A look at the recent strong performance by the Orioles bullpen

A look at the recent strong performance by the Orioles bullpen
They no longer lead the American League in bullpen ERA (fourth), but the Orioles bullpen has been big for the team lately. Last night was the latest example, as six pitchers combined for six scoreless innings in the 3-2 12-inning walk-off win over Arizona. While the Orioles were waiting for a few runs to come - and they had a long wait after being shut out through seven innings - the Orioles bullpen held Arizona at bay long enough for the O's offense to do just enough. The Orioles got solo...
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O's get walk-off win on Trumbo's home run

O's get walk-off win on Trumbo's home run
On a night they failed repeatedly with runners in scoring position, the Orioles got an important win thanks to two team strengths - power and their bullpen. Mark Trumbo led off the last of the 12th with a solo homer to left to give the Orioles a 3-2, walk-off win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Orioles (83-71) needed to win as the two teams ahead of them in the wild card race had posted wins also. They stay a 1/2-game behind Detroit for the second wild card and 1 1/2 games back of Toronto...
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Notes and quotes with Mancini, Worley and on the Boston series

Notes and quotes with Mancini, Worley and on the Boston series
In the series with the Boston Red Sox, Trey Mancini hit two homers and drove in four runs. But Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo, Jonathan Schoop, J.J. Hardy and Matt Wieters combined for one homer and four RBIs. That was a problem. In the Boston series, Ubaldo Jimenez made a start and allowed two unearned runs over 5 1/3 innings. But in the other three games, Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman and Chris Tillman pitched a combined 13 innings, allowing 21 hits, including four homers,...
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Chris Tillman on the loss and more, plus other clubhouse quotes

Chris Tillman on the loss and more, plus other clubhouse quotes
The Tigers beat the Twins 4-2 tonight to complete a sweep of a day-night doubleheader. That win in the nightcap moves the Tigers (82-70) past the Orioles (82-71) for the second American League wild card. After allowing three early runs tonight and pitching just 1 2/3 innings - his shortest outing of the year - Chris Tillman said he struggled with his mechanics and his command. But not with his shoulder. He was on the disabled list from Aug. 24-Sept. 11 with right shoulder bursitis and he...
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Mancini first Oriole to homer for first two hits, but O's lose to Sox

Mancini first Oriole to homer for first two hits, but O's lose to Sox
Trey Mancini made some Orioles history tonight and he got his team right back in this game as well. They got even, but could not go ahead, as the Red Sox beat the Orioles 5-3 to complete a four-game sweep in front of 26,788 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Detroit beat Minnesota earlier today and is leading its game with the Twins tonight. A Tigers win in the nightcap would put them past the Orioles in the American League's second wild card spot. The Orioles fall to 82-71 for the season and to...
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O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces Boston in series finale

O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces Boston in series finale
After wins by scores of 5-2, 5-2 and 5-1, the first-place Boston Red Sox can complete a four-game sweep of the Orioles tonight. They have not swept a four-game series at Camden Yards since Sept. 20-23, 2002. Boston has won seven in a row to get to 88-64 and is a season-high 24 games over .500. The Red Sox have a season-best five-game lead in the American League East over the Blue Jays with the Orioles six games back. Boston's magic number to clinch the division is six. They are a major...
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Adam Jones on hitters pressing, Donnie Hart on facing David Ortiz

Adam Jones on hitters pressing, Donnie Hart on facing David Ortiz
If the Orioles are pressing on offense as Chris Davis and manager Buck Showalter said last night, here's a good question: How does a team in a playoff race, desperate for wins, stop pressing and start scoring? I asked center fielder Adam Jones for his take. "I just think at this time, you want it so bad," Jones said. "You want to be the guy to do it, as opposed to just let it happen. September baseball is a mental grind and a physical nightmare, and somehow, someway you get through...
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Still holding a wild card spot, can O's come back from brutal loss?

Still holding a wild card spot, can O's come back from brutal loss?
That loss felt like the dagger last night. The Orioles were beaten again by the Boston Red Sox and they greatly contributed to their own demise. Chris Davis made the two-run throwing error on a play that should have ended the top of the sixth with the Orioles leading 1-0. Brad Brach then made it worse by leaving the next pitch right where Andrew Benintendi wanted it. Two pitches, five runs, devastating loss. Despite that, the Orioles remain holding a playoff berth at the moment. Not only do...
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Chris Davis on his costly throwing error, plus more clubhouse quotes

Chris Davis on his costly throwing error, plus more clubhouse quotes
For Orioles first baseman Chris Davis, there was no need for spin or rationalization. His error tonight loomed large and led to a costly 5-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox. Given a second chance at the ground ball to his right with the bases loaded in the sixth, Davis might have stayed near the bag and let second baseman Jonathan Schoop try to record the third out. But Davis ranged to his right, fielded Sandy Leon's grounder and then threw it wildly past pitcher Brad Brach covering first base. Two...
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Boston takes advantage of O's sixth-inning meltdown for 5-1 win

Boston takes advantage of O's sixth-inning meltdown for 5-1 win
Even after allowing a walk and two singles, and even after right-hander Brad Brach fell behind a batter 3-0 with the bases loaded, the Orioles still should have been out of the top of the sixth inning tonight with a 1-0 lead. Instead, they allowed five unearned runs and left that half-inning trailing Boston 5-1 at Camden Yards. They lost by that 5-1 score to fall six games back in the American League East by dropping their third straight in this four-game series. O's starter Ubaldo Jimenez...
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O's game blog: Ubaldo Jimenez gets the start against Boston

