When David Hess made his major league debut and won it a week ago today in Baltimore, he had a very familiar catcher. He had worked with Chance Sisco at Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. Then manager Buck Showalter paired the two rookies together against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Hess allowed a three-run homer to Matt Duffy in the top of the first. Then he pitched shutout ball from the second through the sixth to get a 6-3 victory in the opener of a doubleheader. It was an impressive debut as...
If the Orioles can win at Boston tonight, some losing streaks will fall. They have lost 13 in a row on the road. They have lost seven in a row versus Boston. And the Orioles have lost all six games started by right-hander Alex Cobb this year.
The 6-2 loss to Boston on Thursday night matched a team record for consecutive road losses. That was set from April 8-28, 1988. The O's have been outscored 84-41 during the 13 losses with a rotation ERA of 6.93.
The Orioles have their first seven-game...
He's been the most dominant starting pitcher this year on the O's farm, and now right-hander Michael Baumann will get the challenge of facing hitters in the Carolina League.
We learned late last night that the Orioles are promoting Baumann from Single-A Delmarva to Single-A Frederick as part of moves involving eight players and all four full-season affiliates.
A third-round round pick out of Jacksonville University in June 2017, Baumann has dominant numbers since joining the pro ranks. In...
After allowing just two runs over 16 1/3 innings his past two starts, does Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman stay on a roll tonight? He'll try to pitch the team to a win in the opener of a four-game series at Boston that is the beginning of an 11-game road trip versus the Red Sox, White Sox and Rays.
In his first two starts this season, Gausman had a 8.00 ERA, but over his past six he is 3-1 with a 2.14 ERA. Over 42 innings in that span, he's allowed 37 hits with nine walks and 34...
Since the 2012 season - when they returned to the playoffs after 14 losing seasons - the Orioles have a winning record in head-to-head matchups with the Boston Red Sox.
In fact, the Orioles have won the season series in five of the last six years since then. That includes a 10-9 mark last season, when the Red Sox won 93 games and their second straight American League East title.
But now the Orioles may have some trouble beating the Red Sox. They got swept three straight at Fenway Park in April...
The Orioles offense had scored 58 runs and hit 19 homers in going 5-2 during this long homestand. But those bats got shutdown today by Philadelphia 25-year-old right-hander Nick Pivetta.
Throwing a 94 mph fastball and some plus sliders and curves, Pivetta held the Orioles to a pair of hits over seven innings today, as Philadelphia beat the Orioles 4-1. Pivetta retired 17 of the final 19 batters he faced improving to 3-2 with a 3.72 ERA. He got 23 swings and misses among 99 pitches.
At least one...
A strong outing for Orioles right-hander Andrew Cashner started to unravel a bit in the top of the sixth. But it stayed strong throughout this afternoon for Philadelphia right-hander Nick Pivetta as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Orioles 4-1 at drizzly and rainy Camden Yards.
The Orioles fall to 13-29 and they wrapped up this homestand going 5-3. They are 10-13 at home but lost today for the 23rd time in their past 32 games.
The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the home first. Outscored 58-17 in...
After last night's rainout the Orioles and Phillies will try to get in a single game this afternoon at Camden Yards. It's the final game of what will now be an eight-game homestand if they get it in. The Orioles have gone 5-2 on the stand, winning the two series' versus Kansas City and Tampa Bay. They've hit 19 homers and scored 58 runs during those seven games.
The Orioles beat Tampa Bay 17-1 Sunday when they last played, as they set season highs in runs and hits with 19. The Orioles...
For years, Orioles catcher Chance Sisco could read scouting reports and articles where prospects analysts questioned his defense. Not long after he was drafted you could find some evaluators that felt he'd never catch a day in the major leagues.
Well, the American League leader in caught stealing percentage today is Sisco. He has the best mark in the league.
AL leaders, caught stealing percentage: .471 - Chance Sisco, Orioles (8-of-17) .429 - Mike Zunino, Seattle (6-of-14) .400 - Jason Castro,...
After a long wait to get to an eventual rainout last night, perhaps the raindrops will slow enough to allow the Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies to play this afternoon, in a game now scheduled to begin at 12:05 p.m.
With the Orioles having hit .312 as a team on this homestand, their team average is up to a season-high .236. During a 5-2 stand, the Orioles have hit 19 homers, 13 doubles and scored 58 runs. They beat Tampa Bay 17-1 on Sunday.
