Brandon Snyder's bat heating up

Brandon Snyder's bat heating up
Brandon Snyder must finally be warming up to Triple-A pitching. He is 1 for 2 in Norfolk's game this afternoon. That extends his current batting streak to eight games. He has 12 hits in his last 29 at bats (.414) as his average has climbed from .200 to its current .245. Snyder has 69 RBI on the year to lead all O's minor leaguers. Earlier this year, he batted .343-10-45 in 58 games with Double-A Bowie. He began today hitting .241-2-24 in 38 contests with Norfolk.
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Bergesen pitches O's past Royals, 7-3

Bergesen pitches O's past Royals, 7-3
Brad Bergesen gave up just one run over seven innings to get his 7th win as the Orioles beat Kansas City 7-3 to split the four-game series. Bergesen left the game in pain as Billy Butler's liner back to the mound hit him on his left shin. Catcher Matt Wieters would field the ball and throw Butler out to end the seventh. As of this writing, there was no further update on the extent of Bergesen's injury. He improves to 7-5, 3.43. He is now 7-1, 2.68 at home and over his last 12 starts is...
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Bergesen talks about his injury

Bergesen talks about his injury
Brad Bergesen talked with reporters a few moments ago in the O's clubhouse. He left today's game after seven innings. On the last out he recorded he took a line shot off his left shin and he limped off the field. "It hurts pretty bad. When it first happened, I didn't know what happened at first. When I got into the dugout, I fell down, I thought it was broken. The pain was bad, I wanted to throw up. "I took the X-ray and there was no break on there. Hopefully there isn't. They...
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About Bell and Johnson

About Bell and Johnson
Josh Bell is a switch-hitting third baseman, who is 22 years old. He is currently batting .296-11-52 with Double-A Chatanooga and has 30 doubles in 94 games. He goes 6'3", 235 pounds. He has an on base percentage of .386 and a slugging percentage of .497. This year he is hitting .212 vs. LHP and .335 vs. RHP. Bell was a fourth-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2005. He is from Lantana, Florida. Power is one of his best tools and some scouts rated his power as 70 on the 20-80 scale. ...
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Emotional afternoon for Dave Johnson

Emotional afternoon for Dave Johnson
So what must it be like to hear your son may be traded to the Orioles while you are on the air on the Orioles radio network? That's the afternoon Dave Johnson had as he was working today's postgame show with Tom Davis when reports began to surface that his son, pitching currently for the Dodgers Double-A team, may be headed to the O's organization. I should mention that as Dave agreed to be interviewed the trade was still not official, but he heard from Steve that he was told not to dress...
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Comments from Josh Bell

Comments from Josh Bell
For Josh Bell, it is not easy to leave the only organization he's ever known, the Dodgers, but he also knows this. His chance to be a future Major League third baseman will be much greater with the Orioles. O's president Andy MacPhail stopped short of anointing him the O's third sacker of the future during a telephone press conference Thursday night, but he did say the O's are short at that position in the upper levels of their minors. "It's largely up to the players," MacPhail said. ...
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Goodbye George, welcome Steve and Josh

Goodbye George, welcome Steve and Josh
One of the perks of the job of reporter covering the Orioles is that you get to meet and talk to Orioles' players. That's a pretty neat thing for a kid from Baltimore like myself. What's cooler yet is when those players turn out to be quality people that are easy to root for. The Orioles have many such players on their roster but they just lost one - George Sherrill. In his less than two years here, Sherrill impressed just about any reporter who ever had a chance to interview him. He...
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Weekend preview: Boston at Baltimore

Weekend preview:  Boston at Baltimore
Game Preview Boston (59-42) at Orioles (44-57) The Orioles are trying to get their offense going again. Perhaps they are on their way after scoring 14 runs in beating Kansas City the last two days. After splitting that four-game series, the Orioles welcome Boston to town tonight to continue this seven-game homestand. Pitching Matchups: Fri, 705p - Jeremy Guthrie (7-9, 5.21) v. John Smoltz (1-4, 7.04) Sat, 705p - David Hernandez (3-2, 3.20) v. Josh Beckett (12-4, 3.44) Sun, 135p - Jason...
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Audio from Thursday's post-game radio show

Audio from Thursday's post-game radio show
So many have asked to hear it. Here is how it sounded on the Orioles' all-access post-game radio show Thursday afternoon when Tom Davis told his co-host Dave Johnson that his son had been traded to the Orioles. The audio is courtesy of CBS Radio, O's flagship station, 105.7 FM the Fan in Baltimore and the Orioles radio network. 105.7 The Fan Post-Game Audio: July 30, 2009 Read more here about Dave Johnson's emotional day. UPDATE - No official word yet, but it appears Bell and...
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Talking with the O's new closer

Talking with the O's new closer
O's right-hander Jim Johnson had one career save in the minors and he has three career Major League saves, with two coming this season. Now he'll get plenty of chances to add to that total. The 26-year-old now takes over the closer duties for the Orioles after George Sherrill's trade to the Dodgers. "It's very similar to pitching the 8th inning. It's a critical part of the game and a time I want to be out there," Johnson said. He's been able to watch Sherrill close games for most...
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Andy MacPhail comments on the trade dealine

