A couple of bases-loaded walks tonight in the second inning gave the Orioles a lead and some evidence that they can work a count and offer their manager the type of at-bats he's been pleading for during the season.
Those walks, by Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle, weren't intended to provide the bulk of the offense. The Orioles would need to back them with some clutch hitting and hope the bullpen also could step up.
Jorge Mateo led off the sixth with a double against Tayler Saucedo, his...
The Orioles aren't playing tonight. They have an off-day in New York. We should all be so lucky.
"Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Broadway?"
"Practice, practice, practice."
I've already mastered the art of the mailbag. How to gather questions, provide answers - or at least make the attempt - and exhibit tremendous patience while repeating myself. And also how to make it conversational at times, which ain't easy with the mail.
I implore everyone to be as expansive as you'd like...
The Orioles enter a new month with pitchers Alexander Wells and Dusten Knight added to their expanded roster.
Wells has a 7.71 ERA and a 1.929 WHIP in six games with the Orioles, but he's strung together three consecutive scoreless appearances with Triple-A Norfolk. Knight allowed six earned runs (seven total) and eight hits with four walks and nine strikeouts in his five outings with the Orioles over 7 1/3 innings.
Both pitchers were on the taxi squad during the series against the Blue Jays...
The Orioles can happily push aside August, giving it a hard shove after losing 24 of 28 games, and get down to September business.
There's always something to keep them active and it's usually about the roster.
The difference now is they can expand it rather than just plugging holes.
With the team in Canada and transporting a taxi squad, the logical moves today would be to recall left-hander Alexander Wells and right-hander Dusten Knight since they're already in the visiting clubhouse at...
In a season with so many challenges for the Orioles, testing them seemingly in every way imaginable, the attempt to win a game on a particular night can suddenly become a struggle of a different sort.
Just trying to get a hit.
Blue Jays left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu allowed two baserunners in the first inning tonight but retired 15 batters in a row and flirted with history until Ryan Mountcastle lined a double into right field with two outs in the sixth in a one-run game.
Austin Hays drove in the...
Keegan Akin will try to build on his last start and the Orioles will try to end a four-game losing streak tonight against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
Akin earned his second major league win Thursday by holding the Angels to one run and three hits in seven innings with six strikeouts and lowering his ERA from 7.92 to 7.26. He faced the Blue Jays on June 26 in Buffalo and allowed six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette hit home runs.
Akin also faced the Blue...
The first batter of the fourth inning got Chris Ellis again, except he kept going tonight. Kept himself in the Orioles' pitching plans that otherwise are in their familiar unsettled state.
Ellis didn't allow a run against the Blue Jays until Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered to lead off the fourth and tie the game. He went a career-high 4 2/3 innings, allowing just the one run and two hits.
Ryan Mountcastle homered and had an RBI infield hit to drive in both Orioles runs, but Dillon Tate was...
When projecting which players could join the Orioles on their slightly expanded September roster, reliever Paul Fry wasn't supposed to enter the discussion because he wasn't supposed to leave the team.
Fry was the top left-handed reliever on the club. The top reliever, period, for a time. Earning a chance to close. And then the bottom fell out.
The Orioles optioned Fry to Triple-A Norfolk after he allowed four runs Sunday in one-third of an inning - Joey Wendle's grand slam after a single...
Center fielder Cedric Mullins is out of tonight's Orioles lineup for the opener of a three-game series in Toronto. Manager Brandon Hyde is resting him. There isn't an injury situation.
Ryan McKenna, recalled this afternoon, is playing center and batting seventh. Austin Hays is leading off and playing left field.
Jahmai Jones also is counted among the four reserves. Jorge Mateo is the second baseman tonight, with Ramón UrÃas at shortstop.
Ryan Mountcastle is batting second again.
A...
The Orioles are carrying a four-man bench in Toronto today after recalling reliever Zack Burdi and outfielder Ryan McKenna from Triple-A Norfolk.
Spots were opened yesterday with the Orioles optioning pitchers Paul Fry and Spenser Watkins.
