The Orioles went the more traditional pitching route last night in a 7-6 loss to the Mariners at Camden Yards.
Asher Wojciechowski was the starter instead of an opener. No reliever worked more than Dillon Tate's 2 1/3 innings. Manager Brandon Hyde used six of them as the game marched into the 13th.
The seven relief innings logged Friday night by Aaron Brooks rank among the most in Orioles history. As you might expect.
Brooks was the fourth pitcher in the majors this season to throw seven or...
The Orioles finished their batting practice rounds today and retreated to the clubhouse, still a few hours left before they'd take the field again and continue their series against the Mariners.
An important part of their future was scattered on the center field roof deck, where various minor league award winners were made available to fans and the media.
The hardware would be delivered to them later in an on-field ceremony, before Mychal Givens surrendered a three-run homer to J.P. Crawford...
Orioles outfielder Mason Williams is out of the lineup again tonight and hasn't made an appearance since crashing into the fence Tuesday night while chasing Cavan Biggio's fly ball that resulted in a triple for the Blue Jays rookie.
Williams was left with a badly bruised knee that's kept him on the bench. He passed the concussion tests.
Asked if Williams will play again before the season ends, manager Brandon Hyde said, "Yeah, I hope so."
"He's day-to-day and he's sore," Hyde said. "I...
Austin Hays remains in center field for the Orioles tonight as they continue their series against the Mariners at Camden Yards.
Why remove him from it?
Hays has made sensational catches on back-to-back nights and is 6-for-14 in his last four games.
Trey Mancini is playing first base. He's 27-for-74 (.365) this month and 16-for-35 (.457) during an eight-game hitting streak.
Stevie Wilkerson is in left field.
Jonathan Villar's 106 runs scored this season are the most by an Orioles player since...
Last night's game was only a few minutes old and manager Brandon Hyde already had been pressed about the chances that he'd try Richard Bleier again as an opener, with Aaron Brooks being the bulk guy.
Hyde has made it clear that he's unable to plan too far in advance with a pitching staff that can't offer consistent performances. And the season is running out of games.
It sure worked last night, though.
"This was just something we tried. I don't know," Hyde said following a 5-3 win over...
Richard Bleier emerged from the Orioles dugout at 6:45 p.m. and began making the walk to the bullpen. Coaches Doug Brocail and John Wasdin were waiting for him. So, too, was Chance Sisco, who grabbed a ball and played catch to loosen his arm.
Bleier wasn't on the usual starter's warmup schedule. He wasn't in the traditional mindset. This was a reliever used as an opener and he was going to do it his way.
Filling a spot in the rotation that he hadn't occupied since the minors and winter...
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn't possess inside information on the voting process for the Most Valuable Oriole award. However, he seemed to know what was coming.
Hyde expected Trey Mancini to receive the honor, which the club announced earlier today.
"Well, it's not a surprise to me," Hyde said. "Well-deserved. Had an amazing year. He's finishing the year extremely strong and he's done everything for us this year. An All-Star type year and he's a great player and one of the better...
Chris Davis is playing first base tonight and Trey Mancini is the designated hitter for the series-opening game against the Mariners at Camden Yards.
This is the final homestand of the season.
Mancini was hit on the left leg last night, but he's staying in the lineup. He's just off the field.
Anthony Santander is in left field, Austin Hays is in center and DJ Stewart is in right.
Rio Ruiz is batting cleanup.
Left-hander Richard Bleier is tabbed as the opener tonight, making his first major...
Outfielder/first baseman Trey Mancini has been named Most Valuable Oriole by members of the media covering the team, an honor that he's collecting while in the midst of another hot streak at the plate.
Mancini enters tonight's game with a .286/.356/.536 slash line, 36 doubles, two triples, 34 home runs, 93 RBIs, 100 runs scored and 56 walks. He's tied for second among American League outfielders in total bases (305), third in runs scored, tied for third in hits (163), fourth in doubles,...
Stevie Wilkerson keeps showing up at the ballpark each day unsure if he's playing and having no clue which glove he'll be using if he does.
The Orioles gave Wilkerson 57 starts in center field this season and used him in 71 games. He's also played left and right field, second base, shortstop and third base and served as an emergency reliever on four occasions.
It's assumed that Wilkerson also is viewed as an extra catcher if the Orioles somehow run out of them.