Andy MacPhail comments on the trade dealine
O's president Andy MacPhail said the last few hours before the trade deadline passed today without the Orioles close to making another deal. "It was uneventful. I would say we only talked to four or five clubs today. We only had one thing kind of different come up today and that really never got off the ground. It was kind of how I anticipated it would be. "We heard from some of our compatriots in baseball (praising us on the trade). We did what we had to do. It's a circumstance...
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Tonight's pitchers: Guthrie vs. Smoltz

Tonight's pitchers:  Guthrie vs. Smoltz
RHP Jeremy Guthrie (7-9, 5.21) tonight will make his 21st start of the 2009 season, his 11th at home and his 3rd this year vs. Boston. Guthrie's last outing was Saturday at Boston. He gave up five runs in 6 2/3. In four July starts, he is 1-2, 5.62. Right-handed batters are hitting .261 against him and lefties bat .272 vs. Guthrie. He has allowed 23 homers in 115 2/3 innings on the year. He has struggled often early in his starts. Of the 71 runs he has given up this season, 35 have come...
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Second guessers, you're up

Second guessers, you're up
Dave Trembley might get some criticism tonight for leaving Jeremy Guthrie in one batter too long. He was leading the game 5-4, with one on and two out in the top of the seventh. With Kevin Youkilis, two for three in the game coming up, Jeremy Guthrie, now over 100 pitches, was left in. Guthrie then hung one that Youkilis hit out for a 6-5 lead. The first four batters in the Boston order tonight went 8 for 15 with three homers and 5 RBI vs. Guthrie. The three homers allowed tied his season...
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Boston uses the longball to edge O's, 6-5

Boston uses the longball to edge O's, 6-5
Jeremy Guthrie continued to give up home runs tonight and the Orioles continued their season-long struggles vs. Boston. The Red Sox hit three homers off Guthrie in a 6-5 win over the O's on Friday night in front of 44,091 at Camden Yards. The O's fall to 2-9 on the season vs. Boston. Aubrey Huff hit his 200th career homer, a two-run shot in the last of the 6th to give Baltimore a 5-4 lead. But in the 7th, a Kevin Youkilis two-on, two-out homer put Boston on top 6-5. Earlier, David Ortiz...
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Post-game Notes: Boston takes series opener

Post-game Notes:  Boston takes series opener
Eight of the Orioles last nine losses have been by one or two runs. With tonight's loss, they fall to 11-13 in one-run games. The O's fall to 4-10 since the All-Star break. In those games, they have been out-scored by just one run, 65-64 and they have out-hit their opponents 139-128 since the break. Jeremy Guthrie gave up six runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 to fall to 7-10, 5.37 on the year. He allowed three homers tonight to tie his season-high (gave up three 5-20 at NYY) and has given up...
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Still looking for that clutch hit (well, not anymore)

Still looking for that clutch hit (well, not anymore)
The Orioles began tonight's game 3 for 21 so far this year batting with runners in scoring position. They trailed 2-1 tonight after four and a half innings and are 0 for 4 with RISP. Their only run to date tonight came on Nolan Reimold's solo homer to left in the 3rd, his first of the year and the Orioles fourth solo shot of this series. The O's left runners at first and third in the 5th when Mike Eckstrom fooled Adam Jones with a breaking ball and struck him out to end the frame. Luke...
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Tampa's pitching change (plus Matusz note)

Tampa's pitching change (plus Matusz note)
The Orioles have knocked Tampa's starter out early - but not in the usual fashion. Rays starter Jeff Niemann left tonight's game in the top of the second after getting hit high on the right shoulder by a Miguel Tejada liner. The ball was hit so hard it deflected on the fly right to the first baseman. You could see the concern on Tejada's face as the Rays trainer looked at Niemann, who thew a few warm-up pitches, then left the game. He had retired the first four hitters when he was...
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It's go time for the offense

It's go time for the offense
So you say you are not impressed by the Orioles' offense so far? Not much to speak of to date. Six runs on 17 hits and a team average of .239. They are just 3 for 21, that's .143, with runners in scoring position. I didn't drink any cool-aid today, lots of water though. But I see some good signs from this offense. For one, if he is healthy, it won't be long before Brian Roberts starts spraying hits. He is 0 for 10 which just means he's due for some hits. Sure, it's still his...
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All the minor league rotations are set

All the minor league rotations are set
Here are the season-opening starting rotaitons for the Orioles four full-season minor league clubs. The pitchers are listed as they will work from first through fifth. Those listed first are this evening's opening night starters. Norfolk: Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta, Alfredo Simon, Troy Patton and Brandon Erbe. Bowie: Zach Britton, Steve Johnson, Chorye Spoone, Ryohei Tanaka and Tim Bascom. Frederick: Rick Zagone, Ryan O'Shea, Nate Nery, Cole McCurry and Oliver Drake. Delmarva: Ryan...
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Saturday night baseball: Boston at O's

Saturday night baseball:  Boston at O's
Game Preview Boston (60-42) at Orioles (44-58) Friday night featured more of the same for the Orioles. Another loss since the All-Star break. Another close loss and another defeat vs. Boston. They'll try and break into the win column vs. the Sox tonight in game two of the series at Camden Yards at 7:05 p.m. when David Hernandez (3-2, 3.20) pitches vs. Boston's Josh Beckett (12-4, 3.44). Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer off Jeremy Guthrie in the 7th inning to lead Boston to a 6-5 win...
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