Britton reflects on his season and Jones on tonight's game

Britton reflects on his season and Jones on tonight's game
Moments after the game ended, and the Orioles had fallen short by 8-7 to Boston, starting pitcher Zach Britton blamed himself for the loss and was disappointed he gave up two homers. "It just came down to the execution of those two pitches," Britton said. "I don't think I threw the ball well, but if I execute those pitches it's a different game. "The energy was really good and the way we battled back just shows we weren't down and out and that last inning was awesome too. I feel like...
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Red Sox use longball to top Orioles, 8-7

Red Sox use longball to top Orioles, 8-7
After they scored just three runs with 12 left on base last night, tonight the Boston Red Sox used a four-homer barrage to beat the Orioles 8-7 in front of 22,123 at Camden Yards. Tampa Bay won its game with the Yankees, so now Boston and the Rays go to the final day tied for the wild card playoff berth with identical 90-71 records. The Orioles came up with two hits and a run in the ninth, on a Matt Wieters' swinging bunt, RBI ground out to close within 8-7. But Jonathan Papelbon got Adam...
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Ellsbury ... again and Britton note

Ellsbury ... again and Britton note
Jacoby Ellsbury just hit yet another big homer for the Boston Red Sox. His two-run shot off Zach Britton in the top of the third gives the Red Sox a 2-1 lead on the Orioles, who got an RBI double from Vladimir Guerrero in the first inning. Ellsbury's career high in homers was nine before this year and now he has 32. He also now has an amazing 35-game hitting streak against the Orioles dating to April 17, 2009. Ellsbury leads the majors this month in hits, doubles, extra-base hits and total...
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Jim Johnson expresses a preference to be a starter next year

Jim Johnson expresses a preference to be a starter next year
Even though he has been one of the better relievers in the American League this year and is 7-for-7 in save chances since Sept. 7, the talk about Jim Johnson moving into a starter's role next year won't go away. No one has committed to it yet for 2012, but Johnson today expressed a preference to be a starter next season. "I'll do what the team asks me to do and needs me to do, but I would still like the idea to start, because I think I can be helpful in that position," Johnson said....
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Camden Yards was rocking for the Boston-O's series opener

Camden Yards was rocking for the Boston-O's series opener
What a great atmosphere at Camden Yards last night. There were plenty of fans cheering for each side, each roaring most of the night at each other, and they made 21,000 fans sound like and feel like 51,000. As a friend said (and that was with Orioles fans basically wanting to ruin another team's season), what could it be like if it were the Orioles pushing for a playoff berth? The place was rocking after Robert Andino's three-run inside-the-park homer and it had a real big-game feel as the...
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Andino and Guerrero comment after the O's beat Boston

Andino and Guerrero comment after the O's beat Boston
Two Orioles players, about 10 feet apart in the clubhouse, were feeling very happy after this game for different reasons. Vladimir Guerrero was smiling after his single in the sixth made him baseball's all-time hits leader for Dominican-born players. Robert Andino was excited about his inside-the-park homer and that his father got to see it in person. There were a few smiles in that clubhouse after the Orioles' 6-3 win over the Red Sox. Vladimir Guerrero talks with the media about becoming...
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Andino, Davis and Guerrero lead O's past Boston, 6-3

Andino, Davis and Guerrero lead O's past Boston, 6-3
Given yet another chance tonight to play the spoiler's role, the Orioles took it and ran with it, beating the slumping Boston Red Sox 6-3 in front of 21,786 at Camden Yards. The game featured the Orioles again getting to Josh Beckett, Vlad Guerrero setting a career hits record and Robert Andino coming up with the first-ever, Orioles' inside-the-park homer at Oriole Park. The Red Sox fall to 6-19 in September. They began the night with a one-game lead in the wild card race, but, with Tampa...
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Getting to Beckett ... again

Getting to Beckett ... again
Josh Beckett entered this start tonight second in the majors in opponent batting average at .207 and third in the American League in ERA at 2.70, but he trails the Orioles 6-2 after six innings after that stirring three-run, inside-the-park homer from Robert Andino. That was the first-ever Orioles inside-the-park homer here at Camden Yards. Through the sixth tonight, Beckett has allowed 12 runs in 13 1/3 innings to the Orioles over his last two starts. This year his ERA is now 7.03 against...
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Tim Bascom: What started in the bullpen, ends with Jim Palmer award

Tim Bascom: What started in the bullpen, ends with Jim Palmer award
When the 2011 season began, right-hander Tim Bascom found himself in an unfamiliar spot. The bullpen. After pitching to a record of 3-4 and ERA of 3.43 in 11 Double-A starts last year, Bascom was on Bowie's opening day roster, but not in the season-opening rotation. "Once they told me that, it got me a little angry," Bascom said here today at Camden Yards. "It kind of made me work a little harder, to do whatever they needed. I felt I got better in the bullpen, so I can do anything they...
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Jonathan Schoop talks about his Player of the Year award

Jonathan Schoop talks about his Player of the Year award
Just a few minutes ago, on the field at Camden Yards, Jonathan Schoop talked about being named the winner of the Brooks Robinson Award as the Orioles minor league Player of the Year. "I'm real happy. There are a lot of good players (in the organization)," Schoop said. "This means a lot to me. Just keeps me focused for next year. It's good." Schoop felt he made plenty of improvements in his game this year. He hit .290 with 24 doubles, five triples, 13 homers and a .781 OPS in 51 games...
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Feeling good about his season, Adams now heads for Tuesday surgery

