It has not been a very good week for the Orioles up in the Big Apple. They did not get beat by the rival Yankees; however, the surprising Mets swept the Birds over a three-game set.
Baltimore's offense got stifled by the phenomenal knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and the veteran Johan Santana in the first two games. They made it close in the final contest. As much as the offense struggled, I'm not too worried about that and ready to push the red alert button on that front.
Sadly, as fans, we...
Stephen Strasburg doesn't want to be referred to as the Nationals' stopper. He's not a fan of that term.
Strasburg isn't interested in being painted as the top dog on the Nats' pitching staff, the guy that bails the team out of trouble or stops losing streaks in their tracks. He would prefer to just be labeled one of the guys, one piece of an excellent Nationals rotation that is doing incredibly impressive things this season.
The problem for Strasburg is that with each and every start,...
After three starts for Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles may be coming to a point where they have to make a decision about 49-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer and whether they will add him to the rotation.
Moyer is 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA for the Tides and Norfolk pitching coach Mike Griffin has been impressed. Griffin was a guest on my radio show, "Baltimore Baseball Tonight," on 105.7 FM The Fan in Baltimore last night.
"First of all you, take into account a veteran of 20-plus years in the majors...
Stephen Strasburg's outing tonight started in a somewhat bizarre fashion.
As the Nationals ace was preparing to step onto the mound and throw his first pitch to the Rays' Desmond Jennings, home plate umpire Jeff Nelson came walking out to the mound.
After all that went on yesterday with GloveGate, Strasburg assumed that Nelson was going to check his glove for a foreign substance. Turns out, the ump just wanted to see if the ball in Strasburg's hand had been scuffed up on catcher Jesus...
The Nationals' young tandem of left fielder Steve Lombardozzi and center fielder Bryce Harper haven't had that much time to play together in the outfield, but their defensive play and timely early offense was enough to lift the Nationals past Tampa Bay 3-2, snapping a four-game skid.
Might be hard to believe the duo has played all of 69 games in the outfield at the major league level, with 63 starts. Harper has made 45 starts this season with 109 putouts, one assist, one double play and four...
The Orioles are off today, so don't waste your afternoon waiting for me to post a lineup. It's not coming until tomorrow, when the Orioles begin a three-game series against the Nationals at Camden Yards.
Warning to all Orioles pitchers: Davey Johnson will be checking your gloves.
He'll probably ask why Brian Matusz's glove has Brady Anderson's name on it. And no, I'm not answering that one again.
I'm just worried that the Orioles' bats will cool off before tomorrow. #sarcasm.
Wilson...
The Orioles were able to avoid a third straight shutout tonight, but not a third straight loss at New York, as they lost 4-3 to the Mets, who completed a three-game sweep at Citi Field.
Wilson Betemit hit a two-run homer with none out in the eighth to end the Orioles' 28-inning scoreless streak. Had they been shut out, it would have been just the second time in team history they had not scored in three straight games.
From July 29-31, 1957 the O's were blanked in three straight games once...
As Joel Peralta starts to get loose in the Rays bullpen ...
Yes. That's actually happening. Peralta still hasn't been suspended yet, and is eligible to pitch tonight.
I'm sure his glove is squeaky clean.
The Nationals have a 3-2 lead as we go to the eighth inning, even though they haven't recorded a hit since the first.
Washington struck for three runs on three hits in that first inning, battering Rays rookie Chris Archer, who looked shaken and uncomfortable.
That didn't last long,...
The Orioles' scoreless-innings streak has reached 25, which isn't good when the offense is responsible for it.
They have one hit in four innings against Mets starter Dillon Gee, the first for left-hander Brian Matusz in his major league career. Matusz lined a single into center field. He may serve as the DH this weekend.
Matusz has held the Mets to two hits in three scoreless innings, but he's thrown 50 pitches because of the two errors behind him.
Adam Jones nearly collided with Ryan...
In this entry, I'll have quotes from the Nationals general manager, who responded to quotes from the Rays manager, who responded to quotes from the Nationals manager, who responded to quotes from the Rays manager.
GloveGate just keeps on going.
Shortly after Rays skipper Joe Maddon came down on the Nationals (again), saying that if he was a player, he'd think twice before signing with the Nats after last night's pine tar incident, Rizzo responded to that take.
"I don't agree with it,"...