While Zach Britton has to bat in tonight's game in Washington, how he pitches against a hot team will still very likely be the bigger determining factor in whether he and the Orioles get a win tonight.
After giving up 14 earned runs in 16 2/3 over a three-start stretch, Britton returned to earlier form in his last start against Oakland on June 8 when he gave up just one run over 6 1/3 innings to post his first win since May 1.
Britton is 2-2 with an ERA of 4.94 in four road starts in...
When the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds begin a new season tonight in the New York-Penn League, hosting Hudson Valley, right-hander Parker Bridwell be the Birds' starting pitcher.
Many fans know his name because Bridwell received the third-largest bonus of any O's draft pick last year behind Manny Machado and Conner Narron. Taken in the ninth round out of Hereford (Texas) High School, Bridwell got a $625,000 bonus, which was more than some players taken in the second round.
With...
The Orioles' Single-A Delmarva affiliate is getting set to host the South Atlantic League All-Star Game on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury. The Shorebirds last hosted this game in 1999.
We will have full coverage from the game Tuesday on MASNsports.com with pregame, in-game and postgame reports.
Orioles Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver will headline Fan Fest that day which will take part in the stadium parking lot beginning at 2:30 p.m. Weaver is scheduled to appear at...
As of 1 p.m. today, there is a new system for commenting on my blog and Roch Kubatko's blog. The Nats' reporters have been using the system for a while.
We will switch the blog over to Disqus, the popular online commenting system used by CNN, Wired magazine, Fox News, MLB.com, MLB Trade Rumors and others. Chances are, you've probably interacted with it somewhere on the Web, but if not, here's a quick tutorial.
You'll comment much in the same way you did before, typing your thoughts in...
Two of the Orioles' top pitching prospects that have yet to pitch in an affiliated game this season, Matt Hobgood and Ryan Berry, will make their season debuts Monday when the Gulf Coast League season begins.
Hobgood, who has been rehabbing a strained rotator cuff, and Berry, who has been out with shoulder tendinitis, are both expected to pitch an inning or two Monday. Both have been at extended spring training.
Pitcher Matt Bywater, the Orioles' seventh-round pick last year, is also...
Orioles rookie left-hander Zach Britton said he understands why his next start was pushed back from Tuesday to tonight against Washington.
Manager Buck Showalter said Britton is on a 200-plus innings pace and the club won't allow him to pack on that many innings this year. So there may be more times like this where he gets a start pushed back a few days to spread out the innings and allow Britton to pitch through the entire 162-game schedule.
Britton threw 153 innings in the minors last year...
Here are a couple of notes and stats coming out of today's Orioles win in Toronto while we await the Nats series and the latest O's MRI and injury news, this one involving pitcher Jeremy Guthrie.
* The Orioles struggled to hit with runners in scoring position in Toronto, going 1-for-10 today and 3-for-27 in the series. The Orioles are just 5-for-40 (.125) with RISP the last five games.
* After being held to just four hits Wednesday night, the Orioles picked up 10 today. It's the fifth time...
A day that featured another Orioles' base-running mistake and a key error in the last of the sixth inning, along with Jeremy Guthrie leaving his start with an injury, still ended in a win for the Orioles today at Toronto.
The Orioles scored twice in the top of the ninth to snap a 2-2 tie and beat the Blue Jays 4-3 this afternoon. That ended their 16-game Toronto losing streak. It's the longest road losing streak versus one club in team history. Today marks the first O's win at Rogers Centre...
J.J Hardy's homer, a solo shot in the sixth, gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead on Toronto today at Rogers Centre.
Hardy, who hit 26 homers with Milwaukee in 2007 and 24 in 2008, now has seven homers, or one more than he had all of last year with Minnesota.
Hardy homers:
2009: 6 in 340 at bats, 1 every 56.7 at bats
2010: 7 in 142 at bats, 1 every 20.3 at bats
Hardy had a slugging percentage of .394 last year and was at .489 before today's game in which he has a bloop double in addition to the...
The Orioles initially were hopeful that when the Carolina League All-Star break ended and the second half began on June 23rd that Tyler Townsend and Trent Mummey might return to the Frederick Keys lineup.
But it looks like neither will be able to be activated then as both players are rehabbing hamstring injuries and are on the disabled list.
Both players got hurt in a June 8 game at Potomac.
Townsend made the All-Star game but will not be able to play in next Tuesday's game. In 52 Keys...
When the Orioles try to break their 16-game losing streak in Toronto this afternoon, they will face a pitcher making his major league debut.