O's game blog: Ubaldo Jimenez gets the start against Boston
With a record of just 2-4 on an 11-game homestand, the Orioles look to get their offense going and get back in the win column tonight as they host the first-place Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox (87-64) have won the first two games of this series over the Orioles (82-69) by identical 5-2 scores. The Orioles have just 10 hits in this series. Over their last four games, they have scored two runs each game on 25 hits while going 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position. O's starters Dylan Bundy and...
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Adam Jones on Orioles attendance, Donnie Hart on Trey Mancini

Adam Jones on Orioles attendance, Donnie Hart on Trey Mancini
The topic of Orioles attendance seems to be one creating continued discussion. The Orioles rank 10th in the American League in attendance and the first two games of the Boston series drew crowds of 18,456 on Monday and 20,387 last night. Orioles center fielder Adam Jones today gave his take on the club's attendance, thanking the fans that do come and wishing a few more would join them. "The fans impact at Camden Yards is unbelievable," Jones said. "They know that and the players understand...
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After falling back in division race, O's need to hold wild card now

After falling back in division race, O's need to hold wild card now
The Orioles' hopes to win a second American League East title in three seasons have pretty much gone south in less than a week. When they beat Boston 1-0 last Wednesday at Fenway Park, the Orioles came home one game out of first place. Who knew after completing a 6-3 road trip, with impressive series wins at Detroit and Boston, that the Orioles would unravel on their own turf? But they've gone 2-4 on this homestand and now are five games out in the division. This is not at all what they had...
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Gausman on a pitch that got away, Mancini on a special homer

Gausman on a pitch that got away, Mancini on a special homer
It was a pitch that didn't go exactly where O's right-hander Kevin Gausman intended. It was a pitch that David Ortiz hit for a huge three-run homer. His blast off Gausman in the seventh tonight turned a one-run lead into four and Boston beat the Orioles 5-2 at Camden Yards. The Orioles fall to 82-69, falling five games out in the American League East with 11 to play. "I was trying to go down and away," Gausman said of the Ortiz homer, his eighth this year against the Orioles. "He's a...
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Trey Mancini hits first major league homer, but O's lose to Boston

Trey Mancini hits first major league homer, but O's lose to Boston
Boston's Mookie Betts and David Ortiz combined to beat the Orioles. Yes, again. The two players that O's pitchers can't contain this year helped Boston to a 5-2 win tonight at Camden Yards. At 82-69 the Orioles have lost the first two games of this four-game series to fall five games out of first place with 11 remaining. The hopes of another division championship are diminishing rapidly. The Red Sox are 87-64 and moved to a season-best 23 games over .500 with their sixth win in a row and...
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O's game blog: Gausman faces Boston at Camden Yards

O's game blog: Gausman faces Boston at Camden Yards
After last night's 5-2 loss to Boston, the Orioles host the Red Sox tonight in the second of a four-game series at Camden Yards. The American League East leading Red Sox are 86-64 while the Orioles are 82-68. The Orioles are tied with Toronto for second place, both four games behind Boston and both co-leaders for the two AL wild card spots. In that race, Detroit is 2 1/2 games back of the O's and Blue Jays with Houston and Seattle three out and New York 4 1/2 games back. Tonight's pitching...
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David Ortiz on retirement, dugout phones and more

David Ortiz on retirement, dugout phones and more
On his last regular season trip as a player to Baltimore, during a dugout press conference where he mainly discussed his team, David Ortiz did take a few questions about playing against the Orioles and playing in Baltimore over the years. He was asked, of course, about what happened in the visiting dugout on July 27, 2013. Ortiz destroyed a dugout phone during a brief tirade. For that, a player that made an average of $86,419.75 per game that year was fined the sum of $5,000. He appealed the...
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Mancini on starting tonight, Wieters on Gausman's improved third pitch

Mancini on starting tonight, Wieters on Gausman's improved third pitch
After getting called up to the majors for the first time on Sunday, tonight Trey Mancini will make his major league debut for the Orioles. He's batting seventh as the designated hitter against Eduardo Rodriguez and the Boston Red Sox. "It is really exciting," Mancini said this afternoon. "This is what I've been waiting for my whole life. But at the same time, it's the same game I've been playing for 20 years so I've got to try and calm my emotions. I know that will be tough, especially...
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A take on Dylan Bundy, plus O's and Red Sox notes

A take on Dylan Bundy, plus O's and Red Sox notes
Watching Dylan Bundy give up five runs over five innings last night and pass the 100 innings mark for the second time in his pro career, I wondered if the Orioles should consider shutting him down for the 2016 season. But guess what? He is probably only going to make another two starts in the regular season. The Orioles pretty much have gotten the kid through the season healthy, even if he isn't quite as sharp as he was a few weeks ago. We've seen this young right-hander come a long way this...
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Dylan Bundy on the loss, Manny Machado on Porcello and more

Dylan Bundy on the loss, Manny Machado on Porcello and more
The Orioles' chance to win the American League East took a hit tonight. A relentless offense finally got to right-hander Dylan Bundy, while the Orioles never did much get to right-hander Rick Porcello. Porcello's complete-game four-hitter on just 89 pitches lifted Boston to a 5-2 win. The Orioles fall to 82-68 and four games back with 12 to play. They will need to win three in a row against Boston, or they will leave this series no closer than three games to the division lead with nine to...
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