Steve Melewski

O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces Boston in series finale

September 22, 2016, 3:01pm

Orioles

O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces Boston in series finale

After wins by scores of 5-2, 5-2 and 5-1, the first-place Boston Red Sox can complete a four-game sweep of the Orioles tonight. They have not swept a four-game series at Camden Yards since Sept. 20-23, 2002. Boston has won seven in a row to get to 88-64 and is a season-high 24 games over .500. The Red Sox have a season-best five-game lead in the American League East over the Blue Jays with the Orioles six games back. Boston's magic number to clinch the division is six. They are a major...

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Adam Jones on hitters pressing, Donnie Hart on facing David Ortiz

September 22, 2016, 1:15pm

Orioles

Adam Jones on hitters pressing, Donnie Hart on facing David Ortiz

If the Orioles are pressing on offense as Chris Davis and manager Buck Showalter said last night, here's a good question: How does a team in a playoff race, desperate for wins, stop pressing and start scoring? I asked center fielder Adam Jones for his take. "I just think at this time, you want it so bad," Jones said. "You want to be the guy to do it, as opposed to just let it happen. September baseball is a mental grind and a physical nightmare, and somehow, someway you get through...

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Still holding a wild card spot, can O's come back from brutal loss?

September 21, 2016, 9:40pm

Orioles

Still holding a wild card spot, can O's come back from brutal loss?

That loss felt like the dagger last night. The Orioles were beaten again by the Boston Red Sox and they greatly contributed to their own demise. Chris Davis made the two-run throwing error on a play that should have ended the top of the sixth with the Orioles leading 1-0. Brad Brach then made it worse by leaving the next pitch right where Andrew Benintendi wanted it. Two pitches, five runs, devastating loss. Despite that, the Orioles remain holding a playoff berth at the moment. Not only do...

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Chris Davis on his costly throwing error, plus more clubhouse quotes

September 21, 2016, 7:22pm

Orioles

Chris Davis on his costly throwing error, plus more clubhouse quotes

For Orioles first baseman Chris Davis, there was no need for spin or rationalization. His error tonight loomed large and led to a costly 5-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox. Given a second chance at the ground ball to his right with the bases loaded in the sixth, Davis might have stayed near the bag and let second baseman Jonathan Schoop try to record the third out. But Davis ranged to his right, fielded Sandy Leon's grounder and then threw it wildly past pitcher Brad Brach covering first base. Two...

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Boston takes advantage of O's sixth-inning meltdown for 5-1 win

September 21, 2016, 6:06pm

Orioles

Boston takes advantage of O's sixth-inning meltdown for 5-1 win

Even after allowing a walk and two singles, and even after right-hander Brad Brach fell behind a batter 3-0 with the bases loaded, the Orioles still should have been out of the top of the sixth inning tonight with a 1-0 lead. Instead, they allowed five unearned runs and left that half-inning trailing Boston 5-1 at Camden Yards. They lost by that 5-1 score to fall six games back in the American League East by dropping their third straight in this four-game series. O's starter Ubaldo Jimenez...

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O's game blog: Ubaldo Jimenez gets the start against Boston

September 21, 2016, 12:54pm

Orioles

O's game blog: Ubaldo Jimenez gets the start against Boston

With a record of just 2-4 on an 11-game homestand, the Orioles look to get their offense going and get back in the win column tonight as they host the first-place Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox (87-64) have won the first two games of this series over the Orioles (82-69) by identical 5-2 scores. The Orioles have just 10 hits in this series. Over their last four games, they have scored two runs each game on 25 hits while going 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position. O's starters Dylan Bundy and...

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Adam Jones on Orioles attendance, Donnie Hart on Trey Mancini

September 21, 2016, 12:42pm

Orioles

The topic of Orioles attendance seems to be one creating continued discussion. The Orioles rank 10th in the American League in attendance and the first two games of the Boston series drew crowds of 18,456 on Monday and 20,387 last night. Orioles center fielder Adam Jones today gave his take on the club's attendance, thanking the fans that do come and wishing a few more would join them. "The fans impact at Camden Yards is unbelievable," Jones said. "They know that and the players understand...

