Another walk-off win: O's top the first-place Sox in 10

Another walk-off win:  O's top the first-place Sox in 10
Oriole baseball is getting fun with Buck Showalter at the helm. Tonight, the O's improved to 4-0 under their new manger and won in walk-off fashion for the second night in a row. Adam Jones RBI single to left with two outs in the 10th gave the O's the 2-1 win over Chicago. Nick Markakis singled with one out in the tenth and advanced to third on a Luke Scott single. Jones' first hit of the night gave the O's an extra-innings win. Buck Showalter talks with the media following the O's...
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Big play on defense

Big play on defense
Ty Wigginton and Matt Wieters combined on a good defensive play in the top of the seventh tonight to keep the game with the White Sox tied, 1-1. After a triple, Mark Kotsay was on third with one out. The infield came in and Alexei Ramirez hit a slow roller up the first base line. Wigginton charged and made a bare-handed pickup. His throw to home was in time to get Kotsay and Wieters did a nice job blocking the plate. Wigginton's throw was also to the third base side of home which made...
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Not good news on Erbe

Not good news on Erbe
The Orioles did not get good news on right-hander Brandon Erbe. While O's president Andy MacPhail would not confirm exactly what was found during an MRA exam yesterday, Erbe's season is over and he is heading for further examination. "It's not good," one team official said. He has been out with a sore right shoulder and MacPhail said Erbe will head to Birmingham, Alabama to see Dr. James Andrews next week. The injury is with Erbe's shoulder and not elbow, which would eliminate the...
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One more to go for Izturis

One more to go for Izturis
No, they are not counting down with banners on the Warehouse, but the next hit for O's shortstop Cesar Izturis will be the 1,000th of his career. He said he found out recently he was closing in on the milestone hit because his 10-year-old son, Daniel, was keeping track. "My son has kept me up to date on it. He tells me you need eight more, seven more and so forth." Hit number 999 will be memorable as well as it was an Izturis single in the last of the ninth Thursday night that gave the...
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The process of evaluating Josh Bell

The process of evaluating Josh Bell
After sitting out last night, Josh Bell returns to the Orioles lineup tonight at third base. Bell is doing better after leaving Wednesday's game due to hamstring cramps in his left leg. It's an important time for Bell to show the organization and new manager Buck Showalter that he can be a part of the team's future at third base. Even though first impressions can mean a lot, Showalter is experienced enough to know how he evaluates Bell might be a little different from evaluating a veteran...
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Adam Jones on outfield positioning

Adam Jones on outfield positioning
Several interesting topics were addressed today earlier in our MASNSports.com web studio when I hosted live chats with pitcher Jeremy Guthrie and outfielder Adam Jones. During my time with Adam, we talked about where he positions himself in the outfield. "I play the hitter. I'm not going to play Torii Hunter like I play Reggie Willets. I necessarily don't want to play too shallow or too deep to let everything sit and drop in front of me." Adam said there were discussions earlier where...
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Erbe & Mahoney updates and a look ahead

Erbe & Mahoney updates and a look ahead
The Orioles have to be somewhat concerned about right-handed pitcher Brandon Erbe of the Norfolk Tides at this point. The 22-year-old from Baltimore has not pitched since a July 24 injury-rehab start with Aberdeen and underwent an MRA exam on Thursday. Erbe has been dealing with right shoulder soreness and was on the road back to Triple-A when he was sent to Aberdeen. The O's won't know the next move with Erbe until they get the results of that exam. Erbe was expected to make three...
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Notes and quotes after an Orioles' walk-off win

Notes and quotes after an Orioles' walk-off win
Some notes and quotes from Jake Arrieta, Jason Berken and Matt Wieters after the Orioles 5-4 win over the Angels that provided them a series sweep and 3-0 record for Buck Showalter as manager. *This was the O's first three-game home sweep of the Angels since July 23-25, 1999. Their last three-game sweep of the Angels was in Anaheim from September 17-19, 1999. It was the fourth series sweep of the year following earlier sweeps over Boston, Washington and Texas. It was the O's first series...
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Walk-off win as O's go to 3-0 under Showalter

Walk-off win as O's go to 3-0 under Showalter
For the Orioles, it was a blown lead, but not a blown game. When Torii Hunter drilled a three-run homer to left off Jason Berken in the 8th, the Angels had rallied from 4-0 down to tie the game, 4-4. The homer kept Jake Arrieta from getting a win on a night he took a no-hitter into the fifth and gave up just one hit through six. But the Orioles won it in the last of the ninth. Matt Wieters led off with a double to left center and Julio Lugo came in to run for him. After a Corey Patterson...
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Will the homers come more often now for Markakis?

