Blanked by Boston: O's lose series finale 4-0

Blanked by Boston: O's lose series finale 4-0
Presented with a chance to win a series against the American League East leaders, the Orioles could not get any runs today off Andrew Miller, a pitcher with a career 5.83 ERA that is averaging nearly six walks per nine innings this year. The Red Sox won the series finale 4-0 in front of 35,174 on a sun-splashed afternoon at Camden Yards. The Orioles were held to just two hits by four Sox pitchers. Miller had control issues today also. He walked six batters in 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He had...
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Walk this way (updated)

Walk this way (updated)
You have to wonder, if, as this game goes on, the Orioles will be able to make Red Sox starting pitcher Andrew Miller pay for his wildness. Miller had walked nine batters without a strikeout over 7 2/3 in his last two starts, one of which was against the Orioles. He walked the bases loaded with one out today in the last of the second, but Craig Tatum came up and inexplicably swung at the first pitch. He later grounded into an inning-ending double play on a 2-2 pitch that was out of the strike...
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O's hope Arrieta adjustment leads to better command and control

O's hope Arrieta adjustment leads to better command and control
Orioles pitcher Jake Arrieta will take the mound this afternoon against Boston looking to pitch the Orioles to a series win over the AL East leaders. After a stretch where he has given up 14 earned runs over 14 1/3 innings his past three starts, Arrieta has been working on some slight mechanical adjustments with his windup with pitching coach Rick Adair. Manager Buck Showalter said there is a clear reason why Adair approached Arrieta with the adjustment. "Fastball command," Showalter said....
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One win, three stars

One win, three stars
For a change it had to be nice for the Orioles fans in the crowd of 32,314 to watch those in red walk out of Camden Yards unhappy. If this were hockey, my three stars from the Orioles 6-2 win Tuesday night over Boston would be Matt Wieters (third star), Jim Johnson (second star) and Jeremy Guthrie (first star). Wieters scored two runs and his clutch, two-out RBI hit in the third gave the Orioles a 3-0 lead. In the seventh, he threw out Marco Scutaro trying to steal second. He was trying to...
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Guthrie on his game, pitches Orioles past Boston

Guthrie on his game, pitches Orioles past Boston
Prior to tonight, the Boston Red Sox had hit .350 and scored 47 runs in their last five games against the Orioles. But tonight, Jeremy Guthrie held that team to just two runs over seven innings as the Orioles beat Boston 6-2, to end a seven-game losing streak against the Red Sox. Guthrie, who had given up 12 runs in his last two starts over 10 innings, allowed eight hits and two runs, throwing 110 pitches. Jeremy Guthrie tells the media what he did to cool off the Red Sox hitters in the O's...
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Some quick in-game O's and Sox notes

Some quick in-game O's and Sox notes
A quick note or two on tonight's game. * When Matt Wieters gave the Orioles a 3-0 lead with a third-inning single, he improved his average on the year to .381 when batting with runners in scoring position. He hit just .213 with RISP last year. * Mark Reynolds' RBI double in the second inning gave the O's a 1-0 lead and was his 50th RBI. It snapped a 3-for-27 stretch and 11-game RBI drought for Reynolds. He also has gone 11 games without hitting a homer. * Jeremy Guthrie has just one win...
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Orioles' fourth-round pick reports to Aberdeen

Orioles' fourth-round pick reports to Aberdeen
The Orioles 2011 fourth-round draft choice, pitcher Kyle Simon, has been added to the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds roster. Catcher Kyle Moore has also been transferred from the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds to Aberdeen. Simon just wrapped up his junior season at the University of Arizona. He was an All-Pac-10 honoree after going 11-3 with a 2.72 ERA and an 86-to-11 strikeout to walk ratio. Here are a couple of other notes about the IronBirds who are hosting Vermont tonight. Since...
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Not a pretty picture: Orioles against Boston stats

Not a pretty picture: Orioles against Boston stats
Since the start of their series with the Orioles in Fenway Park on July 7, Boston has won five of five games between these teams, scoring 47 runs in that time. In those five games, the Red Sox are batting .350 as a team against Baltimore pitching with 14 doubles, two triples and 13 homers. They are batting .348 with runners in scoring position in those games in which they have scored 10, 10, 4, 8 and 15 runs. Leading Red Sox hitters this year against the Orioles: .487 - Jacoby Ellsbury at...
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Luke Scott is still trying to play through the pain

Luke Scott is still trying to play through the pain
The torn labrum in Luke Scott's right shoulder it seems, is not getting better and for now will not allow Scott to come off the disabled list and rejoin the Orioles. He played two games for Double-A Bowie the last two days, going 2-for-6 with a homer, two walks and two strikeouts. He could have been activated today, but will not and appears headed back for more minor league rehab games, though nothing is set at this point. "It's been like this since May, I haven't been myself," Scott...
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Hobgood's comeback trail is continuing at Aberdeen

Hobgood's comeback trail is continuing at Aberdeen
Matt Hobgood's next start for the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds is scheduled for Thursday at Brooklyn. The 20-year-old, 2009 first-round pick remains on the comeback trail from a strained rotator cuff. He spent most of this season rehabbing in Florida until joining the Gulf Coast League Orioles in mid-June. In five games there, over 10 1/3 innings, he gave up 10 hits, five earned runs and three walks and had nine strikeouts. In his first Aberdeen start, last Saturday at Vermont,...
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Some impressions after the Orioles' latest loss

