0 lead, but Roberts doubled and later scored on Tyler Henson's single. Check Steve Melewski's blog on MASNsports.com for updates. The...

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Rays lineup and other stuff (updated twice)

July 19, 2010, 1:58pm

Orioles

Rays lineup and other stuff (updated twice)

Update: It's not raining, but the grounds crew is putting the tarp on the field. A storm is headed this way. Update II: And now the tarp's coming off the field. As storms go, this one was very overrated. First pitch is scheduled for 7:28 p.m. For the Rays: Ben Zobrist RF Carl Crawford LF Evan Longoria 3B Carlos Pena 1B Matt Joyce DH John Jaso C B.J. Upton CF Jason Bartlett SS Sean Rodriguez 2B Wade Davis RHP Tampa Bay has the best road record in the majors at 29-16. The Orioles own the...

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Orioles

A few pre-game notes

July 19, 2010, 12:48pm

Orioles

Corey Patterson is expected to be available tomorrow. He worked out on the field earlier today. Brian Roberts also worked out here before heading to Double-A Bowie. "He thought I was going to have him in the lineup," interim manager Juan Samuel said. The Orioles must decide whether to activate him next week when the team is in Toronto, and risk playing him on the hard artificial surface, or wait until the series in Kansas City that begins July 29. They could activate him here over the...

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Orioles lineup

July 19, 2010, 11:36am

Orioles

Felix Pie LF Miguel Tejada 3B Nick Markakis RF Ty Wigginton 1B Luke Scott DH Adam Jones CF Scott Moore 2B Craig Tatum C Cesar Izturis SS Chris Tillman RHP

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Scott back, Mata down

July 19, 2010, 11:20am

Orioles

The Orioles activated Luke Scott from the disabled list today and he's expected to be in the starting line up. As expected, the Orioles optioned reliever Frank Mata to Triple-A Norfolk. They're back to a four-man bench, but Corey Patterson may not be available tonight.

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Tillman vs. Davis

July 19, 2010, 9:43am

Orioles

The Orioles will try to notch their first second-half win tonight against Tampa Bay right-hander Wade Davis. Davis is 6-9 with a 4.69 ERA. Not too intimidating. Davis has allowed two earned runs in three of his last four starts, and is 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA in two career starts against the Orioles. Not too promising. The Orioles have totaled one run against Davis in 16 innings. He owns a complete-game shutout against them. The players on the active roster are a combined 2-for-15 against...

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As the rotation turns

July 19, 2010, 4:36am

Orioles

Josh Bell had his first career multi-hit game yesterday, but that's not all. His ninth-inning single came against Blue Jays left-hander David Purcey. See, he can hit from the right side. I kept insisting yesterday that it would make more sense to option reliever Frank Mata than Bell when Luke Scott comes off the disabled list later today. The bench is short enough with a healthy Corey Patterson. Now that Patterson is expected to miss a few games, the Orioles need Bell on the roster. My...

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Demotion not considered for Matusz

July 18, 2010, 12:48pm

Orioles

Interim manager Juan Samuel told reporters after today's game that he's not thinking about optioning left-hander Brian Matusz to the minors. "Not at this point. Not in my mind," he said. Reminded that the Orioles demoted Brad Bergesen and Chris Tillman this season, Samuel replied, "We're not thinking about that right now." He clearly wanted to change the subject. Samuel had an extended chat with Matusz in the second inning before taking the ball from him. "I basically asked him if...

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Too late for a do-over? (updated)

July 18, 2010, 11:04am

Orioles

The worst part about this game is it started. Brian Matusz gave up six runs in 1 2/3 innings. I omitted the hit batter when passing along his line in my last entry. It wasn't pretty. Felix Pie took another poor route on a fly ball to left, allowing it to bounce on the warning track and over the fence for a ground-rule double. He looked tentative chasing it. He certainly has the speed to run it down. Nick Markakis and Scott Moore couldn't catch up to Vernon Wells' fly ball down the right...

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Gonzo and Matusz

July 18, 2010, 10:14am

Orioles

The plans for Michael Gonzalez have changed. He was supposed to pitch today at Triple-A Norfolk, but he'll wait until tomorrow. That appearance will be the last one on his injury rehab assignment. The Orioles originally were going to give him two more outings. The Blue Jays batted around in the second inning against Brian Matusz and have taken a 6-1 lead. Matusz goes 1 2/3 innings in his shortest outing of the season. He served up a grand slam to Yunel Escobar in the second among the five...

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Orioles

A few random thoughts

July 18, 2010, 9:18am

Orioles

With Corey Patterson expected to be unavailable for the next few days, I wonder whether the Orioles will keep Josh Bell on the roster tomorrow when Luke Scott is activated from the disabled list. Perhaps the smarter move is to send down Frank Mata and fatten up the bench. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, appearing earlier today on 105.7 The Fan, confirmed that he expressed interest in Justin Smoak after the Rangers drafted the first baseman in 2008. He knew the Rangers had...

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More on Patterson

July 18, 2010, 8:18am

Orioles

Corey Patterson told reporters that he'll probably miss the next game or two with a bruised left heel. He isn't confident that he could pinch-hit today. Patterson said he sustained the injury last night when his left foot hit the bag on a bunt. A thin bench is almost transparent.

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Patterson scratched (w/more notes)

July 18, 2010, 7:44am

Orioles

Corey Patterson has been scratched from the lineup with a sore heel, an injury sustained during last night's game. Patterson is being examined by a team physician, and the Orioles hope that he's available to pinch-hit. Otherwise, they're down to a two-man bench consisting of Julio Lugo and catcher Craig Tatum. "When he bunted last night, we think it happened," interim manager Juan Samuel said. Felix Pie will bat first and play left field. Just insert his name in Patterson's spot in...

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Bell and Fox starting today

July 18, 2010, 6:47am

Orioles

Here's the Orioles lineup: Corey Patterson LF Miguel Tejada DH Nick Markakis RF Ty Wigginton 1B Adam Jones CF Jake Fox C Scott Moore 2B Josh Bell 3B Cesar Izturis SS Brian Matusz LHP Matt Wieters had his right leg wrapped in ice again today as he walked out of the trainers room, but he told me that his hamstring feels much better.

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Post-game Samuel

July 17, 2010, 6:41pm

Orioles

Interim manager Juan Samuel was asked about the Orioles' failure to twice lay down sacrifice bunts tonight. They came up small in the small-ball department. "We need to do that if we are going to win some close ballgames," Samuel said. "We need to play good defense and do the little things. A little bit disappointed that we didn't get those down, so we've just got to continue to work on those little things. But if we are going to win the close ones, we need to do the little...

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Britton dazzles again

July 17, 2010, 6:25pm

Orioles

Another brilliant night for left-hander Zach Britton, who registered his first Triple-A victory by holding Columbus scoreless on five hits over 7 1/3 innings in Norfolk's 4-0 win. Britton's ERA is 1.50 in three starts since moving up from Double-A Bowie. He threw a scoreless inning for Team USA in the Futures Game before making tonight's start. Britton struck out three and walked one. How much longer before we're watching his major league debut? Columbus led the International League in...