Notes on the offense and O's strong play in AL East

Notes on the offense and O's strong play in AL East
For the Orioles offense, there was no June swoon last year. The opposite, in fact. The Orioles went 19-9 last June despite a team ERA that was 4.85. They did it with offense. A lot of it. They began June 2017 with a lot of offense. The Orioles hit four homers last night in a 7-5 win over Boston. Can the Orioles have another big June with the bats? Let's look at last year. O's batting for the year: .256 average, .317 OBP, .443 slugging, 4.59 runs/gm, 1.56 homers/game O's batting last June:...

Trumbo and Schoop on the offense, Miley on his outing

Trumbo and Schoop on the offense, Miley on his outing
In the seven games that preceeded Wednesday's game, the Orioles scored 15 total runs and were shut out twice. The last two nights they've bashed six homers, scoring 17 runs in back-to-back wins over the Yankees and Red Sox. The Orioles hit four homers tonight off former O's farmhand Eduardo Rodriguez as they bashed their way to a 7-5 win in the series opener against Boston. Mark Trumbo's two-run homer in the first off a 93 mph Rodriguez fastball got the bashing started and provided Wade...

O's mash four homers and beat Boston 7-5 in series opener

O's mash four homers and beat Boston 7-5 in series opener
This was no way to treat a former teammate. Or maybe it was the best way to treat an American League East rival. Former Orioles minor league left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez was pounded for four homers tonight, as the Orioles beat the Red Sox 7-5 to open a four-game series at Camden Yards. After going through a seven-game stretch where the Orioles hit .199 as a team and scored 2.1 runs per game, they've scored 17 the last two nights against Yankees and Red Sox pitchers. The Red Sox turned a...

O's game blog: Wade Miley pitches series opener against Boston

O's game blog: Wade Miley pitches series opener against Boston
For the fourth time this season, the Orioles are playing the Boston Red Sox. They open a four-game series tonight that runs through Sunday at Oriole Park. The Orioles split two games in Boston in early April and later in the month took two of three in Baltimore. They played four in Boston May 1-4 and split that series at Fenway Park. The Orioles are 5-4 against the Red Sox for the season, 2-1 at home. Since the 2012 season, they are 59-44 (.573). At home since the start of the 2016 season, the...

Asher on getting another start, Joseph on catching E-Rod

Asher on getting another start, Joseph on catching E-Rod
After his short outing in Houston on Sunday, right-hander Alec Asher had to wait a couple of days to find out if he would get another chance in the Orioles rotation. He will. Asher will start at Camden Yards on Friday night against Boston. "It's great. It was disappointing what happened that last start. It happens, but I'll go back out there tomorrow and go at it again," he said this afternoon. Asher threw 54 pitches Sunday at Minute Maid Park, gaving up six hits, six runs and one homer as...

Feeling a draft: The Orioles have four of the top 100 selections

Feeling a draft: The Orioles have four of the top 100 selections
After he heads out to scout an NCAA regional tournament this weekend, Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich will head to the warehouse at Camden Yards for about a week's worth of meetings leading up to another First-Year Player Draft. This will be Rajsich's sixth draft with the Orioles. He took right-hander Kevin Gausman with his initial first-round pick (No. 4 overall) in 2012 and right-hander Cody Sedlock (No. 27 overall) with his top pick last June. He has taken pitchers with four of his...

O's game blog: Gausman faces Tanaka in series finale (O's win 10-4)

O's game blog: Gausman faces Tanaka in series finale (O's win 10-4)
The Orioles face Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (5-4, 5.86 ERA) tonight in the third and final game of this series between AL East rivals. Tonight's game will start at 7:15 p.m. after a very short rain delay. Tanaka has had a wild last three starts. Before he pitched on Friday against Oakland and threw very well, he had back-to-back terrible starts versus Houston and Tampa Bay. In those two games he gave up 16 hits and 14 runs and allowed a staggering seven home runs in just 4 2/3...

For the Orioles, the recent hitting and pitching stats are equally bad

For the Orioles, the recent hitting and pitching stats are equally bad
When trying to size up whether the pitching or offense has been the bigger issue during a run where the Orioles are 1-8, it is a tough choice. Both have been poor. Let's start with the pitching and start with the starters. Over the last eight games, the rotation ERA is 7.09 and O's pitchers have thrown five or fewer innings five times. While Dylan Bundy gave the team seven strong innings Monday night, Alec Asher went just two innings in the game that preceded that and Chris Tillman 2 2/3...

Chris Tillman says he is physically fine after start against Yankees

Chris Tillman says he is physically fine after start against Yankees
As his ERA went up and his usual number of innings pitched went down tonight, one obvious question for Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman was about his shoulder. He didn't make his first start this season until May 7. Tonight he gave up seven hits and five runs over 2 2/3 innings as the New York Yankees hammered the Orioles 8-3 to drop Baltimore 4 1/2 games out in the American League East. Tillman got a platelet-rich plasma injection in his shoulder in December and a cortisone injection in...

Chris Tillman knocked out early as Yankees win 8-3

Chris Tillman knocked out early as Yankees win 8-3
It had to be at least a bit concerning to the Orioles when Chris Tillman gave up four early runs in his last start against Minnesota and lasted just five innings. But he had a rougher outing tonight. Tillman gave up solo homers to two of the first three batters he faced and allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings. The Yankees went on to an 8-3 win to even the series at a victory each. Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday each hit two solo homers as New York scored two in the first, one in the second,...

