O's game blog: Trying to extend a winning streak

O's game blog: Trying to extend a winning streak
After hitting four homers in an 11-2 win over the New York Mets last night, the Orioles face the same club tonight as their playoff pursuit continues. The Orioles begin play 1/2 game back of the New York Yankees for the No. 8 American League playoff berth. The Orioles (20-21) have won four in a row and six of their last eight games. They are 9-7 against National League teams, and that is 9-3 since they got swept four in a row by the Miami Marlins at home in early August. The O's team ERA is...
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Several Orioles will wear No. 21 on Roberto Clemente Day

Several Orioles will wear No. 21 on Roberto Clemente Day
The Orioles are joining all of Major League Baseball in celebrating the 19th annual Roberto Clemente Day tonight during their game against the New York Mets at Citi Field. This commemorative day was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente's legacy and to officially acknowledge local club nominees of the Clemente Award. As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and official dugout lineup cards, and a special tribute video will...
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Birdland dream scenario: O's beat out the Yankees for the playoffs

Birdland dream scenario: O's beat out the Yankees for the playoffs
It is a scenario that probably the most enthusiastic and exuberant Orioles fans among you could not have imagined: The 2020 Orioles knocking the New York Yankees out of the playoffs. Remember before the season, when some fans wondered if the Orioles could contend in a shortened season with expanded playoffs? Well, those two factors have combined to see the Orioles indeed as contenders with 19 games to play. Through last night's games, every team that is playing .500 baseball would qualify for...
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John Means comes up big as O's win road trip opener

John Means comes up big as O's win road trip opener
The Orioles just completed a 4-2 homestand where they hit well and pitched well for the most part. Both continued tonight as they recorded an impressive 11-2 win over the New York Mets. It was a strong start to an important six-game road trip. The trip began with the Orioles trailing the Yankees by 1 1 /2 games for the No. 8 American League playoff seed. But when New York lost 2-1 tonight to Toronto, the Orioles pulled within a half-game of a playoff spot with 19 games to play. The Yankees are...
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O's game blog: The road trip begins

O's game blog: The road trip begins
The Orioles tonight begin their third and last stretch of 20 games that will complete the shortened 2020 regular season. They also begin their next-to-last road trip of the year. They play the New York Mets the next two nights at Citi Field, then move to Yankee Stadium for four games starting Thursday. The Orioles (19-21) and Mets (19-23) split two games last week in Baltimore. The Orioles won the series opener 9-5 and lost the next night 9-4. The Orioles have won three in a row and five of...
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Carson Fulmer gets latest chance for success with Orioles

Carson Fulmer gets latest chance for success with Orioles
The latest pitcher the Orioles wants to take a look at to see if they can tap into talent that must be there somewhere is right-hander Carson Fulmer. On July 25, Detroit claimed him off waivers from the Chicago White Sox, the club that had drafted him. On Aug. 24, Pittsburgh claimed him from Detroit. On Saturday, the Orioles claimed him from Pittsburgh. That is four teams for Fulmer since late July. Quite a wild ride for a player that had a brilliant college career at Vanderbilt and was drafted...
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O's pitching stats are trending in the right direction

O's pitching stats are trending in the right direction
Let's take a few moments today to appreciate the recent improved play of the Orioles. I'll throw some player and team stats into the beginning of this entry that illustrate that better play. I will add that some of this was surprising to me and I've watched every pitch of the 2020 season. * Over the last 14 games, the team ERA is 3.26. That has brought their season ERA down from 4.99 to its current 4.38 which ranks eighth-best in the American League. The 2019 final team ERA was 5.59, which...
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When the call came, O's prospects were ready

When the call came, O's prospects were ready
It's challenging for all Major League Baseball organizations. First, to properly develop their prospects and second, to know when the right time is to call them up. Too soon and a player can struggle, lose confidence and start their career maybe questioning whether they belong and can play in the majors. But with left fielder Ryan Mountcastle, pitcher Keegan Akin and yesterday, another pitcher in Dean Kremer, the Orioles' prospects proved to be ready for their moment. When their respective...
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An inning-by-inning look at Dean Kremer's strong debut

An inning-by-inning look at Dean Kremer's strong debut
Right-hander Jorge López pitched well in an Orioles win on Friday night, lefty Keegan Akin did so in a victory last night and O's right-hander Dean Kremer made an outstanding major league debut this afternoon and got his first major league win. It was a strong display of starting pitching that helped the club to three straight wins. Kremer allowed just one run and hit over six innings as the Orioles beat New York 5-1 to take the last three games against the Yankees. Yep, they were close to...
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O's game blog: Dean Kremer makes his major league debut

O's game blog: Dean Kremer makes his major league debut
Right-hander Dean Kremer will make his major league debut this afternoon as the Orioles wrap of a four-game series with the New York Yankees. A win today would give the Orioles (18-21) a series win and three straight victories over the Yankees (21-18). Kremer was part of the Manny Machado trade of July 18, 2018. The Orioles sent Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers and in return got Kremer, outfielder Yusniel Diaz, pitcher Zach Pop, and infielders Rylan Bannon and Breyvic Valera. A 14th-round...
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Keegan Akin's second MLB start was even better than the first

