Some thoughts, notes and stats after a weekend of mid-Atlantic region hardball at Camden Yards:
Good news for the Orioles: To me the biggest development of the weekend for the Orioles was seeing Jake Arrieta pitch a third straight good game. I know he gave up a grand slam in New York but the guy has otherwise been pretty rock solid over his last three outings.
In those three, he has pitched 20 innings, allowing 18 hits and six earned runs with three walks to 18 strikeouts. Arrieta has a 2.70...
Matt Wieters was the man that produced the one swing that everyone will remember from today's 2-1 Orioles win, but after the game he said it was a lot of quality pitches that allowed the Orioles to give up just five runs this weekend and take the series from the Nationals.
"That is the reason we were able to win two games," Wieters said. " If our pitching wasn't as good as it was this weekend, both our starters and bullpen, we wouldn't have had a chance in those games.
"That falls on...
With one swing, Matt Wieters ended about eight games worth of Orioles offensive frustration.
The Birds went to the last of the eighth today trailing Washington 1-0 and they had left seven men on base in their previous four at-bats. But Wieters sent a 0-1 pitch from lefty Sean Burnett over the wall in left-center to give the Orioles a 2-1 win over the Nats today in front of 41,794 at Camden Yards.
On a day the Orioles didn't have a hit with runners in scoring position - they went 0-for-6 and...
Today's live blog: The Orioles and Nationals meet today in the third and deciding game of this series. The Orioles are 40-31, and the Nats are 41-28.
Will today be the day the Orioles get some offense going? They are just 13-for-60 (.217) in this series, and they are batting just .174 with 15 runs over their last eight games.
The Orioles have scored two runs or less in six of those games and, over the past six games, they are just 1-for-27 when batting with runners in scoring...
The Orioles have two young outfield prospects at Triple-A Norfolk right now, and both of them are swinging hot bats at the moment.
Xavier Avery is batting .440 over his last seven games, and L.J. Hoes is hitting .480 in that time.
With the Orioles still looking for some consistent offense and down two starting outfielders right now, you have to wonder if the team would consider bringing Avery back to the major leagues. He was here for two weeks in May and, after hitting well early for the...
Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta is hoping that he has begun to turn around his season. For a seven-start stretch starting May 8, Arrieta pitched to an ERA of 9.64.
But over his past two starts, Arrieta has allowed five earned runs over 14 innings for an ERA of 3.21.
Arrieta said he made some changes and adjustments and that he believes he has seen the positive results over his past two outings. Today he'll pitch against the Nats in the third and deciding game of this weekend series....
After another loss where the Orioles didn't score much, Adam Jones talked about the club's recent struggles. The Orioles have scored just 15 runs over the last eight games and three runs in this series against the Nationals.
"Hitting is contagious," Jones said. "We are just not swinging the bats the way we want to. It's baseball. It happens. Edwin (Jackson) threw a great game. I was just texting him right now. He threw a great game, and sometimes you have to tip your cap to the man....
It was another night where the Orioles were shut down by a good pitcher and failed to score many runs or get key hits with runners in scoring position.
Edwin Jackson gave up just four hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings, as the Nationals beat the Orioles 3-1 in front of 46,298, the fifth sellout of the year at Camden Yards.
Jackson has given up just two runs over 14 1/3 innings this year in two starts against the Orioles, and he improves to 6-1 in his career versus Baltimore.
Meanwhile, for...
Another live blog night: You all know the drill by now when I do a live blog like I will for tonight's game. I'll add some notes, stats and comments here during the game, so come back often and hit refresh for the latest.
I hope you will add your own questions and comments often tonight and keep it going through the whole game. So start adding some thoughts and questions about the O's, this series, tonight's pitchers, the minor leagues, the trading deadline and/or anything else on your...
Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter had another "State of the Orioles" address today with season ticket holders here at Camden Yards.
There were no big pronouncements or news to come out of it, but here are a few questions and the answers they gave.
The pair was asked if the Orioles will make any changes by the trade deadline.
"People ask all the time if we'll try to add to the team, and the answer to that is 'yes,' but I think we have a lot of the...
