It has only been five games. We've thought before this year that the Orioles' offense was starting to show signs of life.
Maybe this time it is for real.
They are not exactly mashing the ball, but the Orioles have produced 10 hits or more in four of the last five games. They have 55 hits and a team average of .293 in the stretch, even including being shutout on Friday night.
The offense the last five games:
Tuesday versus Seattle: 20-for-53, seven runs, win
Wednesday versus Seattle:...
Andy MacPhail wasn't wrong in saying the Orioles should use the Rays as their role model.
A lot of people were ready to throw dirt on Tampa Bay when they started 1-8, but the Rays quickly found their way back to first place and that's where they reside right now with a 23-16 record.
Others have much larger payrolls and boast more star power. Tampa Bay just keeps winning and playing sound, fundamental baseball under a great leader in manager Joe Maddon.
Tampa Bay proved to the Orioles that...
Brad Bergesen came into this start today with an ERA of 7.45 in his past two starts, just one quality start all year and with a career record of 0-5 and 9.13 ERA in five lifetime starts against Tampa Bay.
But he got a huge double-play grounder against Evan Longoria to keep Tampa Bay off the board in the first inning on his way to a four-hit shutout as the Orioles beat Tampa Bay, 6-0 at the Trop. It's the Orioles third shutout this year.
Bergy seemed to be able to keep the ball down today....
Right-handed relief pitcher Dan Klein continues to pitch very well on the farm for the Orioles.
Klein pitched 2 1/3 scoreless in Double-A Bowie's loss last night and has now pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings in his first four games there since moving from Single-A Frederick.
In 11 games between the two teams, Klein is 1-1 with an ERA of 0.78 and .193 average against. In 23 innings, he has allowed just two runs on 16 hits with four walks to 27 strikeouts.
He is doing nothing to put to rest talk...
I have heard some fans say that we all should have expected to see new Orioles' third baseman Mark Reynolds hit for a real low average after he batted .198 last year.
However, Reynolds hit .279 in 2007, .239 in 2008 and .260 in 2009. His career batting average coming into this season was .242. He was a career .280 hitter in the minor leagues.
Right now, Reynolds is batting .174 with three homers and 15 RBIs. That batting average is 68 points under his career number. Plus, his power outage...
A few quick thoughts after the Orioles' lost 3-0 to Tampa Bay tonight to begin a three-game series.
* The Orioles have now scored just six runs over Jeremy Guthrie's last seven starts. They have not scored in five of those starts while he was still in the game. There is an adjective for that, but amazing and unbelievable doesn't seem to do that stat justice.
* Jeremy Hellickson tonight proved the statement that momentum is as good as tonight's starting pitcher to be true in baseball. So...
Here are some notes on Jeremy Hellickson, the right-handed Tampa Bay pitcher the Orioles will try to beat tonight.
* He is 3-2 on the year with an ERA of 3.72 in six starts with a batting average against of .236. He gets more air outs with a ground to air out ratio of 0.74.
* His last start was last Saturday when he got the win in Baltimore against Jeremy Guthrie. He went five scoreless innings, but walked five and allowed three hits, throwing 92 pitches. In three games, two career starts,...
It appears the return of shortstop Manny Machado to the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds' lineup is at least a week away at this point.
The Orioles' first-round pick in last year's draft suffered a dislocated left kneecap May 5. The swelling in the knee has gone down and Machado is close to returning to baseball activities. When he shows club officials he is 100 percent, they may still give him a few days to get back up to speed after that.
Machado is batting .333 with six doubles, two...
By just about any standard, Zach Britton's start to his rookie season has been pretty amazing.
He is 5-2 with an ERA of 2.42 and that now ranks as the seventh best ERA in the American League. Only three pitchers, Trevor Cahill of Oakland, Detroit's Max Scherzer and Jered Weaver of Los Angeles have more wins with six to his five.
Britton's WHIP is now at 1.02 and that is 9th best in the AL. He has now pitched 52 innings and that ties for 13th in the league.
Here is how Britton ranks...
Coming off their second walk-off win in three days and a three-game series sweep, now the Orioles head into a stretch of seven games over the next seven days against the AL East.
It starts tonight with three games at Tampa, followed by two at Boston and then two at home versus New York.
Are the O's ready for this tough stretch, and will the momentum of the Seattle sweep help them get some wins during this next grueling stretch?
The Orioles are 5-8 on the year against the AL East which...
