Here are some comments from Orioles' players about Chris Tillman and his debut tonight.
David Hernandez - "When I was brought up from Norfolk, he was just starting to get going. If he just pitches how he pitches, he shouldn't change a thing when he gets up here.
"He's a guy that when he goes out there and if he's getting hit around, if you look at the guy you wouldn't know he was getting hit around. It's just how his demeanor is. If things are going good, he's the same."
Nolan...
O's left fielder Nolan Reimold entered the All-Star break in a slump, but he's out of it now.
Reimold was 3 for 28 heading into the break as his average dropped to .257.
But he is batting .457 since the break with five doubles, four RBI and four stolen bases.
"I just fell into some bad habits and had to work my way out of them. That happens during the year," Reimold said. "Now I'm ready to get some more hits."
In the last five games, the hits are coming in bunches. Reimold is 11...
Game Preview
Kansas City (40-59) at Orioles (42-57)
The Kansas City Royals were struggling when they arrived in Baltimore on Monday. They had just completed a 1-8 road trip and had lost 11 of 12 games.
They have the worst record in the American League.
But they have posted back-to-back, 5-3 and 4-3 wins over the Orioles. Tuesday's win came in 11 innings as KC tied it 3-3 in the 8th and won it on John Buck's RBI single in the 11th.
Seven of the O's last eight losses have been by two...
RHP Chris Tillman tonight makes his Major League debut.
The 21-year-old right-hander was acquired by the O's from Seattle on February 8, 2008 as part of the Erik Bedard deal.
At 21 years, 106 days old, Tillman will become the youngest Oriole to make his Major League debut since Hayden Penn did so at 20 years, 228 days old on May 28, 2005.
Tillman has had two excellent years pitching in the O's farm system and is among the best pitching prospects in all of baseball.
This season with...
Chris Tillman allowed solo homers to Alberto Callaspo and Miguel Olivo in the second inning tonight. It's the first time this year he has allowed more than one homer in a start.
In 96 2/3 innings at Triple-A, he gave up only five homers.
Over his last six Triple-A starts before tonight, he had given up just one homer, a span of 36 2/3 innings.
He has thrown 53 pitches through three innings with 15 in the first, 22 in the second and 16 in the third inning.
The Orioles have had now five pitchers make their Major League debuts this year. Chris Tillman was the first of the five to allow more than two earned runs, as he gave up three over 4 2/3.
It was not a great outing by any stretch, but a start for a 21-year-old who has to deal with hype and high expectations.
The five debuts added together produced an ERA of 2.77. That is impressive.
Tillman left tonight trailing 3-2 and the O's still trail by that score after five innings. He can only...
On a night where Chris Tillman allowed three solo homers in his Major League debut, the Orioles rallied for five late runs to gain a much-needed win. The Birds topped Kansas City 7-3 Wednesday in front of 19,741 at Camden Yards.
The O's came to bat in the 7th down by 3-2. But after 116 pitches, Zack Greinke was taken out of the game and the Orioles rallied for three runs and the lead vs. the KC bullpen.
Robinson Tejada walked the first two hitters to hand the O's a rally. An Adam Jones...
He didn't pitch as well as he had been at Triple-A this year, but Chris Tillman can relax a little now. The first one is out of the way.
"I had some nerves in the beginning but then I got my feet under me a little bit. I was just trying to get ahead of hitters but I hurt myself falling behind at times. The off speed wasn't there for me tonight. The mound was wet and I was slipping a little bit," Tillman said.
After giving up five homers in 18 Norfolk starts, Tillman gave up three solo...
Chris Tillman got a no decision in his Major League debut. In 4 2/3, he gave up three runs and seven hits. He allowed three solo homers. He had given up just five homers in 18 starts at Triple-A.
Tillman threw 93 pitches, 58 for strikes and has a one-start ERA of 5.79.
Matt Albers got the win with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He threw just 22 pitches. After giving up a key homer last night, Jim Johnson pitched the last two innings to record his second save of 2009.
Johnson, who...
Game Preview
Kansas City (40-60) at Orioles (43-57)
For the Orioles, it's 100 games down and 62 to go in this 2009 season.
The O's are 43-57 at the 100-game mark after Wednesday's 7-3 win over KC. Adam Jones and Nick Markakis knocked in three runs each. Jones hit a first-inning homer for the third straight game in this series.
The four-game set comes to an end this afternoon with a matinee contest set for 12:35 p.m. Brad Bergesen (6-5, 3.56) faces KC's Luke Hochevar (6-3, 4.84)
The...
