I'm reminded again that young pitchers don't get stronger this time of the year. Some of them just don't tire as much.
Left-hander Brian Matusz is wide awake tonight.
Matusz is shutting out the Rays on three hits over seven innings, with two walks and eight strikeouts. He just made it look ridiculously easy in the bottom of the seventh.
One knock on Matusz has been his inability to keep his pitch count down. He's thrown 94 pitches so far, so the bullpen is getting a break.
The Orioles...
Buck Showalter will serve a one-game suspension tonight after being ejected from yesterday's game. Bench coach Jeff Datz will run the show. Showalter also was fined an undisclosed amount.
Alfredo Simon was suspended three games and fined an undisclosed amount for throwing at Toronto's Jose Bautista. However, he's appealing the suspension and is available to pitch tonight.
Blue Jays pitcher Shaun Marcum was fined an undisclosed amount for throwing at Luke Scott.
As far as I know, I...
For the Orioles:
Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 3B
Luke Scott 1B
Corey Patterson DH
Adam Jones CF
Matt Wieters C
Felix Pie LF
Cesar Izturis SS
Brian Matusz LHP
For the Rays:
B.J. Upton CF
Jason Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Willy Aybar DH
Ben Zobrist RF
Kelly Shoppach C
Carlos Pena 1B
Sean Rodriguez 2B
Dan Johnson 3B
Wade Davis RHP
It's Monday, it's raining and the Orioles have lost four in a row.
That'll put a bounce in your step.
The Rays are poised to clinch a playoff berth, needing one more victory or a Red Sox loss. Manager Buck Showalter has suggested that it might do his players some good to watch another team celebrate, providing a reminder of what everyone strives for in this game. Well, he'll probably get his wish at Tropicana Field, unless you've got something else in mind.
The Orioles get Wade Davis...
Pretty strange that there seemed to be more controversial hits in the Orioles-Blue Jays game than the one that took place at M&T Bank Stadium.
Reliever Alfredo Simon and manager Buck Showalter were ejected in the fifth inning today after the right-hander drilled former Oriole Jose Bautista with a pitch. Bautista had been hit earlier in the game by Orioles starter Rick VandenHurk - also on the left arm - and Toronto starter Shaun Marcum grazed Luke Scott's ribs in apparent retaliation,...
Manager Buck Showalter just met with the media in Toronto and indicated that he'll stay with the current rotation for the rest of the season, which concludes on Oct. 3 at Camden Yards.
The way it's presently constructed, Rick VandenHurk will start today, followed by Brian Matusz tomorrow, Brad Bergesen on Tuesday, Kevin Millwood on Wednesday, Chris Tillman on Thursday, Jeremy Guthrie on Friday, VandenHurk on Saturday and Matusz on Sunday.
Tillman was a candidate to be shut down, but he's...
For the Orioles:
2B Brian Roberts
RF Nick Markakis
1B Ty Wigginton
DH Luke Scott
LF Felix Pie
CF Adam Jones
C Matt Wieters
3B Robert Andino
SS Cesar Izturis
RHP Rick Vandenhurk
For the Blue Jays:
LF Travis Snider
2B Aaron Hill
RF Jose Bautista
CF Vernon Wells
1B Lyle Overbay
C John Buck
DH Adam Lind
3B Edwin Encarnacion
SS John McDonald
RHP Shaun Marcum
The Toronto Blue Jays have hit 241 home runs.
Much to my surprise, I just discovered that they haven't all come against the Orioles.
Lyle Overbay hit No. 4 today for Toronto leading off the bottom of the 11th inning. He fell behind, 0-1, against left-hander Mark Hendrickson and ended the game on the next pitch.
Koji Uehara cruised through the 10th inning on only 12 pitches, but manager Buck Showalter called upon Hendrickson for the lefty vs. lefty matchup.
It didn't last long.
Plenty of...
The Orioles gave the Blue Jays a taste of their own medicine in the top of the seventh inning.
Ty Wigginton lined a home run to left field with one out and nobody on base to break a 3-3 tie. He's homered twice on this road trip, increasing his season total to 22.
The Orioles wasted 16 hits last night, stranding 14 runners in the process. They've stranded eight today and twice left the bases loaded, failing to take full advantage of the generosity of Toronto's pitchers.
Jeremy Guthrie gave...
Brandon Snyder has collected his second RBI double in two games, lining a ball over the head of Toronto Blue Jays left fielder Travis Snider in the top of the second inning to score Adam Jones and give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.
Snyder is getting a look in back-to-back games because the Blue Jays started left-handers Brett Cecil and Ricky Romero. He needs to take advantage of any opportunity.
Manager Buck Showalter was asked before the game about the Orioles' need to add more power to their...
