A few thoughts after a road trip that put a real damper on the Orioles' playoff chances, as the Birds lost three series against three teams that they are competing with for postseason berths.
* Michael Morse has started just two of the five games he has been an Oriole. Even if we don't count Saturday since he had a long travel day and there was not a plan to start him then, it is still two of four games. Now the O's have only faced one lefty in that stretch, but I thought they might just...
Well, that road trip could have gone better.
The Indians scored twice in the fifth inning to break a 4-4 tie and beat the Orioles 6-4 at Progressive Field. The Orioles lost all three series on this trip and went 3-6 in the nine games at Boston, New York and Cleveland.
The Orioles, who began the night three games out of the second American League wild-card spot, could fall four back later tonight.
The Orioles have lost seven of the last 11 games, are 8-13 over the last 21 games and 73-65...
Jason Hammel has pitched in 41 games for the Orioles the last two years and each one has been as a starter. But as he is set to return to the team now, if they want to use him out of the bullpen, he's up for that.
"Obviously I'd like to be a starter, but it's September and everybody is used in any situation," Hammel said after his outing last night in Aberdeen. "I am just happy to be healthy and feeling good and I know I can help the team.
"It is a completely different mindset, but I...
First baseman Trey Mancini has been named the Most Valuable Player for the playoff-bound short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds.
The Orioles' eighth-round pick in June out of Notre Dame, Mancini has hit .324 with 18 doubles, two triples, three homers and 35 RBIs in 67 games for Aberdeen. He has a .447 slugging percentage and .826 OPS.
"Trey has been our most consistent bat in the lineup and his presence at first base has really solidified our infield," IronBirds manager Matt Merullo...
The Orioles offense can't seem to get on a roll at the moment, and the Orioles can't seem to get on a roll, either.
It has now been almost a month since the Orioles had a three-game win streak. Last night's loss at Cleveland stopped that from happening for the first time since Aug. 6-9 - and that was 23 games ago.
The Orioles were shut out at New York on Saturday, but then scored 14 runs over the next two games. They were shut out last night until Nate McLouth's homer in the ninth.
The...
ABERDEEN, Md. - After throwing 57 pitches over four innings tonight at short-season Single-A Aberdeen, Orioles pitcher Jason Hammel pronounced himself ready to return to the big leagues.
"I'd say I'm ready," Hammel said after his outing. "I don't exactly know what the plan is for the next couple of days. But I've done my work and they've taken good care of me. I feel healthy and ready to go when they want me."
Hammel had a very sharp first two innings tonight, getting six quick outs...
ABERDEEN, Md. - Making a rehab start tonight for the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds, O's right-hander Jason Hammel has pitched two 1-2-3 innings against the Lowell Spinners, a Red Sox farm club.
Hammel has gotten four groundouts and two flyouts on just 17 pitches, throwing 10 for strikes with his fastball sitting mostly at 93 mph. Hammel is expected to go about five innings and around 65 pitches in this game.
Wearing a No. 49 home Aberdeen jersey, Hammel got off to a strong start...
ABERDEEN, Md. - Orioles right-hander Jason Hammel is pitching in the short-season Single-A New York-Penn League tonight. He'll make a major league rehab start at Aberdeen, his second in the minors on his way back to the Orioles.
Last Thursday, Hammel was pain-free and pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings on three hits at Double-A Bowie. He threw 47 pitches.
Hammel last pitched for the Orioles on July 28 against Boston and has been on the disabled list since with a right flexor mass...
Here are a few notes from the final day of the regular season, which was Monday for most of minor league baseball. Short-season, Single-A Aberdeen still has two games left in the regular season after clinching its first playoff berth last night.
It was a disappointing end for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides when they were shutout Monday afternoon, to miss out on their first playoff berth since 2005.
Still, some credit should go to the staff and players there, led by manager Ron Johnson, who is the...
New month, new results for the Orioles?
Well, they turned the page on a 12-14 August and have begun September going 2-0. It's a start and they would sure like to make this a September to remember.
When the Ryas lost to the Angels in Anaheim last night, the O's moved to within two games of the second American League wild card. Yep, they're still in it.
If the Orioles win tonight at Cleveland they will have a three-game win streak. If it seems like it has been a while, it has. The O's last...
They finally made it. In their 12th year, the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds are headed to the New York-Penn League playoffs for the first time.
