FREDERICK, Md. - The Single-A Frederick Keys didn't have long to celebrate their Game 5 win in the playoffs last night against Potomac. Tonight, they host the Kinston Indians in Game 1 of the Mills Cup championship series, looking for their first title since 2007.
Frederick will start left-hander Nick Haughian tonight in game one. A ninth-round pick in 2008, the 24-year-old Haughian went 8-7 with a 3.67 ERA this year. He didn't pitch in the series with Potomac and will be pitching on nine...
The 2011 Frederick Keys are a team the Orioles of yesteryear would like.
They win thanks to pitching and defense and the occasional clutch homer.
Single-A Frederick used that formula to post the best record in the Carolina League this year at 80-59 and used it again to beat Potomac in a five-game first-round playoff series, winning Game 5 last night. The Keys have reached the Mills Cup championship series, which opens tonight in Frederick when they host the Kinston Indians.
Frederick led...
FREDERICK, Md. - Jake Pettit pitched Frederick to a win in Game 1 of this playoff series and the lefty came up big tonight in Game 5 as well.
Pettit gave up just three hits and one run over six innings, just as he did in game one, to pitch Frederick to a 3-2 win over Potomac in the fifth and deciding game of this Carolina League semi-final series.
The Keys advance to face Kinston for the Mills Cup championship and will host the first two games of that best-of-five series on Tuesday and...
FREDERICK, Md. - The Frederick Keys have jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning of Game 5 of their playoff series with Potomac here at Harry Grove Stadium.
After Dale Mollenhauer led off the last of the first with a foul out, Manny Machado followed that with a single to left. Batting fourth as the DH, Aaron Baker came up and hit a two-run homer to left on the first pitch from Paul Demny to lead 3-0.
After Demny issued a two-out walk, he was lifted from the game and right-hander...
FREDERICK, Md. - As Frederick plays host to Potomac tonight in the deciding game of this series, it is the first Game 5 of a playoff series in Frederick since 1990, the first year the Keys played here at Harry Grove Stadium.
Frederick defeated Kinston and Jim Thome 7-5 that night to win the Carolina League championship.
A win tonight by the Keys and they return here tomorrow night to face Kinston again in a best-of-five series for the league championship.
Keys manager Orlando Gomez had two...
FREDERICK, Md. - After a summer of some uncertainty about the future of pro baseball in Frederick, the Keys are about to finalize a new 10-year lease to remain at Harry Grove Stadium through the 2021 season.
For a while earlier this year, the independent Atlantic League tried to get a deal with the city of Frederick and, in effect, push the Keys out of town.
But this franchise,which has been here since 1989, doesn't seem to be going anywhere. The Keys have always been an Orioles...
FREDERICK, Md. - Lefty Jake Pettit has made 11 starts this season for the Single-A Frederick Keys, including one in the playoffs, and Frederick is 10-1 in those starts.
The Keys hope that winning trend continues tonight when Pettit pitches the fifth and deciding game against Potomac in the Carolina League playoffs.
Tonight's winner will advance to host Kinston tomorrow night in Game 1 of the Mills Cup championship series.
Pettit began this year with Single-A Delmarva, going 5-4 with an ERA...
The Single-A Frederick Keys will host Potomac tonight in the fifth and deciding game of their playoff series. The Keys are one win from the Carolina League championship series.
There are many reasons why the Keys set a club record with 80 regular season wins and now are a win away from advancing in the playoffs.
One somewhat unheralded player that should get some of the credit and attention is catcher Brian Ward.
Despite having modest stats on offense, Ward has emerged as a real solid player...
This time the Orioles let the lead get away in the seventh inning. Trailing 5-3 heading to the last of the seventh, Toronto scored three runs then to post a come-from-behind 6-5 win over the Orioles.
Buck Showalter talks to Jim Hunter about the O's 6-5 loss in Toronto
Toronto took the series two wins to one and wins the season series, 12-6 against the Orioles. The Jays took two out of three in all six series between the clubs this season.
With a win either yesterday or today, the Orioles...
The Frederick Keys took a 1-0 lead to the eighth inning this afternoon at Potomac. Six outs from advancing to the Carolina League championship series, the Keys could not maintain the shutout.
Potomac came up with six runs in the last of the eighth to post a 6-1 victory that evens the best-of-five series at two wins and sends the clubs back to Frederick Monday night at 7 p.m in the fifth and deciding game.
The winner of that game will play Kinston in the championship series.