Who knows if 24-year-old, right-hander Zach Stewart will be nervous and struggle or pumped up and blow the Orioles away.
Stewart has had decent, but far from great numbers pitching for Double-A New Hampshire this season. He is 4-3 with an ERA of 4.39 in 12 starts.
He worked to an ERA of 2.92 over his first four starts, but he has an ERA of 5.20 in the...
If you didn't get a chance to hear Andy MacPhail interviewed Wednesday on 105.7 the Fan FM in Baltimore, you missed a good, wide-ranging interview with the Orioles' team president. He appeared on the Ken Weinman and Vinny Cerrato show that airs each weekday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m on the Fan.
Many topics were addressed and here are some excerpts from the interview.
MacPhail was asked about Brian Matusz:
"He's healthy. For whatever reason, from where he was in spring training to the time he...
For the Orioles, this was a not-so-sweet 16.
Toronto defeated the Orioles 4-1 to take the first two games of this series, beating the Orioles for the 16th consecutive time at Rogers Centre.
The Orioles have not won there since Aug. 7, 2009.
The Orioles have lost 21 of their last 22 and 25 of the last 27 games in Toronto.
Gary Thorne talks with Buck Showalter about the Birds' 4-1 loss to Toronto
Ricky Romero improved to 6-6 and took a three-hit shutout to the ninth. He was pulled after...
Another loss tonight at Toronto for the Orioles would make 16 straight losses at Rogers Centre since they last won there Aug. 7, 2009.
It would also set a franchise record for most consecutive road losses against one club. Believe it or not, the Orioles have three times lost 15 straight on the road versus an opponent. Here are the two others.
* 15 straight losses at Seattle from June 2, 1999 to May 24, 2002.
* 15 straight losses at Cleveland from April 30, 1955 to July 27, 1956.
On the...
Before finding out if the Orioles can end a 15-game losing streak in Toronto tonight, here are some random news, notes and takes.
* The Orioles have struggled so much to score runs this year that it's tough to lose when they do put up some runs. They are now 24-11 on the season when scoring four runs or more. However, they have lost the last three games in which they scored more than four runs, putting up five, six and five runs, respectively, in those games. No great outburst, but they...
Here is something that is confusing to me: If the Orioles were not planning to play Ryan Adams much at all, why did they call him up from Triple-A?
He has played some, but Adams has been on the team for 22 games now and has made just five starts at second base. A caller to my radio show last night said his theory was that Buck Showalter had major concerns about Adams on defense.
To me, if that was the case, and I am not saying it is at all, why not just leave him in the minors until his...
Lefty relief pitcher Cole McCurry is joining the Triple-A Norfolk Tides after pitching with great stats this year for Double-A Bowie.
The 25-year-old McCurry was a 43rd-round draft pick in 2007. This season for the Baysox, he went 4-0 with an ERA of 0.80. Over 33 2/3 he allowed just 18 hits and three earned runs. He walked 14, fanned 44 and had an opponent batting average against of just .155.
McCurry actually was even better versus left-handed hitters. They are just 2-for-35 (.057) against...
One team will end a losing streak tonight at Rogers Centre.
The Orioles have lost 14 straight in that park and are just 1-19 in their last 20 games in Canada. They have lost 23 of 25 there.
The Orioles' last win in Toronto was August 7, 2009 by a 7-5 score. Jason Berken got the start and win while Jim Johnson got a save. Nolan Reimold and Nick Markakis had two RBIs each.
Meanwhile, Toronto has lost four games in a row being outscored 38-8 in that time. Toronto has lost five in a row at...
For first baseman Joe Mahoney, this has been a frustrating season with most of his time spent on the disabled list in a rehab mode. Now he looks forward to having some fun.
After two stints on the disabled list with a quad injury, Mahoney is expected to play for Double-A Bowie for the first time tonight since May 3. After several weeks of rehab in Sarasota, Mahoney came north over the weekend and played three games for Single-A Frederick, going 4-for-8 with two doubles, two RBIs and four...
The Orioles begin a nine-game road trip tonight at Toronto. It's pretty much about time - or maybe past time - that the Orioles post some wins there.
They begin this series having lost 14 straight and 23 of their last 25 at Toronto. They went 3-15 against the Jays last year, including an 0-9 mark in Canada.
The Orioles' records the past five seasons there are 3-7, 3-6, 3-6, 1-8 and 0-9. Yes, that is 1-17 the last two years at Toronto.
Perhaps making the Orioles' job more difficult in...