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After falling back in division race, O's need to hold wild card now

September 20, 2016, 10:11pm

Orioles

After falling back in division race, O's need to hold wild card now

The Orioles' hopes to win a second American League East title in three seasons have pretty much gone south in less than a week. When they beat Boston 1-0 last Wednesday at Fenway Park, the Orioles came home one game out of first place. Who knew after completing a 6-3 road trip, with impressive series wins at Detroit and Boston, that the Orioles would unravel on their own turf? But they've gone 2-4 on this homestand and now are five games out in the division. This is not at all what they had...

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Gausman on a pitch that got away, Mancini on a special homer

September 20, 2016, 7:35pm

Orioles

Gausman on a pitch that got away, Mancini on a special homer

It was a pitch that didn't go exactly where O's right-hander Kevin Gausman intended. It was a pitch that David Ortiz hit for a huge three-run homer. His blast off Gausman in the seventh tonight turned a one-run lead into four and Boston beat the Orioles 5-2 at Camden Yards. The Orioles fall to 82-69, falling five games out in the American League East with 11 to play. "I was trying to go down and away," Gausman said of the Ortiz homer, his eighth this year against the Orioles. "He's a...

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Trey Mancini hits first major league homer, but O's lose to Boston

September 20, 2016, 6:23pm

Orioles

Trey Mancini hits first major league homer, but O's lose to Boston

Boston's Mookie Betts and David Ortiz combined to beat the Orioles. Yes, again. The two players that O's pitchers can't contain this year helped Boston to a 5-2 win tonight at Camden Yards. At 82-69 the Orioles have lost the first two games of this four-game series to fall five games out of first place with 11 remaining. The hopes of another division championship are diminishing rapidly. The Red Sox are 87-64 and moved to a season-best 23 games over .500 with their sixth win in a row and...

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O's game blog: Gausman faces Boston at Camden Yards

September 20, 2016, 3:00pm

Orioles

O's game blog: Gausman faces Boston at Camden Yards

After last night's 5-2 loss to Boston, the Orioles host the Red Sox tonight in the second of a four-game series at Camden Yards. The American League East leading Red Sox are 86-64 while the Orioles are 82-68. The Orioles are tied with Toronto for second place, both four games behind Boston and both co-leaders for the two AL wild card spots. In that race, Detroit is 2 1/2 games back of the O's and Blue Jays with Houston and Seattle three out and New York 4 1/2 games back. Tonight's pitching...

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David Ortiz on retirement, dugout phones and more

September 20, 2016, 2:09pm

Orioles

David Ortiz on retirement, dugout phones and more

On his last regular season trip as a player to Baltimore, during a dugout press conference where he mainly discussed his team, David Ortiz did take a few questions about playing against the Orioles and playing in Baltimore over the years. He was asked, of course, about what happened in the visiting dugout on July 27, 2013. Ortiz destroyed a dugout phone during a brief tirade. For that, a player that made an average of $86,419.75 per game that year was fined the sum of $5,000. He appealed the...

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Mancini on starting tonight, Wieters on Gausman's improved third pitch

September 20, 2016, 12:49pm

Orioles

Mancini on starting tonight, Wieters on Gausman's improved third pitch

After getting called up to the majors for the first time on Sunday, tonight Trey Mancini will make his major league debut for the Orioles. He's batting seventh as the designated hitter against Eduardo Rodriguez and the Boston Red Sox. "It is really exciting," Mancini said this afternoon. "This is what I've been waiting for my whole life. But at the same time, it's the same game I've been playing for 20 years so I've got to try and calm my emotions. I know that will be tough, especially...

