The Orioles just passed along their lineup from Kansas City, and it includes Jake Fox behind the plate.
Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Derrek Lee 1B
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Adam Jones CF
Luke Scott LF
Mark Reynolds 3B
Jake Fox C
Robert Andino SS
Chris Tillman RHP
Alfredo Simon allowed a leadoff double in the second inning, but he retired the next three batters, getting a called third strike on Tim Pahuta. Simon has allowed one run and three hits, and struck out four, over two innings....
Alfredo Simon looks thinner, and we've been told that he dropped around 30 pounds over the winter.
He doesn't look that much thinner, but there's a noticeable difference.
Here's the Bowie Baysox's lineup:
Xavier Avery CF
Greg Miclat 2B
Robbie Widlansky 1B
Brandon Waring 3B
Ronnie Welty RF
Steve Lerud C
Carlos Rojas SS
Adam Donachie DH
Kyle Hudson LF
Alfredo Simon RHP
Dan Klein (UCLA) is expected to pitch today.
Donachie was added to the Bowie roster from extended spring training....
I'll point out one more time that "Modern Family" is the funniest show on television, and I'll wrestle anyone who disputes this indisputable fact.
If you missed last night's episode and you treat DVR the way I treat splitting the atom ... or DVR ... that's too bad. Another classic.
Anyway, I'm heading down to Bowie for today's 11:05 a.m. game between the Baysox and the Harrisburg Senators. Alfredo Simon is pitching, so I figure it's a good idea to check on him.
Simon will issue a...
When Orioles pitcher Jake Arrieta threw a staggering total of 35 pitches in the second inning Wednesday night at Kansas City, it sure didn't look like he would be able to pitch seven innings in the game.
But from the third through fifth innings, Arrieta needed only 35 more pitches and he was on his way to another solid outing for the Birds.
Arrieta pitched a season-high seven innings, allowing just three hits and one run in the Orioles' 3-2 win. He threw 105 pitches and fanned eight, one...
Condolences go out to former Orioles second baseman and manager Davey Johnson, whose stepson Michael Jacob 'Jake' Allen, 34, died Tuesday, according to a statement issued by the Washington Nationals.
Allen died from pneumonia and infection at Florida Hospital in Orlando with his parents and siblings at his side. He had been hearing and visually impaired since birth.
In lieu of flowers, the Johnson family requests that contributions be made, in Jake's memory, to Lighthouse Central Florida...
The Orioles are busy today doing a makeover on Double-A Bowie's roster.
They traded outfielder Jeff Fiorentino to the Braves for cash considerations. They promoted outfielder Kyle Hudson from Single-A Frederick to Bowie. And they're placing infielder Billy Rowell on the seven-day disabled list with tendinitis in his left ankle.
Rowell is batting .231 with four RBIs, two walks, 12 strikeouts and a .510 OPS in 14 games and 39 at-bats in his first season in the Eastern League. He spent the...
Single-A Frederick Keys center fielder Kyle Hudson has moved today to Double-A Bowie.
This will be the first crack at Double-A ball for the 24-year-old left-handed batter. He was hitting .279 in 23 games with the Keys with no homers, two RBIs and eight steals.
He played all last season with Frederick and recently Trent Mummey was moved from Single-A Delmarva to Frederick, giving the Keys essentially two center fielders. Mummey can now move to center for the Keys.
Hudson will now join a team...
When the Orioles traded for Adam Jones in the winter of 2007, he was considered by many to be a future star. His potential to be a power-hitting center fielder with above-average defensive skills had Orioles fans drooling, but he hadn't put it all together up to this season and the frustration level among fans was raised to a critical level.
Since the beginning of this season, it's been obvious that Jones has worked hard on his defense. He is consistently making plays both shallow and deep...
Jeff Fiorentino is packing his bags again.
According to this tweet from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Orioles traded Fiorentino to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations.
Here today, gone tomorrow, here again, gone again...
Fiorentino was batting .250 with one double, two triples, two homers and 13 RBIs in 20 games with Double-A Bowie. He'll report to the Braves' Double-A affiliate in Mississippi.
Fiorentino appeared in 56 games with the Orioles over parts of the 2006, 2007...
It's happening so quietly, it's barely making a sound. Imagine a mouse wearing fuzzy slippers, or a cloud wearing ... fuzzy slippers.
OK, that's probably not working for you.
