He's become the forgotten man on the Orioles. Now, some wonder if he will be a man that is soon leaving the Orioles.
It's been a lost season for first baseman Garrett Atkins. He's batting just .219-1-9 in 43 games and has started just four times in June and has not started any of the last eight games.
With roster moves looming, no one has to tell Atkins his position on the O's is not secure.
"You can't really control what happens outside the lines. So, I'll just go out there...
They were known simply as the "best damn team in baseball."
No team was as dominant as the Baltimore Orioles then, who won 109, 108 and 101 games from 1969 to 1971.
There was Brooks and Boog and Frank. You could not hit the ball up the middle past Belanger or Johnson or over the head of Blair in center. They had speed and power and great pitching.
They had a young Earl in the dugout.
They had it all.
And in the 1970 World Series, they kept seeing the Big Red Machine get early leads,...
It was just about the Orioles best night of the season on offense. They beat Florida 11-5 on Thursday night.
Here are some notes on their big night on offense:
*It was just the second time all year they scored double figure runs. They posted a season-best 12 runs versus Boston on May 1. The O's 17 hits tied their season high, which they posted on April 24 also versus Boston.
*The O's hit two homers in the game and this was the first time all year the O's have hit more than one homer in...
For the Orioles, after losing two games in recent days where they led 4-0 early on, tonight they changed the script.
Florida led 3-0 in the second before the Orioles took the lead with a five-run third inning and went on to an 11-5 win in the series finale with the Marlins.
The Orioles ended an 11-game losing streak vs. Florida.
The 11 runs was the most by the club since the Orioles scored a season-best 12 on May 1 versus Boston.
Juan Samuel talks with the media following the Orioles' 11-5...
Miguel Tejada just hit a three-run homer to left in the last of the seventh to give the Orioles a 10-4 lead.
It was Tejada's first homer since April 30 vs. Boston and ended a career-high 205 at bats between homers for him. It was his 5th of the year.
Tejada entered this game with just one RBI over his previous 23 games and 99 at bats and now he is 4 for 5 with a homer and 4 RBI. He had just one RBI over 86 at bats in June coming into this game.
His 4-RBI night ties his season best. He...
Adam Jones came up with his second homer in two nights and 11th of the year. Jones solo shot in the fifth extends the Orioles lead on Florida to 6-4.
He ripped a liner 356-feet to left center on an 0-1 pitch from Alex Sanabia. It was Jones' third homer in five games, his fourth over eight contests and his fifth in the last 15 contests. He now ties Luke Scott for second on the club with 11, two back of Ty Wigginton, who has now gone 25 games without a home run.
Of Jones' 11 homers on the...
The O's scored five runs on seven hits in the last of the third to take a 5-3 lead on Florida.
This time the Marlins have blown the early lead.
The five runs is one off their biggest inning of the year and seven hits is the most in any inning this year. Their previous best was six hits in one frame.
The inning saw Miguel Tejada drive in a run with an RBI single. He began tonight with just one RBI over his last 23 games and 99 at bats. The streak reached 100 when he flied out in the top...
Coming into tonight's start, Kevin Millwood had allowed 18 runs over the first innings of his last six starts. His first-inning ERA on the year was 10.20.
Then, the Marlins, looking to sweep this series, got two runs on four hits off him in the top of the first. Hanley Ramirez, still tormenting O's pitching and Dan Uggla came up with RBI singles.
Millwood's season has taken a downturn despite him getting his first win of the year last weekend at San Diego. Over his first seven starts...
O's skipper Juan Samuel did not actually say the words that Brad Bergesen will be his starting pitcher on Saturday, but he did say Bergesen will join the team tomorrow.
I think it's a pretty safe assumption at this point that Bergy takes the mound here Saturday at 4:05 p.m.
Samuel was asked about Bergesen returning so soon, after just two Triple-A outings this time when he went back, covering 7 2/3 innings.
"The report is he threw the ball okay in his starts and then his bullpen session...
O's interim manager Juan Samuel said today that Brad Bergesen will join the Orioles tomorrow and that Koji Uehara could be activated as soon as Saturday.
The O's will then likely be facing two roster moves over the next few days, to activate Bergesen to make Saturday's start and another move to get Uehara back active.
Samuel today said those moves would probably involve removing one pitcher and one position player from the 25-man active roster.
Koji pitched a simulated inning today,...
