The day didn't start out great for Nolan Reimold, but it ended up that way.
In the top of the second inning, Reimold, playing in left field, threw to the wrong base. With a man on first and one out, Wilson Betemit singled and Reimold's throw to third was much too late to get the runner and allowed Betemit to move into second. Kansas City went on to score four runs.
Nolan Reimold talks about his first multi-homer game in the big leagues as the O's beat the Royals 6-5
"I should have been...
After blowing a great opportunity to win the game in the last of the 11th, the Orioles did win it today in the 12th to complete a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals.
Vladimir Guerrero's seeing-eye, ground single to center scored Robert Andino as the Orioles beat K.C. 6-5. Andino led off the 12th with a double and with one out and runners on first and second, Guerrero's single ended the game.
The Orioles completed a 5-3 homestand.
The Orioles trailed 4-0 after the top of the...
What do Cliff Lee and Jeff Francis have in common?
Besides being left-handed pitchers, they are now the last two hurlers to yield two homers in a single game to an Orioles batter.
Nolan Reimold produced his first major league multi-homer game today, going deep in the second and third innings off Francis. He hit a solo shot to left on an 0-1 pitch in the second and his three-run homer an inning later came on an 0-2 pitch.
Reimold hit six homers this year for Triple-A Norfolk in 39 games over...
Jeremy Guthrie threw 42 pitches today in a rocky second inning. The Royals scored four times on five hits and a catcher's interference charged to Craig Tatum to take a 4-0 lead.
Guthrie threw just 13 pitches in a sharp first inning when he fanned two batters, but was at 55 pitches through two frames.
With two outs in the second, Tatum was charged with a catcher's interference as Alex Gordon reached. Melky Cabrera followed with a two-run single and both runs were unearned.
Guthrie regrouped...
Catcher Craig Tatum returns to the Orioles today and will start the game, catching Jeremy Guthrie and batting ninth in the series finale against Kansas City.
Not only is Tatum thrilled to be back in the major leagues, but he is very relieved he is not dealing with a major shoulder injury. In early May with Triple-A Norfolk, Tatum made a throw in a game and felt big-time time pain in that right shoulder that sent him to the disabled list.
"When I threw a ball I thought I was dying, my...
The Orioles have now followed a four-game losing streak with a four-game winning streak. They were outscored 42-15 in the four losses and have outscored their opponents 24-9 in the four wins.
The O's lost last Thursday by a 13-2 score to the Yankees and last Friday by a 17-5 score to Washington.
At that point, the pitching staff was a bit of a mess. But during these last four games and wins, the team ERA is 1.75. O's starters have pitched to an ERA of 2.25 in this stretch and the much...
The Orioles didn't score in six of their eight innings at the plate tonight, but they got more than enough runs in one inning to beat Kansas City 9-2 this evening. They have taken the first two games of the series and will go for a sweep Thursday at 12:35 p.m.
After being shut out on just 28 pitches by Luke Hochevar through three innings tonight, the Orioles scored eight runs in the fourth inning, by far their biggest inning of the year.
They had six hits in the inning and sent 13 men to the...
Orioles catcher Matt Wieters began this season going 7-for-7 when batting with runners in scoring position. While he wasn't going to keep hitting 1.000 in those clutch spots, he is still batting over .500 with RISP and the team is now 46 games into the season.
Wieters is hitting .576 on the year at 19-for-33 with RISP. He has five doubles, three homers and 25 of his 26 RBIs in those spots. He is easily the American League's top hitter with RISP.
So what is the key to hitting well in clutch...
One thing that has been pretty true about how this Orioles season has gone is this observation. Just when you think you may have a handle on how the O's are playing, it will usually change.
They began the year going 6-1 and fans were fired up by that start. They then proceeded to lose eight in a row. In late April, the Orioles won five of six against Boston and Chicago. They then lost six of seven.
That was followed by a three-game sweep against Seattle and a series win on the road versus...
The news came out yesterday, not long after I wrote this story about concern over the future for the Single-A Frederick Keys.
The City of Frederick yesterday selected the Keys over an Atlantic League team to negotiate a new lease with to play in Harry Grove Stadium starting next year.
This comes as great news and should mean the Keys, who have played as an Orioles' affiliate in Frederick since 1989, should continue there and remain aligned with the Orioles - hopefully for many, many years to...
