Can Brad Bergesen be the stopper today? Someone has to apply the brakes on this six-game losing streak.
Here's the Orioles' lineup for the final game of their miserable road trip, which doesn't include Adam Jones:
Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Derrek Lee 1B
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Luke Scott LF
Mark Reynolds 3B
Felix Pie CF
Matt Wieters C
Cesar Izturis SS
Brad Bergesen RHP
The Indians activated Grady Sizemore from the disabled list. He'll bat leadoff and play center field...
Maybe that old baseball saying that "you are never as good as you look when you are winning and never as bad as you look when you are losing," applies to these Orioles.
They sure looked good during a 6-1 start. We can only hope they are not as bad as they have looked during the 0-6 run since.
They sure have looked bad.
In three of the losses, they were pretty much blown out. That would be the last two days and the 13-1 loss to Texas. In the 7-4 loss in game one at Yankee Stadium, it was...
The sun came out in Cleveland and then it disappeared again. Another bad storm moved through the area, but they're projecting a 3:05 p.m. start at Progressive Field.
How are the bats supposed to heat up in these conditions?
The Orioles rank 24th in the majors with a .226 average. They've scored 46 runs, more than only four teams.
Manager Buck Showalter told reporters earlier today that he doesn't have any immediate plans to juggle the lineup. He believes in track records and figures that...
Just once, I'd like for Tim Belcher to have a mound conference with Nick Bierbrodt. I think it would be a gas.
OK, sorry.
Jake Fox started a seventh-inning rally with a triple into left-center field. Taking third base was a huge gamble on Fox's part, considering that the Orioles were down by four runs.
If he's out, he may as well keep walking into the clubhouse. And make sure not to pass manager Buck Showalter in the dugout.
Fox made it safely on a close play and scored on Brian...
Luke Scott had no homers and one RBI before today. Now he has one homer and two RBIs.
Could this be the start of a hot streak? Indians starter Josh Tomlin might have fanned the flames, instead of the slugger, in the fifth inning.
Scott has a hit in four straight games and six of his last seven.
Scott is a former Indians farmhand, in case you forgot. The Astros acquired him in a 2004 trade.
Did you know that Scott spent his first professional season on the disabled list after undergoing...
Last year, when the Orioles had a pretty mediocre offense, they averaged just 3.8 runs per game. So far this year, with an offense that is expected to be greatly improved, they are averaging 3.8 runs per game.
The Orioles just are not hitting much right now and I'm sure some fans are getting restless to see some runs at this point. It's too early to get real concerned, but the team batting average is just .226.
During the five-game losing streak, the O's have scored just 12 runs with a...
It wasn't all going to be all roses and gumdrops for Zach Britton in his major league career.
After two dominating efforts in his first two major league starts - Britton had allowed just one run in 13 2/3 innings prior to last night, earning two wins in the process - the left-hander finally proved he is, in fact, human.
It's sad to read, I know. But it's true.
Britton was touched by the Indians for five runs in six innings of work. He allowed eight hits and gave up the first home run of...
The Orioles will send out the following lineup tonight in Cleveland as they try to end a four-game skid at a ballpark where they've posted a 20-47 record:
Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Derrek Lee 1B
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Luke Scott LF
Adam Jones CF
Mark Reynolds 3B
Matt Wieters C
Cesar Izturis SS
Zach Britton LHP
For the Indians:
Michael Brantley CF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Shin-Soo Choo RF
Shelley Duncan LF
Travis Hafner DH
Orlando Cabrera 2B
Matt LaPorta 1B
Lou Marson C
Adam Everett...
Think Orioles center fielder Adam Jones doesn't take the responsibility of donning Jackie Robinson's legendary No. 42 once each season? Think again.
Tonight is Major League Baseball's annual celebration of the brave and talented player who broke the game's color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Tonight, everyone in baseball will be wearing No. 42 (even Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who's allowed to continue wearing that jersey number because he was doing so before Commissioner...
As long as we're second-guessing and debating and looking back with one hand covering our eyes, I'll chime in regarding Felix Pie's "slide" into home plate in the eighth inning.
Here's a little reminder.
