O's right-hander Jim Johnson had one career save in the minors and he has three career Major League saves, with two coming this season.
Now he'll get plenty of chances to add to that total.
The 26-year-old now takes over the closer duties for the Orioles after George Sherrill's trade to the Dodgers.
"It's very similar to pitching the 8th inning. It's a critical part of the game and a time I want to be out there," Johnson said.
He's been able to watch Sherrill close games for most...
O's president Andy MacPhail said the last few hours before the trade deadline passed today without the Orioles close to making another deal.
"It was uneventful. I would say we only talked to four or five clubs today. We only had one thing kind of different come up today and that really never got off the ground. It was kind of how I anticipated it would be.
"We heard from some of our compatriots in baseball (praising us on the trade). We did what we had to do. It's a circumstance...
RHP Jeremy Guthrie (7-9, 5.21) tonight will make his 21st start of the 2009 season, his 11th at home and his 3rd this year vs. Boston.
Guthrie's last outing was Saturday at Boston. He gave up five runs in 6 2/3. In four July starts, he is 1-2, 5.62.
Right-handed batters are hitting .261 against him and lefties bat .272 vs. Guthrie. He has allowed 23 homers in 115 2/3 innings on the year.
He has struggled often early in his starts. Of the 71 runs he has given up this season, 35 have come...
Dave Trembley might get some criticism tonight for leaving Jeremy Guthrie in one batter too long.
He was leading the game 5-4, with one on and two out in the top of the seventh. With Kevin Youkilis, two for three in the game coming up, Jeremy Guthrie, now over 100 pitches, was left in.
Guthrie then hung one that Youkilis hit out for a 6-5 lead.
The first four batters in the Boston order tonight went 8 for 15 with three homers and 5 RBI vs. Guthrie.
The three homers allowed tied his season...
Jeremy Guthrie continued to give up home runs tonight and the Orioles continued their season-long struggles vs. Boston.
The Red Sox hit three homers off Guthrie in a 6-5 win over the O's on Friday night in front of 44,091 at Camden Yards.
The O's fall to 2-9 on the season vs. Boston.
Aubrey Huff hit his 200th career homer, a two-run shot in the last of the 6th to give Baltimore a 5-4 lead. But in the 7th, a Kevin Youkilis two-on, two-out homer put Boston on top 6-5.
Earlier, David Ortiz...
Eight of the Orioles last nine losses have been by one or two runs. With tonight's loss, they fall to 11-13 in one-run games.
The O's fall to 4-10 since the All-Star break. In those games, they have been out-scored by just one run, 65-64 and they have out-hit their opponents 139-128 since the break.
Jeremy Guthrie gave up six runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 to fall to 7-10, 5.37 on the year. He allowed three homers tonight to tie his season-high (gave up three 5-20 at NYY) and has given up...
The Orioles began tonight's game 3 for 21 so far this year batting with runners in scoring position.
They trailed 2-1 tonight after four and a half innings and are 0 for 4 with RISP.
Their only run to date tonight came on Nolan Reimold's solo homer to left in the 3rd, his first of the year and the Orioles fourth solo shot of this series.
The O's left runners at first and third in the 5th when Mike Eckstrom fooled Adam Jones with a breaking ball and struck him out to end the frame.
Luke...
The Orioles have knocked Tampa's starter out early - but not in the usual fashion.
Rays starter Jeff Niemann left tonight's game in the top of the second after getting hit high on the right shoulder by a Miguel Tejada liner. The ball was hit so hard it deflected on the fly right to the first baseman. You could see the concern on Tejada's face as the Rays trainer looked at Niemann, who thew a few warm-up pitches, then left the game.
He had retired the first four hitters when he was...
So you say you are not impressed by the Orioles' offense so far?
Not much to speak of to date. Six runs on 17 hits and a team average of .239. They are just 3 for 21, that's .143, with runners in scoring position.
I didn't drink any cool-aid today, lots of water though. But I see some good signs from this offense.
For one, if he is healthy, it won't be long before Brian Roberts starts spraying hits. He is 0 for 10 which just means he's due for some hits. Sure, it's still his...
Here are the season-opening starting rotaitons for the Orioles four full-season minor league clubs.
The pitchers are listed as they will work from first through fifth. Those listed first are this evening's opening night starters.
Norfolk: Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta, Alfredo Simon, Troy Patton and Brandon Erbe.
Bowie: Zach Britton, Steve Johnson, Chorye Spoone, Ryohei Tanaka and Tim Bascom.
Frederick: Rick Zagone, Ryan O'Shea, Nate Nery, Cole McCurry and Oliver Drake.
