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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles haven't made a roster move today. Infielder Steve Wilkerson stopped by Tropicana Field to work out before heading to the Arizona Fall League. He isn't on the bench.
A pitcher could be added Saturday with manager Buck Showalter deciding to give Miguel Castro his first major league start.
"We were leaning that way," Showalter said. "Roger (McDowell) and I spent a lot of time with all the guys about their history and their innings and everything. He was...
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tim Beckham returns to the Orioles lineup tonight, giving him a chance to play against his former team.
Pedro Ãlvarez remains the designated hitter, with Mark Trumbo on the bench. Rule 5 pick Anthony Santander is in right field.
Adam Jones remains out of the lineup with leg soreness.
Double-A Bowie infielder Steve Wilkerson has joined the team, but he isn't listed on the lineup card. He may be here only to work out.
Jonathan Schoop is 10-for-27 (.370) with four...
The Orioles (75-84) begin their final series of the season at Tropicana Field tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays (77-82). The Rays begin the series in third place, two games ahead of the Orioles and Blue Jays. The Orioles would need a three-game sweep to finish ahead of Tampa Bay in the final standings.
Before Thursday's off-day, the Orioles lost by scores of 10-1 and 5-3 at Pittsburgh. They have lost four of their last five and 16 of 20 games. The Orioles are 29-49 in road games and are...
The Nationals are prepping their starters for the National League Division Series and if tonight's starter Stephen Strasburg is the Game 2 starter, he will have eight days off.
Game 2 of the NLDS is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 7.
Strasburg has had a tremendous year, going 14-4 with a 2.68 ERA. Tonight is a good test for the Nats hitters, facing a very good right-hander in Gerrit Cole (12-11, 4.23) for Pittsburgh.
Right fielder Bryce Harper back in the lineup batting second. Manager Dusty...
I used to be a firm believer in the "window to win" methodology in baseball. Not familiar with the "window to win?" I can explain.
The Orioles are a small market team that will never have the payroll to compete in the free agent market with the Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs or Yankees. That means that they have to acquire quality young talent with a mid-to-low payroll. In order to do that, they have to build through the draft or add high-upside and controllable players. As a result, they find...
It is one of the failings of the 2017 Orioles. They are one of the worst road teams in the American League this year and it cost the team. Had an Orioles club that went 46-35 at home this season won the same percentage of road games, they'd be a 92-win team. That would be enough wins to host the wild card game and also keep the team in the hunt in an AL East led by Boston, which currently has 92 wins.
But the Orioles, while going 11 games over .500 at home, are 20 games under on the road. The...
It was bound to happen eventually, at least that's how the Nationals figured it. Sean Doolittle had been perfect since his acquisition from the Athletics in July, going 21-for-21 in save opportunities. Could they reasonably expect that conversion rate to remain at 100 percent straight through the end of their season?
So maybe Thursday night's blown save against the Pirates - especially considering the fact the Nationals still came back to win 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth - wasn't the worst...
Richard Griffin is a highly respected baseball columnist for the Toronto Star. He has covered baseball for decades beginning with the Montreal Expos in 1973. He became the public relations director for the Expos in 1978.
Since 1995, he has been a columnist and beat writer for the Toronto Star covering the Blue Jays.
I have known Richard since his Montreal days. He was an outstanding PR director. He knows the game and its people from the inside out.
His quiet, quick sense of humor is never far...
Nationals right-hander Edwin Jackson arrived Thursday night for his start against the Pirates having allowed 22 earned runs in his last four starts, losing three of those games.
So for Jackson to give the Nats six solid innings and allowing only two runs on four hits while striking out seven was a nice way to end the regular season.
The Nats were able to win the game in walk-off fashion 5-4 thanks to a clutch bottom of the ninth single down the right field line by Alejandro De Aza.
The win was...
What had been commonplace throughout the season's first three months had become wholly unexpected ever since. Give the Nationals bullpen a late lead? In April, May and June, that often meant disaster was looming. In July, August and September, it meant victory was assured.
Since their mid-July acquisition of Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson, and continuing with their acquisition of Brandon Kintzler two weeks later, the Nationals bullpen had been darn near automatic, giving up a lead only one...