Will the homers come more often now for Markakis?
Nick Markakis hit his eighth homer of the year in the 6th tonight to break up the 0-0 tie. He drove a Dan Haren pitch 416 feet to right field. It is good to see Markakis turn on the ball and drive the inside pitch to right. It seems he gets a lot of his doubles gap to gap, but he sure does have the punch to turn and drive the ball over that scoreboard in right field here at Camden Yards. Some wonder why he doesn't do it more often. Markakis may come up with a flurry of homers this month. ...
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Gabino is excited and ready for a shot with the O's

Gabino is excited and ready for a shot with the O's
Right-hander Armando Gabino joined the O's today to take the roster spot of David Hernandez, who went on the DL. The 26-year-old native of the Dominican was 7-0, 2.12 with two saves at Norfolk in 27 games with seven starts. He allowed just 55 hits in 76 1/3 with 20 walks, 68 strikeouts and a .199 average against. "I am so excited. I found out last night about 11:30. Our manager told me. We were supposed to go to Louisville at five in the morning. But he said you are going to...
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The Showalter-Wieters dugout conversation

The Showalter-Wieters dugout conversation
During the early stages of last night's game, the MASN cameras captured a dugout conversation between Buck Showalter and O's catcher Matt Wieters. Today, both revealed they were discussing a situation from the top of the first inning when the Angels had runners on first and third with two outs and Torii Hunter stole second. The O's did not throw to second base to attempt to get Hunter out. The new manager and the young catcher discussed that situation and what could happen in a similar...
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Hernandez talks about going on the DL

Hernandez talks about going on the DL
Pitcher David Hernandez officially went on the disabled list this afternoon, a move that he was pretty sure was coming. "Today it was a little more sore than yesterday, so they put me on the disabled list. "Richie (Bancells) told me it's seven to ten days at the earliest so they are going to send me down to Sarasota and I assume, throw in a game or two down there and then, as far as I know, I should be ready." Hernandez sprained his left ankle covering home plate in the seventh inning...
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Mahoney not in the Baysox lineup

Mahoney not in the Baysox lineup
First baseman Joe Mahoney, who has been on a tear for the Double-A Bowie Baysox, left last night's game at Portland after the fourth inning and is not in the lineup today for their afternoon game there. I'm told Mahoney was dealing with some cramping, probably due to the heat. Mahoney is batting .402-6-18 in 23 Baysox games after going 0 for 3 last night. He has a slugging percentage of .713 and OPS of 1.159. He has produced 11 multi-hit games in his short time with Bowie, including six...
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Not much progress to report with Machado

Not much progress to report with Machado
While the Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan is making some progress in signing some of the O's top ten draft picks, progress continues to move slowly when it comes to their top pick, prep shortstop Manny Machado. The O's selected Machado with the third pick in the draft. In a July 23 MASNsports.com article, Jordan said contract talks have begun with Machado and the sides have exchanged dollar figures. But since that time, no real progress has been made. That is not unexpected as most...
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Hernandez likely DL-bound; better news on Roberts & Bell

Hernandez likely DL-bound; better news on Roberts & Bell
The O's got good post-game news on two of the three injured players that left Wednesday's game. Both Brian Roberts and Josh Bell hope to play tomorrow, but the news was not nearly as good for David Hernandez, who seems likely to end up on the disabled list. He suffered a left ankle sprain while covering home in the seventh inning. "I kind of had my landing foot, my left foot, I didn't feel it roll, it just kind of felt like the ligament went over the bone and went back. "They said...
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O's go to 2-0 for Showalter

O's go to 2-0 for Showalter
Brian Matusz picked up just his second win since April 18 and the O's scored nine runs in the first four innings in a 9-7 win over the Angels Wednesday night as they are now 2-0 for new manager Buck Showalter. Felix Pie, who had just one RBI over his past 18 games, had three hits, including a triple and 3 RBI. Luke Scott hit his 20th homer, a two-run shot and Adam Jones went 3 for 4 and scored three runs. Ty Wigginton added a two-run single. Scott has homered in three straight games. The...
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Taking rain delay questions (play has resumed)

Taking rain delay questions (play has resumed)
The game is in a rain delay with the O's leading 9-1 and batting in the last of the sixth. If it is called off at this point, the Orioles will win. Feel free to post some questions here during the delay which came at 9:16. Questions on any O's topic, majors or minors. Update: Could be one of the shortest delays ever. As of 9:27, they have taken the tarp off, the rain has stopped and they are raking the dirt areas. Now the word is play will resume at about 9:40. If you add any...
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Showalter must like Pie (updated)

Showalter must like Pie (updated)
Here is a stat for you. In the last six games before Buck Showalter took over as manager, Felix Pie went 4 for 22 at bat. Now, in 12 innings with Showalter here, he is 4 for 5. That is through tonight's third inning. After going 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored last night, and several nice catches in left field, tonight, Pie is 2 for 2 already. He ripped an RBI triple to right in the second and added an RBI single to right in the third. Then he stole a base. Here are some more...
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Jordan heads West for scouting and signing negotiations

Jordan heads West for scouting and signing negotiations
The deals are not completely done, but the Orioles expect fifth-round draft pick, Connor Narron, a high school infielder from Goldsboro, North Carolina and ninth-round pick, prep pitcher Parker Bridwell from Hereford, Texas, in Baltimore this Thursday and Friday for physicals. If all goes well, they could soon officially sign and report to the Gulf Coast League Orioles as early as next week. "We are hopeful that we are within five or six days tops (of the pair reporting to that club)," O's...
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