Pitching leads the O's past Minnesota

Pitching leads the O's past Minnesota
The Orioles had another night with little offense. This time the O's pitching had enough to win. Brad Bergesen pitched shutout ball over 6 2/3 and Alfredo Simon got the save in the ninth as the Orioles beat Minnesota 2-0 Thursday night in game one of a four-game series. Bergesen improved to 2-2, 7.36 as four O's pitchers combined on a six-hitter. It's the O's first shutout of the year and first since beating Texas 7-0 on 9-6-09. Will Ohman struck out Jim Thome with the bases loaded in...
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Wiggy homer notes

Wiggy homer notes
Ty Wigginton's two-run homer in the second inning tonight at Minnesota gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead. He becomes the first Oriole this year with 10 homers. He is now one homer shy of his 2009 total. Wiggy homers: (through four innings tonight) 2010: 10 in 85 at bats (1 every 8.5 AB's) 2009: 11 in 410 at bats (1 every 37.3 AB's) He has hit nine homers in 57 at bats vs. right-handed pitching and one in 28 at bats vs. lefties. Wiggy, 2010 homers by month: April: 6 May: 4 He has now...
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Ryan Berry is on a roll at Delmarva

Ryan Berry is on a roll at Delmarva
Right-hander Ryan Berry, the O's ninth-round pick out of Rice last June, is on some pitching roll right now for the Delmarva Shorebirds. Berry pitched seven scoreless last night vs. Savannah, giving up just three hits with ten strikeouts. Over his last three starts, Berry has pitched 21 innings, allowing just 12 hits and one run, with four walks to 25 strikeouts. He is 0-1, 2.23 in six starts on the season. The 21-year-old Berry gave up four runs in the first inning of his third start of...
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Upcoming appearances

Upcoming appearances
If you're still not sure what to do with your Thursday night, head to the Hightopps Backstage Grille on York Road in Timonium tonight to meet former Oriole Al Bumbry. Bumbry will be at Hightopps from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. as the O's take on the Minnesota Twins at the new Target Field in Minneapolis. So if you're still looking for something to do tonight, head out to Hightopps to meet Al Bumbry and catch the Orioles game on MASN 2 and MASN 2 HD with a restaurant full of your fellow O's...
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Keys blanked as win streak ends in Frederick (quotes added)

Keys blanked as win streak ends in Frederick (quotes added)
Well, I had a good time, but didn't bring the Keys any luck tonight. The final was Winston-Salem 3, Frederick 0. Three Dash pitchers held the Keys to eight hits. This was the third time this year the Keys had a four-game win streak, but could not make it five in a row. They are still looking for their first five-game win streak since August of 2006. The Keys had scored 28 runs during the win streak. Xavier Avery, L.J. Hoes and Joe Mahoney each went 2 for 4. Avery is 8 for 18 over his...
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Zagone out, Keys trail in the 8th

Zagone out, Keys trail in the 8th
Rick Zagone is out of the game here in Frederick as Winston-Salem leads the Keys 3-0 after seven innings. Sean Gleason is on to start the eighth. Zagone tonight: 7IP, 9H, 3R-ER, 0B, 6K......82 pitches, 57 for strikes. It seems the Keys, who are second in the league in runs, have not scored much for him this year and he could fall to 0-3 tonight. Winston-Salem starter Justin Edwards pitched six scoreless innings and Dash SS Brandon Short had a single in the 4th to extend his hitting streak...
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Scoreless first three at Frederick (now updated)

Scoreless first three at Frederick (now updated)
In a briskly played first three innings tonight at Harry Grove Stadium, Frederick and Winston-Salem are 0-0. Keys lefty Rick Zagone has pitched shutout ball on just one hit through the first three frames. After giving up a hit to the second hitter of the opening frame, he got a double-play ball. Zagone, who began the night 0-2, 3.65, has retired the last seven batters and has thrown just 30 pitches through three. He is pitching vs. a Winston Salem team that leads the league with a batting...
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Some pre-game notes and thoughts from Frederick

Some pre-game notes and thoughts from Frederick
Well, for one night I get to cover a first-place team. I have had a chance to talk with several Keys players today in addition to a long conversation with Keys manager Orlando Gomez and roving hitting coach Denny Walling who is here today. Over the next few days I'll throw some quotes your way. But it sure seems like this Frederick team is playing to some rave reviews here. They are winning and seem to have a solid chemistry and work ethic. I had yet another long interview with Billy...
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Heading to Frederick later today (Keys lineup now added)

Heading to Frederick later today (Keys lineup now added)
Tonight, I'll be checking in on the Frederick Keys, the club with the best record in the O's minor leagues right now. The Keys are 15-10 with four wins in a row and tonight look for a 3-0 start to their four-game series with a Winston-Salem team which has the second best record in the Carolina League at 17-8. I'll head to Harry Grove Stadium to get some pre game interviews and file a couple of in-game blogs tonight as well, so check back here later today and this evening and look for some...
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Today's lineups

Today's lineups
Orioles: CF Adam Jones 2B Ty Wigginton RF Nick Markakis 3B Miguel Tejada 1B Garrett Atkins DH Matt Wieters LF Nolan Reimold C Craig Tatum SS Julio Lugo RHP David Hernandez Yankees: SS Derek Jeter DH Nick Johnson 1B Mark Teixeira 3B Alex Rodriguez 2B Robinson Cano RF Nick Swisher CF Brett Gardner C Francisco Cervelli LF Randy Winn LHP Andy Pettitte
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O's bats again come up empty in the Bronx

