Looking at the recent 'pen struggles and more notes

Looking at the recent 'pen struggles and more notes
On Monday night, right-hander Jorge López allowed just one hit and one run over six innings. The Orioles won the opener of a three-game series in the Bronx 7-1. But since that game, not a lot has gone right for the Orioles, who were 10-6 since the break after that win. Now they are 10-10 since the All-Star break and have been outscored 45-13 the past four games. For the first time since the club moved to Baltimore in 1954, the Orioles, according to STATS, have allowed 10 runs or more in four...
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O's game blog: Spenser Watkins faces the Rays at the Yard

O's game blog: Spenser Watkins faces the Rays at the Yard
The Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays were tied 5-5 in the eighth inning last night. Both clubs loaded the bases with no outs. The Rays turned their rally into five runs while the Orioles scored just once as Tampa Bay won 10-6 in the series opener. The Orioles have allowed 13, 10 and 10 runs in losing their past three games by a combined 33-10 score. The Orioles (38-70) are two-thirds of the way into their season with 54 games to go, which projects to a final record of 57-105. They have struggled...
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A debut worthy of a backflip, plus remembering Mo Gaba

A debut worthy of a backflip, plus remembering Mo Gaba
When he made his way to a major league mound on Wednesday night at New York, right-hander Dusten Knight gave up two runs in the last of the eighth inning. But the bigger story is the long odds he beat to get that far. He made his major league debut at age 30. He was drafted in round 28 in 2013 by the San Francisco Giants out of Texas-Pan American, and there were only 851 players drafted ahead of him. Along the way, in addition to throwing in 223 minor league games, he pitched in Mexico. In 2019...
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O's game blog: The homestand begins against Tampa Bay

O's game blog: The homestand begins against Tampa Bay
After completing a 3-4 road trip to Detroit and New York, the Orioles are back home tonight at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They begin a three-game series against Tampa Bay, which is part of a six-game homestand. The Orioles (38-69) went 2-2 at Detroit and 1-2 at Yankee Stadium. The Orioles are 17-31 at home and went 4-1 on their last homestand against Washington and Miami. The Orioles are 14-21 in series-opening games and are 6-10 in series-opening games at home. The Orioles beat the Yankees...
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Honored and humbled: Hearing from the O's Hall of Famers

Honored and humbled: Hearing from the O's Hall of Famers
One day before they officially go into the Orioles Hall of Fame, the new class was honored this afternoon at a luncheon at the Warehouse at Camden Yards and spent a few minutes answering questions for reporters. The class of 2021 includes former shortstop J.J. Hardy, former outfielder Mike Devereaux, former broadcaster Joe Angel and O's superfan Mo Gaba, who passed away last year. Hardy spent the last seven seasons of his 13-year career with the Orioles from 2011-17 and won three straight Gold...
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A winning second half so far for O's, but what does it mean?

A winning second half so far for O's, but what does it mean?
Even after losing the last two games by a combined 23-4 score, the Orioles are playing much better ball in the second half. It has been just 18 games, but their 10-8 record (.556) is decidedly better than the record of 28-61 (.315) from before the All-Star Game. So, what does this mean, and is this 18-game record significant? It is hard to draw any conclusions or believe we have a handle on how the last 55 games will go because of the past 18. The last two losses were ugly, with some misplays...
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The young pitchers try to find their way, plus other notes

The young pitchers try to find their way, plus other notes
During a season when Major League Baseball teams have gone from playing 60 to 162 games, all clubs have scrambled at times to cover innings from their pitchers. In the Orioles' case, a rotation that had a very poor first half, coupled with injuries to some key pitchers, may have, in a way, conspired to get some pitchers here before the team was truly comfortable with them getting a big league chance. But they were, in some cases, on the 40-man roster and they got the call. Look at some of the...
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Harvey exits early, Yankees have big inning late to take series finale

Harvey exits early, Yankees have big inning late to take series finale
It was a strange sequence of events tonight. In the last of the fourth Orioles right-hander Matt Harvey gave up two runs as his scoreless innings streak came to an end. When the last of the fifth began, he was out of the game. These two instances did not seem to be related. No way O's skipper Brandon Hyde would take out a pitcher who had been throwing as well as Harvey recently at just 63 pitches, you would think, and immediately the thought of an injury came to mind. Although it did seem that...
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O's game blog: Matt Harvey vs. Jameson Taillon in series finale

O's game blog: Matt Harvey vs. Jameson Taillon in series finale
The Orioles play the finale of a three-game series at New York and also of their two-city, seven-game road trip tonight at Yankee Stadium. They have split two in New York after going 2-2 at Detroit. So whether they go 3-4 or 4-3 on this trip will be decided tonight in the Bronx. The Orioles got hammered 13-1 last night and it was their fourth loss this year by 11 or more runs. They lost 14-1 June 9 to the Mets and 13-0 on June 23 versus Houston, and those are their biggest losses of the year by...
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Tonight's pitching matchup, plus Mullins honored and Delmarva's walk-off

Tonight's pitching matchup, plus Mullins honored and Delmarva's walk-off
The Orioles hit four solo homers and behind right-hander Jorge López beat the Yankees 7-1 Monday night. But last night New York got six runs in 2 1/3 off Alexander Wells as they routed the Orioles 13-1. So the rubber match is tonight. For the Orioles, this game will decide both if they win this series and have a winning, 4-3 road trip. The pitching matchup features two pitchers on a roll as right-hander Matt Harvey (6-10, 6.20 ERA) faces right-hander Jameson Taillon (7-4, 4.11 ERA). Taillon...
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O's game blog: Alexander Wells faces the Yankees in the Bronx

