Scoreless first three at Frederick (now updated)

Scoreless first three at Frederick (now updated)
In a briskly played first three innings tonight at Harry Grove Stadium, Frederick and Winston-Salem are 0-0. Keys lefty Rick Zagone has pitched shutout ball on just one hit through the first three frames. After giving up a hit to the second hitter of the opening frame, he got a double-play ball. Zagone, who began the night 0-2, 3.65, has retired the last seven batters and has thrown just 30 pitches through three. He is pitching vs. a Winston Salem team that leads the league with a batting...
Continue reading

Some pre-game notes and thoughts from Frederick

Some pre-game notes and thoughts from Frederick
Well, for one night I get to cover a first-place team. I have had a chance to talk with several Keys players today in addition to a long conversation with Keys manager Orlando Gomez and roving hitting coach Denny Walling who is here today. Over the next few days I'll throw some quotes your way. But it sure seems like this Frederick team is playing to some rave reviews here. They are winning and seem to have a solid chemistry and work ethic. I had yet another long interview with Billy...
Continue reading

Heading to Frederick later today (Keys lineup now added)

Heading to Frederick later today (Keys lineup now added)
Tonight, I'll be checking in on the Frederick Keys, the club with the best record in the O's minor leagues right now. The Keys are 15-10 with four wins in a row and tonight look for a 3-0 start to their four-game series with a Winston-Salem team which has the second best record in the Carolina League at 17-8. I'll head to Harry Grove Stadium to get some pre game interviews and file a couple of in-game blogs tonight as well, so check back here later today and this evening and look for some...
Continue reading

O's bats again come up empty in the Bronx

O's bats again come up empty in the Bronx
Maybe the only thing more frustrating than watching the Orioles lose to the Yankees is how they do it. Get runners on second and second third for the top of the order. Three straight strikeouts on pitches out of the zone vs. Burnett. Yankee liner to center and Adam Jones makes a foolish dive and it costs them a run. Matusz almost gets out of a major jam, but issues a bases-loaded walk. Gary Thorne and Ben McDonald talk with Dave Trembley about the O's 4-1 loss The Orioles have scored...
Continue reading

Baseball loses a legend

Baseball loses a legend
Baseball lost a great one today with the news coming out tonight that Ernie Harwell died today. He was 92. He lived a full life and will always be known as one of the greatest to ever work behind a microphone. I met him just once and over the winter wrote about that. RIP Ernie, you were a wonderful human, so good for this game and will never, ever be forgotten. Below is that story. I don't remember too many facts from that day. I know it was March, perhaps in 2003 and I was at the...
Continue reading

Get a run, waste a chance

Get a run, waste a chance
Well, the Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third tonight at New York, only because A.J Burnett helped them. After he helped them, he dominated them. Garrett Atkins led off the third with a ground single to left, off A-Rod's glove. Rhyne Hughes then walked on a 3-1 pitch. Cesar Izturis dropped a bunt up the third base line and Burnett threw wildly past first as Atkins scored and runners moved to second and third. Adam Jones then struck out on a breaking ball that ended up almost...
Continue reading

A scare for Zach Britton in today's game at Harrisburg

A scare for Zach Britton in today's game at Harrisburg
One of the O's top pitching prospects, lefty Zach Britton, got quite a scare today pitching for Bowie at Harrisburg in a game that began at 10:35 this morning. Britton took a two-hit shutout to the bottom of the fifth when the first batter hit a liner back toward the mound. "It hit me right in the (left) shoulder and dropped right in front of me. I was able to pick up the ball and throw him out at first," Britton said. "Right now it's tight, but no pain or anything, just a little...
Continue reading

A question without a good answer right now

A question without a good answer right now
Every day now we are getting a variation of the same question from our readers that Baltimore sports talk-show hosts are getting from callers to their shows. How much longer can the Orioles go with Luke Scott? I don't know what answer we can be expected to give. What if we said 50 at bats, but not 75. Or 100 at bats, but not 150.' Scott is a streak hitter in a bad streak. He did hit 25 homers last year with a better slugging percentage and OPS than Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Brian...
Continue reading

Re-visiting that Arrieta story

Re-visiting that Arrieta story
I wanted to re-visit a story today that I wrote back on Sunday. I think some people saw it but it got lost a bit in the shuffle on a day the O's won to sweep the Red Sox. It is about the possibility of the Orioles bringing one of their top pitching prospects, like Jake Arrieta, to the Majors and using him in relief. Here is the story. Please understand: I think the chances that Arrieta comes here to work out of the pen are a longshot. But I asked Dave Trembley if the Orioles have even...
Continue reading

More frustration for Guthrie and some post-game notes

More frustration for Guthrie and some post-game notes
If Jeremy Guthrie was frustrated after his start vs. New York last week, and he sure seemed to be, Monday night likely didn't ease his angst. He pitched six good innings, but was done in by one poor inning and one poor pitch in a 4-1 loss to the Yankees. Randy Winn, who hit just two homers last year, drilled a Guthrie 1-0 pitch for a three-run homer to right to snap a 1-1 tie during New York's four-run fourth. It can't make Guthrie feel any better to know Winn had gone 490 at bats without...
Continue reading

