After one inning tonight, Brad Bergesen had thrown 20 pitches and allowed a homer.
We didn't know then that he would need just 75 more pitches over the next eight innings and that he would pitch an at times dominant game vs. Toronto.
But Bergesen produced his second complete game of the year and third of his career, with a 95-pitch, seven-hitter as the Orioles beat Toronto 3-1 to complete a three-game sweep. He threw 68 of his 95 pitches for strikes, with no walks and three...
Kyle Drabek pitched pretty well at Camden Yards tonight in his Major League debut.
But Brad Bergesen was better.
The O's great run of starting pitching continued Wednesday night as the Orioles beat Toronto 3-1 on Bergesen's seven-hitter to complete a three-game sweep.
Bergesen improves to 7-10, 5.03 and pitched his second complete game of the season and the Orioles third.
Buck Showalter talks with the media after the O's 3-1 win over the Blue Jays
He got plenty of defensive help as...
Kyle Drabek sure handled himself well and was pretty impressive in his Major League debut tonight.
He leaves trailing 3-1 to Brad Bergesen and the Orioles as the O's bat in the seventh.
He gave up nine hits and three runs, throwing 88 pitches through six frames. He showed a low 90's fastball and two pretty good curveballs. He limited damage during a couple of jams and fanned five.
Bergesen has worked fast, throwing strikes tonight and his defense has been stellar, turning two double...
Jose Bautista, who did not homer in 11 Orioles at bats in 2004, tonight hit his seventh homer this year against Baltimore pitching.
Bautista has 17 hits this year vs. the O's and 14 have gone for extra-bases after he homered off Brad Bergesen in the first tonight.
He is 17 for 55 (.309) vs. the O's in 2010 with six doubles, a triple, seven homers and 16 RBI. He began this game with an OPS of 1.159 vs. Orioles pitching.
He also has homered six times on the season vs. the Red Sox and...
His father made his first-ever Major League start in Baltimore and Kyle Drabek will do the same tonight, pitching for Toronto vs. the Orioles.
After pitching four times in relief, former Cy Young winner Doug Drabek, who was an Oriole himself in 1998, made his first career start for the Yankees at Memorial Stadium on June 15, 1986. This will be the younger Drabek's Major League debut.
The 22-year-old Drabek was the Eastern League pitcher of the year this season, going 14-9, 2.94 over 27...
The end of this season is turning out better for Robert Andino than the beginning.
Andino was designated for assignment by the Orioles on April 3rd. But he cleared waivers, went to Triple-A and put up enough numbers to get a September recall.
Now he has started the last three games, going 4 for 15 and had a big three-run double in last night's win. He may be playing his way back into the O's picture as at least a candidate for the utility infielder job next season.
"I'm just trying not...
So the Orioles have now won four series in a row for the first time since August 3-15, 2004.
Overall, they have won eight of their last ten and 12 of the last 17 games.
They are 6-1 in their last seven games vs. the AL East.
There are so many positive individual and team stats right now, it is even hard for a reporter like yours truly who enjoys keeping up with stats and trends.
But, hey, I'll work at it.
Then there is this note. The Orioles have now played 40 games under Buck Showalter...
Buck Showalter says players don't get stronger this time of year, some just hold up better than others.
Jake Arrieta seems to be one of those players.
Even though he is now 22 innings over his 2009 total, Arrieta is thriving and tonight pitched six shutout innings in the O's 11-3 romp over Toronto.
He is now 6-6, 4.66 in 18 starts and is 2-0, 2.60 over his past three starts. This was his first start as a Major Leaguer where he did not allow a run.
Jake Arrieta discusses his outing with...
The Orioles used a big inning and a big pitching performance to post another win over Toronto on Tuesday night.
Jake Arrieta pitched six scoreless innings and the O's added to a 3-0 lead with a six-run 7th in an 11-3 romp over the Jays.
The Orioles have now won four series in a row for the first time since August 3-15, 2004.
Buck Showalter meets with the media after the O's 11-3 win over the Blue Jays
An enthusiastic crowd of 16,589 saw it on Buck Showalter T-shirt Tuesday.
The Orioles...
Josh Bell continues to strike out too much.
He has fanned twice tonight vs. Shawn Hill. He has swung at six pitches and missed them all. He has now fanned 49 times and walked just twice in 141 Major League at bats.
Yes, that is an alarming rate of strikeouts.
This is not to bash Bell because his defense has improved and over the last few weeks he made a few plays to help this team win. And I can still remember sitting in this exact press box seat when he mashed two homers off Cliff...