Earlier this week, O's left-handed pitching prospect Zach Britton found out he was selected to the USA team for the Futures Game.
One reason Britton got selected for the prestigious game is his excellent sinker-slider combination of pitches that has made him one of the top pitchers in the Eastern League this year.
But he also found out recently that, while the O's are delighted with his success, they want him to work hard on improving his change-up as well.
The message was delivered in an...
Sometimes managers make moves that can get second guessed.
Actually, that seems to happen with any move a manager makes that didn't work. I am second guessing Juan Samuel's decision tonight to bring in Alfredo Simon to pitch in the top of the ninth.
It was not a save situation. In fact, Florida led 6-5 as it came to bat in the ninth. The Marlins would add a run and four hits off Simon, a big insurance run and go on to win the game, 7-5.
This move had little to do with the O's loss,...
Brian Matusz entered the top of the seventh having retired 11 batters in a row.
But now, Florida has pushed across a tie-breaking run to gain a 5-4 lead after they trailed 4-0 in the second inning. Matusz walked Mike Stanton on a 3-1 pitch to start the inning. After he advanced to second on a ground out, Ronny Paulino's double just inside the right-field line scored Stanton for a 5-4 lead, the Marlins first lead of the night.
The next hitter,Chris Coughlan has just doubled off the...
The Orioles fourth-round draft pick, Auburn outfielder Trent Mummey, joined the Aberdeen IronBirds today in Staten Island, New York.
Mummey, the 118th overall selection in the draft and highest O's pick to agree to terms so far, will be officially activated as soon as his contract is approved by Major League Baseball, which could happen any day.
The 21-year-old lefty hitter batted .366-17-54 in 36 games for Auburn this season and was first-team all SEC. He is likely to stay as a center...
No one is saying or even hinting that Jake Fox could even begin to be the answer to all that ails the Orioles offense.
But it would be nice to see him get a few starts along the way. Did they trade for the guy just as a utility/bench player?
It's only two games since he has been here, but Fox is not in today's starting lineup either.
I know the guy got designated for assignment and is batting just .214-2-12 in 98 at bats, but does he need to become the latest player to find the O's bench...
Zach Britton was probably not expecting to find out this way.
But when he got to his locker in the clubhouse Tuesday afternoon at Reading, there was an official looking letter from Major League Baseball.
"When I got to my locker (yesterday) there was a letter from Major League Baseball. I wondered if I was in trouble. But then I saw it was a nice letter saying 'Congratulations, you've been selected to participate on the USA team for the 2010 MLB All-Star Futures Game.'
"This is real...
Whenever the Orioles play Tampa, MASN's Rick Dempsey usually says "don't pitch to Pena." It's his way of reminding fans, and O's pitchers, how well the guy hits Baltimore pitching.
If the O's played the Marlins more, the Demper would probably change that to "don't pitch to Ramirez."
After missing Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, Ramirez returned to the lineup last night for the Marlins.
And picked up where he left off last June in again tormenting O's pitching.
Ramirez...
If it seems like the Orioles lose often when they play the Florida Marlins in interleague games, they do.
Florida blasted the O's 10-4 tonight to win for the ninth time in the last ten games between these teams. Florida is 17-5 all-time vs. the Birds.
Hanley Ramirez, who missed Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, returned to the Marlins lineup with three hits and three RBI. Florida scored six times over the final three innings to break open a 4-3 game.
The O's fall to 19-51 as they...
Shortstop Greg Miclat, who played tonight in the Carolina League vs. California League All-Star game, will soon be joining the Double-A Bowie Baysox.
Miclat was batting .311-1-19 in 48 games with Frederick with an OBP of .403 and OPS of .806. The fifth-round pick out of the University of Virginia in 2008, was batting .348 in 18 games in June and went six for 12 with two doubles and 5 RBI in his last three games with Frederick.
Miclat will likely join the Baysox in time for Thursday's game...
O's fourth-round draft pick Trent Mummey is at Camden Yards watching the Orioles tonight.
Mummey had his physical in Baltimore this week and it appears everything checked out fine, as expected. The outfielder from Auburn is expected to join the Aberdeen IronBirds in the next few days. The 21-year-old Mummey hit .366-17-54 in 36 games in college this year after beginning the season missing 28 games with an ankle injury.
Meanwhile an O's official did confirm tonight that minor league...