The Orioles' roster crunch of pitchers at the higher levels of their minor leagues has led to right-hander Sean Gleason basically being loaned to Cancun of the Mexican League for the rest of this season.
Gleason was removed from the Double-A Bowie roster last night when outfielder Jai Miller was officially added to the Baysox. He was 2-1 with a 5.97 ERA in 17 games, including four starts, for the Baysox. In 37 2/3 innings, Gleason gave up 50 hits with 12 walks and 30 strikeouts.
As a player...
Jason Hammel continues to make us all wonder how he had a career ERA of 4.99 and record of 34-45 before this season. He had seven wins all of last year, his career high is 10 and he's now an eight-game winner after his outing last night.
It was not only another impressive performance by Hammel in the win over the Nats. But he did it with little run support in a game where one or two key mistakes could have meant a loss. He also set a great tone for the Orioles' nine-game homestand by...
A few words about tonight's starting pitchers:
Jason Hammel, who is 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA makes his 14th start of the year for the Orioles. He is coming off of pitching the 33rd one-hitter in O's history when he beat Atlanta 5-0 with eight strikeouts last Saturday.
In 20 games (15 starts) since he was moved to the Colorado bullpen last Aug. 24, Hammel is 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 106 innings. Opponents are batting .210 against him in that span.
In six career starts against...
The Orioles return home to Camden Yards tonight after a 2-4 road trip, looking for some wins and some runs. They scored just 12 runs total during the trip to Atlanta and New York.
Now their next five games are against a Washington team leading the majors in team ERA and a Los Angeles club that ranks first in the American League in team ERA.
To put the Orioles' road trip offensive struggles into perspective, they scored 12 runs in one game the last time they played at home against Pittsburgh....
It was a nice honor for Manny Machado and Dylan Bundy yesterday to be named to play for the U.S. team in the upcoming Futures Game. The game seems to get more attention each year and it showcases the best prospects in the sport.
No matter what their stats or recent performances might indicate, this duo remains among the top prospects out there and is highly regarded throughout baseball.
I've heard that their names keep coming up in any trade discussions the Orioles have. They are brought up...
After three starts for Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles may be coming to a point where they have to make a decision about 49-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer and whether they will add him to the rotation.
Moyer is 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA for the Tides and Norfolk pitching coach Mike Griffin has been impressed. Griffin was a guest on my radio show, "Baltimore Baseball Tonight," on 105.7 FM The Fan in Baltimore last night.
"First of all you, take into account a veteran of 20-plus years in the majors...
The Orioles were able to avoid a third straight shutout tonight, but not a third straight loss at New York, as they lost 4-3 to the Mets, who completed a three-game sweep at Citi Field.
Wilson Betemit hit a two-run homer with none out in the eighth to end the Orioles' 28-inning scoreless streak. Had they been shut out, it would have been just the second time in team history they had not scored in three straight games.
From July 29-31, 1957 the O's were blanked in three straight games once...
It's probably too soon to call this a trend, but already I can sense some O's fans getting a real confident feeling when Jason Hammel or Wei-Yin Chen take the mound and a feeling much less confident when anyone else starts.
Going back about three turns through the rotation, the Orioles are 6-0 in games started by Hammel and Chen and 3-5 when anyone else takes the ball.
Again, probably too soon to get too worked up about it, but it is a trend worth tracking over the next few weeks. Here are...
Here is the question a lot of fans have been asking lately: Will the Orioles have enough starting pitching to continue their good season, to stay in contention to the end?
Despite the O's pitching back-to-back shutouts over the weekend in Atlanta, their rotation ERA of 4.54 ranks just 10th in the AL and is behind the league average of 4.35.
The Orioles got off to an excellent start with their starters this year and on May 5, they were 18-9 with a rotation ERA of 3.38. But in the 41 games...
Frustration is now setting in for the Orioles' hitters and their fans.
The Orioles were shut out for the second night in a row, as they lost 5-0 to the Mets tonight at Citi Field. This is the first interleague series the O's have lost after winning their first four.
The Orioles have not scored in their last 21 innings, dating to Sunday at Atlanta.
Mets starter Johan Santana, who had allowed 10 runs in 10 innings since pitching a no-hitter, pitched six shutout innings on four hits tonight,...