He hit a walk-off homer in the 12th inning on Friday night. Today's homer came much earlier but was still pretty important.
Derrek Lee's three-run shot gave the Orioles a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning today and they went on to beat Cincinnati 7-5 to win the series, two victories to one.
Lee entered this game 6-for-8 in his career versus Reds starter Homer Bailey and is now 7-for-11. It was his sixth homer on the year. One out after Lee's 400-foot blast to left, Mark Reynolds crushed a...
I am sure Orioles manager Buck Showalter is not at all opposed to Jeremy Guthrie pitching deep into today's game with Cincinnati.
In case you have not noticed, Orioles' starters have not been pitching deep into recent games. This weekend, Chris Jakubauskas went just five against the Reds Friday and Brian Matusz only 4 2/3 innings last night.
Over the last nine games, Orioles' starters have pitched six innings or more just twice. They have just one quality start and an ERA of 5.32 in that...
The Frederick Keys will be getting their regular first baseman back today as Tyler Townsend has been activated from the disabled list for today's 6 p.m. home game vs. Wilmington
He has been out since June 8 with a hamstring injury. He has been one of the Carolina League's best hitters this year batting .317 in 52 games with 19 doubles, 10 homers, 39 RBIs and an OPS of .915.
At the time of his injury, he was batting .394 with two homers and eight RBIs in eight games in June. Townsend takes...
The last two seasons, Orioles outfielder Adam Jones has hit 19 homers each year. His first-inning solo homer last night was already his 13th of this season.
He has now tied Mark Reynolds for the team homer lead.
After Saturday's game, Jones, now batting .291, was asked if this is the most confident he's ever been at bat as a major leaguer.
"I wouldn't say it's the max," Jones said. "Since Day One I've felt confident and it's just now I'm starting to learn how to handle myself at...
After he saw his pitcher, Brian Matusz, give up three homers and six runs over 4 2/3 versus the Reds, Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said some of the pitches the Reds hit looked like decent pitches from his vantage point.
"Most of the balls they hit were down. Brian's stuff was probably the best it's been since he's been up which is positive," Wieters said. "The changeup is starting to come around. He's still going to keep working and get locked back in like we know he is going to. The...
After his latest tough outing, Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz was talking again about his velocity, which has still not returned to its 2010 output.
"The velocity obviously isn't there. Being my fifth start, I feel I've made a lot of progress, but just have got to continue working and get a lot better," Matusz said after giving up six runs, nine hits and three homers in 4 2/3 in Saturday's 10-5 loss to the Reds.
Brian Matusz talks about his struggles in the Birds' loss to the...
It was not a home run derby contest tonight at Camden Yards although it looked like it at times. On a night when left-hander Brian Matusz struggled again, Cincinnati beat the Orioles 10-5 in a game that featured nine homers.
All but one run scored in the game came via a homer as Cincinnati hit five and the Orioles hit a season-high four in front of 38,976 at Camden Yards.
Matusz gave up three homers among nine hits and six runs in just 4 2/3 innings as he falls to 1-3 with an ERA of 6.85 in...
In case there was any misunderstanding, Orioles manager Buck Showalter made it clear today how much he enjoys beating the Yankees.
Showalter gave a most honest opinion on the subject at today's session with season-ticket holders here at Camden Yards. He was asked by one fan what it would take for the Orioles to beat the Yankees.
"I can't stand the Yankees, OK," Showalter said. "That stays between us right here. I don't really care if they know, I think they can figure it out.
"You...
At the "State of the Orioles" address this afternoon with season ticket holders here at Camden Yards, O's president of baseball operations Andy MacPhal was asked by a fan about his contract.
He is in the last year of his deal and the fan wanted to know if he will be staying with the Orioles.
"I have always taken the position, unlike one my good friends in the game Jim Riggleman, let's just see how we do," MacPhail said. "Let's get to the end of the year and see how we do and take it...
Orioles president Andy MacPhail and manager Buck Showalter just spent about 30 minutes taking fans questions here at Camden Yards as part of the latest "State of the Orioles" address with season ticket holders.
MacPhail was asked by a fan why the club seems to be outbid by some other clubs in the international market.
"We did spend more last year then we did the year before and we'll probably spend more this year than last year. We are actually making progress in that market based on what...
