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Making it happen in the early innings this year

May 16, 2012, 4:58pm

Orioles

Making it happen in the early innings this year

If it feels to you like the Orioles have been getting off to better starts in games this year, you are right and there are the stats to prove it. The Orioles have a plus-15 run differential this year - that is, they have scored 15 more runs than their opponents - and that figure is a plus-14 over the first three innings of their games. The Orioles have outscored the opposition by a 56-42 margin in the opening three innings coming into this Kansas City series. Last year, they were outscored by...

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K.C. is playing good ball as the Orioles hit town

May 16, 2012, 1:30pm

Orioles

After the end of the 15-game run of playing against Boston, New York, Tampa Bay and Texas, tonight the Orioles begin a two-game series with the Royals in Kansas City. To some it may seem like a brief break from a rough schedule and that tonight the Orioles are stepping down in class a bit in taking on K.C. But the Royals are playing good baseball right now and feature some of the game's top young talent in players like Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer. Hosmer has struggled, batting just .182,...

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Orioles answered another challenge with win over New York

May 15, 2012, 9:29pm

Orioles

Just about 24 hours after we wondered if the Orioles were teetering on the brink, we return this morning to pass out the deserved accolades to the club. I thought going into this 15-game stretch against Boston, New York, Tampa Bay and Texas that the Orioles would go about 6-9 against the four high-level opponents. Playing them consecutively over a two week run was just going to be a brutal stretch of one tough game after another and another and so on. But the Orioles went 9-6 against four...

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Former Oriole Kevin Hickey dead at age 56

May 16, 2012, 10:09am

Orioles

Former Oriole Kevin Hickey dead at age 56

I can't believe that I'm passing along news concerning the death of another former Oriole. One-time left-handed reliever Kevin Hickey died Wednesday at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, according to

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Avery leading off, Davis back at first base

May 16, 2012, 11:46am

Orioles

Avery leading off, Davis back at first base

Xavier Avery is batting leadoff tonight in the Orioles' series opener in Kansas City. Wilson Betemit is starting at third base and Chris Davis is starting at first. For the Orioles: Xavier Avery LF J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Nick Johnson DH Wilson Betemit 3B Chris Davis 1B Robert Andino 2B Tommy Hunter RHP For the Royals: Dyson CF Hosmer 1B Butler DH Gordon LF Francoeur RF Moustakas 3B Escobar SS Getz 2B Quintero C Paulino RHP

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Getting a charge out of the Orioles' battery

May 15, 2012, 6:51pm

Orioles

Wei-Yin Chen improved to 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his first season pitching in the U.S. He retired 10 straight Yankees tonight. He's now gone seven innings or more in three of his last four starts. He's 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four starts at Camden Yards. Wei-Yin Chen talks about his strong outing in the Orioles' win over the Yankees "Compared with my last outing, I think this outing was just fine," he said through his interpreter. "I was just fine. But because I am doing good today,...

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Billy Rowell says positive marijuana test led to 50-game suspension

May 15, 2012, 5:50pm

Orioles

Billy Rowell says positive marijuana test led to 50-game suspension

Orioles 2006 first-round draft pick Billy Rowell told MASNsports.com tonight that he failed a drug test for marijuana and that is what led to his 50-game suspension after a second violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program for a drug of abuse. The suspension was announced by MLB on Monday. Rowell said he also had a positive test for marijuana in 2009. Rowell, who is allowed to take part in workouts in Sarasota as he is converting from an outfielder to a pitcher, said...

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Showalter speaks after 5-2 win

May 15, 2012, 6:33pm

Orioles

Manager Buck Showalter has referred to Taiwanese left-hander Wei-Yin Chen as an unknown. So what exactly does Showalter know about Chen after seven starts? "He's got his feet on the ground a little bit. He's comfortable," Showalter said after a 5-2 victory over the Yankees that made the Orioles 9-6 in a brutal 15-game stretch. "Obviously, he's pitching as well as any of our starters, and very early in the season he's doing quite well for us. He seems very poised. But there will be...

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Neal Shaffer: The top six players who define the losing era

May 16, 2012, 4:49am

Orioles

Neal Shaffer: The top six players who define the losing era

Last week we took a look at the top five players of the losing era. Meaning exactly what it says - the five best. It was a fun list to make, but the more illuminating exercise (and possibly more depressing) is to think about the top five players who define the losing era. By which I mean, if you had to sum up years of futility, which players would you use to do it? We have way more candidates here than we had for the first list, and as a result, it is a far more difficult proposition. Where...

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Reimold, Hammel and the Yankees' lineup

May 15, 2012, 1:03pm

Orioles

Outfielder Nolan Reimold said the club will have a better idea later in the week whether he needs a second epidural injection for the herniated disk in his cervical spine. Team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens examined Reimold yesterday, and he'll be checked again within a week. Reimold had his first epidural injection Friday, so it's too early to schedule a second one if it's needed. Reimold still has tingling in his left thumb and forearm, and a "constant aching" in his shoulder and...