A caller to my radio show last night on the 105.7 FM The Fan in Baltimore asked me a question: Which ending was more exciting - Matt Wieters' caught stealing double play that ended Sunday's game or Adam Jones' walk-off homer last night in the ninth against Kansas City?
Both were exciting finishes, but that was an easy one for me. I went with the walk-off homer.
As this season marches on and the Orioles are past the quarter-pole and approaching the one-third point into this season, the...
Tonight's pitching matchup at Camden Yards features two young-gun, rookie left-handers that were third-round draft picks out of high school.
Zach Britton will be making his 10th major league start for the Orioles and 22-year-old Danny Duffy will be making his second big league start for Kansas City.
Britton was drafted in the third round in 2006 out of Weatherford High in Texas. Duffy was drafted in Round 3 of 2007 out of Cabrillo High in California.
Britton pitched 538 minor league innings...
There seems to be a perception that Orioles' center fielder Adam Jones is playing better this year, a season where he is batting .289 with five homers and 24 RBIs.
Jones said right now, he doesn't see that he is really playing any better than last year.
"I think I'm playing the same way, playing hard," he said. "The results are a little different, but I'm bringing the same to the field every single day. It's going good so far, but it can always be better."
Jones is not wrong if you...
After throwing out two more would-be base stealers Sunday against the Nationals, Matt Wieters now ranks second in the American League, throwing out 50 percent of runners.
He has caught 14-of-28 on the season, second only to Kelly Shoppach of Tampa Bay, who is at .538 nailing 7-of-13.
The AL average for a catcher is 29 percent. As team the Orioles have thrown out 42.4 percent, second in the league to Oakland.
O's manager Buck Showalter knew going into the season he had a catcher with a...
Outfielder Kipp Schutz, who has put up amazing numbers this year for the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds, is moving to the Single-A Frederick Keys today and should join the team in time to be in the lineup tonight at Wilmington.
The 23-year-old Schutz, a 19th-round pick in the 2009 draft, was batting a robust .381 for the Shorebirds with 13 doubles, two triples, four homers and 36 RBIs in 38 games. Schutz leads all Orioles minor leaguers in batting average and RBIs.
He has an OPS of .997 and a...
Right-handed pitcher Chorye Spoone, the Orioles eighth-round pick from the 2005 draft, and a member of the club's 40-man roster, will move from Triple-A Norfolk back to Double-A and start on the mound tomorrow night for the Bowie Baysox.
The 25-year-old Spoone is 2-1 with an ERA of 5.50 in eight Triple-A starts and International League batters hit .293 off him. He struggled with his control with Norfolk and walked 26 over 34 1/3 innings.
So, in an attempt to get better results and command,...
There will be an important decision coming soon that could impact the Orioles' minor leagues: whether the Single-A Frederick Keys will continue to play in Frederick and at Harry Grove Stadium beyond this season.
The City of Frederick sought and received two requests for proposals that seek to be awarded the lease to play in that stadium in 2012. The Keys filed a request and so did the independent Atlantic League, through owner Peter Kirk.
The city will pick one of the two that filed requests...
When the Orioles sent right-hander Dan Klein to Single-A Frederick to begin the season, you had to figure he'd have a good chance to move up to Double-A later this year.
But it came very fast, as Klein moved to Bowie after just seven games with the Keys and was in the Eastern League on May 2.
"I really didn't think about it (moving up) too much going into the year. I just wanted to throw the ball the best I could and what happens happens. They moved me pretty fast, but I wasn't thinking...
Chris Tillman may not be pitching deep into many of his starts, but he is pitching pretty well. But with Brian Matusz nearing a return from the disabled, is Tillman pitching well enough to remain in the rotation?
After Sunday's outing against Washington, where he gave up just one run, Tillman's ERA is 1.13 over his past three starts, lowering his ERA on the year from 7.16 to 4.95.
Tillman has allowed just two runs over 16 innings in those three starts and has given up just one run in four...
When the Orioles signed Vladimir Guerrero, they probably envisioned he would have some big hits like he had today.
After the Orioles were shut out on one hit through six innings this afternoon by Washington's Jordan Zimmerman, Guerrero provided the win with one key swing. His homer to left, a line shot on an 0-2 pitch, gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead in the seventh and they won by that score.
"I was looking for a good pitch to hit. Just to make contact, not for a home run, and I hit it out,"...