For the Orioles:
2B Brian Roberts
DH Julio Lugo
RF Nick Markakis
3B Ty Wigginton
CF Adam Jones
C Jake Fox
LF Nolan Reimold
1B Brandon Snyder
SS Cesar Izturis
RHP Jeremy Guthrie
For the Blue Jays:
LF Travis Snider
SS Yunel Escobar
RF Jose Bautista
CF Vernon Wells
1B Lyle Overbay
2B Aaron Hill
DH Adam Lind
3B Edwin Encarnacion
C Jose Molina
LHP Ricky Romero
I'm told that Matt Wieters is fine physically, so his exclusion from the lineup the past two games isn't for health-related...
Jeremy Guthrie needs to play the role of stopper today and end this losing streak at two games.
I guess two games constitute a streak.
Guthrie is 7-4 with a 2.92 ERA over his last 11 starts dating back to July 23. Only three other pitchers have won more games since that date: Roy Halladay (10), Ervin Santana (nine) and Trevor Cahill (eight).
Guthrie has won his last two road starts - his first back-to-back road victories this year - and hasn't allowed an earned run spanning 15 1/3 innings....
The Orioles outhit the Blue Jays, 16-5. Chris Tillman walked only one batter over six innings.
So why aren't they celebrating a win?
Because, as a reader pointed out earlier today, Tillman didn't need to worry about walks. The Jays come out swinging like Hugh Hefner in a smoking jacket.
Unfortunately, they also connect.
Jose Bautista homered twice, giving him 52 on the year and more explaining to do, and Vernon Wells also took Tillman deep. That's three more home runs on the season for a...
For the Orioles:
2B Brian roberts
RF Nick Markakis
CF Adam Jones
3B Ty Wigginton
DH Jake Fox
LF Nolan Reimold
C Craig Tatum
1B Brandon Snyder
SS Cesar Izuris
RHP Chris Tillman
For the Blue Jays:
LF Dewayne Wise
SS Yunel Escobar
RF Jose Bautista
CF Vernon Wells
1B Lyle Overbay
2B Aaron Hill
DH Adam Lind
C John Buck
3B Edwin Encarnacion
LHP Brett Cecil
The Orioles have lost 11 consecutive games in Toronto, and 20 of their last 22. They're 0-6 at Rogers Centre this year. The last time they were winless in a season road series of six games or more was 2003 in Oakland.
It won't be easy tonight.
A few more notes of potential interest:
The Orioles are 12-3 in series openers under manager Buck Showalter.
Chris Tillman has posted a 0.64 ERA - one earned run in 14 innings - in his last two road starts (July 10 at Texas and Sept. 12 at Detroit)....
Almost lost in the euphoria of competitive September baseball is manager Buck Showalter's desire to evaluate players for next season to assist in the roster construction that will take place over the winter.
It's worth pointing out that Showalter hasn't closed the book on Josh Bell. He's just taking an extended look at Robert Andino and forming an opinion on whether the infielder fits into his plans.
Showalter heard plenty about Andino before rosters expanded this month, and he wanted...
Former Orioles outfielder Mike Young is moving back to Baltimore, and he's bringing one of his charitable endeavors with him.
Young is pretty busy these days. He runs "Genesis Fitness Concepts" and is partners with friend Walt McCreary in a foundation called "Motivating Our Kids."
If he can still play left field, I think he should report to Sarasota next spring.
I'll let Young explain "Motivating Our Kids," currently based in Centreville but moving forward to the Baltimore...
Kevin Millwood took a no-hitter into the fourth inning last night. Nothing to get excited about - you don't call your friends to make sure they're tuned into the game - but it seemed to be an indication that he was barreling toward a quality start, not a waterfall.
Millwood was charged with six runs and seven hits in five innings, the big blow a three-run shot by David Ortiz in the fourth, when Millwood's slider hung over the inner half of the plate and practically begged to be...
The Orioles accomplished nothing tonight except to reintroduce left-hander Troy Patton to the majors.
Patton finally appeared in a game, his first since 2007 with the Houston Astros. He worked two-thirds of an inning after replacing David Hernandez in the seventh and gave up a hit and walk. He also struck out David Ortiz, who drove in four runs against starter Kevin Millwood.
Ryan Kalish greeted Patton with a double, and Victor Martinez walked on four pitches with two outs before Ortiz...
Let's review Ty Wigginton's last four games:
He singles in the winning run on Sunday, preventing a Yankees sweep. He lifts a sacrifice fly on Monday that gives the Orioles a lead. He belts a three-run homer last night that gives the Orioles a lead. He doubles tonight to give the Orioles a lead.
Probably a good idea to keep him in the lineup.
Wigginton's RBI total jumped to 74 tonight with his fourth-inning double off John Lackey that broke a scoreless tie. Nick Markakis singled with one...
