For the Orioles:
J.J. Hardy SS
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Matt Wieters C
Mark Reynolds 3B
Derrek Lee 1B
Felix Pie LF
Robert Andino 2B
Jeremy Guthrie RHP
The game-time temperature for the Orioles the last two days has been over 100 degrees. According to the club's PR staff, the last time the Orioles played as many as three games in a season in 100-plus degree weather was 2006 (July 18, Aug 1 and Aug 2), all at home.
Anyone remember sweating out at least one of...
Two Orioles pitching prospects that are on the comeback trail from injuries are expected to soon join the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds.
Right-handers Matt Hobgood and Ryan Berry are expected to pitch one more time for the Gulf Coast League O's, probably July 11, and then move to Aberdeen.
The 20-year-old Hobgood, the Orioles' top pick in the 2009 draft, is rehabbing a strained right rotator cuff. He is 0-0 with a 3.52 ERA in four games over 7 2/3 innings in the GCL. He has...
Before we point too many fingers at reliever Jim Johnson for causing last night's 4-2 loss to the Rangers, it's important to note that the Orioles went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. And three kids. And a dog and cat. Also a hamster.
Two solo home runs won't usually get you a victory in Texas.
Hitting in the clutch hasn't been this team's strength. And that observation most likely will be the biggest understatement that you encounter today.
Getting...
Matt Wieters is only the fifth All-Star catcher for the Orioles, following Gus Triandos, Andy Etchebarren, Terry Kennedy, and Mickey Tettleton. The good news for Wieters is that each catcher made more than one All-Star team. After reviewing the boxscores of this quartet of previous O's All-Stars I'd say that, come next Tuesday, Wieters would do well to model Kennedy behind the plate and Triandos at the plate.
Kennedy made his final All-Star appearance in 1987 for the Orioles after...
The Orioles will place left fielder Luke Scott on the 15-day disabled list later today to make room on the 25-man roster for pitcher Mitch Atkins, who gets the start tonight.
The Orioles will purchase Atkins' contract from Triple-A Norfolk. He flew into Arlington yesterday.
Scott is batting .223 with 11 doubles, nine homers and 22 RBIs in 63 games. He hit .226 with three homers and three RBIs in June, and went 0-for-9 in the Atlanta series.
Scott has a tear in his right labrum, and the...
After getting nine at-bats late last year with Double-A Bowie, Orioles prospect LJ Hoes began this season back with Single-A Frederick.
But on May 23, he moved back to Double-A and this time he is staying there. Hoes currently is wielding one of the hottest bats on the O's farm and in 35 Baysox games, he is now batting .320 with no homers, 17 RBIs and a .745 OPS.
He also has a most respectable 16-to-13 strikeout-to-walks ratio.
Over his past four games, Hoes is 10-for-16. Over his past 14...
The Orioles and Washington Nationals have announced that they have teamed together in an effort to help send the "Beltways Ballot" of outfielder Adam Jones and first baseman Michael Morse to Arizona for this year's All-Star Game.
Fans voting for Jones will be eligible to win a VIP Meet & Greet with Adam, parking and four (4) field box seat tickets to an Orioles home game in July or August. Voting can be done by visiting www.orioles.com/finalvote .
Voting for Jones can also be done via...
The Orioles today announced that they have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Mitch Atkins from Triple-A Norfolk and placed outfielder Luke Scott on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 4, with a right shoulder strain.
Atkins, 25, is 2-3 with a 3.11 ERA (46.1IP, 16 ER) in eight starts with the Tides. He has also pitched in games for Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie this season after earning a non-roster invitation to major league spring training. Atkins has pitched to...
Two Orioles - one past, one present - need your help in All-Star Game-related matters.
We'll tackle the present first. Center fielder Adam Jones is one of the five players up for The Final Vote to determine the last player on the American League squad for the Midsummer Classic in Phoenix on July 12.
In the first tabulations released Monday afternoon, Jones ranked fourth out of the five candidates, and White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko was in the lead. Unlike the fan vote to choose...
You have to wonder if Vlad Guerrero's time as the Orioles' cleanup hitter is coming to an end.
Manager Buck Showalter talked about his concern over Guerrero during the O's last homestand and made similar comments to reporters in Texas yesterday, indicating that if he needs to make an adjustment there, he will.
The time has pretty much come for that.
I still remember the excitement around Baltimore when Guerrero was signed and the message boards leading up to that were buzzing with how the...
Yesterday, the Orioles lost deep in the heart of Texas to the Rangers. However, slugger Mark Reynolds again showed his power stroke.