O's bats again come up empty in the Bronx
Maybe the only thing more frustrating than watching the Orioles lose to the Yankees is how they do it. Get runners on second and second third for the top of the order. Three straight strikeouts on pitches out of the zone vs. Burnett. Yankee liner to center and Adam Jones makes a foolish dive and it costs them a run. Matusz almost gets out of a major jam, but issues a bases-loaded walk. Gary Thorne and Ben McDonald talk with Dave Trembley about the O's 4-1 loss The Orioles have scored...
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The mystery of run support

The mystery of run support
There is no way to explain it, but it is a fact of every team's starting rotation every season. There will be a pitcher who gets tremendous support from his team's hitters, and there will be a pitcher who gets very little. And that support or lack of support obviously goes a long way in a starting pitcher's win-loss record. Through the first 26 games of the Orioles season, a pattern has developed. The Orioles have only three wins from their starters, the fewest in the majors. Why?...
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Baseball loses a legend

Baseball loses a legend
Baseball lost a great one today with the news coming out tonight that Ernie Harwell died today. He was 92. He lived a full life and will always be known as one of the greatest to ever work behind a microphone. I met him just once and over the winter wrote about that. RIP Ernie, you were a wonderful human, so good for this game and will never, ever be forgotten. Below is that story. I don't remember too many facts from that day. I know it was March, perhaps in 2003 and I was at the...
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Get a run, waste a chance

Get a run, waste a chance
Well, the Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third tonight at New York, only because A.J Burnett helped them. After he helped them, he dominated them. Garrett Atkins led off the third with a ground single to left, off A-Rod's glove. Rhyne Hughes then walked on a 3-1 pitch. Cesar Izturis dropped a bunt up the third base line and Burnett threw wildly past first as Atkins scored and runners moved to second and third. Adam Jones then struck out on a breaking ball that ended up almost...
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A scare for Zach Britton in today's game at Harrisburg

A scare for Zach Britton in today's game at Harrisburg
One of the O's top pitching prospects, lefty Zach Britton, got quite a scare today pitching for Bowie at Harrisburg in a game that began at 10:35 this morning. Britton took a two-hit shutout to the bottom of the fifth when the first batter hit a liner back toward the mound. "It hit me right in the (left) shoulder and dropped right in front of me. I was able to pick up the ball and throw him out at first," Britton said. "Right now it's tight, but no pain or anything, just a little...
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A question without a good answer right now

A question without a good answer right now
Every day now we are getting a variation of the same question from our readers that Baltimore sports talk-show hosts are getting from callers to their shows. How much longer can the Orioles go with Luke Scott? I don't know what answer we can be expected to give. What if we said 50 at bats, but not 75. Or 100 at bats, but not 150.' Scott is a streak hitter in a bad streak. He did hit 25 homers last year with a better slugging percentage and OPS than Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Brian...
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Re-visiting that Arrieta story

Re-visiting that Arrieta story
I wanted to re-visit a story today that I wrote back on Sunday. I think some people saw it but it got lost a bit in the shuffle on a day the O's won to sweep the Red Sox. It is about the possibility of the Orioles bringing one of their top pitching prospects, like Jake Arrieta, to the Majors and using him in relief. Here is the story. Please understand: I think the chances that Arrieta comes here to work out of the pen are a longshot. But I asked Dave Trembley if the Orioles have even...
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More frustration for Guthrie and some post-game notes

More frustration for Guthrie and some post-game notes
If Jeremy Guthrie was frustrated after his start vs. New York last week, and he sure seemed to be, Monday night likely didn't ease his angst. He pitched six good innings, but was done in by one poor inning and one poor pitch in a 4-1 loss to the Yankees. Randy Winn, who hit just two homers last year, drilled a Guthrie 1-0 pitch for a three-run homer to right to snap a 1-1 tie during New York's four-run fourth. It can't make Guthrie feel any better to know Winn had gone 490 at bats without...
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Not tonight, as O's fall in the Bronx

Not tonight, as O's fall in the Bronx
On a night where Jeter, Teixeira, Rodriguez and Cano went a combined 1 for 14 against him, it was number nine hitter Randy Winn that delivered the big hit against Jeremy Guthrie for the Yankees. Winn, who hit two homers in 149 games last year, hit a three-run shot off Guthrie in the 4th to break a 1-1 tie as the Yankees beat the O's 4-1. Guthrie allowed six hits over seven innings and is 0-4, 4.78 on the year. His career-high losing streak reached eight games. CC Sabathia improved to 4-1,...
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Welcome to CC's house

Welcome to CC's house
Tough night for CC Sabathia. He's got a 4-1 lead, the Orioles are beating every ball into the ground, usually early in the count and now home plate ump Bill Kohn won't give him a close pitch. How does the guy deal with it? Sabathia just barked at the ump and started walking toward home plate in the top of the seventh. Kohn, I guess showing restraint, didn't respond much as Joe Girardi rushed to the mound. Meanwhile, it looked to me like Jeremy Guthrie had plenty of close pitches called...
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