Burdi, a former first-round pick out of the University of Louisville, was selected off waivers from the White Sox on Aug. 18. He has an 8.27 ERA and 1.898 WHIP in 14 major league relief appearances covering 16 1/3 innings, but he averages 12.7 strikeouts per...
The freedom to expand their roster by two players on Wednesday also is going to increase the Orioles' level of health. Lowering the chances of the bench running out of available bodies.
Anthony Santander is playing with a sore ankle. Ramón UrÃas is dealing with soreness in his upper right leg and groin area. Jorge Mateo was unavailable for a few days with discomfort in his lower back. DJ Stewart had a sore knee that kept him on the bench. Pedro Severino also was restricted by a sore knee...
The Orioles won't have the Rays to kick them around anymore.
Not this year, at least.
The schedule for the remainder of the season doesn't include another series between the teams, with the Rays' parting shot a 12-8 victory before an announced crowd of 8,353 at Camden Yards.
The three-game sweep, pretty much sealed by Joey Wendle's grand slam off Paul Fry in the seventh, left the Orioles 1-18 against the Rays and 0-9 in Baltimore. They've lost the last 12 games.
This is the club's first...
Alexander Wells worked two innings and threw 26 pitches in last night's start at Triple-A Norfolk, but he's healthy. The Orioles are keeping him available to work in relief this week.
Chris Ellis is starting on Monday in Toronto, but Wells can be a bulk guy behind him if he's added to the active roster. He's making the trip.
The 26-man roster expands to 28 on Wednesday.
Last night's outing was the equivalent of a side session for Wells, who hasn't allowed a run in his last three...
Cole Sulser thought it was a pretty good pitch. Manager Brandon Hyde described it as OK. Neither one expected that it was going to land on the flag court in right field, as close as possible without striking the top of the out-of-town scoreboard.
The Orioles lost again to the Rays last night 4-3 after Randy Arozarena hit his eighth home run against them this season and increased his RBI total to 18. He entered the game slashing .469/.500/.980 versus a team that can't figure out how to stop...
The Orioles keep a shorter bench to provide manager Brandon Hyde with an extra reliever, a survival tactic with his starters routinely unable to provide much length.
More position players are coming with rosters expanding on Wednesday. Meanwhile, with the timing odd, Hyde's rotation is attempting to produce the kind of streak that the Orioles won't regret.
Keegan Akin closed out the Angels series by going a career-high seven innings. Matt Harvey logged six last night before succumbing to the...
Manager Brandon Hyde sat Austin Hays again tonight with the opposition starting a right-hander. DJ Stewart is in left field and batting fifth against Tampa Bay's Michael Wacha.
Hays came off the bench Wednesday and Thursday against the Angels and was 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. He was in left field last night with the Rays starting southpaw Shane McClanahan and went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer.
The splits are factoring into the lineup decisions. Hays is slashing .214/.267/.355...
Ditching a 19-game losing streak and winning two in a row created a positive energy with the Orioles that couldn't withstand the cold water dumped on it tonight. By a team that brings its own buckets.
The Rays maintained their hold on the Orioles tonight, scoring three runs in the first and seventh innings with nothing in between, and registering a 6-3 victory before an announced crowd of 7,155 at Camden Yards.
Matt Harvey retired the last 16 batters he faced, beginning with his strikeout that...
Jorge López joined the other Orioles pitchers yesterday throwing in the outfield, dark clouds rolling in but failing to produce rain that would have rushed the group back inside the clubhouse. He cut through the dugout after he finished, a big smile on his face, a stark contrast to his mood during and after his last start in St. Petersburg, Fla.
López was removed from the game after two innings, and after he received a mound visit to check on his physical condition and a conversation with...
The Orioles didn't take batting practice this afternoon. Their pitchers threw in the outfield before the Rays went into the cage.
Ominous clouds are hovering about the ballpark, but so far no rain. The forecast keeps pushing back the precipitation in Baltimore.
Manager Brandon Hyde's media session was moved from the dugout to the Zoom format. He provided an update on reliever Hunter Harvey, who's made three injury rehab appearances with Norfolk and allowed two runs and five hits in three...
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