Steve Melewski

Westburg's slow start at Bowie and Mountcastle's home run chase

August 29, 2021, 4:41pm

Orioles

Westburg's slow start at Bowie and Mountcastle's home run chase

BOWIE - For a player that has had one of the most productive bats on the Orioles farm this year, it is strange to see infielder Jordan Westburg with a .143 batting average right now at Double-A Bowie. But his bat has yet to take off with the Baysox. However, for this player in his first full pro season, there is no concern right now and both his manager and hitting coaches expect the hits to start coming and sooner rather than later. "He's taking some lumps, which I think is good for him,"...

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O's game blog: Trying to extend the quality starts streak

August 29, 2021, 8:06am

Orioles

O's game blog: Trying to extend the quality starts streak

It started with Keegan Akin's solid seven-inning outing on Thursday afternoon, when he allowed just three hits and one run. That started a run that is now three consecutive quality outings by O's pitchers as Matt Harvey and John Means followed Akin with strong outings of their own. Three straight quality starts is a first for the 2021 Orioles. They had had two in a row but never three until now. In this span, the three starters allowed six runs and 12 hits in 19 1/3 innings with three walks...

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A look at Adley Rutschman's strong start with Norfolk

August 28, 2021, 7:28pm

Orioles

A look at Adley Rutschman's strong start with Norfolk

The No. 1 prospect in baseball, Triple-A Norfolk catcher Adley Rutschman, has been at the minors' highest level for just over two weeks now. After starting with eight hits in his first 17 Norfolk at-bats, his hitting has leveled off a bit, but it's still been a strong start for Rutschman with the Tides. Earlier, over 80 games with Double-A Bowie, Rutschman hit .271/.392/.508/.901 with 16 doubles, 18 homers and 55 RBIs. Through 15 games with Norfolk at Triple-A, he's batting...

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O's game blog: John Means faces Tampa Bay at the Yard

August 28, 2021, 9:40am

Orioles

O's game blog: John Means faces Tampa Bay at the Yard

The Orioles are still trying to figure out a way to beat the Tampa Bay Rays. Tonight they turn to their ace lefty John Means to try to defeat the Rays for just the second time this year. But tonight's start comes at a time when Means (5-6, 3.50 ERA) is struggling badly. On Aug. 6, Means allowed just one run over five innings versus Tampa Bay. But in the three starts since then - one that came versus the Rays - Means is 0-3 with an 8.16 ERA. He has allowed 13 earned runs and 20 hits, yielding...

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Next challenge for baseball's best pitching prospect: Bouncing back

August 27, 2021, 5:57pm

Orioles

Next challenge for baseball's best pitching prospect: Bouncing back

BOWIE - When he takes the mound tonight for Double-A Bowie against Erie, the highest-ranked pitching prospect in baseball, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez of the Baysox, will face a unique challenge. It is one he seldom faces. He'll try to pitch well coming off a poor start. Last Tuesday versus the Reading Fightin Phils, the 21-year-old Rodriguez allowed two hits and one run over five innings with one walk and six strikeouts. That start was like most of the 19 he has made this year for both...

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Notes from Bowie on playoff push, Stowers' homers, Lowther's outing (updated)

August 27, 2021, 1:41pm

Orioles

Notes from Bowie on playoff push, Stowers' homers, Lowther's outing (updated)

BOWIE - With 23 games left to play in this minor league season, a playoff push is on at Double-A Bowie, where the Baysox picked up a huge 8-6 win over Erie last night when right fielder Kyle Stowers hit his second homer of the game to break a 6-6 tie in the last of the eighth. When he hit homers No. 19 and 20 Thursday night, Stowers, the Orioles' No. 71 overall draft pick in 2019 out of Stanford, helped the Baysox improve to 19 games over .500 and hang onto the second-best record in the...