Right-hander...
Even with how yesterday's game ended, the Orioles' bullpen has posted an ERA of 0.83 over the last five games, allowing just two runs over the last 21 2/3 innings.
Here is the rundown:
Tuesday at NYY: 1.1 IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
Wednesday at NYY: 6IP, 4H, 0R, 2BB, 6K
Thursday vs. NYY: 6IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 8K
Friday at Tor: 2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 0K
Saturday at Tor: 6.1IP, 2H, 2R-ER, 2BB, 5K
TOTALS: 21.2IP, 6H, 2R-ER, 7BB, 22K.
Until Kevin Gregg allowed two hits with two outs in the ninth on Saturday,...
Probably the most disappointing thing about the struggles of Kevin Gregg this year - beyond just blowing games that should be Orioles wins - is how much he contributes to his own demise.
If he were getting crushed on the mound or giving up homers with the game on the line that would be one thing. But two of the three runners that reached yesterday to load the bases in the ninth came on a walk and a hit batter. The tie run scored on a wild pitch.
Gregg handed the Blue Jays the game. If that...
What a way for the Orioles to end a run of 21 2/3 straight scoreless innings by their bullpen.
Kevin Gregg suffered his seventh blown save of the year as Toronto scored twice in the last of the ninth to win 5-4.
After Clay Rapada began the last of the ninth with a strikeout, Gregg came on and got a second strikeout. There were two outs and none on with a 4-3 lead when Gregg unraveled.
Jim Hunter asks Buck Showalter about the Orioles' 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays
He then gave up a walk, single...
In baseball, they say speed doesn't go into a slump, and it's good to see the Orioles using some speed today and in recent games with callups like Matt Angle and Kyle Hudson.
Hudson dropped a beautiful bunt toward third base and made second on a throwing error in the second inning this afternoon. Pedro Florimon was called out when he followed with another bunt.
The Orioles have 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts in September, their third-best month this season for steals. They stole 15 bases in...
As his first full season as a pro ballplayer winds down, Manny Machado feels pretty good about how it has gone.
He began the year as an 18-year-old in the South Atlantic League. Now, five months later, he'll end it as a 19-year-old in the Carolina League.
In between, the Orioles' 2010 first-round pick got off to a blazing hot start at the plate, dealt with a knee injury, played in an All-Star game and learned how to handle struggling at the bat for the first time in his life.
In the...
Reversing a recent stretch where he had not pitched that well, Jeremy Guthrie shut down the Toronto Blue Jays tonight in the Orioles 2-0 win at Rogers Centre in game one of the three-game weekend series.
Guthrie had given up seven runs in his last start against Tampa Bay and worked to an ERA of 5.50 in his last six starts. But tonight, he pitched seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball with three walks and five strikeouts. He threw 104 pitches and is now 7-17 with an ERA of 4.29.
When he...
Here are a couple of notes as the Orioles and Blue Jays begin a weekend series tonight.
* The Orioles went 3-15 against Toronto last year and this season are 5-10. The Orioles have lost 30 of the last 42 games between the teams.
* It's been a mixed bag in recent games for Orioles' pitching. The bullpen has put together three straight games without allowing a run. That is 13 1/3 scoreless giving up just four hits with three walks and 17 strikeouts.
The Orioles rotation has not recorded a...
Check out this pretty funny video with Jeremy Guthrie and the guys at that MLB Fan Cave in New York.
Guthrie is known to be a fan of Justin Bieber and boy bands and the guys in New York wanted to discuss that with him.
Click here for that.
The Orioles' last two first-round draft picks, pitcher Dylan Bundy and shortstop Manny Machado, head the list of young players on the O's instructional league roster. The instructional league workouts in Sarasota, Fla., begin Sept.15 and run through Oct. 8.
Several O's minor league coaches and instructors will be on hand and Mike Bordick will oversee the workouts and serve as manager when the Orioles' team plays games.
The players get a lot of individual drill work and instruction during...
For the second day in a row, the Orioles enjoyed an extra-inning win against the Yankees, winning today 5-4 in the 10th on Robert Andino's RBI single.
"It is always good to have a walk-off game, especially against the Yankees," Andino said. "We battled the whole game and pitching kept us in it. To walk them off like that, everybody wants to beat the Yankees."
Tom Davis and Dave Johnson catch up with Robert Andino to discuss his game-winning hit in the O's 5-4 win
Andino came to bat...
