Steve Melewski

O's game blog: Chris Tillman pitches K.C. series finale

May 10, 2018, 2:55pm

Orioles

O's game blog: Chris Tillman pitches K.C. series finale

The Orioles have just two series wins in 2018, going 2-9 in 11 series. They can win a third series tonight as they play the rubber match of a three-game series with Kansas City. The O's previous two series victories came when they took three of four April 5-8 at New York and they won two of three April 27-29 versus Detroit. Kansas City scored 10 runs in the first inning Tuesday on its way to a 15-7 win in the series opener. Chris Davis hit a three-run homer last night and Mark Trumbo singled...

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Richard Bleier gets few strikeouts but plenty of outs in the 'pen

May 10, 2018, 1:24pm

Orioles

Richard Bleier gets few strikeouts but plenty of outs in the 'pen

At a time when many pitchers are impressive for their premium velocity and/or strikeout rates, Orioles reliever Richard Bleier is thriving without either. Throwing an 88 mph fastball and sinker, he's again getting a lot of groundouts and he's again putting together a great year out of the Orioles bullpen. Last season he went 2-1 with a 1.99 ERA and averaged 3.7 strikeouts per nine innings. This season he is 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA and a 4.0 strikeout rate rate. He got the win last night and has...

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With Britton and O'Day out, Brach and Bleier come up big for the 'pen

May 09, 2018, 10:12pm

Orioles

With Britton and O'Day out, Brach and Bleier come up big for the 'pen

Manny Machado has been the best player on the Orioles this year. There is little debate over that one. But left-hander Richard Bleier has been the best Orioles pitcher, and there probably isn't much debate there, either. He pitched two scoreless last night when called on during the seventh inning of a 3-3 tie. He got two double plays and all six outs on grounders. He got the win against the Royals and is now 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA. Bleier has allowed one run in 22 2/3 innings for the season, and...

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Postgame comments from Brach, Trumbo and Cashner after O's win

May 09, 2018, 7:09pm

Orioles

Postgame comments from Brach, Trumbo and Cashner after O's win

It was a night when a few struggling or oft-criticized Orioles came through in a 5-3 win over the Kansas City Royals. First baseman Chris Davis hit a three-run homer. Mark Trumbo's two-run single in the eighth broke a 3-3 tie and Brad Brach closed out the win, pitching around a leadoff walk and error in the ninth. Brach's ERA was up to 5.40 when he took the mound with that two-run lead. He walked Whit Merrifield, and Jonathan Schoop dropped a throw at second base that could have led to a...

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Mark Trumbo's two-run single in the eighth lifts O's to win

May 09, 2018, 5:55pm

Orioles

Mark Trumbo's two-run single in the eighth lifts O's to win

With a team batting average of just .220 with runners in scoring position, the Orioles have come up short in a few clutch spots this year. But tonight Mark Trumbo delivered a key two-run single in the eighth as the Orioles beat Kansas City. In his eighth game since coming off the disabled list, Trumbo's two-out, two-run single to center broke a 3-3 tie as the Orioles beat the Royals 5-3 to snap a seven-game losing streak. With the win the Orioles are 9-27 and won for just the second time in 10...

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O's game blog: O's try to end losing streak versus K.C.

May 09, 2018, 2:49pm

Orioles

O's game blog: O's try to end losing streak versus K.C.

As the Orioles (8-27) look to break a seven-game losing streak tonight, they host the Kansas City Royals in the second game of a three-game series and nine-game homestand. Right-hander Andrew Cashner (1-4, 4.89) will make his eighth start and fifth at home. Cashner went 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA over his first three starts, but over his past four he is 0-3 with a 6.97 ERA. He's allowed 28 hits and five homers over 20 2/3 in those games. Many of Cashner's stats come up short from his 2017...