The risk grew slimmer after...
An uncomfortable streak for Trey Mancini finally ended tonight.
A strange, inexplicable, coincidental streak that left him shaking his head and searching for the humor in it. Like the bashing on Twitter about how he isn't clutch.
A guy who's the overwhelming favorite to be voted Most Valuable Oriole had made the final out in three consecutive games.
He's been swinging a red-hot bat, going 6-for-14 with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs in those games, but he also was stuck with the...
Hunter Harvey understands why the Orioles shut him down for the rest of the month. Why he's going to watch instead of pitch.
Doesn't mean he has to like it.
"It stinks," he said this afternoon, "but I know their reasoning and, all in all, I think it's been a good year, so I'm happy with it."
Harvey has pitched only once since Sept. 2 due to some mild soreness in his right biceps. The Orioles already were taking a cautious approach by refusing to use him on back-to-back nights.
"It...
Left-hander Ty Blach cleared waivers today and has been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.
The Orioles designated Blach for assignment Monday after claiming pitcher Eric Hanhold off waivers from the Mets. Blach was 1-3 with an 11.32 ERA and 2.18 ERA in five starts and opponents posted a .356 average against him.
Tonight's lineup includes Mark Trumbo as the designated hitter and Austin Wynns catching.
Austin Hays is in center field, flanked by Anthony Santander in left and Trey Mancini in right....
Ryan Mountcastle didn't squeeze onto the Orioles' expanded roster this month. However, he's going to be at Camden Yards this weekend.
His name won't be in the lineup, but it's etched with the past recipients of the Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year Award.
Mountcastle has been chosen as the organization's top position player and will be honored in an on-field ceremony before Saturday's game against the Mariners.
Joining Mountcastle are right-handers Michael Baumann and...
The contact that manager Brandon Hyde has maintained with Alex Cobb is confined to the daily medical reports that reach his desk. The ones that, Hyde says, show how the veteran starter is "recovering well."
Cobb underwent two procedures over the summer that kept him in Nashville, Tenn.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. J.W. Thomas Byrd repaired a tear in the labrum that ended Cobb's season after only three starts. Cobb told MASNsports.com in June that he'd also have surgery on his knee, with the...
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde bumped back Dylan Bundy in the rotation to provide a little extra rest as the season moved into the third week of September. A sound plan, except that Bundy threw 31 pitches tonight in the first inning and 20 more in the second.
A heavy load threatening to cancel out the benefits of a slightly fresher arm.
Bundy pushed through five innings while tying his career high with five walks, the bats produced five doubles and two home runs in the first four innings and the...
Mason Williams is unable to put much weight on his left leg today after slamming into the fence last night at full speed while chasing Cavan Biggio's triple in front of the bullpen area.
Williams said today that he didn't sustain a concussion, but the knee is wrapped and he has a deep bruise that brings uncertainty to his availability over the last 11 games.
"My head's fine," he said. "No concussion or anything like that, so that's fine. I just feel like I ran into a wall."
Maybe it's...
Stevie Wilkerson is starting at second base tonight against the Blue Jays.
The Orioles have Trey Mancini at first base and Anthony Santander in right field. Austin Hays is in center field.
DJ Stewart is the designated hitter. Dwight Smith Jr. is in left.
Dylan Bundy has allowed three runs in 12 innings this season in his two starts against the Blue Jays. He owns a career 3.24 ERA and 1.063 WHIP in 13 career games against them.
Bundy has a 5.52 ERA and 1.466 WHIP in 11 starts since the All-Star...
Renato Núñez felt the ball slam into his left hand Monday afternoon, spun out of the batters' box and measured the levels of pain and anger.
Bones tend to shatter in these circumstances, especially in the part of the hand that absorbed the pitch from Tigers reliever Buck Farmer.
Núñez stayed in the game and X-rays were negative, but he remained on the bench last night in the Orioles' 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays at Camden Yards.
Mark Trumbo was available to play after being scratched...
The Orioles used their power tonight to take an early lead while attempting to win the first game of their series against the Blue Jays. They switched to a small ball approach to tie the score. Anything that might work for them.
Don't live and die by one method.
Trey Mancini proved again that he could handle both of them. But his work was wasted.
Too many mistakes and one 95 mph fastball that was launched deep into the night.
Disconsolate yesterday after striking out on three pitches to leave...
