Checking in with some notes after the Orioles' 5-4 win over Minnesota.
Matt at bat: Matt Wieters drove in one run in the first game of the series Monday, then had four RBIs Tuesday and two more last night. Over the three games of this series, he is 4-for-9 with a double, two homers and seven RBIs. Wieters' six RBIs over his last two games is more than he had in his first 13 games, when he drove in a total of five runs.
Wieters has a four-game hitting streak and has homered three times on...
The Orioles didn't get any runs after the third inning tonight, but they got just enough by then to win and they've now posted back-to-back victories after an eight-game losing streak.
Matt Wieters hit a two-run homer and Zach Britton picked up his third win as the Orioles edged Minnesota, 5-4, to improve to 8-9 on the year. It was just the second one-run game the Orioles have played this season and their first win.
Kevin Gregg, who had allowed three runs in his last two games, picked up...
Delmarva Shorebirds infielder Jonathan Schoop, a 19-year-old from Curacao, takes a seven-game hitting streak into tonight's game at Augusta.
Schoop, who went 3-for-4 with 4 RBI last night, is batting .467 during the streak with 14 hits over 30 at bats and just three strikeouts in that stretch. His play has been a bit overshadowed by Manny Machado's South Atlantic League rookie season, but the youngster is off to a good start. He is second on the club in batting and slugging.
By the way, his...
When the Orioles got off to that 6-1 start, they were getting brilliant starting pitching.
While they can't expect it to be like that a lot, they can hope as the games start coming every day now, that their rotation can get into a little groove, stay healthy and start cranking out more solid outings.
Over the first seven games, when the O's did go 6-1, they had five quality starts. Over the last nine games, during a 1-8 run, they have had four quality starts.
Zach Britton makes his fourth...
Here is an impressive stat for O's catcher Matt Wieters:
After driving in four runs last night, he is now 5-for-5 on the season hitting with runners in scoring position. Four of the hits, including two last night, came with two outs. He has a double, homer and eight RBIs with RISP. That's very solid stuff for Wieters.
The switch-hitter recently made an adjustment to his batting stance and is now standing more upright in the box than he was for some of the season's earlier games.
"I just...
If fans are going to be concerned about any struggling Orioles hitters, probably the guy that should be last on that list is Nick Markakis.
I'm pretty sure the hits will be coming soon.
But for now, Markakis is slumping. He had six hits in the season's first four games and has had six hits in the 12 games since.
He has just one hit over his last 20 at-bats as his average has dropped from .268 to its current .197. He is batting just .128 over the last 12 games.
Markakis, who hit .284...
When the tall right-hander came into the game for the Minnesota Twins on Monday night at Camden Yards, there were some in the O's organization that must have been experiencing mixed emotions.
While they wanted the Orioles to win, they must have also felt really good for pitcher Jim Hoey.
His long road back to the majors had culminated in Hoey facing his former team, the Orioles. He had last pitched in the majors for the Orioles on Sept. 29, 2007.
Hoey, drafted by the Birds in Round 13 out...
Brian Roberts is off to quite a start driving in runs.
After his three RBI night in the 11-0 win Tuesday over Minnesota, Roberts now has a team-leading 14 RBI. Contrast that to the 2010 season, when Roberts had 15 RBI all season.
He had 15 RBI in 59 games and 230 at bats a year ago and now has 14 RBI in 16 games and 69 at bats.
Roberts delivered two clutch hits in the win with a two-run single in the 2nd for a 3-0 lead and an RBI double two innings later for a 4-0 lead which helped the O's...
After not hitting much and not winning for eight games, the Orioles' offense broke out Tuesday night at Camden Yards as the Birds beat Minnesota, 11-0 to end the eight-game losing streak.
Brian Roberts and Matt Wieters combined for seven RBI, and Vladimir Guerrero added a three-run home run as the Orioles evened the series with the win and improved to 7-9 on the year.
Tom Davis catches up with Matt Wieters following the Orioles' 11-0 win over the Twins
Minnesota starter Carl Pavano had...
While there was some talk that first baseman Joe Mahoney could return from the disabled list and play tonight, he is not in the Bowie Baysox lineup and has still not been activated off the DL.
Mahoney has been out since he played on April 9th for Double-A Bowie with a quad injury.
