Reliever Ross Wolf was excited to have his parents fly into Norfolk yesterday. He had no idea that their arrival would come on the same day that the Orioles traded him to the Oakland Athletics for utility man Jake Fox.
"Bittersweet," he said.
I had a brief chat with Wolf this afternoon while he waited for his flight to Las Vegas, where Triple-A Sacramento was playing later that night.
Wolf, 27, said he found out about the trade after arriving at the ballpark yesterday, though both teams...
Jake Fox made his Orioles debut tonight, pinch-hitting for shortstop Cesar Izturis as the potential tying run with one out in the seventh inning.
The Marlins countered with left-hander Taylor Tankersley, which blew the percentages out the window. So much for righty vs. righty.
Fox, who arrived at Camden Yards this afternoon, stepped out of the box twice while waiting for the ovation to die down.
I'm kidding.
Fox flied to the warning track in center on a 1-1 pitch, with Adam Jones advancing...
Not sure if the Matt Wieters home run is the reason, but Jeremy Guthrie sure settled down after the second inning.
Guthrie has retired 10 of the last 11 batters since he drilled Jorge Cantu on the left side and caused plate umpire Doug Eddings to warn both benches. Ronny Paulino's single leading off the fourth inning is the only smudge in that streak.
Guthrie just turned in a routine fifth, getting two ground balls and a strikeout. He threw 55 pitches through the second. His count stands at...
The Marlins sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead.
Pretty much everything went wrong.
Jeremy Guthrie gave up four hits, including Hanley Ramirez's two-run double. He hit his second batter of the game, Jorge Cantu, who followed Ramirez to the plate, and umpire Doug Eddings warned both benches.
Guthrie also walked leadoff hitter Cody Ross to start the rally, and second baseman Scott Moore failed to glove Chris Coghlan's liner up the...
Nolan Reimold is starting at first base tonight for Triple-A Norfolk.
Reimold is carrying a five-game hitting streak that's raised his average to .221. He's hitting .450 in that span, with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored.
Reimold has hit safely in 13 of 17 games in June, batting .297 with a home run and seven RBIs.
Left-hander Michael Gonzalez is scheduled to throw another inning Friday night for the Gulf Coast League Orioles. He could pitch Monday for one of the in-state...
Interim manager Juan Samuel joked that you "add a little headache" when trying to find at-bats for Garrett Atkins, who survived today's roster moves.
"We've got some lefties coming up, and now that we're in our league, the DH spot is always open to get somebody in," Samuel said. "If you need to give Luke (Scott) an off-day or give Corey Patterson an off-day, we might face some lefties where Atkins needs to be in there. We've got a righty tomorrow, lefty next day, so we'll see what we...
Michael Gonzalez threw 19 pitches in the first inning for the Gulf Coast League Orioles, and his fastball was clocked in the 90-91 mph range. He had trouble hitting the mid-80s a month ago.
Felix Pie went 1-for-4 with a run scored and two strikeouts as the designated hitter.
"Those guys are going to continue to do their rehab down there," interim manager Juan Samuel said.
Pie is expected to join an in-state affiliate later this week, perhaps by Thursday. Single-A Frederick will be...
For the Orioles:
Corey Patterson LF
Miguel Tejada 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 1B
Luke Scott DH
Adam Jones CF
Matt Wieters C
Scott Moore 2B
Cesar Izturis SS
Jeremy Guthrie RHP
For the Marlins:
Coghlan LF
Sanchez 1B
Ramirez SS
Cantu DH
Uggla 2B
Ross CF
Stanton RF
Helms 3B
Paulino C
Sanchez RHP
Jake Fox's name is listed among the Orioles reserves. He's wearing No. 47.
Cla Meredith, designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster, was 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 21 games with...
Michael Gonzalez began his injury rehab assignment today with the Gulf Coast League Orioles, throwing a scoreless first inning before Aaron Swenson replaced him.
Gonzalez allowed a two-out single and struck out two. He retired the other batter on a pop up to first baseman Tyler Townsend.
Felix Pie is serving as the designated hitter again and batting third. He's 0-for-2 with a strikeout and fly ball.
Update: The Orioles optioned Chris Tillman to Triple-A Norfolk to make room for newly...
It's only been a week since the Orioles played a game at Camden Yards, but it feels much longer to me. I'll have to remind myself to put down the boxes and head to the ballpark this afternoon.
The Orioles begin a three-game interleague series against the Marlins, and they aren't real familiar with right-hander Anibal Sanchez. Cesar Izturis is 2-for-3 with a double against him. Garrett Atkins and Julio Lugo are 0-for-3, and Luke Scott is 0-for-2 with a walk.
That's it.
Will another...
