Cut loose by the Pirates, McLouth makes it back with the Orioles

Cut loose by the Pirates, McLouth makes it back with the Orioles
In 2008, Nate McLouth hit .276 with 26 homers, 94 RBIs and an .853 OPS for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a National League All-Star, won a Gold Glove and led the NL with 46 doubles. This year, it wasn't going nearly as well for him. He was batting just .140 for the Pirates with 18 strikeouts in 57 at-bats when he was designated for assignment on May 25 and released a few days later. He would then get picked up by the Orioles and sent to Triple-A Norfolk. Now, a couple of months after being...
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Rick Peterson finds an eager pupil in Jake Arrieta (plus Gausman audio)

Rick Peterson finds an eager pupil in Jake Arrieta (plus Gausman audio)
Orioles director of pitching development Rick Peterson recently spent some time at Triple-A Norfolk where he got to work with pitcher Jake Arrieta for the first time. Peterson was able to show Arrieta his biomechanical analysis results from earlier in the year and begin to work on some things to try and get the right-hander back on track after he went 3-9 with a 6.13 ERA in 18 Orioles starts. "When we sat with Jake and reviewed his analysis, Jake was very inquisitive about things that he saw...
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Chris Tillman pitches another good one as O's top M's

Chris Tillman pitches another good one as O's top M's
The scoreless streak by Orioles pitchers came to an end tonight in the eighth inning, but Chris Tillman pitched a gem in beating his former team as the Orioles topped Seattle tonight, 3-1, at Camden Yards. It was the good way to start a three-game series and ten-game homestand, as the Orioles improved to 58-51 overall and 26-26 at home. Baltimore has now won three in a row and six of their last eight. They are 12-7 over the last 19 games. Tillman gave up just one run and five hits over 7 1/3,...
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Orioles-Mariners notes as the series begins (Gausman debuts)

Orioles-Mariners notes as the series begins (Gausman debuts)
Some notes about the Orioles and Mariners as the two teams get ready to begin a three-game series tonight at Camden Yards: * The Orioles are six games over .500 on the season, but against American League West teams, they are six games under .500, going 8-14. They are 2-1 against Seattle, 3-3 vs. Oakland, 1-3 against Texas and 2-7 vs. Los Angeles. The Orioles are 4-8 at home against the AL West. * In the Tampa Bay series, the Orioles allowed just two runs in three games with a team ERA of 0.67...
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Thome hopes to return in September

Thome hopes to return in September
Last Thursday, Jim Thome received an epidural for the herniated disc in his neck. He said the doctors told him he cannot take part in baseball activities for 30 days after that, but he still is hopeful he can return to play for the Orioles in September. "We got the MRI and it basically showed a herniated disc," Thome said this afternoon. "It looks like I'm going to be out about 30 days of rest. Obviously I can continue to do my exercises in the sense of my low back. But baseball...
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Minor league notes on Bundy, Gausman and more

Minor league notes on Bundy, Gausman and more
A couple of notes from the Orioles minors today: * Dylan Bundy's next start is being moved from tomorrow to Wednesday night at Frederick when the Keys host Lynchburg. There is no hidden reason for doing this, it is simply that all the Keys starters are being pushed back a day due to today's off day. Bundy went past five innings as a pro for the first time in his last start allowing just two hits and one unearned run over 6 2/3 frames against the same Lynchburg club he will face Wednesday...
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Nine-game run ends with a flourish for the Orioles

Nine-game run ends with a flourish for the Orioles
On July 27, the Orioles were beginning what looked like a very grueling stretch of the schedule with three home games against the red-hot A's followed by six on the road against the Yankees and Rays. When the Orioles rallied twice to come from behind against the A's in the opener of that series, it was another impressive night for the Orioles. But it ended very badly with Oakland scoring six in the ninth off Jim Johnson to post a 14-9 win. Not only did Johnson bounce back from that game,...
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Teagarden's double and O's pitching combines for 1-0 win over Tampa Bay

Teagarden's double and O's pitching combines for 1-0 win over Tampa Bay
The Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays at their own game - winning with solid pitching. After Miguel Gonzalez pitched seven shutout innings to match David Price pitch for pitch, the Orioles finally broke a scoreless tie when Taylor Teagarden drove an RBI double to the gap in left-center in the top of the 10th in a 1-0 win over the Rays. The win was the Orioles' 11th straight in extra innings and was their 10th win in a row in a game decided by one run. The Orioles posted back-to-back shutouts...
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Orioles scoreless early against Price

Orioles scoreless early against Price
To say the least, the Orioles have a tough task today in facing Tampa Bay's David Price, who is 14-4 with an ERA of 2.64 and batting average against of .229 in 21 starts. Price is tied for the AL lead in wins, is fifth in ERA and sixth in strikeouts. He has pitched seven innings or more 15 times to rank second in the AL to Felix Hernandez. In two starts in 2012 against the Orioles before this one, he was 2-0 with an ERA of 0.63, giving up one run and 11 hits over 14 1/3 innings with two...
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Chen does it again (Machado homer call)

Chen does it again (Machado homer call)
So much for the theory that American League hitters would catch up to Wei-Yin Chen the second and third time around the circuit. If anything, he seems to be getting better the more experience he gains against AL hitters. Once again, Chen pitched well when the Orioles really needed him in last night's 4-0 win over Tampa Bay. He helped them avoid a three-game losing streak, even this series and avoid heading into today's game needing to beat David Price to avoid a sweep. What was true about...
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O's use early offense and Chen's seven scoreless to blank Tampa Bay