It doesn't appear that the O's 2010 minor league Player of the Year will return tomorrow, but it's possible. A late-week return seems more likely. It is still a day-to-day type injury and no MRI or further tests...
After they went 0-for-9 the last two games and 2-for-20 the past three games with runners in scoring position, the Orioles got some big hits early tonight to lead Minnesota 3-0 in the third.
After Carl Pavano breezed through a quick first inning on just seven pitches, the Orioles got to him for three runs on three hits in the last of the second.
The rally started with a two-out, none-on infield hit to deep short by Adam Jones. After a walk, Matt Wieters delivered an RBI single to center....
In the major leagues, it can take more than quality pitches for a starting pitcher to succeed.
He may need poise, confidence, solid mound presence and a short memory to forget a bad outing as he navigates his way through a long season, hoping to make 32 or 33 starts and pitch over 200 innings.
Jake Arrieta looks like a pitcher that might score well in some of those qualities a pitcher can take to the mound in addition to having a good fastball.
"He has that potential," O's manager Buck...
Kevin Gregg is not the only Orioles reliever looking to put up better numbers right now.
Lefty Michael Gonzalez, who spent time on the DL with a strained left shoulder last year, said he is healthy and throwing fine right now. Still, he has been scored upon in four of his five outings and is 0-1 with a 10.38 ERA through five appearances.
"I'm definitely not getting the results that I want but I feel really good. I am positive and upbeat about that.
"Health-wise, my arm feels great. It's...
After a slow start, Brandon Snyder's bat is suddenly stirring at Triple-A Norfolk.
Snyder is now batting .324 with a homer and eight RBIs after an impressive three-game batting surge. He had just three hits over his first six games, but has had eight in the past three contests.
After batting just .150 in those first six games, Snyder had two homers among his three hits in last night's 10-5 Norfolk win over Charlotte.
He is 8-for-13 over three games with a double, three homers and six RBIs,...
O's catcher Matt Wieters said before the game that Chris Tillman can pitch well at his current velocity and then Tillman went out and proved that to be true.
We can all debate where Tillman's velocity went and why he doesn't throw low- to mid-90s more often now, but he doesn't. It doesn't mean he can't win consistently or pitch well if he gets ahead hitters and has movement on his pitches and command of them.
Tillman's outing last night was encouraging.
After yielding 10 runs and 15...
It was another night of not much offense for the Orioles. The losing streak reached eight and the O's have scored a total of 20 runs during the skid.
The last four games they have scored a total of 10 runs.
Several individuals throughout the lineup continue to struggle.
Vlad Guerrero went 0-for-4 in the loss and grounded into a double play. Guerrero just is not driving the ball at all right now and hit a 2-0 pitch to right field in the fourth inning. He has just one RBI the last nine...
Chris Tillman, trying to bounce back from that early exit at New York last week, is off to a mixed start so far tonight.
He and the Orioles trail the Twins 2-0 after three innings. Tillman has pitched two scoreless innings in the first and third, but gave up two runs in the second inning.
Of the four hits he has allowed, three came consecutively in that frame. With one out, Michael Cuddyer and Danny Valencia hit back-to-back singles. Then catcher Drew Butera, batting just .113 at gametime,...
O's right-hander Chris Tillman will take the mound tonight for the first time since he gave up nine hits and six runs over just 1 2/3 innings last Wednesday in New York.
There has been a lot of talk about Tillman's velocity being down. Catcher Matt Wieters admits he has seen Tillman throw harder than he has this year, but also feels Tillman's current velocity is plenty good enough to win with.
"He can definitely pitch at the velocity he is throwing now. I've seen where him he's been 94,...
As the Orioles continue to struggle to score runs, the players tend to preach patience and say it is not time for them to make any drastic changes in their approach.
"I don't think you can really change anything," catcher Matt Wieters said. "It's still early. Not everyone is swinging like they want to right now, but the big thing is, you can't press and that you believe in your ability. I think everyone in this lineup believes in what they can do."
The Orioles scored just seven runs in...
The Minnesota Twins have not moved to the American League East, but it just seems like they are always playing someone from this division.
Of the Twins' 15 games this season, 10 have come against AL East clubs and they will add to that total by starting a four-game series tonight in Baltimore.
Minnesota is 5-10 and lost two of three versus New York and Toronto before going 1-3 in its most recent series on the road against Tampa. The Twins lost the first three games to the Rays by 4-3, 5-2...