Steve Melewski

Wieters said he's not concerned with Tillman's velocity

April 18, 2011, 1:51pm

Orioles

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."

April 18, 2011, 1:14pm

Orioles

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

April 18, 2011, 9:10am

Orioles

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?

April 17, 2011, 7:08pm

Orioles

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

April 17, 2011, 3:51pm

Orioles

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

April 17, 2011, 11:36am

Orioles

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

April 16, 2011, 7:20pm

Orioles

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?

April 16, 2011, 11:36am

Orioles

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

April 15, 2011, 10:01pm

Orioles

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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Britton takes first loss as O's skid reaches five

April 15, 2011, 5:42pm

Orioles

Britton takes first loss as O's skid reaches five

After starting the year at 6-1, the Orioles have now lost five in a row to fall back to 6-6. Zach Britton took his first major league loss as Cleveland scored four in the third inning to beat the lefty and the Orioles 8-2 in the start of a three-game series. Britton gave up five runs and eight hits over six innings in falling 2-1 with an ERA of 2.75. Asdrubal Cabrera had a pair of two-run singles as the Tribe improved to 9-4. Justin Masterson improved to 3-0 with an ERA of 1.33, allowing just...

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Tribe gets four-spot off Britton in the third

April 15, 2011, 4:15pm

Orioles

Tribe gets four-spot off Britton in the third

After giving up just one run over his first 15 2/3 major league innings, Zach Britton allowed four in the last of the third at Cleveland tonight as the Tribe took the lead on the Orioles. Britton looked sharp at the start tonight, retiring the first six batters with three strikeouts. But Cleveland, which is 8-4 and tied for first in the AL Central, broke through with a four-run, six-hit inning. It included Lou Marson's RBI single, Asdrubal Cabrera's two-run single and a Travis Hafner sac...

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Mahoney hopes for a Sunday return to the Bowie lineup

April 15, 2011, 9:38am

Orioles

Mahoney hopes for a Sunday return to the Bowie lineup

It was the second game of the season for the Double-A Bowie Baysox. That's when first baseman Joe Mahoney, the Orioles' 2010 minor league Player of the Year, came up injured running the bases. The quad injury has forced Mahoney to the seven-day disabled list and he has missed the last five Baysox games. "It happened in Harrisburg, when I got my first hit, a double, rounding first. It's early, it's cold and they just want to make sure that I get it back to 100 percent so I am not dealing...

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Next Britton challenge: Stop a losing streak

April 14, 2011, 11:19pm

Orioles

Next Britton challenge: Stop a losing streak

For his first act, Zach Britton beat the defending American League East champions on the road in his major league debut. For his second act, he beat the Texas Rangers, who were 6-0 at the time and had scored 42 runs in those six contests. Britton calmly pitched 7 2/3 scoreless against that tough Texas lineup at Camden Yards in an impressive home debut. For his third act, Britton will try to stop an Orioles' losing streak. Another challenge for the kid. Somehow I suspect he will hold up just...

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Trying to sort it all out

April 14, 2011, 8:27pm

Orioles

I guess back on opening day, we would have been pleased with an Orioles' 6-5 start. But it doesn't seem as promising when it follows a 6-1 start and your team just suffered a blown lead at Yankee Stadium. Last night on my postgame radio show, "Baltimore Baseball Tonight" on 105.7 the Fan in Baltimore, it was pretty much a two-hour vent session. By the end, the fans got some things off their chests, but the O's had still blown the game in New York. It was disappointing because Jake...

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Early impressions as O's grab the lead at NY (Update)

April 14, 2011, 3:50pm

Orioles

Early impressions as O's grab the lead at NY (Update)

A few early observations as the Orioles lead the Yankees 2-0 in the 4th tonight. Jake Arrieta needed just 33 pitches to get the first nine outs. *Nick Markakis picked a good time for his second home run. His two-run shot gives the O's a 2-0 lead at New York as they look to break a 3-game losing streak. Markakis' blast to right snapped a 2-for-23 drought for the O's right fielder. He turned on a Phil Hughes fastball. Hughes had jammed several hitters early on with his fastball, but that one...

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Steve Johnson moves to Triple-A, Mahoney to DL

April 14, 2011, 10:47am

Orioles

Steve Johnson moves to Triple-A, Mahoney to DL

It could turn out to be just for a start or two, but Baltimore native Steve Johnson today has moved from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk. Also today, Bowie has placed first baseman Joe Mahoney on the minor league seven-day DL, retroactive to April 12. Mahoney has missed the last few games with a quad injury. The O's were hoping he would avoid the DL. Mahoney is 1-for-7 in two games on the year. Johnson has made one start and pitched four scoreless innings for Bowie at Harrisburg last...

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An early look at the O's minors

April 14, 2011, 10:14am

Orioles

Yes, it is a very small sample size, but to date only one O's minor league team is playing .500 ball. Thanks in part to Norfolk's 1-6 start, the four clubs' overall record is 8-16. Norfolk is 1-6 Bowie is 2-4 Frederick is 2-2 Delmarva is 3-4 Only Single-A Delmarva, led by Manny Machado and Kipp Schutz, has hit much. The Shorebirds' team average of .260 is fifth best in the South Atlantic League. Schutz, who already has a six-RBI game, is 11-for-22 with four doubles, a homer, eight RBIs...

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Another check of the RISP stat

April 14, 2011, 8:15am

Orioles

It is not hard to figure out how the Orioles have lost three straight games by a combined score of 23-5. Not when you see their starting pitching ERA in those three games is 12.27 and they have hit just 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position in those games. As pointed out in my previous post, the O's need a starter not named Zach Britton or Jeremy Guthrie to step up soon and tonight with Jake Arrieta on the mound in New York would be a good place to start. Britton and Guthrie have pitched...

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Is this three-game losing skid a bump in the road or a sign of bigger trouble?

April 13, 2011, 10:39pm

Orioles

Is this three-game losing skid a bump in the road or a sign of bigger trouble?

Let's see, the Orioles have lost one of their best starting pitchers to injury, their starting shortstop to injury and now they've lost three games in a row. A record of 6-4 after 10 games sounds pretty good - and is pretty good. The Birds still own a share of first place after losing Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. But during a three-game slide in which they've gotten two very poor starting pitching efforts, maybe the O's are currently facing the first mini-crisis of the season. With...

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Tillman's time was short tonight

April 13, 2011, 4:26pm

Orioles

Whether it was a lack of velocity or a lack of quality pitches, this was basically a disastrous outing for Chris Tillman tonight at New York. He got ahead of the first batter he faced, Brett Gardner at 0-2, but then threw a fastball right down the middle that went for a base hit. The Yankees kept hitting after that. Over just 1 2/3 innings, Tillman gave up nine hits and six runs, all earned. He walked one and fanned two, throwing 57 pitches, 33 for strikes. It seems hard to believe two starts...