Joba Chamberlain bounced a pitch with Pie on third base and the Orioles clinging to a one-run lead. The ball went to the backstop and took a big bounce toward catcher Russell Martin, whose throw to the plate arrived ahead of Pie. Chamberlain applied the tag, and you know the rest.
At...
Some losses are tougher to swallow than others.
This one should stick in the Orioles' throats.
They led, 5-0, and their starter hadn't allowed a hit through four innings. They hit for power, they advanced runners, they had quality pitching and at-bats, which should have been a recipe for success.
The back end of the bullpen is supposed to be a strength, but Jason Berken gave up a run in the seventh, Jim Johnson put two runners on base in the eighth before escaping the jam, and Kevin Gregg...
I figure it's appropriate to end my first week of guest blogging for MASNsports.com in the traditional manner I end each week on my blog. It's a nod to Orioles history that I call "Flashback Fridays."
This week's Flashback Friday relates to the Orioles' next opponent, the Cleveland Indians, and Orioles legend Brooks Robinson, who has been released from Greater Baltimore Medical Center after recovering from an infection. Facing the Indians around this time of year, on April 19, 1977,...
Brian Matusz said he is optimistic about his rehab process, which will continue starting tomorrow at the Orioles' spring home in Sarasota, Fla.
Matusz went on the disabled list April 3, retroactive to March 30, with a strained left intercostal muscle.
He said he has not had any pain for the last four days, yet he has not yet been cleared to throw or even play catch. Matusz is not sure when he might get back with the team and take the mound again.
"I honestly don't know," he said. "I...
Perhaps the best feature of Camden Yards is the bronze baseballs along Eutaw Street marking home runs that landed on the walkway during game action. Visitors who tour the ballpark inevitably wind up looking down at the pavement to find their favorite players and teams. The baseballs embedded in the sidewalk tell part of the story - team, player, date, and distance - but there's more to know. That's why I started writing the Eutaw Street Chronicles on Roar from 34.
Monday was the anniversary...
The Orioles today announced that they have placed shortstop J.J. Hardy on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 10, with a strained left oblique. To replace Hardy on the 25-man roster, the Orioles recalled right-hander Brad Bergesen from Triple-A Norfolk.
Hardy batted .200 (3-15) with three doubles and two RBI in six games for the Orioles.
Bergesen started one game for the Orioles, allowing two earned runs in 3.2 innings of work to take the loss against the Detroit Tigers on April...
The last time I checked, the sky over Yankee Stadium was gray. Looked like it could start pouring any second.
Fingers crossed that we actually get to watch some baseball.
If it happens, the Orioles will send out the following lineup against the Yankees. It looks the exact same as the one they tried to use last night:
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
Chris Tillman RHP
Here's the...
For an Orioles fan, deciding on your favorite Yankees player is like deciding on your favorite dental procedure. Nevertheless, I've come to acknowledge, appreciate, and admire - notice I never said like - the talents of Yankees closer Mariano Rivera during the 17 seasons he's been cutting up major league hitters. Rather than breeding contempt, familiarity with one of the game's greatest closers has produced respect.
No team is more familiar with Rivera than the Orioles, and Buck Showalter...
If the weather cooperates, the Orioles will run out the following lineup against A.J. Burnett and the New York Yankees:
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
Chris Tillman RHP
Why Andino over Cesar Izturis? Maybe it's because Andino is 3-for-8 with a home run and two RBIs lifetime against Burnett. Izturis is 6-for-27.
J.J. Hardy is 5-for-10 with two doubles and two RBIs, but...
So far this season, the Orioles have looked like contenders, a team that on any night can compete with the top rosters in the American League.
They swept the suddenly hapless Rays, took two of three from Detroit, and hung with the defending AL champion Rangers - with the exception of that ugly Saturday night beatdown.
But nine games is a pretty small sample size. We've seen Orioles teams get off to hot starts in the past, and then fall apart down the stretch.
It's impossible to predict...
You've seen them before, probably more often than you'd like. And since I'm guest blogging for MASNsports.com this week, it seems like an appropriate time to discuss them. They're the fans in the lower seating bowl who stand out - by design or otherwise - when you're watching a game on television. They're akin to the people who stand outside the window at the "Today" show each morning with the notable difference that they're at a baseball game and supposedly interested in its outcome....



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