It would be hard to blame Luke Scott for this loss or the lack of offense vs. Matt Garza in Tampa's 4-1 win tonight.
He reached base all three times he was up vs. Garza with a single and two walks. Perhaps Garza tread lightly with him after he homered off him twice in that July game vs. the Rays.
Here is what Scott about the Garza and this game:
"Garza had good stuff and has a plus arm. For the most part he stayed out of the middle of the plate. He's got a power arm but he finessed...
No one got hit. But the Orioles didn't get many hits either, off Matt Garza.
This time they didn't hit four homers off him like they did back on July 20th.
Garza gave up just one run and five hits over 5 2/3 pitching Tampa Bay to a 4-1 win over the Orioles in the opener of the weekend series.
Buck Showalter meets with the media following the O's 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay
Garza, now 14-7, 3.46, walked and fanned three, throwing 98 pitches. He has allowed one earned run or less in six of his...
The O's trail Tampa and Matt Garza 4-1 through five innings.
No one has shoved anything down anyone's throat that I have seen, but I have noticed the O's not getting any clutch hits off Garza. At least, so far.
They had runners on second with just one out in the 3rd and 5th and failed to score. They got two hits and a walk in the 4th and scored just one run.
The O's are 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position through five.
Garza, who pitched a no-hitter July 26 vs. Detroit, had an...
Despite losing 10 of their last 12 games, the Frederick Keys are playoff bound.
In fact, it looks like it will be Orioles vs. Nationals in the playoffs. That's the Carolina League playoffs. After going 41-29, Frederick won its division in the first half. The Nats team in that league, Potomac, is leading in the second half.
The best-of-five Carolina League semi-finals will begin next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Frederick's Harry Grove Stadium.
The Keys will start Oliver Drake in game one,...
Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts have combined for 69 at bats this season vs. Tampa pitching without a single homer or RBI.
Markakis is batting .149 (7 for 47) in 12 games this season vs. the Rays while Robers is batting .136 (3 for 22) in six contests vs. Tampa.
Some O's that have hit Tampa pitching well include:
*Felix Pie at .343-1-3, going 12 for 35 with five doubles.
*Luke Scott at .395-5-8, going 15 for 38 with an OPS of 1.357.
*Matt Wieters at .308-1-3, going 8 for 26.
*Ty Wigginton...
Earlier today, when we had a live video chat in the MASNsports.com web studio with Adam Jones, I asked him about Matt Garza's comments.
Garza, who pitches for Tampa vs. the Orioles tonight, sounds still stung by the game on July 20 when he gave up seven runs and four homers vs. the O's.
Garza said of tonight's rematch:
"I owe them a lot of payback for the type of outing I had last time against them," he said. "They had back-to-back-to-back. So I'm going to make them feel really...
Tampa Bay right-hander Matt Garza has had a lot of success vs. the Orioles, going 8-1, 3.14 in 11 career starts vs. the Birds.
But on July 20th, the O's scored seven runs off him in 6 1/3 innings and hit four homers against him. That game clearly didn't sit well with Garza. Tonight, Garza starts vs. the O's at Camden Yards.
He tells the St. Petersburg Times he owes the Orioles "a lot of payback" and that he's "going to make them feel really uncomfortable in the box."
He went on to...
The Bowie Baysox are pushing for a playoff berth and they now hold second place in their division, and a playoff spot, by a ½ game over Harrisburg heading into their final series of the year.
Bowie begins a four-game set to end the regular season at Richmond tonight.
The Baysox posted huge wins the last two nights over Altoona, thanks in large part to Joel Guzman, who hit first-inning homers to jump start the offense in each of those wins.
Guzman hit number 33 last night,...
It was the final regular season home game for Bowie tonight, but maybe not the final time they will be at this stadium this year.
In front of a small, but enthusiastic crowd of 1,694, the Baysox beat Altoona 7-2 tonight and, coupled with Harrisburg's 3-2 loss to New Hampshire, they moved into second place in the Eastern League's Western Division.
They are a 1/2-game up on Harrisburg for the final playoff spot as Bowie now heads to Richmond for a four-game series that ends on Monday. ...
New Hampshire has taken a 3-2 lead over Harrisburg as that game is now in the ninth inning.
If that result holds, Bowie could move into second place tonight. The Baysox lead Altoona 7-2 in the last of the 7th in Bowie. The Baysox began today a 1/2 game behind Harrisburg for second place in the division and a playoff berth.
Tonight's attendance is 1,694 here at Prince George's Stadium.
After tonight, Bowie goes to Richmond for a four-game series while Harrisburg plays at Binghamton...
