As O's bullpen struggles overall, Evan Phillips gets on a nice roll

As O's bullpen struggles overall, Evan Phillips gets on a nice roll
TORONTO - At a time when the Orioles bullpen is struggling and often giving up leads, a pitcher that had been struggling previously is not anymore. At least not in a recent stretch of games. Right-hander Evan Phillips has now put together six straight scoreless appearances for the Orioles, the latest a two-inning stint last night when he pitched the fourth and fifth against Toronto. Over the six games, Phillips has thrown seven innings, allowing four hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts. It...
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O's game blog: Dylan Bundy faces the Blue Jays

O's game blog: Dylan Bundy faces the Blue Jays
TORONTO - After their marathon, 15-inning 11-10 loss to Toronto that ended early this morning, the Orioles and Blue Jays meet tonight in Game 2 of this series at Rogers Centre. It is also the second game of a season-ending six-game road trip that takes the Orioles to Boston beginning Friday. In yesterday's loss, Austin Hays went 3-for-8 with two homers, five RBIs and four strikeouts. He also made several outstanding catches in a game where all of his talents were on display. His three-run...
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Can Trey Mancini take his offense to an even higher level?

Can Trey Mancini take his offense to an even higher level?
TORONTO - The Orioles' Trey Mancini is racking up some honors: Most Valuable Oriole, and now he's the latest American League Player of the Week after a week when he hit .462 (12-for-26) in six games with four runs, four doubles, two home runs, 10 RBIs and 22 total bases. Mancini has had a huge year for the Orioles and is on his way to recording career highs in homers (34), doubles (36), runs (101), RBIs (93), walks (57), slugging (.532) and OPS (.889). Beginning with last night's game,...
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Toronto produces walk-off win in the 15th inning

Toronto produces walk-off win in the 15th inning
TORONTO - A marathon game that featured 21 runs, 29 hits, 10 homers and 20 pitchers finally ended early Tuesday morning at Toronto. Anthony Alford hit a walk-off homer with two outs in the last of the 15th as Toronto beat the Orioles 11-10. Alford hit a 2-2 changeup from right-hander Ryan Eades, the 10th O's pitcher, to end a five-hour, 21-minute struggle. Eades had thrown 2 2/3 scoreless when Eades connected for his first career home run in his 51st career plate appearance. Earlier, for the...
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Hyde on Hays making push for 2020 spot and more (O's lose in 15)

Hyde on Hays making push for 2020 spot and more (O's lose in 15)
TORONTO - No one is handing out starting jobs for next year yet for players not fully established at the major league level, but Orioles center fielder Austin Hays is making a strong case for himself since his call-up from Triple-A Norfolk on Sept. 7. Hays is batting .302/.362/.535 in 15 games with the Orioles. He has a six-game hitting streak during which is he is 8-for-24 (.333) with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs. "He's done a great job," manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon in...
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Mancini on Player of the Week and Hays on Play of the Week

Mancini on Player of the Week and Hays on Play of the Week
TORONTO - Two Orioles arrived in Toronto and found out today they've been honored by the American League. Trey Mancini has been named the AL Player of the Week and Austin Hays was recognized for making the AL's Play of the Week, which was his home-run robbing catch last Thursday against Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Mancini claimed his first career weekly honor and is the first Oriole to win since his former teammate Jonathan Schoop last season for the period ending July 30th. In six games...
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O's game blog: The final road trip of 2019 begins

O's game blog: The final road trip of 2019 begins
TORONTO - The Orioles have won just four road series all year - they are 4-16-4 - but tonight they return to the scene of two of those series victories. The Orioles are opening a three-game series in Toronto at Rogers Centre, where they went 2-1 from April 1-3 and won two of three from July 5-7. They are 4-2 at Rogers Centre a year after going 0-10 in the building. They were out-homered 35-20 and outscored 63-28. They had series when they went 0-4 and 0-3 twice north of the border in 2018. The...
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Just as expected, rebuilding is hard and not for everyone

Just as expected, rebuilding is hard and not for everyone
Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias spoke a blunt truth about the team's immediate future in 2020. He said, essentially, that wins and losses are not going to be critical next season, as the club's rebuilding is still in the early stages. This comes as common sense to some fans and rubs others the wrong way. We found out this year another truth: Rebuilding is hard, and some fans have a hard time dealing with mounting losses. Now those fans realize that next year...
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Chris Davis hits tiebreaking homer as O's take home finale

Chris Davis hits tiebreaking homer as O's take home finale
As if to remind us that his last start in Detroit was very much the exception and not the rule, lefty John Means threw another strong game today for the Orioles in the 2019 home finale. Chris Davis also took fans back a bit - to days when he hit important homers. He hit one today in the seventh to break a 1-1 tie as the Orioles beat Seattle 2-1. The O's are now 51-105 and completed their home schedule with a 25-56 record. They won a series for the first time since taking two of three from...
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O's game blog: The final 2019 home game has arrived

O's game blog: The final 2019 home game has arrived
The Orioles (50-105) will host Seattle today to wrap up this series, homestand and their 2019 home schedule. They are 24-56 this season at Camden Yards. The homestand started with the Orioles losing three straight against Toronto. Now they have split two games with Seattle. In the five games, the O's bullpen has pitched 27 1/3 innings, allowing 28 hits and 25 runs (22 earned). The O's have been outscored 24-9 in the seventh inning on these past five games. Seattle (66-89) has won six of seven...
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Mychal Givens' recent struggles continue in O's Saturday night loss

