Jim Johnson is off to a great start with the Orioles.
He has an ERA of 2.79 with 11 strikeouts to just two walks over 9 2/3 innings on the year. Over his last four games, he has pitched five scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
Johnson has always been a hard thrower, but now an improved changeup has become a real weapon for him.
"JJ has always had a good changeup," manager Buck Showalter said. "(Pitching coach) Mark (Connor) and he worked hard at taking a little more velocity off it...
While Manny Machado is the most well-known and most-interviewed Delmarva Shorebird and is playing very well right now in his first full minor league season, the infielder that plays next to him is probably playing as well as anyone on the O's farm right now.
Xavier Avery went 4-for-8 as the Baysox split a doubleheader last night. Avery got thrown out once on the bases in each game, just the second and third times he has been caught stealing this year. Avery's 13 stolen bases leads the...
During the Red Sox' recent run of eight wins in nine games, the Sox starting pitchers were tremendous pitching to an ERA of 0.88 during that stretch.
They had given up just six earned runs over 61 1/3 in the nine games. Tonight, Boston starter Clay Buchholz allowed four earned runs over 6 2/3 versus the Orioles. Buchholz entered with a career ERA of 2.98 against Baltimore and it went up to 3.26 tonight.
Boston pitching gave up just five runs total in its four-game sweep of Los Angeles and...
You don't see this too often. The Red Sox have five left-handed batters in their starting lineup tonight versus Orioles' southpaw starter Zach Britton.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, J.D. Drew and Carl Crawford all will come to bat against Britton from that side as Boston looks for its ninth win over the last 10 games. The Sox' 8-1 record is the best in the majors since April 16.
Those five Boston batters have a combined average coming into tonight of .228 versus...
With a batting average of at least .293 and OPS of at least .801 the last four years, it is a little strange to see Nick Markakis currently batting .208 with an OPS of .591.
But he will take those numbers over 20 games and 77 at-bats into the Boston series that starts tonight here at Camden Yards.
Manager Buck Showalter said you can't take it for granted when a slumping player says "my numbers will be there in the end," but even Showalter said when it comes to Markakis, that will be true....
Jake Arrieta can't erase his start on April 9 against Texas from his record, but if he could, his ERA would be 2.63 over his other four starts versus Detroit, New York., Minnesota and New York.
Arrieta has produced four quality starts in those four outings, giving up just seven earned runs and 20 hits over 24 innings. He feels he has gotten his 2011 season off to a good start.
"I just think that every step of the way throughout my career I've been able to make adjustments and find a way to...
While fans must be enjoying the good starting pitching they have seen from some of the young Orioles starters, you may not know these guys are pretty solid people, as well.
Pitchers Zach Britton, Jake Arrieta and Jeremy Guthrie recently paid a visit to the kids at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. They did this because they really wanted to and not so someone like me would write it about. They did it to help some kids who face real challenges right now and not because someone from the Orioles...
It won't make any fans that are down on Derrek Lee feel any better, but Lee has had slow starts in April before. His start this April is worse than his start last April but better, in some stat categories, than his start in April 2009.
In 2009, by the way, he finished with an average of .306 and hit 35 homers with 111 RBIs and an OPS of .972. He finished ninth in the National League Most Valuable Player vote that year.
None of this means he will have a season like that this year, but it...
A couple of fans have written to ask me about LJ Hoes and why he played left field Sunday for Single-A Frederick.
This is not a position change and Hoes is still considered a second baseman. But as I have written many times now, the Orioles plan to have many of the minor leaguers play other positions from time to time. It just makes sense to do it while they are in the minors as they take a look at them there and see if the players can add to their respective resumes.
It's why we will see,...
When the Orioles started 6-1 while Boston was going 0-6, it was quite a reversal of fortunes for the two teams.
After the additions of players like Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, Boston was a popular pick to win the American League East, the AL and even the World Series. Then came their worst start since 1945.
