BOWIE, Md. - The box score says that Double-A Bowie lefty Alex Wells was the losing pitcher in Game 3 of the Eastern League Championship Series last night. Trenton beat Bowie 2-1 at Prince George's Stadium to take move to within a win of the Eastern League title.
But Wells' performance on the field said something very different.
He was in command and control and dealing from the outset. Only a rare steal of home put him and his team behind and put that "L" next to his name in the box score....
BOWIE, Md. - With the Prince George's Stadium crowd cheering loudly for a strikeout in the top of the seventh to get Double-A Bowie out of big jam, Trenton instead got a run - and the batter didn't have to do a thing.
Trenton got the lead in a manner not often seen in baseball anymore. A steal of home.
It led Baysox lefty Alex Wells to a very tough luck loss as the Thunder beat Bowie 2-1 tonight to take a 2-1 lead in games in the best-of-five Eastern League Championship Series. Bowie will...
BOWIE, Md. - It seems the longer the Eastern League playoffs go, the better outfielder Yusniel Diaz is swinging the bat for the Double-A Bowie Baysox.
Diaz and his Baysox teammates will host Trenton tonight at Prince George's Stadium. It's Game 3 of the best-of-five Eastern League Championship Series, which is tied at a win each after Bowie beat Trenton last night.
Diaz was limited to 76 regular-season games this season by injuries. He dealt with a hamstring issue in April and a quad injury...
The Orioles are 4-11 this season in rubber match games and they play one tonight against the National League West champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Jonathan Villar hit a tiebreaking 443-foot three-run homer in the seventh inning last night as the O's won 7-3 to even the series at a win each.
The Orioles (47-98) snapped a six-game losing streak as they matched the 2018 team win total. They are 23-51 at home and 30-27 when hitting multiple homers. The O's are 7-12 in interleague games and the...
It was a home run to admire and Orioles shortstop Jonathan Villar did just that. He blasted a ball to left-center with two men on in the O's seventh and slowly took a few steps toward first as he admired his work.
Villar crushed a three-run shot 443 feet as he turned a 2-2 game into a 5-2 O's lead. The O's won 7-3 over the newly-crowned National League West champion Los Angeles Dodgers to end a six-game losing streak. At 47-98, they match the win total of the 2018 Orioles.
Villar's blast...
When the offseason begins for the Orioles soon, they'll have a general manager in place to hit the ground running for the fall and winter. O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was hired last year on Nov. 16. So he was not here as the offseason began after 2018 and had to play catch-up. That is not true this year.
A few days ago Ben McDonald and I interviewed Elias on the pregame show on the Orioles Radio Network. Here are a few of the questions and answers.
What are...
The Orioles' last win was in Game 1 of a doubleheader a week ago yesterday on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays by a 4-2 score. They have lost six in a row since. The last three of this streak, they've lost by a combined 26-11 score.
In those three games the O's starters - Aaron Brooks, Asher Wojciechowski and Ty Blach - pitched a combined seven innings, allowing 21 hits and 17 runs (16 earned) along with three home runs.
Meanwhile, O's batters have scored 11 runs over the past three...
As play begins in Major League Baseball tonight, the Orioles' Hanser Alberto ranks fourth in the American League and ninth in the major leagues with a batting average of .320.
Not bad for a hitter that before this year had a total of 192 plate appearances spread over parts of three seasons with Texas and hit just .192.
One reason that Alberto has hit for a high average is a low number of strikeouts. He never struck out more than 49 times in a year in the minors and this year has fanned just 43...
On the first night of the Eastern League Championship Series, the Double-A Bowie Baysox took a 2-0 lead three batters into the game. The Baysox had some early momentum. But then they failed to score the rest of the night and lost the series opener 6-2 at Trenton.
The Thunder scored two in the third to tie it and one in the fifth to get the lead. A three-run Trenton sixth put the game away as Trenton took the lead in the best-of-five finals. In that inning, Kellin Deglan hit a two-run triple for...
The Orioles fell behind right-hander Walker Buehler and the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 tonight in the first inning. That was not going to be a formula to knock off the National League's winningest team and one of the league's best pitchers.
Buehler allowed just four singles in seven scoreless innings as Los Angeles beat the Orioles 7-3 to open a three-game series at Oriole Park.
The win also is the one that clinched a seventh straight NL West championship for the Dodgers (94-52). Los Angeles has...