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Catcher Caleb Joseph on Dylan Bundy's recent struggles

May 08, 2018, 9:49pm

Orioles

Catcher Caleb Joseph on Dylan Bundy's recent struggles

So how could Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy pitch so well over his first five starts and so poorly over his last three? It hopefully for him reached rock bottom last night when he faced seven hitters and gave up five hits, two walks and four homers in falling behind 7-0, without getting an out. Bundy is the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to allow four or more homers without recording an out. The Royals tied their club record for most homers in one inning. They went on to score...

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Kansas City scores 10 in the first in rout of Orioles (Bundy quotes added)

May 08, 2018, 6:29pm

Orioles

Coming home off a second straight winless road trip and with a record 18 games under .500, the Orioles had to hope things would get better on this homestand. Tonight hope went out the window not long after the first pitch. Right-hander Dylan Bundy gave up four homers and failed to get an out in the first inning as the Kansas City Royals hammered the Orioles at Camden Yards. The Royals scored 10 runs on nine hits in the opening inning on the way to a 15-7 blowout of Baltimore. Just when it...

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O's game blog: Dylan Bundy on the mound in homestand opener

May 08, 2018, 2:52pm

Orioles

O's game blog: Dylan Bundy on the mound in homestand opener

The Orioles have won just one of five home series this year. But after 12 straight road losses, Oriole Park should feel very friendly to the team tonight in the opener of a three-game series with Kansas City. Tonight begins a three-team, nine-game homestand that includes Saturday's single-admission doubleheader with Tampa Bay. The Orioles went 0-6 on a road trip to Anaheim and Oakland, and they scored just one run in losing the last two games versus the Athletics. The Orioles are 2-18 when...

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Jonathan Schoop on his return to the Orioles

May 08, 2018, 1:22pm

Orioles

The Orioles will happily welcome back one of their key players tonight. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop returns to the lineup, batting fourth at second base against Kansas City. Yep, he goes right into the cleanup spot. Schoop has been out since he got injured April 13 at Boston. He suffered a right oblique strain and the Orioles went 3-17 without him. He played in rehab games since Friday at Double-A Bowie, Triple-A Norfolk and Single-A Frederick, going 2-for-13. "I'm real excited. Excited to...

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Would Birdland be on board with a rebuild?

May 07, 2018, 8:06pm

Orioles

Would Birdland be on board with a rebuild?

The Orioles have only played 21 percent of their season. In an NFL season, we would be in week four. But they have fallen so far, so fast, they seem to have left team management little choice. At some point - and maybe it will be very soon - they are probably left with one clear move: Rebuild, and begin the process of trying to put together the next great Orioles team. Maybe that effort will eventually come up short, but the current effort to contend is failing big. The Orioles were mostly a...

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During another winless road trip, O's offense came up way short

May 06, 2018, 8:35pm

Orioles

During another winless road trip, O's offense came up way short

The Orioles seem like a boat taking on water right now and every hole that gets plugged just seems to open another. Or two others. The rotation has been inconsistent, the bullpen worse than expected, the defense has been at times just terrible and other times very mediocre. Good has not been part of the equation many nights on defense. But the Orioles offense has under-performed in a big way. For several years the Orioles have been around or just above a league-average run-scoring offense in...

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O's game blog: Alex Cobb faces the A's in road trip finale

May 06, 2018, 11:38am

Orioles

O's game blog: Alex Cobb faces the A's in road trip finale

The Orioles are a loss away from a second straight winless and 0-6 road trip. They lost 2-0 in 12 innings at Oakland last night when Khris Davis hit a two-run homer to end it off Pedro Araujo. The Orioles are 8-25 overall and have now lost 11 consecutive road games. The team record is 13 in a row on the road in 1988. The Orioles have been swept in three-game series at Houston, Boston, Detroit and Anaheim. A loss today and they can add Oakland to that list. The Orioles went 3-1 in a road series...