O's game blog: Alexander Wells faces the Yankees in the Bronx
The Orioles are back in the Bronx tonight for the second of a three-game series with the New York Yankees. They won 7-1 last night, getting four solo homers and a strong outing from Jorge López. They improved to 38-67 overall, to 3-2 on this road trip and to 5-6 this season against the Yankees, including a 5-4 mark in the last nine games. The Orioles have won three of four and seven of their past 10 games. They are 10-6 since the All-Star break. The Orioles have hit 22 homers since the break...
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O's begin tough stretch of division games with a win

O's begin tough stretch of division games with a win
With four months of baseball basically in the books and two months to go, the Orioles still have a lot of American League East games left to play. They began a tough stretch in the schedule last night in terms of AL East opponents with a 7-1 win in the Bronx. It was an impressive start to this series and this stretch of games. Through the end of the series in Detroit, the Orioles had played half of their AL East games for the 2021 season, with half still to play. They had played 38 with 38...
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Winning formula in the Bronx: López and the longball

Winning formula in the Bronx: López and the longball
In an impressive 7-1 win in the series opener in the Bronx against the New York Yankees, Orioles fans could have fun debating which was more vital tonight: the O's hitting four solo homers or Jorge López delivering a huge six-inning outing, the latest deeper start by an O's pitcher? Both were very important to the Orioles taking the opener of the three-game set. They lost the first two games they played against the Yankees this year but now are 5-4 in the last nine this season against New...
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O's game blog: The series in the Bronx begins

O's game blog: The series in the Bronx begins
For the Orioles, who have played 38 of their 104 games to date against American League East opponents, their schedule is about to get division-heavy once again. They open a three-game series tonight at Yankee Stadium to start a run of six straight games within the division. They will also play 13 of their next 16 and 22 of the next 31 through Sept. 5 within the division. The AL East is the only division in the majors with four teams playing at least .500 ball, and fourth-place Toronto is six...
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Notes on starter innings, Baumann at Triple-A and draft picks get going

Notes on starter innings, Baumann at Triple-A and draft picks get going
It won't always be this simple, but it is so far in the second half of the 2021 season. The Orioles are unbeaten when their starter pitches six innings or more. They have done that in six of the 15 games since the All-Star Game and the Orioles are 6-0 in those games. It should be pointed out that they actually had a losing record of 7-9 in the 16 games in which their starter went six or more innings during the first half of the season. But getting better and deeper starts is one big reason why...
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Spenser Watkins pitches into sixth, but O's lose series finale

Spenser Watkins pitches into sixth, but O's lose series finale
Only three Tigers got hits today off former Detroit farmhand and current O's right-hander Spenser Watkins. But his day was a mixed bag of a rough start and some late frustration as Detroit beat the Orioles 6-2 to level the four-game series at two wins each. After he gave up three runs after getting the first two batters out in the last of the first, Watkins settled in nicely. He gave the O's a solid outing and retired 14 in a row from the end of the first into the sixth. Watkins went 5 2/3...
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O's game blog: Looking for a series win at Detroit

O's game blog: Looking for a series win at Detroit
After winning back-to-back games behind strong starting pitching at Detroit, the Orioles have secured at least a split of the four-game series. Now they look for one more victory and to win their third series in five tries since the All-Star break. Behind right-hander Matt Harvey Friday and lefty John Means last night, the Orioles beat Detroit 4-3 and 5-2. Means and Harvey allowed just one run over 12 combined innings. The Orioles are finally getting some deeper and better outings from their...
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John Means: "I'm excited for where this team is going"

John Means: "I'm excited for where this team is going"
For a team that desperately needed better starting pitching after a first half when Baltimore's rotation ERA was 6.11, the Orioles are starting to get that. Deeper outings. Better outings. A nice change, to say the least. To see Matt Harvey and John Means hold Detroit to one run over the last two nights over their combined 12 innings was encouraging. A Tigers team that was 10-4 since the break heading into Friday's game. A Tigers team that beat Minnesota 17-14 Wednesday night and then beat...
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John Means has best outing since IL return as O's win in Detroit

John Means has best outing since IL return as O's win in Detroit
He didn't put up a zero like Matt Harvey on Friday night, but left-hander John Means looked very much like his pre-injury self tonight. And seeing the Orioles ace pitch like that had to be a most welcome sight throughout Birdland. Means allowed just one run over six innings and picked up his first win since his no-hitter as the Orioles beat Detroit 5-2 at Comerica Park. There was a bit of drama in the ninth, as a comfortable win turned into something less than that. Tanner Scott struggled...
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O's game blog: John Means faces Detroit

O's game blog: John Means faces Detroit
With five wins their last seven games and a record of 8-5 since the All-Star break, the Orioles head back to Comerica Park tonight for the third of a four-game series with Detroit. The Tigers won 6-2 Thursday night and the Orioles won 4-3 last night. Pedro Severino hit solo homers in the third and fifth innings Friday for an O's team that has hit 16 home runs its last eight games. It was the second multi-home run game of his career in addition to his three-homer game on June 4, 2019 at Texas....
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