Is Sano saga finally nearing end stages?

Is Sano saga finally nearing end stages?
There was a time when it seemed like the Orioles were one of the favorites to sign Dominican shortstop Miguel Angel Sano. That no longer seems to be the case, but the O's aren't out of it yet, either. John Stockstill, the O's director of international scouting said, "We have had talks with Sano in the past few days." While the signing of Sano by any team doesn't seem imminent, Stockstill added, "Things have stepped up in recent weeks." Baseball sources indicate something that has...
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Tuesday night baseball: O's at Tampa

Tuesday night baseball:  O's at Tampa
Game Preview Orioles (60-96) at Tampa (80-76) You need to get 27 outs to win a baseball game. The way the O's bullpen is performing recently, those final few outs have been hard to pick up. The O's pen blew a 7th-inning, 6-3 lead Monday night and Tampa beat the Orioles 7-6 extending the season's longest losing streak to 11 games. That's no where near the club record 21-game streak set in 1988, but it is the 6th losing streak of 11 or more games in franchise history. The last time the...
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Tonight's pitchers: Guthrie vs. Davis

Tonight's pitchers:  Guthrie vs. Davis
RHP Jeremy Guthrie (10-16, 5.10) tonight will make his 32nd start of this season, his 16th on the road and the 9th of his career vs. Tampa. Guthrie is 0-3, 6.38 over his past three starts. This follows a four-start stretch where he went 3-1, 1.33. Guthrie is the AL leader in losses, earned runs and homers allowed with 32. Guthrie, 2009 season: First half: 6-8, 5.35, 18 starts Second half: 4-8, 4.80, 13 starts Guthrie needs to work 5 2/3 tonight to reach a career high 191 innings. He has...
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Rays beat O's as the losing streak reaches 12

Rays beat O's as the losing streak reaches 12
Looking like a team on an inevitable march toward 100 losses, the O's lost 3-1 Tuesday night at Tampa. The O's have now lost 12 in a row, matching their losing streak of 12 in a row from August 16-28, 2004. At least they couldn't blame the bullpen this time. Tampa got a pair of clutch, two-out hits in the first to take a 2-0 lead. Ben Zobrist had an RBI double and Willy Aybar added an RBI single. Gary and Jim ask Dave Trembley about the O's 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay Luke Scott's single...
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Post-game Notes: Davis pitches Tampa to victory

Post-game Notes:  Davis pitches Tampa to victory
That's a Dozen - The O's suffered their 12th straight loss with Tuesday's 3-1 defeat at Tampa. It's the most consecutive losses since the Birds lost 12 in a row from August 16-28 in 2004. The losing streak is the longest in the Majors this year. No beef - The O's offense was held to one run on nine hits tonight. The O's went 2 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 8 men on base. The Birds have scored just 36 runs during the 12-game losing streak and have left 95 on base...
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Trying to end a streak: O's at Tampa

Trying to end a streak:  O's at Tampa
Game Preview Orioles (60-97) at Tampa Bay (81-76) Heading into tonight's game at Tampa, the O's need a win to end a 12-game losing streak and three wins in the next five games to avoid a 100-loss season. Tonight, in game three of a four-game series, David Hernandez (4-9, 5.20) pitches vs. Tampa's James Shields (10-12, 4.17). The O's losing streak is the longest in the Majors this year. Tampa (September 3-13) and Cleveland (September 13-24) both lost 11 in a row earlier this...
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Tonight's starters: Hernandez vs. Shields

Tonight's starters:  Hernandez vs. Shields
RHP David Hernandez (4-9, 5.20) tonight makes his 19th start of this season, his 10th on the road and the 2nd of this year vs. Tampa. Even though he is winless over his last eight starts, Hernandez has pitched better in his last two starts, going 0-1, 3.75 vs. Boston and Cleveland. His last win was August 11th vs. Oakland. Hernandez has recorded eight quality starts on the season. Hernandez, 2009 season: First 10 starts: 4-4, 3.81 Last 8 starts: 0-5, 7.34 The Orioles are 5-13 when...
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Rays post 5-3 win as the streak reaches 13

Rays post 5-3 win as the streak reaches 13
The Orioles rally from a five-run deficit came up short Wednesday night as they lost 5-3 to Tampa at Tropicana Field. The O's remain winless on this road trip and their losing streak, the longest in the Majors this year, has reached 13 games. That's the O's longest since a 14-game streak in August of 1954 and the 1988 team began 0-14 on its way to an 0-21 start. Down 5-0, the O's scored three in the 8th vs. James Shields on Chad Moeller's sac fly and a pinch hit, two-run homer from Ty...
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Post-game Notes: O's come up short again

Post-game Notes:  O's come up short again
Not his night - O's starting and losing pitcher, David Hernandez, had another poor outing. Coming off his last two starts, he had pitched pretty well, with an ERA of 3.75. But tonight he gave up five runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings. Over his last nine starts, Hernandez is 0-6, 7.65. The Orioles are 5-14 when he starts, losing the last nine in a row. Hernandez has lost two starts this season vs. Tampa, pitching a combined 7 1/3 innings and giving up 16 hits and 10ER. Winning...
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Where do you stand on "the plan"?