The Orioles' Trey Mancini will receive a nice honor tonight at Camden Yards. He'll be presented with the Orioles 2019 Heart and Hustle Award.
Awarded by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA), this esteemed award honors active players who demonstrate a passion for the game and best embody the values, spirit and traditions of baseball.
Tonight, Mancini will be presented his award by Orioles Hall of Famer Al Bumbry. Bumbry was the 1973 American League Rookie of the Year...
The soon-to-be National League West champion Los Angeles Dodgers (93-52) are in Baltimore tonight to begin a three-game interleague series. The Dodgers have a magic number of one to clinch their seventh straight NL West crown and officially advance to the playoffs. With a lead of 17 1/2 games over Arizona, it's been in the bag for a while and now it's about to become official with their next win or Diamondbacks loss.
On the mound facing them tonight is lefty Ty Blach (1-2, 10.95 ERA). He is...
The Double-A Bowie Baysox play at Trenton tonight at 7:00 p.m. in Game 1 of the best-of-five Eastern League Championship Series. Bowie is in the finals for the second time in the club's 27-year history, looking for its second title.
The Baysox came from down 1-2 in games to beat Reading in Games 4 and 5 in 2015 to win its only Eastern League championship. That team included Trey Mancini, Chance Sisco and David Hess. Mychal Givens also pitched for Bowie that year, but only in the regular...
If we put our minds to it, we could probably come up with some storylines involving the 2019 Orioles that would produce some amazing scenarios. But a player claimed off waivers four times before the start of the 2019 season and then going on to win a batting title might top the list.
Hanser Alberto ended the 2018 season with the Texas Rangers. Then he was claimed via waivers by the New York Yankees on Nov. 2, the Orioles on Jan. 11, the San Francisco Giants on Feb. 22 and the Orioles again on...
The Orioles need a win this afternoon to avoid being swept four in a row this weekend by the Texas Rangers. They've lost in this series by scores of 3-1, 7-6 and 9-4. The Orioles are 0-3 on a seven-game homestand.
The Orioles (49-96) have lost four in a row and seven of the last eight. They are 22-49 at home and 1-5 against Texas. The Orioles went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position last night and are 4-for-33 the last four games.
O's third baseman Rio Ruiz recorded his 10th home run of...
For just the second time in their 27-year history, the Double-A Bowie Baysox are headed to the Eastern League Championship Series. The Baysox had 20 hits and routed Harrisburg 12-5 on Saturday afternoon to take that playoff series, three games to one.
Bowie (79-65) will now face the Trenton Thunder (79-62) in the championship series. Trenton, a Yankees affiliate, will host the first two games on Tuesday and Wednesday before Bowie hosts Game 3 on Thursday. The Baysox will host Game 4 and 5 if...
The Orioles have lost by scores of 3-1 and 7-6 the last two nights against Texas. Tonight they host the Rangers in the third of the four-game series and seven-game homestand. The Orioles have lost three in a row and six of their last seven games. All seven games were decided by two runs or one.
The Orioles offense, which had produced one run in the last two games, broke out last night for six runs, 10 hits and three home runs. Trey Mancini hit No. 30, a solo shot. Richie Martin hit a three-run...
When Orioles right-handed reliever Dillon Tate took the ball in the ninth last night, he pitched for the first time in the majors against the team that drafted him. He faced the Texas Rangers, who selected him No. 4 overall in the 2015 draft out of California-Santa Barbara.
Tate showed them some good stuff. He kept the Orioles down 7-6 with a scoreless 15-pitch inning with two strikeouts. He topped at 95 mph and got three swings and misses on three changeups.
Acquired by the Orioles last July...
The Orioles have played a series of close games since they beat Kansas City 14-2 on the road a week ago tonight. We'll see if that continues this evening in the second game of a four-game series against Texas.
The Orioles (46-94) have played six straight games decided by two runs or fewer. They are 1-5 in those games after Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Rangers. This is the second game of a seven-game homestand for the Orioles, who are 22-47 in home games and now 13-33 in series-opening...
As Double-A Bowie and Single-A Delmarva began the minor league playoffs this week, the Orioles' Trey Mancini remembered one of the best years of his baseball life.
Mancini was on the 2015 Bowie team that won the Eastern League championship. It remains to present day the only title in Baysox history and the last title won by an Orioles' affiliate.
In the opening round, Bowie lost Game 1 to Altoona but won three straight to advance to face a prospect-laden Reading team for the title. Reading...