The third baseman, acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the offseason, put on quite the power display in Atlanta over the weekend, and followed up that performance with two homers last night, his 19th and 20th.
Despite Baltimore's 13-4 loss to the Texas, the story of last night's game was the power and approach of the third baseman.
I know a lot of fans...
Mark Reynolds joined a nontraditional 20-20 club on Monday when he hit his 20th home run of the season and committed his 20th error. Prior to the season, I identified Reynolds as the most likely candidate to become the Orioles' first traditional 20-20 player (20 home runs, 20 stolen bases) since Brady Anderson in 1999. I was enamored with Reynolds' power, concerned about his strikeouts and largely ignorant of his defensive struggles. Now I'm pondering the question many other fans in Birdland...
The Short-Season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds today added three Orioles top-10 draft picks from the 2011 class.
The IronBirds added third-round pick RHP Mike Wright, fifth-round pick LHP Matt Taylor, and ninth-round pick RHP Devin Jones. They join seventh-round LHP Trent Howard, and the IronBirds now have four of the Orioles' top-10 draft picks on their roster.
Wright made 16 starts this past spring for Eastern Carolina University. A three-year starter for the Pirates, Wright went 6-4 with a...
The Orioles will face another right-hander tonight in the Rangers' Colby Lewis.
Other than the Cardinals' Jaime Garcia last Thursday, I don't think the Orioles have seen a left-handed starter since Ron Guidry.
It's no coincidence that Nolan Reimold hasn't been in the lineup since hitting a three-run homer off Garcia, and has started twice since June 15.
Manager Buck Showalter prefers to use Luke Scott against right-handers. Felix Pie gets the starts if Scott is unavailable for shoulder,...
When the 2011 All-Star Game rosters were announced yesterday, Adam Jones didn't hear his name called. But that doesn't necessarily mean the Orioles outfielder won't get to take the field July 12 in Arizona for the 82nd annual Midsummer Classic.
Jones, who made his All-Star debut in 2009, is among five American League nominees who are up for the All-Star Game Final Vote. The winner will earn the last spot on the AL roster for next Tuesday's game.
The 25-year-old Jones has put together an...
Nolan Reimold is starting in left field and batting eighth tonight. Mark Reynolds drops to fifth in the lineup behind Vladimir Guerrero.
For the Orioles:
J.J. Hardy SS
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Mark Reynolds 3B
Matt Wieters C
Derrek Lee 1B
Nolan Reimold LF
Blake Davis 2B
Chris Jakubauskas RHP
NOTE: Mitch Atkins left Triple-A Norfolk to join the Orioles in Arlington, but that doesn't mean he's definitely starting tomorrow night. It could depend whether Alfredo...
Happy Fourth of July, Orioles fans. I'm spending the holiday with my family in Catonsville, Md., where July 4 is, like a certain fictionalized news anchor, kind of a big deal. It certainly isn't more popular than Jesus (just "imagine" someone saying that); more like a secularized version of a holy day of obligation. Thousands of locals make the pilgrimage to Frederick Road in the afternoon for the annual parade and then on to Catonsville High School in the evening for fireworks. Both events...
Happy July 4! While teams trot out those patriotic stars-and-stripes uniforms for the Independence Day holiday, we here at Orioles Buzz renew our heartfelt belief that every major league club should play (preferably a single-admission doubleheader) on each of the holidays that falls during the sport's six-month regular season - Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day. You'd think you'd always get every team in action on those days, but that's not always the case - though all 30 teams are playing...
The Orioles will try and avoid a sweep at the hands of the Braves today and end interleague play on a positive note.
For those of you hoping to see Nolan Reimold in the lineup, you didn't get your wish, but Mark Reynolds slides into the cleanup spot.
For the Orioles:
SS J.J. Hardy
RF Nick Markakis
CF Adam Jones
3B Mark Reynolds
1B Derrek Lee
LF Luke Scott
C Craig Tatum
2B Blake Davis
LHP Zach Britton
Markakis has hit in 20 of his last 21 games, going 39-for-96 (.406).
In his last 22...
Those that were expecting the Orioles to have a tough 10-game road trip are probably not surprised at the losses the last two nights in Atlanta.
The Orioles got shut out on one hit in losing Friday. They got three homers and 13 hits and still lost last night.
They have that look and feel again. That look of a team heading south and the feeling when watching them that something will go wrong at some point to make them lose again.
How you get out of such a rut I am not sure, as Orioles teams...