With tonight's 7-3 win over Lowell, Aberdeen improved to 38-32 and clinched first place in the McNamara Division. Now the IronBirds advance to the league semifinals and a best-of-three series that it appears will begin Friday night at Ripken Stadium. The championship series is also best-of-three in the New York-Penn League.
Aberdeen began...
The Orioles used early and late offense and a strong outing from Bud Norris to win 7-2 today at Cleveland in the opener of a three-game series against a rival wild-card playoff contender.
The Orioles are 2-0 in September. Hey, it's a start.
The win allowed the Orioles to stay ahead of Cleveland and New York, which also won, in the race for the AL's second wild card spot. If Tampa Bay loses tonight at Anaheim the O's would be two games out for that spot.
Norris took a shutout to the...
The Orioles begin a three-game series in Cleveland today with Bud Norris (3-1, 4.91 ERA) facing Justin Masterson (14-9, 3.49 ERA).
Norris is looking for a career-high 10th win counting his wins earlier with Houston. The Orioles are 5-1 in his six starts this season.
Some other O's and Tribe notes:
* The Orioles have gotten just three quality starts over their last nine games with an ERA of 5.73 for their starting pitchers in that stretch.
* Cleveland ended a five-game losing streak with...
Left-hander Zach Britton is expected to join the Orioles in Cleveland today and be added to the roster. Britton was scheduled to pitch today's regular season finale for Triple-A Norfolk, but Mike Wright has been promoted from Double-A Bowie to make the start as Britton joins the Orioles.
Britton went 2-3 with an ERA of 4.76 in six starts this season for the Orioles. His last outing for Baltimore was on July 9 when he gave up five runs in five innings against Texas.
He is 6-5 with a 4.27 ERA...
The Orioles won just one of three games over the weekend and they gained a game on the Tampa Bay Rays, who got swept by Oakland.
Remember when it seemed like Tampa Bay would never lose again? The Rays are 1-7 in their last eight games. Remember when the Orioles took the series from Oakland? The A's are 6-1 since leaving Baltimore.
Things can change fast folks. If you think the Orioles are not playoff contenders, guess again. They are three games behind Tampa Bay for the second wild card as...
For the Orioles the offense finally came.
It came in a seven-run explosion which featured a pair of three-run homers in the top of the seventh today as the Orioles beat the Yankees 7-3 to win the series finale and avoid being swept.
Shutout for the last two days without one extra-base hit through six innings today, J.J. Hardy hit a three-run homer to give the O's a 4-3 lead and Adam Jones smoked a three-run shot to center to make it 7-3.
Michael Morse and Danny Valencia singled to lead off...
Talk about a strong finish to a season. Orioles 20-year-old pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez put together one impressive four-start run that ended last night for Double-A Bowie with the Baysox season ending on Monday.
Saturday night, the lefty went six shutout innings of five-hit ball to win at Erie and improve to 4-3 with a 4.22 ERA in 11 Double-A starts.
In those last four games, Rodriguez went 3-0 with a 0.36 ERA. In 25 innings he gave up just 16 hits and one run with three walks and 26...
Some of you have already come to the conclusion that the Orioles do not stack up in the American League East. After Saturday's loss at New York, the Orioles are in fourth place in the division.
Some of these numbers are not pretty: The Orioles have lost four of their last five in the AL East in addition to losing eight of their last 10, and 11 of their last 17 division games.
In the last two weeks they have had key series with Tampa Bay, Boston and New York and dropped the first two games of...
Scott Feldman pitched a very strong game, but Ivan Nova was just a little bit better.
Nova threw a complete-game three-hitter as the Yankees beat the Orioles 2-0 this afternoon at Yankee Stadium. The O's fall to 1-4 on this important road trip.
Nova, now 8-4 with a 2.88 ERA, threw 104 pitches in pitching his second complete game of the year against the Orioles. He beat them 3-2 on a three-hitter July 5 at New York.
With their win this afternoon, the Yankees moved into third place, a...
The Orioles are 1-3 on this road trip and they have allowed 27 runs in those four games. Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez got rocked.
To say the least, the Orioles could use a good start today from Scott Feldman, who is 4-3 with an ERA of 4.56 since being acquired from the Cubs.
Feldman has been solid in his career against the AL East and you know the O's considered that before trading for him. He is 11-10 with an ERA of 4.16 in 26 career starts.
With the Orioles, he has faced Toronto and...