Some Orioles individual hitting notes:
* Jonathan...
The Orioles host Philadelphia tonight at Camden Yards. It's the start of a two-game series to end a nine-game homestand. The Orioles have gone 5-2 on the homestand, winning series versus Kansas City and Tampa Bay. They've hit 19 homers and scored 58 runs during those seven games.
The Orioles team slash line was .232/.296/.386 in April and that has improved to .262/.317/.461 in May. After averaging 3.4 runs per game over their first 34 games, the Orioles have averaged 8.3 in the last seven...
The Orioles are 13-28 and for now stuck at the bottom of the American League East. It is a record that would indicate that the team's management should at least consider rebuilding the roster. Having several players that can become free agents at the end of the year could hasten such a decision.
But so far we have not heard anyone from the club say that rebuilding is in the plans, even if it is being discussed behind the scenes. We have not heard that the team could begin to look more and more...
Remember that time when the Orioles scored three runs or less 20 times in their first 34 games? The Orioles returned home and the home runs are back - and so are some big numbers on offense.
In those first 34 games, the Orioles hit 34 homers and averaged 3.4 runs per game. In the last seven games, during what has so far been a 5-2 homestand, the Orioles have hit 19 homers and have averaged 8.3 runs per game. Yep, quite a change.
The Orioles have hit three or more homers in a game nine times...
On a day that the Orioles had 19 hits, including four homers, and beat Tampa Bay 17-1, the biggest development was right-hander Dylan Bundy returning to his previous form.
After pitching to a 1.42 ERA through five starts, Bundy had allowed 22 runs and 23 hits with nine homers over his last three starts and nine innings.
On Tuesday night he became the first pitcher to allow four homers and not get one out. But it was much different today as Bundy gave up just two hits - a pair doubles - while...
It was a day where right-hander Dylan Bundy got back on track. And, after scoring just three runs last night in the second of three games against the Tampa Bay Rays, so did the Orioles offense. Big time.
That was an impressive combination on Mother's Day at the Yard that led the Orioles to a 17-1 romp over the Rays in front of a crowd of 25,257. They win three of four in this series and have back-to-back series wins for the first time in 2018.
Bundy had pitched to a 19.00 ERA, allowing nine...
The Orioles split a doubleheader with Tampa Bay on Saturday and have taken two of three in this series. As the teams meet in the series finale today, a win by the Orioles would give them two straight series wins for the first time in 2018.
The Orioles took the opener 6-3 yesterday behind right-hander David Hess. They lost the nightcap 10-3 as their pitchers allowed 12 hits and seven walks. The Orioles gave up 10 or more runs for the seventh time.
In the second game, Baltimore (12-28) saw a...
In Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader, the Orioles used three homegrown pitchers to beat the Tampa Bay Rays with right-hander David Hess getting his first major league chance and making the most of it.
Even though he was pitching on three days' rest, and even though he gave up a three-run homer to Rays' Matt Duffy in the first inning, Hess didn't buckle under any pressure and he showed some talent and poise out there.
It was a day that Hess (round 5, 2014), Tanner Scott (round 6, 2014) and...
Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb allowed single runs in the first four innings tonight as Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 10-3 to split a doubleheader at Camden Yards.
The Orioles fall to 12-28 and have lost nine of 14, 20 of 27 and 22 of their last 30 games. They are 4-2 on this nine-game homestand. Tampa Bay improves to 16-21 and ended a five-game losing streak.
The Orioles won 6-3 in the opener as right-hander David Hess won his major league debut. He went six innings and held Tampa Bay scoreless...
Making his major league debut today, Orioles right-hander David Hess gave up a three-run homer to the fourth batter he faced. It got better for him after that. A lot better.
Hess pitched scoreless ball from the second through the sixth today to get the win as the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 6-3 for their fourth consecutive victory. They are 4-1 on this homestand and 12-27 for the season. The Rays have lost five straight and eight of 11.
Hess got Denard Span to fly out to start his day. But two...
Right-hander David Hess will make his major league debut this afternoon as the Orioles host Tampa Bay in Game 1 of a single-admission doubleheader.
The Orioles (11-27) beat the Rays 11-6 last night as Manny Machado hit a grand slam, homered twice and drove in six runs. The Orioles have their first three-game win streak of the season and have outscored their opponents 25-13 in those games.
The Orioles have scored 32 runs with 47 hits and hit 11 home runs in the four games on this homestand. In...