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O's game blog: Series begins vs. Rays

August 27, 2021, 8:05am

Orioles

After scoring 23 runs in back-to-back wins that followed a 19-game losing streak, the Orioles have a bit of momentum as they head into the series that begins tonight at Oriole Park. But this series is against the team with which they have had the toughest time this year. The first-place Tampa Bay Rays (79-48) come to Baltimore for a three-game weekend series to wrap up a nine-game homestand for the Orioles. The Rays are 15-1 this season against the Orioles and have outscored Baltimore 128-57 in...

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Jorge LÃ³pez gets off to good start in 'pen, plus other O's notes

August 26, 2021, 2:09pm

Orioles

Jorge LÃ³pez gets off to good start in 'pen, plus other O's notes

It was two innings at the end of a blowout win for the Orioles. But for the second time in two outings, right-hander Jorge LÃ³pez threw scoreless ball out of the bullpen. He's now thrown three scoreless innings in his new role on the pitching staff. Over two innings Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels, LÃ³pez, who went 3-14 with a 6.35 ERA in 25 games as a starter, retired six of seven batters, fanned four, allowing no hits or runs. In his first relief outing, when he pitched one...

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Akin's strong start, Mullins steals, Severino slam as O's win again

August 26, 2021, 11:52am

Orioles

Akin's strong start, Mullins steals, Severino slam as O's win again

When the day began and he took the mound with a record of 0-8 and 7.92 ERA, lefty Keegan Akin would probably have been an unlikely candidate to become the first Baltimore pitcher this year not named John Means to go seven innings or more. But he pitched his way out of an early jam in the top of the second and got rolling after that. Akin was stellar on the mound in the heat of Camden Yards this afternoon, and the O's put up a big inning in the last of the fifth to beat the Los Angeles Angels...

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O's game blog: Looking for a series victory

August 26, 2021, 7:56am

Orioles

O's game blog: Looking for a series victory

Now that a 19-game losing streak has ended, the Orioles can win a series for the first time in about a month if they beat the Los Angeles Angels today. It's the final game of a three-game series and the sixth game of a nine-game homestand. The Orioles hit three homers off right-hander Shohei Ohtani last night - Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander and DJ Stewart all connected - as they won 10-6. It was the Orioles' first win since Aug. 2 and first home win since July 28. After they had scored...

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The homers, the bullpen and the fans get credit for streak-ender

August 25, 2021, 9:00pm

Orioles

The homers, the bullpen and the fans get credit for streak-ender

It was not an evening billed as "Fantastic Fans Night" as it was in May 1988. Then, just days after the Orioles had snapped their 0-21 start to the season, more than 50,000 fans showed up to welcome them home at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. But when the Orioles rallied for five runs in the last of the eighth last night and took a 10-6 lead over the Los Angeles Angels, a crowd of 15,867 - some of them there, no doubt, because Shohei Ohtani was pitching - roared their approval. It sounded...

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Three homers off Ohtani, eighth-inning rally end losing streak

August 25, 2021, 6:27pm

Orioles

Three homers off Ohtani, eighth-inning rally end losing streak

The Orioles may have pulled this game out tonight with an eighth-inning rally, but some things that happened before that were also vital as the club snapped a 19-game losing streak, the second-longest in team history. The Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-6 to win for the first time since they beat the New York Yankees 7-1 on Aug. 2. The losing streak ends two short of the club record. It started with the power surge off Los Angeles Angels right-hander Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani began the night...

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O's game blog: Birds face Shohei Ohtani at Camden Yards

August 25, 2021, 2:28pm

Orioles

O's game blog: Birds face Shohei Ohtani at Camden Yards

The pitcher standing between the Orioles tonight and possibly ending the second-longest losing streak in club history is also the major league homer run leader. The Los Angeles Angels' amazing right-hander, Shohei Ohtani, who has hit 40 homers while also posting an 8-1 record and 2.79 ERA on the mound, will bat and pitch versus the Orioles tonight at Camden Yards. He is facing the Orioles as a pitcher for the first time. On the year, Ohtani has thrown 100 innings, allowing 67 hits and just...