Brad Bergesen has completed four innings tonight at Triple-A Norfolk, allowing one run and three hits, with no walks and two strikeouts.
Bergesen retired the first eight Lehigh Valley batters before surrendering three straight singles (with two stolen bases mixed in).
Bergesen has thrown 63 pitches, 46 for strikes. He threw 65 in 2 2/3 innings in his last start.
Norfolk leads, 4-1. Josh Bell is 2-for-2 with two doubles and an RBI. Rhyne Hughes added a two-run double, and Nolan Reimold is...
Felix Pie went 0-for-4 today in his first injury rehab game with the Gulf Coast League Orioles. He was removed for a pinch-hitter - hopefully because he was only slated to receive four at-bats.
Update: I received a text message from a team official stating that Pie is fine and received the desired amount of at-bats.
Pie grounded to second, third and short, and reached on an error. He left for a pinch-hitter with two outs and a runner on second base in the bottom of the ninth inning.
First...
Brad Bergesen will work on short rest tonight when he takes the mound for Triple-A Norfolk's game against Lehigh Valley.
Bergesen started Thursday night against Toledo, but lasted only 2 2/3 innings. He was removed after 65 pitches and three runs, allowing him to come back tonight.
The Orioles need a starter Saturday night against the Nationals, so Bergesen is lined up to make his return to Camden Yards. But it won't happen if he's shelled tonight.
Trust me, you don't want to be shelled...
Good morning.
I'll be stepping away from my laptop, and this blog, more than usual this week as I continue to make the gradual move into my townhouse. The new place is empty, but I've got my rental through the end of the month.
The new one is pretty much within walking distance of my current residence, if I was motivated, but I find it easier to load up my car for the short drive.
The professional movers arrive Thursday morning, but I'm trying to leave behind as little as possible...
Brandon Erbe is 0-10 with a 5.73 ERA at Triple-A Norfolk after today's 5-1 loss to Toledo.
Erbe allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits in five innings, and was removed after 88 pitches (59 strikes). Jim Miller threw two scoreless innings, striking out three, but Toledo's Casper Wells hit a three-run homer off Dennis Sarfate in the ninth.
Josh Bell was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Jeff Salazar had two hits.
Single-A Frederick's Ryan O'Shea also allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits in...
Remember when the Orioles had a 4-0 lead in the first inning?
I should have taken pictures.
They forgot about the other eight innings. The bats are back in the rack.
Jon Garland has retired 14 in a row as we head to the bottom of the sixth.
Mark Hendrickson gave up a run in the fifth to increase the Padres' lead to 7-4.
Hendrickson has allowed eight runs and 10 hits in his last three appearances totaling 3 2/3 innings, and 11 runs and 14 hits in his last five games totaling 6 2/3 innings....
Jake Arrieta's third major league start isn't going as smoothly as the first two.
Not even close.
Arrieta isn't commanding his fastball, resulting in six runs (five earned) and three walks in three innings. That 4-0 lead is a distant memory.
Luke Scott made a great catch in foul territory to rob Scott Hairston, almost flipping over into the camera well, but his error on Jerry Hairston's ground ball allowed Will Venable to score. Far worse was Venable's three-run homer with two outs in...
Matt Wieters began today with only two RBIs since May 27, but he collected three with a bases-loaded double in the first inning that increased the Orioles' lead to 4-0.
Wieters hadn't finished a game with three RBIs since May 1 against Boston.
He was mired in a 3-for-34 slump, but the Orioles haven't discussed sending him down to Triple-A Norfolk. He's in the lineup again because they didn't have a late game last night, compared to most Saturdays, and interim manager Juan Samuel thinks...
For the Orioles:
LF Corey Patterson
3B Miguel Tejada
RF Nick Markakis
2B Ty Wigginton
1B Luke Scott
CF Adam Jones
C Matt Wieters
SS Cesar Izturis
RHP Jake Arrieta
For the Padres:
CF Tony Gwynn
2B David Eckstein
1B Adrian Gonzalez
C Nick Hundley
LF Scott Hairston
RF Will Venable
SS Jerry Hairston Jr.
3B Lance Zawadzki
RHP Jon Garland
A victory today would make Arrieta the first Orioles starter in club history to win his first three outings. Ben McDonald won his first five starts, but made...
I was scrolling through Triple-A Norfolk's game notes, which were e-mailed early this morning, when I spotted this line:
Brandon Snyder was placed on the disabled list yesterday, retroactive to June 18, with a right shoulder strain and Joey Gathright was activated from the DL (lower back strain).
Snyder was hitting .311 in his last 36 games.
By the way, the Tides list their next four starters after today as TBA. Brad Bergesen could get the ball tomorrow on short rest after throwing 65...