A closer look at the Orioles' extra-inning success (Steve Johnson note)

A closer look at the Orioles' extra-inning success (Steve Johnson note)
The Orioles were respectable in extra innings last season, going 8-8. This season they are a remarkable, AL-best 12-2. The Orioles lost their first two extra-inning games of the season, and have now run off a win streak of 12 in a row. They have not lost in extras for nearly four months, since April 11. Last night's win took 14 innings and nearly five hours, making the Orioles 5-0 this year in games that last at least 13 innings. It probably won't surprise you to learn that the real key to...
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More notes on the latest amazing Orioles win

More notes on the latest amazing Orioles win
These streaks are getting pretty serious for the Orioles. They have now won 11 consecutive games decided by one run and 12 consecutive extra-innings games. The Orioles lost in extra innings on back-to-back nights at home to New York on April 10 and 11. They have not lost in extra innings since, going 5-0 in games that went to the 13th inning or later, like last night's 8-7 win over Seattle in 14 innings. A lot has been made of the Orioles -54 run differential on the year. But in extra-inning...
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Long night ends in another O's extra-inning win

Long night ends in another O's extra-inning win
It was another impressive win by the Orioles, even if it took 14 innings. In a game where the Orioles trailed twice by five runs, they beat the Mariners 8-7 in 14 on Tuesday night to improve to 59-51. The Orioles have now won 12 straight extra-inning games. In the bottom of the 14th, Omar Quintanilla led off with an infield single and moved to second on a Nick Markakis single, which was his fourth hit. The runners moved up a base on a J.J. Hardy bunt and then Chris Davis was walked...
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For Pedro Strop, it's no longer about the radar gun

For Pedro Strop, it's no longer about the radar gun
If you were asked which O's pitcher has the best ground-to-air out ratio you'd probably guess Jim Johnson and you'd be right. He has a ratio of 2.70:1 of ground-to-air outs. But many fans and reporters might not guess who ranks second on the club. It is Pedro Strop. The 27-year-old right-hander has had a great year out of the O's bullpen, going 4-2 with three saves and a 1.29 ERA. Strop has recorded 13 consecutive scoreless appearances over a total of 12 1/3 innings. If it seems like he...
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Buck on Britton: "It's been a long four or five days for him"

Buck on Britton: "It's been a long four or five days for him"
Zach Britton takes the mound for the Orioles tonight, making his fifth big league start of the 2012 season. One has been really good, but the other three have ranged from mediocre to bad. Britton pitched six scoreless innings against Cleveland on July 22 but over his past two outings he has given up 13 runs, all earned, over 8 1/3 innings as his ERA jumped from 3.60 to 8.35. With the O's in a playoff chase, how patient can they be with Britton and is this a big start for him...
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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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