Zach Britton did everything but get a win tonight with his amazing nine innings of scoreless baseball.
It's the first time this year Britton did not get a decision, but with a single run of offensive support, he could have easily been the Orioles' first six-game winner before May was over since Kris Benson in 2006.
Britton is now 5-2 with an ERA of 2.42 through his first eight major league starts. That is the 7th best ERA in the American League and he is tied for 4th in the AL with five...
Matt Wieters continues to throw out opposing base stealers at an amazing rate.
When he threw out Luis Rodriguez trying to steal to end the top of the fifth tonight, Wieters moved over 50 percent on the year in throwing out runners. He has now thrown out 11 of 21 runners trying to steal.
Here are the AL leaders by percentage among catchers coming into tonight:
.514 - Kurt Suzuki of Oakland (18 of 35)
.500 - Matt Wieters of Orioles (10 of 20)
.500 - Kelly Shoppach of TB (5 of 10)
.444 - Matt...
*The Orioles are looking tonight to end this homestand with a three-game sweep after it started with Tampa sweeping them three straight. The last time the O's were swept in three or more games to start a homestand and then swept the next opponent on the stand was from June 26-July 2, 1997. They were swept by Toronto, but then swept the Phillies.
*M's starter Jason Vargas is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in four career starts against Baltimore. He was taken in the second round of the 2004 draft, 68th...
When Zach Britton took the loss in his last start, last Friday versus Tampa, he allowed four hits and three runs over 5 1/3 innings, throwing 95 pitches.
It was the first time this season Britton has worked fewer than six innings in his seven starts. He has recorded five quality starts to date, and the Orioles are 5-2 when he takes the mound. That is his record also, as he has had a decision in every start.
Tonight, Britton can pick up his sixth win. The Orioles did not have a pitcher record...
Right now, Brian Roberts is going through perhaps one of the worst slumps of his career.
He is hitless in his last 26 at-bats, dating to last Wednesday at Kansas City. He is batting just .209 in 34 games and he is a .283 career hitter.
Roberts says it's as frustrating a stretch he has been through in recent years.
"Yeah, probably," he said. "You go through slumps every year. There is really no escaping one at some point. This has probably been one of the more frustrating ones I've been...
The Orioles announced today that their April 22 postponed game against the New York Yankees will be made up at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27 as part of a day-night doubleheader at Camden Yards. The originally scheduled game for Aug. 27 will still be played at 7:05 p.m. that evening.
Tickets dated April 22 will be accepted only at the 1:05 game Aug. 27; fans should simply bring their tickets from the April 22 game to the ballpark gates that day for admission. No exchange is necessary. Parking...
After catcher Caleb Joseph hit .284 in 2009 at Single-A Frederick and made the Carolina League All-Star team, he had high hopes for the 2010 season with Double-A Bowie.
But he got off to a slow start and never really got his bat going. He finished hitting .235 in 106 games and fell off some of those top prospects lists.
But after his key two-RBI single helped Bowie beat Richmond on Wednesday, Joseph is now batting .289 with three homers, 14 RBIs, a .394 on-base average and an .828 OPS in 26...
Sometimes, a little pitching and a little offense can go a long way.
You probably know that the Orioles have scored three runs or fewer in more than half their games this year and are 2-16 in those games. So they almost always lose when they score so little.
But if they can get four runs, they almost always win. After Wednesday's 4-2 victory over Seattle, the Orioles are 14-3 when they score four or more runs in a game.
The starting pitching has set the tone the past two nights and for two...
Chris Tillman outpitched Felix Hernandez tonight to help the Orioles beat the Mariners 4-2 at Camden Yards. You would have gotten long odds of that happening back at 7 p.m. tonight.
After being traded by Seattle to the Orioles on Feb. 8, 2008, it had to feel good for Tillman and Adam Jones to beat their former team tonight.
Jones went 4-for-4 with a key two-run triple.
Here is more on Tillman's night:
* He rebounded from his previous start, when he gave up ten hits and eights runs over 3...
* Derrek Lee is now the only Oriole to start every game. Nick Markakis and Mark Reynolds were on that list until today when neither is in the starting lineup.
* After grounding out with the bases loaded to end the second inning tonight, Robert Andino is now 2-for-12 on the year batting with runners in scoring position.
* Chris Tillman entered this game with an ERA of 11.57 in the first two innings this year, but pitched shutout ball in those frames tonight versus Seattle.
* Adam Jones now...