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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
Here is an interesting question.
Are the Orioles open to using Jake Arrieta in the bullpen in Baltimore?
Don't take it to the bank that it could be the O's plan for the hard-throwing right-hander, but Dave Trembley at least opened the door to that possibility today.
There was a time many years ago that pitchers like Mike Flanagan and Scott McGregor came to the Majors and learned the ropes out of the bullpen first, before gaining a starting berth.
In talking with the skipper today about...
Well, the O's and their fans have had some fun at Camden Yards this weekend. The O's wins this weekend vs. Boston (2) matches their win total of all last year vs. Boston (2-16).
Here are more notes on the homers and the win:
The Birds scored a season-high 12 runs in the 12-9 win over Boston and they hit five homers in the game. The O's had their best night of the year batting with runners in scoring positon, going 5 for 7 (.714) in those situations. They left just one runner on base in...
Some clubhouse quotes after the Orioles 12-9 win Saturday night over Boston.
It's the O's first series win of the year after going 0 and 7.
The O's now lead the season series, 3-2 vs. Boston and have won three in a row vs. the Sox for the first time since September 2, 2005.
The teams combined for nine homers and it's the 12th time in O's history the team and its opponent combined for eight or more homers in a game.
Miguel Tejada on the O's offense breaking out: "It's big. We got...
The O's offense exploded for ten runs over the 5th and 6th innings tonight, and, on an evening where the teams combined for nine homers, the Orioles took an 11-4 lead and won it, 12-9 over Boston in front of 35,164.
The Birds are now 4-4 in this 12-game stretch vs. Boston and New York.
The Orioles are now 3-2 on the year vs. Boston after going 2-16 vs. the Sox last season.
Tonight's five O's homers is two off the club single-game record of seven. The most homers ever by the O's in a...
Ty Wigginton is certainly hitting homers at a great rate.
He hit number seven in the bottom of the fifth tonight vs. Boston, a 368-foot shot to left center on a 2-0 pitch.
Wigginton began tonight third in the AL in at bats per homer this season.
1st - Paul Konerko, CWS, 1 every 7.09 at bats
2nd - Nelson Cruz, Tex, 1 every 8.86 at bats
3rd - Ty Wigginton, O's, 1 every 10.83 at bats
Konerko began tonight leading the league with 11 homers while Robinson Cano, Andruw Jones and Vernon Wells...
Brad Bergesen has not had a smooth return to the big leagues. Well, for one inning he did.
He retired the Sox in order on 15 pitches in the first. Perhaps the fact that two of the outs came on fly balls was not a good sign for him.
Boston has scored in three straight innings vs. Bergesen and leads 4-1 as the O's bat in the fourth.
Over the last three frames, Bergy has allowed four runs on six hits, yielding two homers and two doubles. His pitches are still up in the zone too much,...
This has not been an easy day for Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz. Today he had to tell a pitcher that has been solid for him for a few seasons, that he was going back to the minor leagues.
Kranitz and manager Dave Trembley met with Jim Johnson earlier today here at Camden Yards to tell the right-hander he was being optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
"Number one, this is very hard for me, for what he has given this organization. We've asked him to close, we've asked him to go three...
Well, I guess when you go just 2-16 vs. a team like the Orioles did last year vs. the Red Sox, it is hard to not do better the next season.
But in 2010 the Orioles are 2-2 vs. the Red Sox and the O's have won the last two games vs. Boston, each in ten innings.
O's first four games vs. Boston:
2009: 0-4 and outscored 30-14
2010: 2-2 and each team has scored 21 runs
Friday's win ended the O's seven-game home losing streak vs. Boston.
Four to score and win: The Orioles are now 5-3 when...
The Orioles will need to remove a player from the 25-man active roster to activate Brad Bergesen to pitch here on Saturday.
A few days ago, it looked like Matt Albers could be the player going. But now he seems to be making a case to stick around.
He pitched a 1-2-3, 10th inning tonight vs. Boston and got the win, throwing 11 pitches, seven for strikes. He is now 1-3.
Albers said the pending roster move has not been something he can think about.
"You know that's one thing I wasn't...
On a night the Orioles bullpen gave up another lead, thanks to Miguel Tejada, the Orioles did not give up another game.
Tejada's 417-foot homer off Daniel Bard in the 8th tied the game 4-4 and his RBI single to center off Manny Delcarmen gave the Orioles the 5-4, walk-off, 10-inning win over the Red Sox.
"This is really big, not only for myself but the whole team," Tejada said. "The first day I came here I felt welcomed here. This team means a lot to me and I have a lot of respect for...
Jim Johnson entered tonight with an ERA of 6.23.
He entered allowing four of his six inherited runners to score. Suddenly, he cannot hold a lead and has become a liability pitching late in the game, maybe soon to join Matt Albers as pitchers the team just can't use anymore with the game on the line.
Tonight, frankly, he was terrible. He gave up a single to Pedroia, the first batter he faced to tie the game 3-3 in the seventh. He elevated a 2-2 pitch to J.D. Drew that he hit for a homer in...