In roster news from the minors today, Bowie has activated lefty pitcher Chad Thall from the temporary inactive list. He is 1-0, 4.32 in 12 Baysox games this season with five walks and 14 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings.
The Delmarva Shorebirds have put first baseman Tyler Stampone on the disabled list with a left hand injury and received IF Mike Mooney from the Gulf Coast League.
Stampone was batting .249-0-28 in 59 games and is second on the Delmarva club in RBI.
With Pat Egan and Zach...
If it seems like David Hernandez is getting better with each relief appearance, that may be the case.
Hernandez is 2-1, 2.13 with two saves in 11 relief outings. And, over his last three games, he has pitched no-hit ball over 3 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts.
Sunday, he entered the game with the Nats and blew away Josh Willingham and Roger Bernadina on eighth-inning strikeouts. He threw six pitches at these speeds: 94, 95, 95, 95, 97 and 94.
"I go out there and I don't really feel...
If part of being a pitching prospect is learning to deal with adversity, than the 2010 season is becoming Brandon Erbe's personal classroom.
He and Kevin Millwood have something in common. They both made 14 starts this year without getting a win.
Millwood got the elusive first win in his 15th start. Erbe is not quite sure yet when his 15th start will take place.
A few days after his last start, June 20 vs. Toledo, he felt some right shoulder soreness and went on the disabled last Friday,...
It was a Monday of good news for O's pitching prospect Zach Britton.
First he was named the latest Eastern League pitcher of the week. Then, late Monday night, after a Baysox doubleheader, Britton got the word from O's director of player development John Stockstill that he was being promoted to Triple-A Norfolk.
He will join the Tides on Tuesday in Charlotte and is set to make his first start on Thursday in Norfolk against Charlotte.
"I was just sitting in the stands sweating. John...
Roster move in the minors: Righty Pat Egan, who has had a great year for Double-A Bowie, today moved up to Norfolk to join the Tides roster.
The 25-year-old Egan is 6-1, 2.12 with five saves. Over 46 2/3 innings, he has allowed 29 hits with seven walks to 25 strikeouts. Eastern League batters have hit just .177 vs. Egan. He was drafted in round 36 in 2006 out of Quinnipiac University.
Meanwhile, it has been a trying season for Baltimore native Brandon Erbe.
The right-hander remains...
O's hitting coach Terry Crowley gave a short, but honest answer to the question.
I asked him if he thought Nick Markakis' comments about players needing a better approach at the plate had anything to do with the improved O's offense in recent games.
"Um, probably not," Crowley said.
So what is the difference with the offense in the past week?
"I think they all basically look the same to me. We always have tried to practice patience on balls that are not ones we want to swing at and...
During a weekend when the O's starters pitched to an ERA of 8.16, the performance of the Baltimore bullpen was a real key in the O's three-game sweep of Washington.
Here is the game-by-game rundown:
Friday: 4 2/3IP, 4H, 0R, 0B, 3K
Saturday: 5IP, 1H, 0R, 1B, 2K
Sunday: 3IP, 2H, 0R, 1B, 4K
Totals: 12 2/3IP, 7H, 0R, 2B, 9K.
That is 12 2/3 shutout innings over the last three games. Mark Hendrickson and Jason Berken pitched twice in the series while Alfredo Simon and Will Ohman pitched in...
The Orioles have activated Koji Uehara and to make roster room Garrett Atkins has been designated for assignment, ending his tenure with the club.
Here is what interim manager Juan Samuel said about Atkins removal from the roster.
"The decision was made a few minutes ago to designate Atkins for assignment with Koji coming off the DL and the possibility of Felix Pie and other guys arriving here soon.
"Unfortunately things didn't work out for him here. It was getting kind of tough to get...
The Bowie Baysox have won back-to-back games at first-place Altoona and won Saturday night there by a 5-3 score.
Baysox left fielder Tyler Henson went 3 for 5 with an RBI and continues to kind of quietly have a very solid first full year at Double-A. The 22-year-old, fifth-round pick out of an Oklahoma high school from 2006, is now batting .295-7-36.
Henson is fifth in the league in hits and just outside the top ten in the Eastern League in batting average. He is batting .375 in June and...
Less than 24 hours after winning when trailing the Nationals 6-0, the Orioles beat Washington Saturday afternoon after trailing 5-0 after the top of the fourth.