Mychal Givens' recent struggles continue in O's Saturday night loss
It took them 13 innings to lose, but the Orioles trailed for the first time last night in the top of the eighth when Seattle's J.P. Crawford hit a three-run homer off right-hander Mychal Givens. Givens has had a rough last week, but for many weeks before that, it appeared he was set up for a big finish to his 2019 season. Then it all changed Those struggles have been puzzling, as he's now allowed three homers in his last four games, all in the last week. Before that, Givens had given up just...
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O's game blog: Looking for another win against Mariners

O's game blog: Looking for another win against Mariners
After their win last night over Seattle, the Orioles look for another tonight in the second game of this three-game series. The Orioles (50-104), who have eight games left, are 1-0 in this series and 1-3 on this six-game homestand. They are 2-2 against Seattle, 5-14 in September and 24-55 at Oriole Park. Left-hander Richard Bleier made his first career start, acting as an opener last night. He gave up a two-run homer to Kyle Lewis in the first inning. Bleier had made 159 major league relief...
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In MVO year, Mancini kept thriving even if his team did not

In MVO year, Mancini kept thriving even if his team did not
Trey Mancini said it has not been too challenging to play well while his team continued to lose a lot. The losing was pretty much expected for the Orioles, but Mancini needed to prove in 2019 that he could play more like he did in 2017, when he finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. So after he was named the 2019 Most Valuable Oriole on Friday, Mancini said it was not much of an issue for him to put together a strong individual season for the team with the second-worst...
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Aaron Brooks throws seven strong in relief as O's win

Aaron Brooks throws seven strong in relief as O's win
Tonight the Orioles used an opener, but it was the pitcher that came next that made the biggest difference. Seattle scored two runs in the first off lefty Richard Bleier, but right-hander Aaron Brooks followed him and threw seven innings as the Orioles beat Seattle 5-3 to open a three-game series. The Orioles (50-104) ended a four-game losing streak and won for the first time on this homestand. They beat a Seattle (65-89) team that had won five in a row and seven of nine as this night...
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O's game blog: The final home series of the year begins

O's game blog: The final home series of the year begins
The Seattle Mariners (65-88) have won five in a row and seven of nine games as they arrive in Baltimore tonight for their final road series of the year and the Orioles' final home series. Seattle comes to Baltimore from Pittsburgh where they swept a three-game series by scores of 6-0, 4-1 and 6-5, the latter in 11 innings. Seattle began this year going 13-2, but is 52-86 since then. They are 18-20 over their last 38 games. The M's are 32-46 on the road and 53-21 when scoring at least five...
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Trey Mancini "honored" and "proud" to be named MVO

Trey Mancini "honored" and "proud" to be named MVO
Orioles outfielder/first baseman Trey Mancini today was named the 2019 Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole. The award is voted on by local media that cover the team on a regular basis. Mancini leads the Orioles in doubles (36), home runs (34), RBIs (93), on-base percentage (.356), slugging (.536), OPS (.892) and total bases (305). He's set career-highs in hits (163), doubles, home runs, runs scored (100), RBIs and walks (56) this season, and became the 10th different player (15th time) in...
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Was O's center fielder of the future on display at the Yard?

Was O's center fielder of the future on display at the Yard?
The last two nights at Camden Yards, 24-year-old outfielder Austin Hays reminded us of the fantastic year he had in 2017. One that ended with him being named the Orioles' Minor League Player of the Year and one of five finalists as Baseball America's National Player of the Year. That season, Hays batted a combined .329/.365/.593 with 32 doubles, five triples, 32 home runs and 95 RBIs in 128 games at Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. He joined Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as a finalist for...
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The 'pen struggles again as O's are swept by Blue Jays

The 'pen struggles again as O's are swept by Blue Jays
There was no late lead that got away tonight. But there was a close game to be won and the Orioles bullpen once again came up short in trying to make that happen. After throwing a strong game and leaving with a man on second and one out in the seventh, Orioles right-hander Gabriel Ynoa saw the 'pen give it up again. Toronto scored six runs on four hits and three walks in the seventh to snap a 2-2 tie and beat the Orioles 8-4 tonight at Camden Yards. They sweep the three-game series as the O's...
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Austin Hays on finishing strong and playing with Ryan Mountcastle

Austin Hays on finishing strong and playing with Ryan Mountcastle
Injuries limited him to 87 games in the minors this year, but as the big league season winds down, outfielder Austin Hays is playing well and enjoying his health. He started to feel about 100 percent late in the year and the Orioles are seeing what a healthy Hays can do. Last night, he went 3-for-5, was on base four times, had two doubles, drove in a run, scored twice and ignited a bottom-of-the-ninth rally with a bunt single. Not to mention the abandon and talent he plays with while running in...
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O's game blog: Trying to avoid being swept

O's game blog: Trying to avoid being swept
The Orioles have been swept in a series 12 times this year, yet they do not have one sweep to call their own. That number grows to 13 if they lose tonight. A couple of bullpen meltdowns - after a 25-game run where the 'pen put up strong numbers - have led to back-to-back losses by 8-5 and 11-10 scores to Toronto. The O's bullpen has allowed 15 runs (13 earned) and 18 hits in nine innings in this series. O's pitchers have allowed 19 runs and 12 walks in the two games. Jonathan Villar (No. 23)...
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