FREDERICK, Md.- Tonight's scheduled playoff game between the Single-A Frederick Keys and the Potomac Nationals remains very much on.
The rain has just about stopped as of just before 4 p.m. at Harry Grove Stadium and right now the tarp is not on the field.
Frederick is set to begin its best-of-five Carolina League semifinal series against Potomac. The same teams met in the semifinals last year with Potomac winning that series, three games to one.
If there is any change in the status of...
I can't think of a player that has had a bigger swing in his performance from very good to very bad quite as dramatically as Brian Matusz.
Over his last eight starts last year, he went 6-0 with a 1.57 ERA. In 10 starts this year, he is 1-7 with a 9.84 ERA. His ERA is 11.42 over his past four starts since he returned from the minor leagues.
The question that doesn't seem to have a clear and definitive answer is this: What the heck happened to Matusz?
Maybe it's one mass of a combination of...
In a game that began at 11:08 p.m. after a four-hour plus rain delay and ended at 2:15 a.m., the Yankees beat the Orioles 5-3 to take the first two games of this series.
The game was played in a steady rain and the grounds crew had to enter the field often in the later innings to work on the wet surface.
The Orioles fell behind 2-0, but tied it up on a Matt Wieters two-run homer in the sixth. They fell behind again 3-2, but a Nick Markakis RBI double tied it in the seventh.
Buck Showalter...
Proving he can hit even at 1 a.m. Matt Wieters two-run homer in the top of the sixth tied this game at 2-2.
The game that began at 11:08 p.m. continues to be played in a rainstorm at Yankee Stadium.
Wieters is 2-for-3 tonight. Over his last 15 games, he is batting .382 (21-for-55) with six homers, five doubles and 17 RBIs. He has now driven in at least one run in 11 of his last 15 games.
Wieters has three homers on the year against New York.
Vlad Guerrero has two hits in the game, but Chris...
If an East Coast baseball game starts at 11 p.m. will anyone still be up to watch it? Or blog about it?
Is this really in the best interests of the fans?
You know the answer to that, so don't even worry about answering that one.
Hey, got to protect the integrity of the pennant face, even if it comes at the expense of everyone's sanity.
Since it seems they are going to try and play this game, here are some stats to ponder.
Orioles' starting pitchers have given up 14 earned runs in 11 1/3...
Even though they lost eight of their last 10 regular season games, the Single-A Frederick Keys are back in the playoffs and will host Potomac tomorrow night in Game 1 of a best-of-five league semifinal series.
Frederick finished with the best record in the Carolina League at 80-59 and that is also Frederick's best record ever. The Keys are in the playoffs for the fifth time in seven seasons and are looking for a fourth championship after winning Mills Cup titles in 1990, 2005 and 2007.
The...
It was kind of a strange day, the final day of the regular season in the Double-A Eastern League. Bowie entered Monday a half-game behind Richmond for a playoff berth.
Richmond took the lead in its game, 2-1 at Altoona with an eighth-inning homer that was followed by a rain delay. At that point, observers in the press box at Bowie figured if the game got stopped by rain there, it would revert to the previous inning and remain tied at 1-1. That would open the door for Bowie to win its game and...
BOWIE, Md. - The Orioles confirmed after today's game that Chris Davis will come off the disabled list and rejoin the team tomorrow in New York.
After playing two injury rehabilitation games at Double-A Bowie, Davis said his strained right shoulder is doing very well.
"I feel great," Davis said after going 1-for-3 for the Baysox today and 2-for-3 Sunday. "I think today was the bigger test, playing third base. I had a bunt play where I had to throw across my body and use my arm without my...
BOWIE, Md.- Even though the Double-A Baysox are winning here against Erie by a 2-1 score, the word has come in from Altoona that the game there has been called by rain and Richmond wins 2-1 in eight innings. The Richmond win sends the Flying Squirrels to the Eastern League playoffs and eliminates Bowie.
Wes Hodges hit a homer for Richmond in the top of the eighth just a few moments before a rain delay halted play. Even though Atltoona did not bat in the last of the eighth, Richmond is declared...
BOWIE, Md. - Facing a must-win situation today to have a chance to get in the playoffs, the Double-A Bowie Baysox took a 2-0 lead in the last of the first this afternoon versus Erie.
After right-hander Tim Bascom retired Erie with a 1-2-3 top of the first, Bowie came up with two runs on two hits in the home half.
Xavier Avery led off with a walk against lefty Jay Voss and went to third on a Pedro Florimon double. Chris Davis, in the second day of his injury rehab stint with the Baysox, was...