O's use early offense and Chen's seven scoreless to blank Tampa Bay
Coming into tonight, the Orioles were in need of some hits with runners in scoring position and some quality starts. They got both in a 4-0 win over Tampa Bay that evens this series at one win each and pulls the Birds back into a second-place tie with the Rays, 6 1/2 games back of the Yankees. After going 0-for-22 the past two games when batting with RISP, the Orioles went 4-for-9 over the first four innings tonight as they moved out to an early 4-0 lead. Matt Wieters came up with an RBI...
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The search for the quality start (updated)

The search for the quality start (updated)
Remember that run recently when the Orioles got seven consecutive quality starts from their starting pitchers? It went from July 18-24 and O's starters went 5-1 with an ERA of 2.47 during that stretch, as the team went 5-2. It was the most consecutive quality starts by the club since a stretch of nine in a row that spanned two seasons from Sept. 29, 2010 to April 4, 2011. When the Orioles have gotten a quality start this year (defined as six innings or more allowing three earned runs or...
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The recent offensive struggles against the Rays and a take on Derek Lowe

The recent offensive struggles against the Rays and a take on Derek Lowe
In the series at Yankee Stadium the Orioles hit .345 as a team with 15 extra-base hits including four homers while 19 runs. But they began the series with Tampa Bay, Friday by losing 2-0, and recorded their eighth shutout on the season. In the last week and a half the Orioles are 1-3 against the Rays. In the three losses they have scored two runs total with just 18 hits - only two for extra bases - and a team average of .182. They are a combined 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position in...
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The Orioles are shutout in series opener with Tampa Bay

The Orioles are shutout in series opener with Tampa Bay
The Orioles have struggled to hit this year against the Tampa Bay pitching staff and that trend continued tonight. The Orioles were blanked 2-0 by Tampa Bay as Matt Moore and a trio of relievers teamed up to keep the Orioles off the scoreboard. The Orioles were shutout for the eighth time this year. It was a rather frustrating night for the Orioles' offense as they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 men on base. Mark Reynolds was called out on strikes with the...
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Is the O's offense up to the challenge of facing Tampa Bay?

Is the O's offense up to the challenge of facing Tampa Bay?
The Orioles are 3-3 over the last six games against Oakland and New York. Should they win the series against Tampa Bay this weekend, they would finish 5-4 in a nine-game stretch against those three teams and that would be a decent showing during a tough stretch. The Orioles' offense now gets a good weekend test against a Tampa Bay pitching staff that ranks second in the American League in ERA at 3.49. The Orioles' offense has been better lately. Since scoring a total of three runs in three...
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Minor league updates on Erbe, Delmonico and more

Minor league updates on Erbe, Delmonico and more
Single-A Delmarva infielder Nicky Delmonico, the Orioles' sixth-round pick in 2011 and one of the organization's better hitting prospects, may be able to continue to play this year but is likely to need knee surgery at some point soon, possibly right after the season. Delmonico first injured his knee on June 26 and re-injured it Wednesday night. He didn't play yesterday and may test the knee today to see if he can play with some discomfort for the rest of this season. When he got hurt in...
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Do the Orioles have a hidden pitching gem at Aberdeen?

Do the Orioles have a hidden pitching gem at Aberdeen?
Tom Winegardner was not selected by any team in the 2011 draft, but the Orioles signed him as a middle infielder after the draft. He went to the rookie-level Gulf Coast League and short-season Single-A Aberdeen and combined to hit .188 in 45 games. This year, the 22-year-old Winegardner was batting .174 in 28 games with Single-A Delmarva and .207 in eight games at Aberdeen. It was pretty clear that he was going to have a hard time making it as an infielder with such a low batting average. But...
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O's top pick Kevin Gausman will make pro debut Monday (Delmonico note)

O's top pick Kevin Gausman will make pro debut Monday (Delmonico note)
The Orioles' first-round draft pick, LSU pitcher Kevin Gausman, is expected to soon join the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds and will make his pro debut Monday. Gausman will pitch three innings that night for Aberdeen at State College and is expected to make six starts of three innings each for the IronBirds from now through the end of their season on September 5. Gausman will fly to Birmingham, Ala., tomorrow to undergo biomechanical testing and then he will leave Birmingham to...
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Orioles' young pitchers are struggling once again

Orioles' young pitchers are struggling once again
It is a question that has dogged the Orioles organization for years and still does to this day: Why can't the Orioles develop young pitchers? Among Jake Arrieta, Brian Matusz, Zach Britton and Chris Tillman, it seems Tillman is currently the most promising of the four - and he was at Triple-A for most of this year. Arrieta is 26, but his ERA has gone from 4.66 in 2010 to 5.05 last year and now is 6.13. That is going the wrong way and Arrieta is now back at Triple-A. I remember how well he...
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Britton knocked out in the third as New York avoids the sweep

Britton knocked out in the third as New York avoids the sweep
Zach Britton threw 80 pitches today and failed to get through the third inning. That should tell you how his day went as the Yankees hammered the Orioles 12-3. Britton allowed seven runs in just 2 2/3 innings to fall to 1-1 with an ERA of 8.35. In three career starts in the Bronx, the lefty has allowed 20 runs (17 earned) over eight innings for an ERA of 19.12. Winning pitcher Phil Hughes gave up one run over six innings. The Orioles missed a chance to complete their first three-game sweep at...
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