Zac Lowther on O's pitching development and more on last night's win

Zac Lowther on O's pitching development and more on last night's win
Coming into this 2021 season, Orioles lefty pitching prospect Zac Lowther had not yet pitched at the Triple-A level. But over his career on the farm since 2017, Lowther was 23-13 with a 2.26 ERA and 1.018 WHIP over 326 innings. He led all O's minor leaguers in strikeouts in 2018 and 2019. He had pitched everywhere from then short-season Single-A Aberdeen through Double-A Bowie. During his strong 2019 season at Bowie, he joined pitching teammates like Alexander Wells, Mike Baumann, Dean Kremer...
Continue reading

O's game blog: Matt Harvey faces Kansas City

O's game blog: Matt Harvey faces Kansas City
After last night's win that featured right-hander Mike Baumann's major league debut and homers from Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays and DJ Stewart, the Orioles look for another win tonight as their series continues with the Kansas City Royals. The Orioles (44-93) won for the third time in four games and are 4-3 over the last seven. They are 6-7 the last 13 games since Aug. 25. The clubs have split the first two games of this four-game series and the Orioles are now 3-2 on the year versus the...
Continue reading

Mike Baumann's thrilling debut highlights win over K.C.

Mike Baumann's thrilling debut highlights win over K.C.
It's exciting - thrilling, really - when a rookie gets his big chance and runs with it like Mike Baumann did last night. Nights like that can give Birdland hope that there may be more talents like Baumann still to come. They hope the young talent comes crashing into Camden Yards like waves into the shoreline. And the waves keep coming. And coming. It was before the game in the Orioles dugout when Baumann spoke with reporters and told us how excited he was to get the shot to make his major...
Continue reading

O's game blog: Alexander Wells faces K.C. at the Yard

O's game blog: Alexander Wells faces K.C. at the Yard
The Orioles send another rookie lefty to the mound tonight as they host the Kansas City Royals in the second of a four-game series and 11-game homestand. The Royals scored twice in the eighth Monday afternoon to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead and beat the Orioles by that score in the series opener. The Orioles fell to 34-6 when leading after seven innings. The Royals improved to 5-62 when trailing after seven. The Orioles (43-93) have now played five straight one-run games. This started...
Continue reading

Mike Baumann on big league arrival, bullpen role and more

Mike Baumann on big league arrival, bullpen role and more
For right-hander Mike Baumann, a day he said he has worked his whole life for has arrived. He got the call to the big leagues. Today he was called up from Triple-A Norfolk, where he was pitching very well, and the kid drafted by the club in round in 2017 out of Jacksonville University is now wearing the big league orange and black for the first time. "I mean, I don't even know what to think," an obviously excited Baumann said a few moments ago in the Orioles dugout. "Just happy to be here,...
Continue reading

These minor league pitchers have flown under the radar

These minor league pitchers have flown under the radar
ABERDEEN - As the Orioles look to continue to stockpile pitchers and build quality pitching depth on the farm, two right-handers that got to high Single-A Aberdeen not long ago have thrown well for the IronBirds. They have had seasons that can fly a bit under the radar, but when it comes to getting swings and misses, they do look good on the stat sheet and show some future promise. Zach Peek, 23, has gone 5-3 with a 4.05 ERA this year over 21 games between low Single-A Delmarva and Aberdeen. He...
Continue reading

Zac Lowther shines in O's homestand opener

Zac Lowther shines in O's homestand opener
After they held leads and won the last two days at New York, the Orioles bullpen could not do that today in the opener of a long homestand. The Kansas City Royals scored twice in the top of the eighth to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win in the opener of a four-game series and 11-game stand. The Orioles (43-93) are 2-2 against Kansas City and now 3-3 their past six games. Their last five games have been decided by one run each, and they are 2-3 in those games. A few positive things did happen...
Continue reading

O's game blog: A new homestand begins at the Yard

O's game blog: A new homestand begins at the Yard
With a six-game American League East road trip in the rear-view mirror, the Orioles begin an 11-game homestand against Kansas City this afternoon. It's the opener of a four-game series that will be followed by four games at Oriole Park versus the Blue Jays and three against the Yankees. The Orioles beat New York 4-3 and 8-7 the last two days after losing in 11 innings on Friday. They have played four straight one-run games, going 2-2, and are 10-19 for the season in one-run games. Left-hander...
Continue reading

The benefit of playing and winning the close ones

The benefit of playing and winning the close ones
When a team has the record the Orioles team has, it's kind of hard to take a small sample of five games and put a lot of importance on it. But, at the same time, the last five games did produce three wins in close games at both Toronto and New York. So the Orioles have played five in a row, all on the road in the division, and all decided by two runs or by one, and they went 3-2. Small steps, and maybe some small progress was made as some players had to make clutch plays against two clubs...
Continue reading

A few thoughts and notes on a series win in the Bronx

A few thoughts and notes on a series win in the Bronx
A few thoughts, notes and impressions on today's game and this weekend as the Orioles ended a six-game road trip to Toronto and New York going a respectable 3-3. They take two of three at New York, winning a series in the Bronx for the first time since March 28-31, 2019. * The last five games of this trip were each decided by two runs or less, with the Orioles going 3-2. That is certainly a sign of progress, but in a very small sample size. But you take that in the American League East on the...
Continue reading