Some impressions after the Orioles' latest loss
Some thoughts and observations after Boston beat the Orioles 15-10 Monday to take the first of a three-game series: * The Red Sox are having their way with Orioles pitching. That has become pretty obvious. Three times in the last five games, Boston has scored double-digit runs in beating the Orioles, scoring 47 runs total in those five games. Hard to believe the Orioles won a three-game series against this team giving up a total of 11 runs in late April at Camden Yards. Maybe Jeremy Guthrie...
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Lee drives in two, then gives one back

Lee drives in two, then gives one back
After a promising start to this series - Derrek Lee gave the Orioles a somewhat rare first inning lead with a two-run triple - the Orioles now trail Boston 5-2 in the top of fifth. Lee's two-run triple in the first gave him 10 RBIs over his last 10 games and was his first triple since August 17,2009 when he was a Cub. Brad Bergesen retired the first six batters on just 22 pitches, but gave up three runs in the second and two in the third inning. The Red Sox put together five hits in the...
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Gonzalez still awaits fate of his suspension appeal

Gonzalez still awaits fate of his suspension appeal
Orioles pitcher Michael Gonzalez has still not had the appeal of his three-game suspension heard and is active for the Boston series that begins tonight. Gonzalez said he doesn't expect any lingering bad blood between the teams after the hit batters and the ejections from the series last weekend. "Definitely not. It's water under the bridge already. What's done is done. It's over. We're starting a clean slate today and we'll go from there," he said. After seeing Kevin Gregg's...
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Showalter talks about the Boston series and playing time for Matt Angle

Showalter talks about the Boston series and playing time for Matt Angle
The gathering of media at manager Buck Showalter's pregame press conference today was larger than usual, with more local media and Boston media in attendance. Showalter was asked about his team standing up to a club like Boston and was there any significance to what Mike Gonzalez and Kevin Gregg did in the series at Boston. "I think how you stand up to them is you win," he said. "They're good, they are real good. So is Tampa, they won this division two of the last three years. "You've...
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Kevin Gregg: "I hope our team always has a chip on its shoulder"

Kevin Gregg: "I hope our team always has a chip on its shoulder"
After agreeing to begin serving his suspension tonight as it was reduced from four games to three, Orioles pitcher Kevin Gregg once again talked about standing up for his team when he pitched inside to David Ortiz in the last series against Boston. "They're a good club," Gregg said. "But they look at us and when we try to pitch in and I think we've hit maybe 20 guys on the whole year and they're in the mid 50's and they get mad at us when we hit someone. "In the last series we...
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Together again: Red Sox-Orioles rematch begins tonight

Together again: Red Sox-Orioles rematch begins tonight
Here is the best way for the Orioles to tick off the Red Sox and their fans starting tonight: Beat them. The Orioles were swept in a four-game series at Boston last weekend by a combined 32-13 score. They came up short on the scoreboard. They also came up short in the baseball justice department. They hit fewer batters, but had more ejections and suspensions. One manager got suspended from that series and it wasn't Tito. It looks to me like the Red Sox are starting their JV pitchers in this...
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O's split series with Cleveland; Andino and Hendrickson talk about the win

O's split series with Cleveland; Andino and Hendrickson talk about the win
With his team trailing 3-1, Mark Hendrickson took the mound today in the top of the fourth inning looking to put up some zeroes and give his team a chance to come back. "We still had a lot of game left, just wanted to give our offense a chance. Sometimes the role I'm in usually doesn't come with a lot of attention but I just wanted to execute pitches," Hendrickson said, after picking up his first major league win since last May 13 against Seattle as the Orioles beat Cleveland...
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Comeback win: Early deficit doesn't stop O's this time

Comeback win: Early deficit doesn't stop O's this time
Many times over the last month or so, an Orioles starting pitcher gave up early runs and the team could not climb out of the early hole. Today, after falling behind 3-0 in the first, the Orioles rallied to beat Cleveland 8-3 in front of 17,754 at Camden Yards to split the four-game series. The Orioles have back-to-back wins for the first time since June 19 and 20. The AL Central-leading Indians got homers from Travis Hafner and Carlos Santana in taking a 3-0 lead in the first against Mitch...
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Minor league notes on Hudson, Rowell, Mummey and more

Minor league notes on Hudson, Rowell, Mummey and more
A couple of notes from the O's minors to pass along. Outfielder Kyle Hudson has returned to Triple-A Norfolk to take the roster spot of Matt Angle, who joined the Orioles today. Hudson was batting .308 in 28 games at Double-A Bowie. He was with the Tides earlier and between May 20 and June 26, hit .188 in 24 Norfolk games. Billy Rowell remains on the disabled list at Double-A Bowie, but this week did begin an injury rehab assignment with the Gulf Coast League Orioles. He's been on the DL...
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The stat man

The stat man
I would say I had too much time on my hands, although that is really not the case, but I have still put together some stats for your perusal. Some may actually be interesting or informative in some way. * The Orioles had just one single last night among their hits and had a season-high seven extra-base hits. They had six doubles and a homer in the win over Cleveland. * The Orioles have 22 hits in this series and 15 have gone for extra bases with 11 doubles and four home runs. * Nick...
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