O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces Yankees at Camden Yards

O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces Yankees at Camden Yards
The Orioles tonight host the New York Yankees in the second game of a three-game series. Monday's 3-2 win ended the Orioles' seven-game losing streak and a seven-game losing streak in one-run decisions. At 29-19, New York is leading the American League East by three games over Boston, 3 1/2 games over Baltimore, four games over Tampa Bay and 6 1/2 games over Toronto. The Orioles are 4-3 versus the Yankees for the season and 9-5 since last Aug. 28. The Orioles have won 10 straight home series...

Logan Verrett on riding the shuttle and his slider usage

Logan Verrett on riding the shuttle and his slider usage
When 26-year-old right-hander Logan Verrett was selected by the Orioles in the December 2014 Rule 5 draft, he had hopes of making the O's roster for the 2015 season. But he didn't make it to opening day that year and wasn't on the opening day roster this year, either. But he was recalled Sunday from Triple-A Norfolk for the third time this year. After staying just one day for the first time (recalled April 30) and four days the second (recalled May 6), maybe his stay will be longer now. He...

A look at Dylan Bundy's strong record against the AL East

A look at Dylan Bundy's strong record against the AL East
So we could look at plenty of stats this year that show us that right-hander Dylan Bundy is having a big season for the Orioles. As he pitched the club past the Yankees Monday with bullpen help from Darren O'Day and Brad Brach, Bundy improved to 6-3 with a 2.89 ERA. But how about Bundy's 2017 stats in his seven starts versus American League East teams? Well, they are great. He is 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA in those outings, which include three against Boston, two versus Toronto and one outing each...

Wrapping up a 3-2 win and the end of a losing streak

Wrapping up a 3-2 win and the end of a losing streak
You could not actually see it, but no doubt some weight was lifted off the collective shoulders of about 25 Orioles players here this afternoon. They ended a seven-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the New York Yankees in front of 40,242 at Camden Yards. Reporters have trudged over to reliever Darren O'Day's locker in the last two weeks under less happy occasions, as he duly noted. "First of all, it's nice to be talking to you guys without us losing the game. I appreciate the...

Bundy as stopper: Right-hander pitches O's past Yankees

Bundy as stopper: Right-hander pitches O's past Yankees
You can call Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy a stopper today because he helped the Orioles halt a seven-game losing streak and start a nine-game homestand with a win. Bundy gave up two runs over seven innings as the Orioles beat the New York Yankees 3-2 in front of 40,242 at Camden Yards. The Orioles are 26-23 and moved to within 3 1/2 games of the first-place Yankees. The Orioles ended their longest losing streak since July 2011. Bundy delivered his 10th quality start in 11 games. He gave up...

O's game blog: Bundy on mound in series opener against Yankees

O's game blog: Bundy on mound in series opener against Yankees
Well, the Orioles have a good record at home this season and a good record versus American League East teams. So maybe returning home to play their next seven against the AL East will serve as a tonic for the club right now. At 25-23, the Orioles host the first-place New York Yankees this afternoon to celebrate Memorial Day and begin a three-game series. They'll host Boston for four games starting Thursday. The Orioles are 15-7 at home (.682, third-best in majors), even though they've lost...

For the Orioles, a fall to third place has been a team effort

For the Orioles, a fall to third place has been a team effort
When the Orioles' seven-game losing streak began, they were leading the American League East by a half-game over the New York Yankees team they face today at Camden Yards. Now, seven losses later, they are just two games over .500 and 4 1/2 games out. That happened fast. The Orioles are in third place, just a half-game ahead of fourth-place Tampa Bay and three up on last-place Toronto. Going first to worst is not a good look and the Orioles have to turn this around sometime. It's still May...

O's game blog: Orioles try to salvage series finale (O's lose 8-4)

O's game blog: Orioles try to salvage series finale (O's lose 8-4)
If the Orioles thought facing Dallas Keuchel was tough last night, facing 23-year-old right-hander Lance McCullers might prove tougher today. McCullers has allowed just one unearned run over his past four starts. He'll try to pitch Houston to a three-game sweep of the Orioles this afternoon at Minute Maid Park. The Orioles were 22-10 on May 9, and that was the best record in baseball. But they have gone 3-12 since then, and last night's 5-2 loss was their sixth consecutive. The Orioles have...

Some notes on the losing streak and 3-12 O's slide

Some notes on the losing streak and 3-12 O's slide
Left-hander Dallas Keuchel took the mound for Houston last night with a record of 7-0 and ERA of 1.84. He was facing an Orioles team had that lost 11 of 14 games and been shut out in two of their previous three games. It was not a good matchup on paper. It turned out not to be one on the field either. Keuchel pounded his two-seam fastball down in the zone and gave up four hits and one run over six innings as Houston beat the Orioles 5-2. The Orioles suffered their sixth straight loss. They have...

O's game blog: Orioles look to snap losing streak at Houston

O's game blog: Orioles look to snap losing streak at Houston
The Orioles tonight will try and turn around a slide that has seen them fall into third place for the first time all year. To get a victory tonight, they'll have to win a game started by a former Cy Young winner. The Orioles have lost five in a row, seven of nine and 11 of 14 games. They are 3-10 in their last 13 games decided by one or two runs. They are 10-14 on the road. Houston hosts the Orioles in the second game of the series after beating the Orioles 2-0 last night. Right-hander Joe...