Hoey's long road back took him to Camden Yards to face his former team

Hoey's long road back took him to Camden Yards to face his former team
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...
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Roberts the RBI machine

Roberts the RBI machine
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...
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Eight was enough: O's end streak with blowout win

Eight was enough: O's end streak with blowout win
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...
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Quick Mahoney update

Quick Mahoney update
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...
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Getting an early clutch hit

Getting an early clutch hit
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....
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Arrieta can take more than a good fastball to the mound

Arrieta can take more than a good fastball to the mound
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...
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Checking in with another struggling O's reliever

Checking in with another struggling O's reliever
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...
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Minor league notes on Snyder, Adams and Avery

Minor league notes on Snyder, Adams and Avery
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,...
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Tillman's outing was encouraging (with Wieters audio)

Tillman's outing was encouraging (with Wieters audio)
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...
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Yet another night where the runs were not plentiful

Yet another night where the runs were not plentiful
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...
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Tillman's outing so far (updated with final line)

Tillman's outing so far (updated with final line)
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,...
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Wieters said he's not concerned with Tillman's velocity

Wieters said he's not concerned with Tillman's velocity
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,...
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Wieters: "Everyone in the lineup believes in what they can do."

Wieters: "Everyone in the lineup believes in what they can do."
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...
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Twins AL East-like schedule continues in Baltimore

Twins AL East-like schedule continues in Baltimore
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...
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Will the Orioles make any lineup changes?

Will the Orioles make any lineup changes?
With the Orioles struggling to hit and mired in a seven-game losing streak where they have scored just 17 total runs, some fans have said they think it is time to shake up the lineup. I don't expect to see manager Buck Showalter do that. It would surprise me if it happened this early in the year. Just because someone bats in a different spot, doesn't mean they will suddenly start getting hits they were not getting before. Right now, there is not one Oriole that is a hot hitter. In fact,...
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Feel good story: Former Oriole Hoey returns to majors with Twins

Feel good story: Former Oriole Hoey returns to majors with Twins
The last few seasons, Jim Hoey pitched in the Orioles' minor leagues, battling back after two surgeries to try to get back to Baltimore and the major leagues. Hoey will make that return to the majors in Baltimore, but not with Baltimore. Traded by the Orioles to the Twins in December with Brett Jacobson in the deal for shortstop J.J. Hardy, Hoey began this year at Triple-A Rochester but was recalled to the majors today after the Twins' win over Tampa. That means he will be with the club...
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Swept away in Cleveland: O's losing streak reaches seven

Swept away in Cleveland: O's losing streak reaches seven
For the Orioles, this was another day when they fell behind early and were frustrated on offense. The Birds lost, 4-2, at Cleveland this afternoon as they were swept in the three-game series and their losing streak reaches seven games. The Orioles completed a winless road trip, going 0-5 in New York and Cleveland with one rain out. Things have gotten so bad for the Orioles that Koji Uehara even issued a walk in the 8th inning. In fact, he walked two batters in the frame. That was the first...
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The O's have earned their way to six straight losses

The O's have earned their way to six straight losses
Maybe that old baseball saying that "you are never as good as you look when you are winning and never as bad as you look when you are losing," applies to these Orioles. They sure looked good during a 6-1 start. We can only hope they are not as bad as they have looked during the 0-6 run since. They sure have looked bad. In three of the losses, they were pretty much blown out. That would be the last two days and the 13-1 loss to Texas. In the 7-4 loss in game one at Yankee Stadium, it was...
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Are Lee and Guerrero usually slow starters?

Are Lee and Guerrero usually slow starters?
I was wondering today if Derrek Lee and Vlad Guerrero have been slow starters in their careers. They have not hit much so far and maybe they are just not good hitters in early-season games. Well, both do have some good stats hitting in April. Lee has a career .270 average and .852 OPS in the month with 51 homers. But maybe the good news is that his April OPS ranks just fifth highest among the six months of the season. So he gets better after April according to his track record. The same is...
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The O's offense: Mostly dormant through 12 games

The O's offense: Mostly dormant through 12 games
Last year, when the Orioles had a pretty mediocre offense, they averaged just 3.8 runs per game. So far this year, with an offense that is expected to be greatly improved, they are averaging 3.8 runs per game. The Orioles just are not hitting much right now and I'm sure some fans are getting restless to see some runs at this point. It's too early to get real concerned, but the team batting average is just .226. During the five-game losing streak, the O's have scored just 12 runs with a...
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