O's game blog: Looking for a series win over Yankees

O's game blog: Looking for a series win over Yankees
The Orioles (42-92), after Saturday's 4-3 win at Yankee Stadium, can end this two-city road trip with a series win in the Bronx if they win this afternoon versus the Yankees. The O's lost 4-3 in 11 innings Friday night and won by the same score yesterday when they broke a 3-3 tie in the ninth against lefty closer Aroldis Chapman. Ryan Mountcastle led off the ninth and reached on a strikeout and wild pitch. Austin Hays singled and Trey Mancini walked to load the bases. Mancini went 3-for-3...
Continue reading

Another look at Chris Ellis' strong start in the Bronx

Another look at Chris Ellis' strong start in the Bronx
In what his manager called a "masterful" performance, Orioles right-hander Chris Ellis followed up a very strong outing at Rogers Centre with a better one at Yankee Stadium. If the question is whether a pitcher who went 1-5 with a 6.32 ERA at Triple-A Durham this year while giving up 14 homers in 57 innings can shut down two good American League East teams on the road back to back, the answer is yes. Ellis, 28, drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in round three in 2014, was traded by the Angels...
Continue reading

O's break tie in ninth vs. Chapman, beat Yankees 4-3 (updated)

O's break tie in ninth vs. Chapman, beat Yankees 4-3 (updated)
On a day they let a late three-run lead get away, the Orioles were still able to win. And they pulled it out by scoring in the top of the ninth off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman. The lefty took the mound in the ninth of a 3-3 tie and fanned Ryan Mountcastle, but Mountcastle reached first on the wild pitch to start the inning. An Austin Hays single to left and a walk to Trey Mancini followed to load the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, catcher Pedro Severino ran the count full. He then...
Continue reading

O's game blog: Second game of the series in the Bronx

O's game blog: Second game of the series in the Bronx
So close to having a 3-1 road trip. With losses the last two games by 5-4 at Toronto and 4-3 in 11 innings at New York, the Orioles indeed could be looking at a 3-1 road trip, instead of being 1-3 heading into this afternoon's game at Yankee Stadium. But the Orioles (41-92), who have played three straight games decided by two runs or fewer, have lost six of seven and 25 of their past 28 games heading into the second of this three-game series in the Bronx. The Orioles are 1-12 in their last 13...
Continue reading

Amid big roster attrition, Aberdeen pushes for winning year

Amid big roster attrition, Aberdeen pushes for winning year
ABERDEEN - On the surface, one could see the high Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds' record at 54-51 and feel like they've had a decent year, posting a winning record on the farm. But it you look deeper at all the players the club has moved up to Double-A Bowie this year - players that have the Baysox in a playoff hunt where Aberdeen is not - it tells you the IronBirds players and staff have done a real nice job during the 2021 season. Their season-opening rotation of Grayson Rodriguez, Garrett...
Continue reading

O's game blog: The series opener at Yankee Stadium

O's game blog: The series opener at Yankee Stadium
After losing two of three at Toronto followed by Thursday's off-day, the Orioles' road trip continues tonight when they play the first of three games in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. The Orioles beat Toronto 4-2 on Tuesday night, but lost 5-4 in Wednesday's series finale. The Orioles (41-91) have 30 games remaining beginning tonight. They have lost five of six and 24 of their past 27 games. They are 14-43 versus American League East teams, including a record of 5-8 against the...
Continue reading

Bowie's Grayson Rodriguez has seen a rebuild as a fan

Bowie's Grayson Rodriguez has seen a rebuild as a fan
BOWIE - A few years before he became a first-round draft pick with a big signing bonus and later a marked man in professional baseball, right-handed pitcher Grayson Rodriguez was just another teenager in Nacogdoches, Texas, rooting for the big league team closest to home. But the team he rooted for lost a lot. They were rebuilding. The teenage Grayson would get to see that team go from worst to first and win the World Series. Now as an Orioles minor league pitcher with Double-A Bowie, he is one...
Continue reading

Sulser's strong year, month-by-month breakdown and more notes

Sulser's strong year, month-by-month breakdown and more notes
Orioles reliever Cole Sulser made quick work of the Toronto Blue Jays to record the save on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre. On 12 pitches he recorded a 1-2-3 inning to pick up his sixth save as the Orioles beat Toronto 4-2. For Sulser it was the continuation of a solid year - one in which he now has effective weapons to get out both left- and right-handed hitters and now is no longer a big reverse-splits-only guy. In 49 innings, Sulser is 3-3 with a 3.12 ERA, allowing 38 hits with 1.204 WHIP...
Continue reading

O's game blog: Looking for a series win at Toronto

O's game blog: Looking for a series win at Toronto
Some nights, when you get solid pitching and defense and a few timely hits, you can win and even beat some of the better teams. The Orioles had a game like that last night when they beat Toronto 4-2 at Rogers Centre. They held the Blue Jays to six hits, and while Toronto went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, the Orioles went 3-for-7 and that was big in a low-scoring, close game. And while the Orioles have been near the bottom of the league in batting with RISP this year, they have hit...
Continue reading

Tyler Wells on his big out versus Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Tyler Wells on his big out versus Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
For a rookie pitcher who was a Rule 5 draft pick last December, one with just 34 big league games under his belt and no career saves, it was a big-time situation. Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells came in to face Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the last of the seventh last night at Toronto's Rogers Centre. There were two on and two outs and the Orioles were leading 4-2. Guerrero had hit his 39th homer an inning before on a 97 mph fastball. The night before, he had homered twice. In 11 games this year...
Continue reading