Not tonight, as O's fall in the Bronx

Not tonight, as O's fall in the Bronx
On a night where Jeter, Teixeira, Rodriguez and Cano went a combined 1 for 14 against him, it was number nine hitter Randy Winn that delivered the big hit against Jeremy Guthrie for the Yankees. Winn, who hit two homers in 149 games last year, hit a three-run shot off Guthrie in the 4th to break a 1-1 tie as the Yankees beat the O's 4-1. Guthrie allowed six hits over seven innings and is 0-4, 4.78 on the year. His career-high losing streak reached eight games. CC Sabathia improved to 4-1,...
Continue reading

Welcome to CC's house

Welcome to CC's house
Tough night for CC Sabathia. He's got a 4-1 lead, the Orioles are beating every ball into the ground, usually early in the count and now home plate ump Bill Kohn won't give him a close pitch. How does the guy deal with it? Sabathia just barked at the ump and started walking toward home plate in the top of the seventh. Kohn, I guess showing restraint, didn't respond much as Joe Girardi rushed to the mound. Meanwhile, it looked to me like Jeremy Guthrie had plenty of close pitches called...
Continue reading

Delmarva roster news

Delmarva roster news
The Delmarva Shorebirds roster underwent some shuffling today as the Birds added three players. Catcher Justin Dalles returns to the Shorebirds and is activated off the DL. He suffered a concussion in a home plate collision on April 18. Delmarva also added IF Mike Mooney from Frederick and RHP Brent Allar from Aberdeen's roster. Catcher Luis Bernardo is heading from Delmarva to Frederick, catcher Jason Stifler joins Aberdeen's roster and RHP Ryan Palsha has also been placed on...
Continue reading

Orioles vs. Yankees: Check out some stats

Orioles vs. Yankees:  Check out some stats
Some notes and stats to ponder as the O's begin a seven-game road trip at New York tonight with Jeremy Guthrie (0-3, 4.70) vs. CC Sabathia (3-1, 3.12). Ty Wigginton's performance to start the year has been rather stunning. He hit .273-11-41 in 410 at bats in 2009. He did hit 23 homers in 386 at bats with Houston in 2008. AL leaders, slugging percentage: .790 - Paul Konerko, CWS .763 - Robinson Cano, NYY .729 - Ty Wigginton, Balt AL leaders, at bats per home run: 6.75 - Paul Konerko,...
Continue reading

O's made the right moves with Hughes and Johnson

O's made the right moves with Hughes and Johnson
Since the Orioles recalled Rhyne Hughes from Triple-A, the Birds record is 5-3. Those eight games have been played against New York and Boston. Hughes addition and the O's starting to win are not directly related. He has played well, no doubt, but is not the saviour to this season. However, the O's on the field resurgence has come at a time when the team made two off the field moves with the roster that provided a positive result. The O's current benching of Garrett Atkins and banishing...
Continue reading

You predicted a sweep all along, right?

You predicted a sweep all along, right?
So I'm sure this is what you thought at the beginning of the weekend series vs. the Red Sox. Sure, the Sox had won seven of their last nine games coming into this series and were coming off a three-game sweep of Toronto. Boston would start John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Josh Beckett in the series. The Orioles would blow a 3-1 lead in game one of this series and fall behind 4-3 in the 8th. The next night, O's pitchers would walk ten batters. Jim Johnson was so poor, he was sent back...
Continue reading

More clubhouse quotes after Sunday's walk-off win

More clubhouse quotes after Sunday's walk-off win
Here are some more clubhouse quotes after the O's 3-2, 10-inning win over the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon. Will Ohman on the short mound meeting with Dave Trembley in the ninth inning: "He just said 'I want you to get this guy out.' Any relief guy is going to want that to happen. He comes out and maybe you have to plead your case, I didn't have to. I wanted the chance to succeed or fail on your own merits. I was ready (to plead my case)." Will Ohman on Trembley saying he had great...
Continue reading

Wigginton on the walk off

Wigginton on the walk off
With the game on the line in the last of the 10th Sunday, the Orioles had their home run and RBI leader at the plate vs. Jonathan Papelbon. Not Nick Markakis, or Matt Wieters or even Miguel Tejada. It was Ty Wigginton at the plate and a Papelbon error had moved Markakis, who drew a leadoff walk, to second base. Ty Wigginton gets a pie in the face after his walk-off hit in the O's 3-2 win Two innings earlier, manager Dave Trembley had Wigginton drop a sac bunt. He said he did not expect to...
Continue reading

Walk-off win and a sweep of Boston!

Walk-off win and a sweep of Boston!
Ty Wigginton, who has been getting big hits throughout the season for the Orioles, drilled an 0-2 pitch deep to center field for a game-winning RBI double in the the last of the tenth as the Orioles beat Boston 3-2 today. The O's have their first three-game home sweep of the Red Sox since 1974. They also beat nemesis Jonathan Papelbon. He entered today with a career 0.87 ERA vs. the Orioles, the lowest for any pitcher with 30 or more innings against the O's. The Birds have now won five of...
Continue reading

The last time the O's swept three at home from Boston.......

The last time the O's swept three at home from Boston.......
I find it amazing, but the Orioles last three-game sweep over the Red Sox in Baltimore, was from September 2-4, 1974. Now the O's last swept four from Boston at home in July of 1998. But the last three-game home sweep came during the 1974 season when the O's had Al Bumbry and Rich Coggins at the top of the lineup. Here is something also pretty amazing. That three-game sweep in 1974 came via three consecutive, complete-game shutouts. In game one of a doubleheader on Monday, September 2,...
Continue reading