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A take on Dylan Bundy, plus O's and Red Sox notes

September 19, 2016, 9:20pm

Orioles

A take on Dylan Bundy, plus O's and Red Sox notes

Watching Dylan Bundy give up five runs over five innings last night and pass the 100 innings mark for the second time in his pro career, I wondered if the Orioles should consider shutting him down for the 2016 season. But guess what? He is probably only going to make another two starts in the regular season. The Orioles pretty much have gotten the kid through the season healthy, even if he isn't quite as sharp as he was a few weeks ago. We've seen this young right-hander come a long way this...

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Dylan Bundy on the loss, Manny Machado on Porcello and more

September 19, 2016, 6:54pm

Orioles

Dylan Bundy on the loss, Manny Machado on Porcello and more

The Orioles' chance to win the American League East took a hit tonight. A relentless offense finally got to right-hander Dylan Bundy, while the Orioles never did much get to right-hander Rick Porcello. Porcello's complete-game four-hitter on just 89 pitches lifted Boston to a 5-2 win. The Orioles fall to 82-68 and four games back with 12 to play. They will need to win three in a row against Boston, or they will leave this series no closer than three games to the division lead with nine to...

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Dylan Bundy allows five runs as Boston takes series opener

September 19, 2016, 5:42pm

Orioles

Dylan Bundy allows five runs as Boston takes series opener

Coming into this game, Boston's Mookie Betts and David Ortiz had hit 14 of the Red Sox's 26 homers against Baltimore pitching this year. To the Orioles detriment, they added to that total tonight. Betts and Ortiz hit two-run homers off right-hander Dylan Bundy as the Red Sox beat the Orioles 5-2 tonight at Oriole Park. The loss drops the Orioles to 82-68 and they fall four games behind the first-place Red Sox with 12 games to play on the year and three more in this series. Bundy stranded...

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O's game blog: A look at tonight's game (O's extend deal with Aberdeen)

September 19, 2016, 1:31pm

Orioles

O's game blog: A look at tonight's game (O's extend deal with Aberdeen)

The Orioles have 13 games remaining and they are three games behind American League East-leading Boston. They open a four-game series with the Red Sox tonight at Camden Yards. They'll have to win at least three of these games to gain ground. If the O's manage a four-game split, they would just lose four days off the calender. Anything less than that, and they lose days and ground in the standings. The Orioles have won the season series the last four years against Boston and lead it this year...

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Chris Davis: "We know how big this series is"

September 19, 2016, 1:08pm

Orioles

Chris Davis: "We know how big this series is"

For the Orioles, the math is pretty simple. They trail first-place Boston by three games heading into a four-game series starting tonight. The O's must win three or more games the next four days or they will fail to gain any ground. But as the series is set to begin tonight, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis said the players can't put pressure on themselves by thinking they have to win three of four. They have to instead focus on what is right in front of them. "I think you've got to stay...

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A look ahead to the Boston series and more O's notes/quotes

September 18, 2016, 4:47pm

Orioles

A look ahead to the Boston series and more O's notes/quotes

The Orioles get their last shot this regular season at the Boston Red Sox starting tonight. The Orioles host a four-game series at Camden Yards. After the Red Sox beat the Yankees 5-4 last night, they come to town leading the Orioles by three games and the Blue Jays by four atop the American League East. Boston posted another comeback win over New York and completed its first four-game sweep of the Yankees since June of 1990. At 85-64, Boston is 39-32 on the road and 19-9 in AL East games since...

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Mark Trumbo on his big home run (plus more clubhouse quotes)

September 18, 2016, 1:56pm

Orioles

Mark Trumbo on his big home run (plus more clubhouse quotes)

Two of the Orioles' strengths all year - power and their bullpen - helped carry them to an important 2-1 win over Tampa Bay this afternoon. They improved to 82-67 and could move to within two games of first if Boston loses to New York tonight. They will be within at least three games of the top spot when the Orioles and Red Sox begin their four-game series Monday night. After Manny Machado's new career-high 36th homer tied this game 1-1 in the sixth today, Mark Trumbo's 43rd homer was a...