Where do you stand on "the plan"?
Fans have asked about the Orioles moving forward - what is "the plan"? It's not something that is written on paper. The O's don't have a mission statement like Tom Cruise's character in Jerry Maguire (remember, that was not a memo). The proof is in their actions. They have drafted pitchers. And then drafted more pitchers in recent years. They are trying to acquire young position player talent that can stick around awhile. They are not chasing big-money free agents right now, much...
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If you are watching or listening to today's game......

If you are watching or listening to today's game......
.......why not send in a comment or question to me while you are tuned in. I'll be watching today's game from home here in beautiful Harford County. While you are tuned in and also keeping up with all of Roch's great reporting from the game itself, feel free to send me a comment as well. We've gotten a lot of interesting comments today on my blog about Guthrie & Tillman. Feel free to keep the comments coming there or you can write them here now as well. (No need to repeat what you...
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Mounting concern over Guthrie

Mounting concern over Guthrie
When Robinson Cano launched that 3-1 pitch over the fence Monday night, you could almost feel Orioles fans confidence in Jeremy Guthrie drop another notch. He has not done much this spring to provide fans with hope that he will have a bounce back season. But I do think the concern, some would say panic, over Guthrie's struggles, is a little over the top. *Why is he being handed a starting rotation spot? That is the question from some fans. He does have a track record of success, two years...
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Next challenge for Waring: Eastern League pitchers

Next challenge for Waring:  Eastern League pitchers
So after being named Carolina League MVP last year while also winning the Brooks Robinson award as the O's Minor League Player of the Year, what will Brandon Waring do this season for an encore? In his second year in the O's organization he'll move up to Double-A Bowie and tangle with Eastern League pitching. "This year will be the most challenging year yet," the 24-year-old Waring said. "The pitchers are more refined, they have a plan and can throw all their pitches for strikes. I'm...
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Some pitching and some hoops

Some pitching and some hoops
Jeremy Guthrie seems to be one pitcher that many fans feel is in for another poor year. Some reporters are questioning his confidence. Some don't even feel he should begin the year in the rotation. I am not in that camp. He showed me enough in 2007 and 2008 and I am not yet overly concerned about his spring performance. Only 15 pitchers in the AL worked more innings than Guthrie last season and that should count for something. His 5.04 ERA came down some in the second half when he...
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Plenty of reasons to watch the minors

Plenty of reasons to watch the minors
While the Orioles are closing in on another opening day, so are their four full-season farm teams: the Norfolk Tides, the Bowie Baysox, the Frederick Keys and the Delmarva Shorebirds. With the parent club rebuilding around youth and pitching, there will be plenty of reasons to follow the O's minor leaguers this year. Bowie - Early on, this may be the most interesting team to track. The rotation could feature top pitching prospect Zach Britton along with Steve Johnson, Chorye Spoone and...
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Losses of Bergy and Sherrill was first sign of trouble

Losses of Bergy and Sherrill was first sign of trouble
Of all the players lost via trade or injury this year by the Orioles, the two most important to me, have been Brad Bergesen and George Sherrill. Within about 24 hours at the end of July, Bergesen took a liner off his leg and Sherrill was dealt to the Dodgers. The O's have not recovered from that. They are 16-41 since the pair exited.
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Road trip finale: O's at Tampa

Road trip finale:  O's at Tampa
Game Preview Orioles (60-98) at Tampa (82-76) A team on a long losing streak usually finds a variety of ways to lose. The Orioles are no different during their current streak. For a while the bullpen was imploding. Now that the pen has pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings the past two games, the O's scored just four runs in those games. The Orioles losing streak has reached 13 games since they beat Tampa, 4-2, September 16th. That's the 3rd longest streak in O's history, topped only by a...
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Tonight's pitchers: Waters vs. Garza

Tonight's pitchers:  Waters vs. Garza
LHP Chris Waters (0-0, 8.10) tonight makes his 5th appearance and 1st Major League start of this season after spending most of the year with Triple-A Norfolk. The 29-year-old Waters was recalled from the minors on September 8th. In four games in relief with the O's he has pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and six runs. In his last outing he pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings Saturday at Cleveland. For Norfolk this season, Waters went 9-7, 4.49 in 29 games, 20 as a starter.
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He likes hitting off O's pitching

He likes hitting off O's pitching
Ben Zobrist has been abusing O's pitching this year and he hit a solo homer in the last of the fourth tonight to cut the O's lead to 3-1. No player the O's have faced all year has hit more homers and knocked in more runs this year vs. Baltimore than Zobrist. He is 6 for 14 this series with three homers and 6 RBI. Most homers this year vs. O's: 7 - Ben Zobrist, TB 6 - Kevin Youkilis, Bost & Robinson Cano, NYY Most RBI this year vs. O's: 18 - Ben Zobrist, TB 17 - Kevin Youkilis, Bost,...
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The losing streak ends! O's top Rays

The losing streak ends!  O's top Rays
The Orioles' 13-game losing streak started vs. Tampa Bay. Tonight it ended vs. Tampa Bay. Chris Waters and four relievers teamed on a five-hitter as the O's topped the Rays 3-2 to end the longest losing streak in the Majors this season. It was the O's first win since September 16th and also snapped a ten-game road losing streak. The victory also allowed the O's to avoid a winless road trip, as they went 1-9 on the trip. Jim Johnson allowed a run and three hits in the 9th, but got...
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