Delmarva: Ryan...
Game Preview
Boston (60-42) at Orioles (44-58)
Friday night featured more of the same for the Orioles. Another loss since the All-Star break. Another close loss and another defeat vs. Boston.
They'll try and break into the win column vs. the Sox tonight in game two of the series at Camden Yards at 7:05 p.m. when David Hernandez (3-2, 3.20) pitches vs. Boston's Josh Beckett (12-4, 3.44).
Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer off Jeremy Guthrie in the 7th inning to lead Boston to a 6-5 win...
So the Orioles are considering Brian Matusz to make Tuesday's start in Detroit in the place of the injured Brad Bergesen.
I don't have a vote, but in this blog I do. I sign off big time on that move.
And, it's not just because I've seen him pitch three or four times in person this year and his stuff has looked great. It's because his maturity and poise appear off the charts as well.
Matusz can handle it. Plus, his pitches sure look Major League quality.
In seven starts at Bowie,...
RHP David Hernandez (3-2, 3.20) tonight will make his 8th start of this year, his 3rd at home and his 2nd in a row vs. the Boston Red Sox.
Hernandez is coming off back-to-back very strong starts at Yankee Stadium (one run, six innings) and Fenway Park (one run, seven innings). In those two games he pitched 13 innings, allowing eight hits and two runs for a 1.38 ERA.
Over his last four starts, he is 2-0, 2.45. The four starts were all on the road at Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and...
O's top draft pick Matt Hobgood made his third start at Bluefield tonight. For the third time in a row, he gave up runs.
In two innings vs. Johnson City, the right-hander allowed six hits and three runs (two earned). In five innings on the year, he has allowed nine hits and four earned runs for an ERA of 7.20.
He was scheduled to throw about 50 pitches.
Hobgood pitched on eight days rest tonight, but I'm told he is fine physically. The club just wanted to give him longer between starts...
Watching David Hernandez struggle to keep his pitch count down tonight vs. Boston, it is easy to understand why the Orioles did not want Chris Tillman's second start to come vs. the Red Sox.
Hernandez, making his 8th start, certainly struggled with his command, but the Sox are just a relentless bunch in that lineup and work the count so well.
The O's made a wise choice to have Tillman's second start come Monday vs. Detroit on the road. That is no picnic, but I like his chances better that...
Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis hit solo homers to back the seven innings of scoreless pitching of Josh Beckett as the Red Sox blanked the Orioles 4-0 Saturday night.
The crowd of 49,384 was the 4th largest in Camden Yards history and second sellout of the season.
Beckett, now 13-4, 3.27, gave up six hits in his seven shutout frames with two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 107 pitches and is 6-2 in 12 career starts vs. Baltimore.
He is the Major League's first 13-game winner. Over...
Five days after holding the Red Sox to one run over seven innings at Fenway Park, O's right-hander David Hernandez was not able to duplicate that outing vs. Boston.
"They made me work tonight. I made it hard on myself not throwing strikes early in the count. I had to use my fastball to try and get by," Hernandez said.
He struggled with command early on and needed 50 pitches to get through the first two innings. On the night he gave up seven hits and two runs over 4 1/3 innings, throwing...
O's hurler David Hernandez took the loss, giving up seven hits and two runs over 4 1/3 innings. He had four strikeouts and walks which helped elevate his pitch count.
He had thrown 50 pitches after two innings and 92 after four. He finished with 102 pitches, just 57 for strikes.
Hernandez had pitched to an ERA of 1.38 in his previous two outings at New York and Boston.
The O's fall to 2-9 on the year vs. Boston, including a mark of 1-4 in Baltimore. They are 14-26 vs. the AL East and...
Game Preview
Boston (61-42) at Orioles (44-59)
After posting 6-5 and 4-0 wins over the Orioles this weekend, the Boston Red Sox can do something today no team has been able to do all year.
That is sweep the Orioles three straight in Baltimore.
The O's have been swept in three game series five times this year, but all came on the road. In April the O's lost four straight at Boston.
The last time the Sox swept a three-game series at Baltimore was April 7-9, 2006.
After the Birds had...
Even though he didn't arrive at New Britain until after 8 p.m. last night, Steve Johnson is scheduled to take the ball and make his first Bowie Baysox start today.
Johnson and Bowie take on New Britain today at 1:35 p.m.
Johnson went 1-1, 1.69 in two starts at Double-A Chatanooga before Thursday's trade to the Orioles. At two levels this year in the Dodgers system, he made a combined 18 starts, going 9-5, 3.61.
Josh Bell is now also with Bowie.