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Checking in on a busy day of O's minor league transactions

May 15, 2012, 11:23am

Orioles

Checking in on a busy day of O's minor league transactions

The Triple-A Norfolk Tides put infielder Ryan Adams and pitcher Joel Pineiro on the disabled list today. Adams, who got into 29 games with the Orioles last year, is expected to miss three to five weeks with a fractured right thumb. He was batting .210 this year for the Tides. Pineiro was 1-1 with an ERA of 3.65 over his first two starts for Norfolk and gave up 10 hits and five runs with no walks and nine strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. He is dealing with shoulder soreness. All the roster...

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Chen loses shutout but O's win game, 5-2

May 15, 2012, 5:24pm

Orioles

Chen loses shutout but O's win game, 5-2

Wei-Yin Chen came within a strike of posting seven scoreless innings against the Yankees, but Curtis Granderson hit a two-run homer on an 0-2 pitch to reduce the Orioles' lead to 4-2. Granderson had 13 home runs this season - 10 at Yankees Stadium and three at Camden Yards. Xavier Avery timed his leap and almost made the catch. He kept looking back at a fan who appeared to hit his glove. Richie Garcia isn't here, but I know what you're thinking. Chen has allowed two runs and four hits,...

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Your nightly Xavier Avery blog entry (updated)

May 15, 2012, 4:01pm

Orioles

Your nightly Xavier Avery blog entry (updated)

I'll ease into it by pointing out that Adam Jones hit his 11th home run to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. It was the first home run allowed this month by Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia. Why do I hear the ringing of a cash register every time Jones homers? The lead grew to 2-0 in the third, and rookie Xavier Avery was in the middle of the rally. Avery is batting ninth tonight so Robert Andino, 7-for-18 with a double and home run lifetime against Sabathia before...

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Showalter provides more injury updates

May 15, 2012, 12:41pm

Orioles

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said reliever Matt Lindstrom has a slight tear in a ligament in his right middle finger. The good news is it's not a full tear. Dr. Thomas Graham, a specialist based in Cleveland, will re-examine Lindstrom's finger. Lindstrom will stay back in Baltimore while the Orioles play two games in Kansas City. He has no immediate plans to report to extended spring training in Sarasota. Lindstrom sounded optimistic that he'd be ready to come off the disabled list when...

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Andino leading off, Betemit at first; Britton and Reimold updates

May 15, 2012, 11:32am

Orioles

Andino leading off, Betemit at first; Britton and Reimold updates

Robert Andino is leading off tonight against Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia. Wilson Betemit will play first base, Steve Tolleson will play third, and Xavier Avery will stay in left field and bat ninth. For the Orioles: Robert Andino 2B J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Wilson Betemit 1B Bill Hall DH Steve Tolleson 3B Xavier Avery LF Wei-Yin Chen LHP Zach Britton threw four scoreless innings today at extended spring training, allowing two hits and striking out...

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This, that and the other

May 14, 2012, 9:13pm

Orioles

Manager Buck Showalter said he found four teams, including the Red Sox, who have more players on the disabled list than the Orioles. But did anyone exceed the Orioles' 22 player moves in one week? Joel Pineiro is scratched from his start at Triple-A Norfolk and isn't listed among their upcoming starters, and I immediately wonder if he's headed to Camden Yards. Dana Eveland tweets that he flew back to Norfolk and then drove to Baltimore, and I immediately assume that the Orioles changed...

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Showalter speaks after 8-5 loss

May 14, 2012, 7:45pm

Orioles

The Orioles' starters haven't completed six innings in the last three games, which is taxing the bullpen, which is giving manager Buck Showalter additional challenges that he'd rather avoid. Jason Hammel was done after five-plus innings tonight, failing to record an out in the sixth in the Orioles' 8-5 loss to the Yankees. "I would have rather not have pitched certain guys, but the game calls for it," Showalter said. "What bodes well for us in the future is we were able to give some...

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Hearing from Hammel, Davis and Avery

May 14, 2012, 8:01pm

Orioles

If anything good came out of tonight's start for Jason Hammel, it was the condition of his right knee. "Knee is good to go," he said. "That's a positive, I guess. No setbacks." Hammel took the brunt of the blame for tonight's 8-5 Orioles loss. "Honestly, we should have won the ballgame," he said. "I let them back into the game twice. A 2-0 lead and then guys come back and get me some runs to get me ahead again, and I gave them right back. Early in the game, very much in command,...

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Dylan Bundy pitches five innings for first time as a pro

May 14, 2012, 4:23pm

Orioles

Dylan Bundy pitches five innings for first time as a pro

For the first time in his pro career,

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Are the Orioles teetering on the brink?

May 14, 2012, 9:33pm

Orioles

Like some of you, I am having a feeling that the Orioles are teetering on the brink a bit right now. You have to wonder if the club hasn't hit a bump in the road that might turn into a longer tailspin now that the starting pitching has started to struggle and the team has had to make so many recent roster moves. Some of that just has to be catching up with this club. In the last nine games, the Orioles have just two quality starts and a starting pitcher ERA of 7.25 in that stretch. Yet we...