The Orioles will announce their minor league player and pitcher of the year award winners this Friday and the players will be introduced to the crowd that night when the O's host the Yankees.
Barring an upset, it appears that Joe Mahoney is the top candidate for the Brooks Robinson player award and Zach Britton for the Jim Palmer pitcher honor.
The 23-year-old Mahoney, a sixth-round pick in 2007, hit .307-18-78 this year with 30 doubles between Frederick and Bowie.
After his promotion to...
Brian Matusz said today he hasn't yet met with Rick Kranitz and/or Buck Showalter to discuss whether he will make his next start.
He and the O's expect that he will after Matusz suffered a left triceps contusion last night vs. Toronto and pitched just one inning vs. the Jays.
"It feels good, still a little bit swollen and bruised up a little bit. We are going to continue to do treatment with ice, stim and go from there. Keep a pressure pad on it to get the swelling down. I am not going...
Luke Scott was the last hero for the Orioles in their 11-inning win over Toronto Monday night, but Rick VandenHurk was likely the most important.
When Brian Matusz left his start after one inning with a left triceps contusion, VandenHurk entered the contest on short notice.
It was his fourth O's appearance, but he had pitched just one inning over the previous 17 days.
He took the mound to start the second inning and quickly looked in mid-season form for a guy trying to knock rust off. He...
Brian Matusz took the mound tonight and could have become the first O's pitcher to win five consecutive starts since Erik Bedard did it in July of 2007.
But Yunel Escobar's line drive changed those plans.
When Escobar, the second batter of the game, hit one back at the mound, Matusz took the liner on his left arm and suffered a left triceps contusion.
He faced three more batters but was pulled after one scoreless inning.
"Squared me up in the tricep. I felt fine. Honestly, at first, it...
The O's needed extra innings, but they have finally beaten Toronto.
Luke Scott's RBI single to center with one out in the 11th gave the Orioles a 4-3 win as they improve to 1-12 vs. the Blue Jays. Nick Markakis led off the 11th with a single to left off Brian Tallet, his third hit of the night and went to second on a groundout. He scored on Scott's game-winning hit.
With the win, the Orioles improved to 12-3 in extra innings and avoided losing 13 in a row to Toronto for the first time...
Well, the Orioles did sweep three from Toronto in Baltimore to end last season.
But this year, as most are well aware, the O's are 0-12 vs. the Blue Jays as they begin this series here tonight at Camden Yards.
That is the current longest win streak in the bigs by one team over another.
MLB's longest current win streaks:
*Toronto with 12 straight vs. the Orioles.
*San Diego with 9 straight vs. Pittsburgh.
*Oakland with 9 straight vs. Pittsburgh.
*Florida with 8 straight vs. Toronto.
The...
Well, it turns out that when David Hernandez was seen grabbing at his right elbow after being taken out of the game in Detroit Sunday, he was just doing that.
He was not reaching for his elbow because it was sore or hurt in any way.
"Everything is fine. My wife told me she saw me do that and she asked too."
Hernandez is finally back with the Orioles after going on the DL August 5th with a sprained left ankle. He pitched twice in Detroit, but said he doesn't feel completely back to form...
Brandon Snyder was with the Orioles for 10 games before he made his first Major League start. Now he will make two in a row as he's batting ninth and starting at first base vs. Toronto tonight at Camden Yards.
"I was almost expecting to come in and kind of be sitting today. But I am extremely excited about getting a chance to get in there again. Yesterday was a good first step into trying to relax and just play the game.
"After the third or fourth inning, I started to really fit in...
I sense that on the wall in his office near the O's clubhouse, Buck Showalter has these items on his to do list.
-Win more than we lose - Check
-Motivate players - Check
-Get solid starting pitching - Check
-Convince Matt Wieters he's good - Check
-Use Koji in the ninth, but don't call him closer - Check
-Take in some minor league games - Check
-Find some nuggets - Working on it, partial check
-Remind the players to stop giving the other team too much credit - Check
-Have my own T-shirt...
Just like on Wednesday at New York, the Orioles came within a few outs of sweeping a series, but could not get it today at Comerica Park.
Miguel Cabrera's three-run double off David Hernandez in the last of the 8th gave Detroit the lead as the Tigers beat the Birds 6-2 this afternoon as the Orioles wasted a very strong start by Chris Tillman.
Detroit came up in the inning down 2-1, but Will Rhymes singled and Ryan Raburn doubled to left vs. Mike Gonzalez putting runners on second and...