But predictably, the Red Sox have gotten their act together and they are 10-5 since then, while the Orioles are 2-11.
In winning five in a row and eight of nine, Boston's starting...
While the Orioles were outscored 21-6 by the Yankees the last two days, is was not all bad.
Yesterday's game seemed to featured big play after big play in the final innings. The O's matched the Yankees and looked like they would pull out a huge comeback win that was much needed.
After 11 losses in 13 games, fans are predictably down. There were a few things to take from the weekend, however.
* Jake Arrieta battled well again versus the Yankees. He has made four career starts against New...
Some postgame comments from the Orioles after their extra-innings loss to New York.
Jake Arrieta on settling down after giving up two runs in the first:
"Just made good pitches. Even the slider to Granderson (that he homered on) wasn't a bad pitch, he's swinging the bat well now. Had to bear down and make pitches when I needed to. I kept us in the game. The walks in the first was really the only thing I was upset about."
Arrieta on the pitch to Granderson in the first:
"It was a slider,...
On a day the Orioles rallied from three runs down to tie the Yankees when they were down to their last out, they still lost the game, falling 6-3 in 11 innings. New York wins both games here in the rain-shortened series.
The Orioles fall to 8-12 and are just 2-11 over the last 13 games.
Robinson Cano, who had been 0-for-4, doubled to lead off the 11th off Jason Berken and then stole third base when catcher Matt Wieters tried to gun him down straying off the bag at second. After a strikeout...
This game is now in a rain delay as of 4:56 with the O's and Yankees tied 3-3 in the top of the 11th.
The Orioles rallied from 3-0 down to tie it on a Mark Reynolds' two-run homer in the 7th and a Brian Roberts' two-out RBI double off Mariano Rivera in the last of the ninth.
While we wait out the raindrops, feel free to drop a question and/or Orioles comment right here right now.
The Orioles are still not scoring runs, oh by the way.
They trail today 3-0 after six innings. They have scored all three runs in this series on just one swing, an Adam Jones homer last night.
Through six today, they have just two hits off Freddy Garcia, both by Luke Scott. The rest of the lineup is a combined 0-for-18. New York's defense has helped him with solid plays afield by Mark Teixeira and A-Rod.
New York added to its lead on A-Rod's fielders choice RBI in the fifth. The O's had a...
Here's a stat for you:
Over the first 18 games of this season, Orioles' pitchers had allowed a total of five runs in the first inning. The Yankees have scored five first-inning runs in this series after taking a 2-0 lead in the first today versus Jake Arrieta.
Last night, New York took a 2-0 lead four batters into the game on its way to a three-run first inning. Today, Derek Jeter led off the game with a single to center and Curtis Granderson followed with a two-run homer to right on a 1-1...
Adam Jones took over the Orioles team home run lead with four with his three-run shot last night off CC Sabathia.
In recent games, we have seen Jones drop bunts for hits and also pick up key hits by driving the baseball to right and right center field. His homer last night went to right.
It provides perhaps a glimpse into a future where Jones realizes his vast potential and puts it all together at bat. He has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games and his six RBIs over the last six...
Well, at least the Orioles don't have long to stew over this loss.
They got hammered 15-3 by the Yankees last night. The beat down featured five New York homers including an A-Rod grand slam and two homers by catcher Russell Martin. Some observations as the Orioles get another chance at New York less than 16 hours after that loss.
*Josh Rupe stood at his locker and repeatedly said he did not throw at Martin, when he plunked him in the back in the top of the ninth. It could not have looked...
Orioles shortstop Robert Andino had words with Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira after Teixeira slid into second base with a double ahead of Andino's tag in the first inning of Saturday's game.
Andino was asked what happened and what was said on the field.
"He came up with like a little shoulder and I told him, 'Relax, I'm just putting down a tag on you.' We talked when I got to first base (in the sixth inning), but everything's cool. He just came up with a shoulder and I just said...