Feeling good about his season, Adams now heads for Tuesday surgery
Orioles infielder Ryan Adams has had just four at-bats since the middle of the month and has not played in a week as he deals with a sports hernia. He will undergo an operation next Tuesday and he said the recovery time is only a few weeks. He should have a normal offseason after that. He's been playing in some pain most of this year at Triple-A and here with the Orioles. "I thought it was a groin injury and we were treating it that way," Adams said. "For most of the year I had pain, but...
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Jonathan Schoop, Tim Bascom take O's top minor league honors

Jonathan Schoop, Tim Bascom take O's top minor league honors
The Orioles today named Jonathan Schoop as the winner of the Brooks Robinson Award as their minor league Player of the Year. They named pitcher Tim Bascom the winner of the Jim Palmer Award as minor league Pitcher of the Year. The 19-year-old Schoop began the year at Single-A Delmarva and moved to Single-A Frederick in early June. Between those clubs, he hit .290 with 24 doubles, five triples, 13 homers and 71 RBIs in 128 games. Schoop had a .349 on-base percentage, a .432 slugging percentage...
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Orioles minor league award winners not easy to call

Orioles minor league award winners not easy to call
Here is a good question: Which players are going to be named the Orioles' minor league Player and Pitcher of the Year for 2011? Unlike last year, when Joe Mahoney and Zach Britton were honored, the races for those awards are much more wide-open this season. The Orioles are expected to announce the winners later today. In alphabetical order, here are five candidates for player of the year and their stats for the season. All five players except for Miclat played for more than one team. Buck...
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Tigers hit four homers as O's lose 2011 road finale

Tigers hit four homers as O's lose 2011 road finale
The Detroit Tigers produced nine runs on four swings today in beating the Orioles 10-6 at Comerica Park as the clubs split a four-game series. It was the Orioles final road game of the year. They went 5-3 on this road trip and finish with a 30-51 road record. Brian Matusz gave up six runs and seven hits over five innings to take the loss, falling to 1-9 with a 10.69 ERA. He gave up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera and a three-run shot to Victor Martinez in the fifth that broke a 3-3...
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Reynolds moves into O's top 10 homers list

Reynolds moves into O's top 10 homers list
When Mark Reynolds hit his 37th homer on Saturday against Justin Verlander, he moved into a tie with Albert Belle and Boog Powell for ninth most homers by an Oriole in one season. Powell hit 37 in 1969 and Belle did it in 1999. Reynolds may not add to his total today as he is not in the lineup this afternoon in Detroit. He has now hit five homers over his last seven games and if he can add one or more in the remaining games, he can continue to move up the single-season homer charts. If he...
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Some Orioles news and notes before the season's final road game

Some Orioles news and notes before the season's final road game
Some notes to ponder as the Orioles play their last road game of the year today at Detroit. The Orioles are 67-91. If they can go 3-1 or better in the remaining games, they will have their first 70-win season since 2006, when they were 70-92. * The Orioles have been playing a lot of close games lately. Of their past 19 games, 13 have been decided by two runs or less and the Orioles are 9-4 in those games. Eight of the club's last 13 games have been decided by one run and they are 5-3 in those...
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Orioles use homers to get the lead, then little ball to win against Detroit

Orioles use homers to get the lead, then little ball to win against Detroit
In a game where the Orioles used two homers to take an early impressive lead against likely Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, the Orioles used little ball to win the game. The game was tied 5-5 starting the ninth when Detroit's Daniel Schlereth came on and gave up a leadoff single to Chris Davis. Kyle Hudson came on to pinch run. He advanced all the way to third base on a wild pitch, third strike to Robert Andino. Matt Angle gets a shaving cream pie to the face after he hits his first career...
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Angle and Reynolds homer as O's take early lead against Verlander

Angle and Reynolds homer as O's take early lead against Verlander
Detroit's Justin Verlander has not suffered a loss since July 15 against the Chicago White Sox, but he trails the Orioles tonight 5-0 in the third inning. Verlander, who is 24-5 with an ERA of 2.29, gave up a homer to Matt Angle leading off the game. It was Angle's first major league homer after 69 at-bats without one. He hit four homers in 424 at-bats this year at Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles added three runs off Verlander in the second on a J.J. Hardy two-run single and a Nick Markakis...
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There is still time for the AL wild card race to get wild

There is still time for the AL wild card race to get wild
No major league team has ever overcome a deficit of nine games in the standings in September to make the playoffs. The Tampa Bay Rays were nine games behind Boston in the wild-card race on Sept. 2 and they are 2 1/2 games back going into today's games. Since then, Tampa Bay is 12-8 while Boston is 5-14. Boston hasn't won a game over the last three days and actually has gained a 1/2 game with Tampa Bay losing a doubleheader on Wednesday and losing last night when Boston was rained...
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"Moneyball" was OK, I guess

"Moneyball" was OK, I guess
I certainly didn't hate "Moneyball." I didn't dislike it, so I guess I liked it. A little anyway. I don't think it's a great movie by any stretch and certainly not a great baseball movie. Bull Durham and Eight Men Out, those are great baseball movies to me and this is not in that class. It is still very much worth seeing and sure better than a lot of movies I've seen recently, which, in the confines of baseball season, is not very many. I would have loved to see the movie get even...
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