Keegan Akin's second MLB start was even better than the first
On a night when Yankees ace Gerrit Cole fanned eight of the first nine Orioles he faced, an O's rookie left-handed starter was not bad either. Not bad at all as Keegan Akin threw 5 1/3 scoreless for the Orioles in his second major league start. And it was a night when Akin showed that some of the work he did last year to improve his secondary pitches may have paid off. He did not get a decision, but after the Orioles exploded for five runs in the last of the sixth off Cole, the Orioles got a...
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O's game blog: Keegan Akin faces Gerrit Cole and the Yankees

O's game blog: Keegan Akin faces Gerrit Cole and the Yankees
After beating the New York Yankees last night for the first time since March 31, 2019, the Orioles look for two in a row against the Bronx Bombers tonight at Camden Yards. The O's lost the opener of Friday's doubleheader 6-5 before winning 6-3 in the nightcap. The Orioles (17-21) ended a 19-game losing streak to New York, improving to 1-3 in the season series. They are 8-15 at home and 9-14 versus American League East opponents. New York (21-17) has lost four of six and 11 of the past 16...
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A look at the MLB Network special on Cal Ripken Jr. with Tom Verducci

A look at the MLB Network special on Cal Ripken Jr. with Tom Verducci
The story of Cal Ripken Jr. and his amazing consecutive games streak would no doubt be a source of pride for Orioles fans if Ripken had been born in Florida or California. But because he is a local product and his family has such strong ties to the team make this story all the more special and sweet for O's fans. It's almost homegrown overload. The kid from Aberdeen plays his entire Hall of Fame career for his hometown team. And his brother plays with him and his father is his manager for a...
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Did O's 'pen provide a glimpse of the future in opener?

Did O's 'pen provide a glimpse of the future in opener?
It may have happened during one of the toughest losses of the year. But as the Orioles were struggling for the clutch hit that never came in the opener of yesterday's doubleheader, their new-look bullpen was throwing gas. It was definitely a look at the immediate and perhaps long-term future for a Baltimore bullpen that has lost Richard Bleier, Mychal Givens and Miguel Castro in trades since Aug. 1. The group of five of Branden Kline, Evan Phillips, Dillon Tate, Hunter Harvey and Tanner Scott...
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Jim Callis with props for O's draft, plus other notes

Jim Callis with props for O's draft, plus other notes
When I interviewed MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis this week it was apparent he is very high on the O's 2020 draft, where they selected six players over the draft's five rounds. Here is a review of the Orioles' draft: * Round 1 (No. 2 overall) - O's selected University of Arkanas outfielder Heston Kjerstad. He was signed to a bonus of $5.2 million, which was well under the slot amount of $7.79 million. * Competitive Balance Round A (No. 30 overall) - They selected Mississippi State shortstop...
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O's game blog: Orioles and Yankees meet in doubleheader

O's game blog: Orioles and Yankees meet in doubleheader
We haven't been able to say this often in recent years, but it's a struggling New York Yankees team that comes to Camden Yards tonight as the Orioles' homestand continues. They'll play a doubleheader to begin a four-game, three-day series through Sunday. The New York Mets beat the Yankees 9-7 in 10 innings Thursday on Pete Alonso's two-run, walk-off homer. New York (20-16) is tied with Toronto for second in the American League East, both five games behind Tampa Bay. The Orioles (16-20) are...
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MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis on O's organizational ranking and more

MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis on O's organizational ranking and more
MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis has been analyzing and covering baseball prospects for a long time. He said one of the most subjective things he takes part in each year is organizational rankings of farms system in Major League Baseball from No. 1 through No. 30. Until recently, his outlet didn't rank all 30, just the top 10 or 15. But now they include every big league club's farm system and in that ranking of all 30, the Orioles moved up from No. 13 to No. 8 in ratings released Sept. 1. It was...
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What does a season without games on farm mean for pitchers' innings?

What does a season without games on farm mean for pitchers' innings?
This unique 2020 season, a year without minor league games, is going to provide teams throughout baseball with challenges in handling their pitching prospects moving forward. Some of these young arms will get some innings in at alternate camp sites around the major leagues or maybe even get some quality innings in while throwing to hitters on their own. But what will it mean toward their innings if we have a normal 2021 minor league season? Look at O's lefty DL Hall, for instance. He threw 94...
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A mixed bag for John Means as O's lose to New York

A mixed bag for John Means as O's lose to New York
There was some good and some not so good for O's lefty John Means today. He went 5 1/3 innings and that was a season high, topping the 4 2/3 innings he threw Aug. 4 against Miami. He also threw a season-high 81 pitches. That is seven more than in his last outing against Toronto. So, he continues to get stretched out and that part of his day was a positive. But he gave up two more homers this afternoon, and that was not a positive. It got the Orioles' pitching off to a so-so start today, and...
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O's game blog: Going for a two-game sweep

O's game blog: Going for a two-game sweep
After an offensive breakout last night, with three homers and 15 hits, the Orioles beat the New York Mets 9-5. They will try for a two-game series sweep this afternoon at Oriole Park. The O's (16-19) improved to 7-13 at home, 8-6 versus the National League, 4-8 in series-opening games and won their second in a row after a five-game losing streak. The Mets (15-21) have lost five in a row. The Orioles have scored 5.71 runs per game against NL opponents, going 8-6. And they average 4.53 runs per...
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