Joel Guzman, Carlos Rojas and Xavier Avery have the clutch hits so far tonight as Bowie leads Altoona 6-2 after four innings here at Prince George's Stadium.
Guzman hit a three-run homer in the first, his 33rd of the year to tie the Baysox single-season record and Rojas came up with a two-run double in the fourth.
After Altoona scored single runs in the 3rd and 4th to cut Bowie's lead to 3-2, Bowie answered in the last of the fourth.
With two out and none on, Altoona pitcher Jeff Locke hit...
Bowie has a 3-0 lead on Altoona after two innings.
Baysox slugger Joel Guzman hit his 33rd homer, a three-run shot in the last of the first. That homer ties Walter Young's club record for homers in one season with Bowie, set in 2004.
The 26-year-old Guzman ripped a 1-0 pitch from Jeff Locke over the wall in left center. It scored Danny Figueroa, who walked and Ryan Adams, who had singled.
Guzman has now homered in three straight games and has hit five over his past eight games.
He began...
Here is tonight's starting lineup here in Bowie at the Baysox face Altoona.
CF - Xavier Avery
LF - Danny Figueroa
2B - Ryan Adams
DH - Joel Guzman
1B - Joe Mahoney
3B - Brandon Waring
C - Steve Lerud
RF - Jonathan Tucker
SS - Carlos Rojas
P - Rick Zagone
I have had major internet connection issues today, I think mostly related to my computer. I will try to file some entries from here tonight, but I am not optimistic. We'll see.
Checking in from Bowie where I'll get to watch the Baysox chase a playoff berth tonight as they host Altoona. It's the final regular season home game for Bowie, but they, of course, hope to be back here this year for the playoffs.
The Baysox are trying to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Bowie is a ½ game back of second place Harrisburg for a playoff berth with five games left.
"Harrisburg has been playing well, so we have our work cut out for...
The Bowie Baysox will play their final regular season home game tonight, hosting Altoona at 7:05 p.m.
The Baysox are 73-64 and trail Harrisburg by a half game for second place in the Eastern League's Western Division. The top two teams make the playoffs, so the Baysox are looking to catch and pass Harrisburg. Bowie has five games remaining and Harrisburg has six.
After tonight, Bowie ends the regular season with a four-game series at Richmond.
Last night, Joel Guzman and Brandon Waring...
Some final notes and quotes after Boston's comeback, 9-6 win over the Orioles.
There are clubhouse comments from Jake Arrieta, Ty Wigginton and Nolan Reimold.
Arrieta on facing Boston: "Those guys are similar to the Yankees where they see a lot of pitches, lot of veteran players that really work the counts. Felt like I was in a lot of deep counts. I felt like I did a good job at going 0-2 and getting ahead of some guys, but they fought their way back in some counts.
"A basehit here...
On a night when the Orioles scored more runs vs. Jon Lester than they had in any of his previous 15 starts against them, they still could not beat him.
After the Orioles had given up just three runs total during a four-game win streak, Boston stormed back with six in the 7th for a comeback, 9-6 win over the Orioles.
Buck Showalter meets with the media after the O's 9-6 loss to the Red Sox
Lester entered with a 12-0 record and career 2.00 ERA vs. Baltimore, but the O's scored four in the...
Well, the Orioles won't beat Jon Lester tonight.
I don't think they ever will.
After torching him for five early runs, they could not score any more off him and now, in the top of the seventh, the O's bullpen had a meltdown and now Boston has a 9-5 lead.
Mark Hendrickson, who had not pitched since August 22nd, worked a scoreless sixth in relief of Jake Arrieta, but he gave up a two-run homer in the 7th to tie the game.
After a walk, he was replaced by Alfredo Simon, who is still...
The Orioles scored five runs tonight on six hits in the first two innings vs. Jon Lester. He threw 57 pitches.
Usually, that's about six innings worth for him vs. the Orioles.
Until tonight, the Orioles had never scored this many runs in one game off Lester. His previous worst outing vs. Baltimore was on August 13, 2006 when they got four runs in five innings vs. Lester. That is the only previous time in 15 career starts vs. the O's that they had scored more than three runs off...
There have been a few transactions today on the O's farm.
With the three callups from Norfolk now in Baltimore, the Tides today added Miguel Abreu, Buck Britton and Phillip Britton from Frederick.
The Keys have added 18-year-old shortstop Jonathan Schoop from Bluefield, where he hit .316-2-16 in 39 games after batting .250-3-16 in 17 Gulf Coast League games. In his last four games with Bluefield, Schoop went 9 for 15 with two homers and 7 RBI. Schoop, from Curacao, played in the O's...