This time, the O's scored four in the 5th to tie the game 5-5 and pushed across the sixth and go-ahead run when Drew Storen uncorked a wild pitch and Luke Scott scored from third base in the seventh.
The Orioles have won three in a row to tie their season-best streak which they had done two times earlier. They have come from behind...
Adam Jones hit his daily homer today in the last of the fourth.
Okay, he hasn't hit one every day, it just seems that way lately. He hit a 1-2 pitch out to left center to give the O's their first run of the game. His blast traveled 382 feet.
Jones has now hit three homers over his last four games, four in seven games and five over the last 10 contests.
Jones homers, 2010 season:
April & May: 5 HR in 207 at bats
June: 7 in 87 at bats
Of his 12 homers on the year, four have been hit at...
When Brad Bergesen walked the number nine hitter leading off the top of the third, that was not a good start to the inning. An out later, he hit a batter.
Bergesen had to throw 29 pitches as the Nats scored four runs on four hits off him in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Two more Washington runs and the O's will have them right where they want them.
Bergesen is clearly not sharp, nor does he have his usual sink it doesn't look like. He has thrown 65 pitches in the first three...
When reminded today about the 40th anniversary celebration of the 1970 World Series winning Orioles, manager Juan Samuel thought for a second.
"Let's see, in the 70's I was in the Dominican and probably with no TV," he laughed.
He realizes that today provides a link to a glorious past of Orioles baseball and hopes that is not lost on some of the players in his own clubhouse.
"It's nice to see those guys come back. For our players to see those guys and I hope they get a chance to...
After his back began to tighten up late in the game here on Thursday, O's home run leader Ty Wigginton sat out of last night's game and is not in the starting lineup today either.
Wigginton says the injury remains minor and we could see him at some point in today's game.
"It's improving. I should be available to pinch hit if they need me.
"Absolutely (I feel progress from yesterday). It was never to the point where I was overly worried about it."
Interim manager Juan Samuel...
We're talking offense here, folks.
Don't look now, but maybe the Orioles are finally starting to put some together.
After scoring 11 runs in the win over Florida on Thursday, they scored seven in the comeback win last night. The O's output of 18 runs is their most over any two-game stretch of this year.
For the first time all year they have four straight games with ten hits or more.
Over the last two games, the O's are batting .448 (13 for 29) with runners in scoring position.
The...
The Orioles overcame a 6-0 deficit to win 7-6 tonight vs. the Nats.
They scored the winning run on Cristian Guzman's throwing error in the last of the ninth that easily could have and should have been an inning-ending double play.
The O's previous best comeback win was from four runs down on May 13 vs. Seattle. Then, they trailed 5-1 after seven frames, but scored five in the 8th to win 6-5.
Tonight, they were down 6-0 after four and a half innings before scoring three each in the 5th and...
After going 1-8 in the last two games of the series with Florida, Nick Markakis has three hits tonight.
He is 3 for 4 with three singles. He entered this game batting .339 over his last 16 games and he now has nine multi-hit games over his past 16 games.
This is his fourth, three-hit game of the season and first since May 1st vs. Boston.
And Jim Riggleman has not made a pitching change in the last five minutes. Let's keep it that way.
The Nats, who lead 6-3 in the seventh, had scored...
Here is a remarkable stat.
When Adam Dunn batted in the fourth inning a few moments ago, with runners on first and third and two outs, Dunn was just one for 30 batting this year with runners in scoring position and two outs. That is an average of .033.
Now he is 2 for 31.
Dunn ripped a 3-2 pitch that was just inside the right-field line and it went for a two-run double. Dunn has 4 RBI to tie his season high as the Nats lead the O's 6-0 in the last of the fourth.
After giving up four runs...
Jake Arrieta certainly does not look sharp early in this game and the Nationals have taken advantage of their scoring chances to take a 3-0 lead after two and a half innings at the Yard.
The O's spotted Florida an early 3-0 lead last night so maybe this is a new strategy.
The top of the Nats order, which has been struggling we hear, has gotten on base in the first and third to set up their runs. Nyjer Morgan has already scored twice and Arrieta needed 28 pitches to get through the first...
It's been an interesting few weeks for O's outfielder Nick Markakis. He spoke out about his teammates approach at the plate on offense.
And he also found time to meet with O's owner Peter Angelos to exchange thoughts about the future of the Orioles.
Does all this mean Markakis is ready to take a prominent leadership role on this team?
"You can call it what you want. I think I'm just taking the right steps to try and get this stuff going in the right direction. I'm not saying who we...