After that recent stretch where he went 11-for-18, it was clear Derrek Lee's bat was coming to life.
Tonight he provided another example with that clutch, walk-off homer to left, leading off the last of the 12th as the Orioles beat the Reds 5-4.
Lee entered tonight batting just .128 on the year, going 6-for-47, when batting with runners in scoring position. He is a career .279 hitter with RISP. That homer did not come with RISP, of course, but it was pretty clutch.
It kept the Orioles from...
Some quick notes with the Orioles leading the Reds 4-0 after four innings tonight at the Yard.
* While the Orioles are 20-18 at home on the year and have lost their last two at home, they are 10-4 over their past 14 games at Camden Yards.
* The Reds went 5-for-8 batting with runners in scoring position in their last game, a 10-2 win over the Yankees Wednesday night in game two of a doubleheader. They had gone 2-for-27 with RISP in their previous five games. They are 1-for-4 tonight with RISP...
He made a key error that allowed two runs to score Wednesday in the Orioles' 5-4 loss to the Pirates, but when Blake Davis showed up at Camden Yards today, he saw his name was in the starting lineup and he's back at second base.
"Yeah, it's nice," Davis said, two days after his major league debut. "It shows a little bit of confidence in me and I was kind of excited when I saw my name. I'll just get back out there and get ready to play."
Davis said many of his O's teammates were...
Orioles manager Buck Showalter is often quite talkative on a lot of subjects during his daily pregame interview with reporters. But today he was not ready to say much about Jim Riggleman, who resigned yesterday as Nationals' manager.
"I've known Jim for a long time," Showalter said. "There are a lot of things with a situation like this, you don't really know about. I should probably not weigh in because there are probably a lot of factors behind the scenes and it's not really any of my...
Orioles manager Buck Showalter has Blake Davis back in the starting lineup tonight, at second base and batting ninth.
He was asked if he was starting Davis to get him right back on the field after his error Wednesday scored two runs in the 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh.
"That's not the only reason. But yeah, it was (a reason to start him)," Showalter said. "I thought the young man has done a lot to get the opportunity. Thought he had some good at bats in Pittsburgh too. He had a big at bat that...
Checking in with some stats and facts about both teams as the Cincinnati Reds make their first visit to Baltimore tonight since the 1970 World Series.
* The Orioles hit .302 as a team and scored 4.2 runs per game during their nine-game road trip. Over the last six games they have 72 hits, a .324 team average and 28 runs scored.
* Nick Markakis has the longest current hitting streak in the American League at 13 games. He is batting .400 (24-for-60) during the streak with a homer and eight...
He had two hits and scored a run in the South Atlantic League All-Star Game Tuesday night. He got promoted to Single-A Frederick after that game. On Thursday afternoon, he found out he would play in the Futures Game and Thursday night he homered in just his second at-bat in the Carolina League.
Just Manny being Manny.
As in Manny Machado, the Orioles' top prospect who won't turn 19 until July 6.
Machado had homered just once in his last 16 games with Single-A Delmarva, but connected in...
This great game of baseball spans many years and generations, and some of us really got to experience that Tuesday night at the South Atlantic League All-Star game hosted by the Delmarva Shorebirds.
Not long after we got to interview some up-and-coming stars of tomorrow, like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, we were sitting in a conference room across from Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver.
Now 80, Weaver led the Orioles to a .593 winning percentage in 17 seasons, winning four American League...
Sometimes, baseball can be a very simple game. As the manager in "Bull Durham" said, "You catch the ball, you hit the ball, you throw the ball."
Sometimes it rains of course.
Sometimes you get clutch hits and you win. Sometimes you don't and you lose.
In looking at the Orioles' season, one stat that seems to always figure heavily in whether the club wins or loses is how they fare when batting with runners in scoring position.
Just look at the Pittsburgh series. On Monday, the O's...
Every year, there are players in the minor leagues who seem to fly under the radar, guys who are not considered top prospects or are not high-round draft picks.
But they put up good numbers and we should notice that.
Ty Kelly at Single-A Delmarva is one of those guys, and I got the chance to meet and interview him before Tuesday's All-Star Game at Perdue Stadium.
Kelly is 10th in the South Atlantic League batting at .312 in 52 games with seven doubles, three homers and 27 RBIs.
He went...