Derrek Lee has raised his average from .209 to .255 in his last 11 games. He's got 15 hits during that stretch, and five multi-hit games in his last 10.
Has anyone noticed?
Perhaps it would be more obvious if baseballs were crashing into the bleachers.
Lee went 2-for-5 last night in the Orioles' 6-5, 10-inning...
With the Major League Baseball season being a 162-game marathon, every team strives to maintain consistency which hopefully leads first to being competitive and then to being a contender.
And with consistency the goal, every team also has the same approach: Win as many series over the course of the six-month season as possible. Managers for all 30 major league teams follow the edict, "Let's take two-out-of-three and move on."
Take a look at the starts to the last two seasons, and it's...
Some of you may have noticed that I have not been filing the usual number of blog entries and stories recently. That is because I have been busy with something else over these past few days.
Last Friday morning at 6:35 a.m., my Mom died. She and our family had been dealing with Mom's Alzheimer's disease for more than 10 years. It was, as some have labeled it, a long goodbye.
The last few years were such that our Mom didn't know our names and we could not even really have a conversation...
Last night's game was one of the more frustrating losses of the year. The Orioles had baserunners in every inning, usually more than one. They had so many chances to score runs and just couldn't do it. It was a hard game to watch. But it's also the kind of game that, in retrospect, has a lot of positives to take from it. It's easy to say that the Orioles couldn't come through in the clutch, but the fact is that usually when a team gets 15 baserunners, they'll score more than two runs. So...
Orioles manager Buck Showalter didn't seem concerned about Nick Markakis' right hand during his postgame interview with MASN's Gary Thorne.
Markakis was hit by a Chris Sale fastball with two outs and left the game, but he returned to the bench and watched the final out.
"It was more of a pinch than it was a direct blow, so we got lucky there," Showalter said.
Markakis apparently banged his right knee on a sprinkler head while diving for a ball, which could present more of an issue than...
The Orioles today announced that they have activated right-hander Chris Jakubauskas from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Jakubauskas was placed on the DL on April 18, retroactive to April 17, with a strained right groin. He appeared in three games for the Orioles, pitching to a 7.36 ERA (7.1IP, 6ER) and twice going at least 3.0 innings.
Here's the lineup that manager Buck Showalter hopes can enable the Orioles to complete a four-game sweep of the White Sox - along with another quality start from Jeremy Guthrie:
Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Derrek Lee 1B
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Luke Scott LF
Adam Jones CF
Mark Reynolds 3B
Matt Wieters C
Robert Andino SS
Jeremy Guthrie RHP
Here's the White Sox's lineup:
Pierre LF
Ramirez SS
Dunn DH
Konerko 1B
Quentin RF
Pierzynski C
Rios CF
Teahen 3B
Beckham 2B
Buehrle LHP
The Orioles will attempt to break out the brooms tonight in an unusual four-game series that started on Friday.
How often does a team play a road game on Sunday and remain in the city overnight?
Better to do it in Chicago than, say, Detroit.
Jeremy Guthrie is sporting a 1-3 record, which clashes with his 2.53 ERA. He's allowed two runs or fewer in four of his five starts.
Guthrie is 3-4 with a 4.36 ERA lifetime against the White Sox. Paul Konerko is 5-for-24 with a double and two homers....
It's no secret the that Orioles' bullpen hasn't been all that reliable through the first month of the season. Even when he gets the job done, closer Kevin Gregg raises the stress level in Birdland to epic proportions. Mike Gonzalez's last outing was fantastic, but given his other performances this year it was still a little hard to watch. Koji Uehara is walking people, Jim Johnson is giving up home runs, Josh Rupe has been a disaster.
With the starting pitching having success, it's even...
When the Orioles traded relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Dec. 6 for third baseman Mark Reynolds, they also were supposed to receive a player to be named later.
It's later. And he's been named.
The Orioles also have received catcher John Hester, who was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.
Hester, a 13th-round pick out of Stanford in the 2006 draft, is batting .263 with three doubles, one homer and five RBIs in 10 games with Triple-A Reno. He's thrown out...
The Orioles today announced that they have received catcher John Hester from the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete their December 2010 trade for third baseman Mark Reynolds. Hester has been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.
A 13th-round selection out of Stanford University by the Diamondbacks in 2006, Hester has batted .263 (10-38) in 10 games with the Triple-A Reno Aces this season. In 300 career minor league games, he has thrown out 29% of baserunners.
Hester played in 53 major league games for...