BOWIE, Md.- Here is today's starting lineup for the Double-A Bowie Baysox as they try to make the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. Bowie hosts Erie at Prince George's Stadium at 2 p.m. Chris Davis, in his second game on an injury rehab assignment, will start at third base and is batting third. He went 2-for-3 for Bowie on Sunday.
CF - Xavier Avery
SS - Pedro Florimon
3B - Chris Davis
LF - LJ Hoes
1B - Joe Mahoney
DH - Brandon Waring
C - Caleb Joseph
2B - Buck Britton
RF -...
We keep hearing talk that Jim Johnson could get some starting pitching assignments before this season ends, but we haven't seen that yet.
Johnson clearly seems capable of handling that role. He has three very good pitches with his sinking fastball, curve and changeup.
He may have the best changeup on the team. And Johnson's power sinker has produced a ratio of 2.15 groundouts to air outs that is the best on the team among those that have pitched 20 innings or more.
Johnson has had a very...
Before I mention the Bowie Baysox's key win today, I should point out that in the last day or two, whatever I write about, the opposite seems to happen.
On Saturday morning, I pointed out the Orioles pitching staff had an ERA of 1.60 leading the O's to a 6-1 record this year at Tropicana Field. Then they went out and gave up 14 runs in losing the last two days there.
This morning, I pointed out Adam Jones was in a 3-for-36 slump over his last 11 games and he went out and went 2-for-3 with a...
That great second half Adam Jones was having has been slightly derailed in recent games.
Jones picked up a hit in last night's game against Tampa, but is just 1-for-18 over his last five games and is batting .083 (3-for-36) over his last 11 games without a homer and just two RBIs.
This has all dropped Jones' batting average from .299 to .284. Maybe Jones could use a day or two of rest. Perhaps he is still hampered by the chest muscle injury that sent him to the hospital in Minnesota. He has...
Coming into tonight's game the Orioles had given up just 11 runs to Tampa Bay in seven games this year at Tropicana Field. Tonight, B.J. Upton drove in five runs by himself.
Upton's big night - he had a two-run double and three-run double - led Tampa Bay to a 6-3 win over the Orioles on Saturday night.
The loss was the O's 82nd and clinched a losing record for the Orioles for the 14th consecutive season.
Jim Hunter talks with Buck Showalter about the Orioles' 6-3 loss to the Rays
The...
The Orioles have put some together some rather stunning pitching stats this season at Tropicana Field.
It is the place where they gave up just three runs total in sweeping a three-game, season-opening series. It is a place where they are 6-1 this year and have outscored the Rays there 30-11.
The Orioles' team ERA at the Trop is 1.60 on the season and the ERA of the starting pitchers there is 1.47. Tampa Bay batters have just 36 hits in the seven games and are batting just .168 against...
Just about a month ago, some Orioles fans were jumping off the Zach Britton bandwagon. Now some of the same fans are probably looking to get back on.
Britton began this year pitching very well and now it seems he is ending his season in the same fashion.
Thanks to that seventh-inning rally Friday night, the Orioles' young gun lefty outdueled one of the top young lefties in the game in David Price.
I know some fans jumped off the Britton bandwagon because I heard them do so in recent weeks...
Orioles fans can dream of a future when a pitcher like Zach Britton goes toe to toe with Tampa Bay ace David Price and the Orioles escape with the victory.
They can dream of it or just go back and watch the tape of tonight's game.
Britton settled down after giving up two runs in the first inning and J.J. Hardy came up with a huge two-run single in the seventh as the Orioles and Britton rallied to beat Price and Tampa Bay, 3-2 tonight.
The Orioles are now 7-6 on the year against the Rays and...
The Orioles scored six runs Thursday against Toronto. They may not get to that total tonight facing Tampa's David Price. He is a pitcher on a roll right now.
Price has an ERA of 1.45 over his last four starts and has allowed a batting average of just .173 in those starts. He went 3-2 with an ERA of 2.13 in six August starts.
He is coming off an outing where he set a Tampa single-game record with 14 strikeouts. He pitched seven shutout innings of three-hit ball Sunday at Toronto with the 14...
With four games to go, the Single-A Frederick Keys are putting the finishing touches on an excellent regular season and gearing up for the Carolina League playoffs.
At 79-56, the Keys have the best record in the league despite losing five of the last six games. Frederick won the first half and leads the second half by a half-game over Potomac at 38-28.
The Keys are already assured of having their best record ever. The 2005 team went 79-61 and this team will finish better than that even if it...