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Minor league notebook: Mountcastle's return, props for Peralta & more

May 05, 2018, 9:41pm

Orioles

Minor league notebook: Mountcastle's return, props for Peralta & more

Orioles third base prospect Ryan Mountcastle is expected to join Double-A Bowie sometime in the next several days. He's played four games at extended spring training in Florida with two games in the field. He will probably head north after another three or four games in Florida and join the Baysox. Mountcastle had been out since mid-March when he was hit by a pitch in a minor league spring game and suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand. He is ranked as the No. 65 prospect in baseball...

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O's game blog: Orioles try to snap 10-game road losing streak

May 05, 2018, 4:41pm

Orioles

The Orioles have lost four in a row, not winning since Sunday at home versus Detroit. They have lost 10 straight road games, not winning since Sunday April 8 at New York. Tonight they try to end both streaks at Oakland in the second of three games in this series. The road trip started with the Orioles being swept three at Anaheim, as they were outscored 25-12 by the Angels. Last night they trailed 4-1 after one inning, tied the game in the sixth, only to lose 6-4 at Oakland. The Orioles have...

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O's latest loss had familiar look (plus last night on the farm)

May 04, 2018, 10:22pm

Orioles

O's latest loss had familiar look (plus last night on the farm)

Once again, the Orioles lost the first inning. Once again, their defense let them down. Once again, they lost. It's May 5 and the Orioles have won road games in one venue all year and that was Yankee Stadium, their 2017 house of horrors. They went 3-1 there from April 5-8 and that was great. But that series is the season highlight. In Houston, Boston, Detroit, Anaheim and now Oakland, the Orioles are a combined 0-13. They've now lost 10 consecutive road games. They allowed two unearned runs...

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O's game blog: Andrew Cashner pitches Oakland series opener

May 04, 2018, 12:15am

Orioles

O's game blog: Andrew Cashner pitches Oakland series opener

The Orioles last road win came on Sunday, April 8 at Yankee Stadium. They have lost nine road games in a row since, going 3-13 on the year away from Camden Yards. When they lost to the Angels last night, it marked the fourth time this year the Orioles have gone 0-3 in a road series. They've been swept in Houston, Boston, Detroit and Anaheim. Tonight they try again to improve on what is now an 8-23 record with losses in four of five, nine of 11 and 17 of 21 games. The Orioles begin a three-game...

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Another look at Chris Tillman's struggles as O's get swept

May 03, 2018, 11:52pm

Orioles

Another look at Chris Tillman's struggles as O's get swept

ANAHEIM, Calif. - For the Orioles, from the clubhouse to the manager's office, it has to be brutal to watch Chris Tillman struggle so badly. He was good for the team for a long time, but it is becoming harder by the day to envision those days returning. He throws seven scoreless against the Tigers and then gets just three outs last night. Tillman allowed seven hits and seven runs in one inning plus two batters as the Los Angeles Angels routed the Orioles 12-3 to complete a three-game...

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Chris Tillman allows seven runs as O's are swept (quotes added)

May 03, 2018, 9:10pm

Orioles

Chris Tillman allows seven runs as O's are swept (quotes added)

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Pitching six days after his best start of the 2018 season, Chris Tillman tonight had his worst. The Los Angeles Angels scored five runs off the right-hander in the last of the first and knocked him out two batters into the second inning as they routed the Orioles 12-3 at Angel Stadium. Albert Pujols went 1-for-4 tonight with a two-run double in the second and he ended the night at 2,999 hits. His chase to become the 32nd player in major league history to get 3,000 hits will...

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Buck Showalter on Chris Davis' comments and more (game update)

May 03, 2018, 5:31pm

Orioles

Buck Showalter on Chris Davis' comments and more (game update)

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter today was asked to weigh in on Chris Davis' postgame comments after last night's 10-7 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. For the second night in a row, the Orioles had little offense until the ninth inning, when they scored five runs. Davis said the team needs to become less reliant on homers to consistently score. "I felt like we kind of singled them to death in that last inning," Davis said last night. "That has to be our approach, day in and...