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They are No. 1: O's move to top of farm rankings

August 24, 2021, 9:07pm

Orioles

They are No. 1: O's move to top of farm rankings

They are No. 1, the best farm system in all of Major League Baseball. The Orioles moved to the top spot in the latest organizational rankings released last night by MLBPipeline.com. Just eight days ago, the Orioles were ranked No. 2 by Baseball America. So this news comes at a time when the Orioles have the worst record in the majors and a 19-game losing streak after Tuesday's 14-8 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. The Orioles had the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2019, No. 2 the next year and No....

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O's game blog: O's face Dylan Bundy as series begins

August 24, 2021, 1:12pm

Orioles

O's game blog: O's face Dylan Bundy as series begins

The Orioles drafted him No. 4 overall out of an Oklahoma high school in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Starting in 2012 and running through the 2019 season, right-hander Dylan Bundy pitched in 127 games with the Orioles. Tonight he will face them for the first time, standing between his former club and their possible ending of an 18-game losing streak. On Dec. 4, 2019, the club traded Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels for minor leaguer right-handers Kyle Bradish, Kyle Brnovich, Isaac Mattson...

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orioles steve melewski

Sizing up some O's and wins and losses since 2020

August 23, 2021, 4:19pm

Orioles

Sizing up some O's and wins and losses since 2020

Today let's look at some won-loss math involving the Orioles. Will it explain anything or provide greater insight into the current team situation? Maybe, but very likely not in any significant way. I just find it interesting and would love to hear what readers think it means, if anything. Starting with the beginning of the 2020 shortened season and going through the first 31 games of this year, the Orioles over that 91-game sample had a much better record than they have had this year in the 92...

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A look at two talented, young shortstops on the farm

August 22, 2021, 5:37pm

Orioles

A look at two talented, young shortstops on the farm

The Orioles certainly have some shortstops they like at higher minor league levels, including players like Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, Mason McCoy and a few others. But they are also pleased so far with what they have seen this season from some talented, young shortstops playing at the lower levels. In the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League, they believe that 17-year-old Venezuelan Maikol Hernandez is already showing his solid tools despite modest offensive stats so far. In January,...

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O's game blog: Looking to break the streak against Atlanta

August 22, 2021, 7:57am

Orioles

O's game blog: Looking to break the streak against Atlanta

The Orioles need a win today at home against Atlanta to avoid another three-game sweep and to snap a 17-game losing streak. First-place Atlanta has taken the first two games in this series by 3-0 and 5-4 scores. The Orioles hit four solo homers last night. Before this, the last time they hit four in a game was actually their last win: Aug. 2 against New York at Yankee Stadium. Last night Anthony Santander connected for his first two homers of the year batting right-handed. He hit his 11th from...

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orioles steve melewski

The challenge of trying to stay upbeat during a losing streak

August 21, 2021, 8:06pm

Orioles

The challenge of trying to stay upbeat during a losing streak

As the Orioles' losing streak reached 16 Friday night, the team was remaining upbeat pregame in the clubhouse and keeping their energy and work ethic up amid mounting losses. Media is not allowed back in big league clubhouses yet, so we'll take manager Brandon Hyde's word for it. But that was the experience I had in 2019. The Orioles were losing games, but maintaining a positive attitude then as they are now, which cannot be easy to do. "I give our guys a ton of credit," Hyde said before...

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One-run game, but skid extended as Braves beat O's (updated)

August 21, 2021, 5:38pm

Orioles

One-run game, but skid extended as Braves beat O's (updated)

Coming into this contest against the Atlanta Braves, the Orioles had not played a game decided by one run since they beat Detroit 4-3 on July 30. During a long losing streak, they had lost every game by two or more runs. Mid-game tonight they were locked in a tight game, but would it still be that way at the finish? It would remain close, and after leading by one early in the game and trailing by one in the fifth, the Orioles went to the ninth down 5-3. Anthony Santander's second homer of the...