RHP Brad Bergesen (6-5, 3.56) today makes his 19th start of the year, his 11th at home and the 1st of his career vs. the KC Royals.
Bergesen, who has just one win over his last five starts, last worked on Friday at Boston. He gave up nine hits and three runs over six innings vs. the Sox.
Bergesen has been outstanding at home this year, going 6-1, 2.82 and the team is 8-2 in those ten home starts. The O's are 9-9 in Bergesen's 18 starts on the season.
Right-handed batters hit .274 vs....
Brandon Snyder must finally be warming up to Triple-A pitching.
He is 1 for 2 in Norfolk's game this afternoon. That extends his current batting streak to eight games. He has 12 hits in his last 29 at bats (.414) as his average has climbed from .200 to its current .245.
Snyder has 69 RBI on the year to lead all O's minor leaguers.
Earlier this year, he batted .343-10-45 in 58 games with Double-A Bowie.
He began today hitting .241-2-24 in 38 contests with Norfolk.
Brad Bergesen gave up just one run over seven innings to get his 7th win as the Orioles beat Kansas City 7-3 to split the four-game series.
Bergesen left the game in pain as Billy Butler's liner back to the mound hit him on his left shin. Catcher Matt Wieters would field the ball and throw Butler out to end the seventh.
As of this writing, there was no further update on the extent of Bergesen's injury.
He improves to 7-5, 3.43. He is now 7-1, 2.68 at home and over his last 12 starts is...
Brad Bergesen talked with reporters a few moments ago in the O's clubhouse.
He left today's game after seven innings. On the last out he recorded he took a line shot off his left shin and he limped off the field.
"It hurts pretty bad. When it first happened, I didn't know what happened at first. When I got into the dugout, I fell down, I thought it was broken. The pain was bad, I wanted to throw up.
"I took the X-ray and there was no break on there. Hopefully there isn't. They...
Josh Bell is a switch-hitting third baseman, who is 22 years old.
He is currently batting .296-11-52 with Double-A Chatanooga and has 30 doubles in 94 games. He goes 6'3", 235 pounds. He has an on base percentage of .386 and a slugging percentage of .497.
This year he is hitting .212 vs. LHP and .335 vs. RHP.
Bell was a fourth-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2005. He is from Lantana, Florida.
Power is one of his best tools and some scouts rated his power as 70 on the 20-80 scale. ...
So what must it be like to hear your son may be traded to the Orioles while you are on the air on the Orioles radio network?
That's the afternoon Dave Johnson had as he was working today's postgame show with Tom Davis when reports began to surface that his son, pitching currently for the Dodgers Double-A team, may be headed to the O's organization.
I should mention that as Dave agreed to be interviewed the trade was still not official, but he heard from Steve that he was told not to dress...
For Josh Bell, it is not easy to leave the only organization he's ever known, the Dodgers, but he also knows this. His chance to be a future Major League third baseman will be much greater with the Orioles.
O's president Andy MacPhail stopped short of anointing him the O's third sacker of the future during a telephone press conference Thursday night, but he did say the O's are short at that position in the upper levels of their minors.
"It's largely up to the players," MacPhail said. ...
One of the perks of the job of reporter covering the Orioles is that you get to meet and talk to Orioles' players.
That's a pretty neat thing for a kid from Baltimore like myself.
What's cooler yet is when those players turn out to be quality people that are easy to root for. The Orioles have many such players on their roster but they just lost one - George Sherrill.
In his less than two years here, Sherrill impressed just about any reporter who ever had a chance to interview him. He...
Game Preview
Boston (59-42) at Orioles (44-57)
The Orioles are trying to get their offense going again. Perhaps they are on their way after scoring 14 runs in beating Kansas City the last two days.
After splitting that four-game series, the Orioles welcome Boston to town tonight to continue this seven-game homestand.
Pitching Matchups:
Fri, 705p - Jeremy Guthrie (7-9, 5.21) v. John Smoltz (1-4, 7.04)
Sat, 705p - David Hernandez (3-2, 3.20) v. Josh Beckett (12-4, 3.44)
Sun, 135p - Jason...
So many have asked to hear it.
Here is how it sounded on the Orioles' all-access post-game radio show Thursday afternoon when Tom Davis told his co-host Dave Johnson that his son had been traded to the Orioles.
The audio is courtesy of CBS Radio, O's flagship station, 105.7 FM the Fan in Baltimore and the Orioles radio network.
105.7 The Fan Post-Game Audio: July 30, 2009
Read more here about Dave Johnson's emotional day.
UPDATE - No official word yet, but it appears Bell and...