Last year, the Orioles went 0-7 against Minnesota and this season they are 3-0 after a three-game sweep. Last year, the Orioles went 38-45 in one and two-run games. This year they are 3-0 in such games.
The Orioles pitched well and won three close games against the Twins, coming from a 2-0 deficit to win last night 4-2. The Orioles are the only 3-0 team in the American League. Dating to last season, they have an eight-game winning streak.
O's pitchers allowed just two runs in each game and the...
For Orioles outfielder Joey Rickard, it was a reluctant curtain call. It's not that he didn't greatly appreciate the crowd chanting his name after he hit his first major league home run in the eighth inning tonight.
It's just - as he would later explain - not exactly something he would do. But with some prodding from a teammate, Rickard took his first major league curtain call tonight moments after his first MLB home run.
"Yeah, you know. That's not me," Rickard said. "I was just going...
A rain delay, a rally and a win. And a Joey Rickard curtain call.
The O's started a winning rally before a brief rain delay of 21 minutes in the bottom of the seventh. When play resumed they scored twice to go from trailing by one run to leading by one. They won 4-2 tonight to record an impressive season-opening three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins at Camden Yards.
Mark Trumbo and J.J. Hardy singled off Twins starter Phil Hughes to put runners on the corners in the seventh when the rains...
After posting 3-2 and 4-2 wins over Minnesota the last two nights, the Orioles seek a three-game sweep of the Twins tonight at Camden Yards. Their last three-game home sweep of Minnesota came April 6-8, 2012.
After going 0-7 versus Minnesota in 2015 and being outscored 43-18, the O's could have a 3-0 start this season with a victory tonight.
O's pitching has allowed just 12 hits on four runs so far with six walks to 23 strikeouts. The two starters - Chris Tillman and Yovani Gallardo -...
For his next trick with the Orioles, Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard will replace Adam Jones in center field and bat leadoff.
Manager Buck Showalter told reporters this afternoon that Jones is sore in the rib area and that it happened during his final at-bat last night. The hope is he can play tomorrow night, but he's not in the lineup tonight, so Rickard not only moves into center field, but bats leadoff for the first time as well.
He said he feels ready to play in center.
"I feel like I'm...
Even after just a couple of days of the new season, there is just one unbeaten team in the America League East and only two in the entire AL. The Orioles and Tigers are 2-0.
In the very small sample size of two games, first baseman Chris Davis said he'll take this starting pitching - just one run allowed over seven innings by Chris Tillman and Yovani Gallardo.
"Absolutely," Davis said. "That is what we expect out of these guys. We work real hard on our defense in spring and take a lot of...
Right-hander Yovani Gallardo didn't have his best command. But he does have his first Orioles victory.
"It's exciting. Always a good feeling. Had to battle. Had to battle as I got into some deep counts. But we got the victory and that is the most important thing," Gallardo said after pitching the Orioles past Minnesota 4-2 at chilly Camden Yards.
He went five innings, allowing two hits and one run with three walks and four strikeouts on 89 pitches. After a spring with shaky results, he now...
He didn't get as deep into the game as he would certainly like, but right-hander Yovani Gallardo went far enough to pitch his way to a win in his Orioles debut tonight.
Gallardo gave up just two hits and one run over five innings in the chill of Camden Yards as the O's beat Minnesota 4-2 to start the year 2-0 in front of 12,622 cold fans.
The Orioles went 0-7 against the Twins in 2015.
Gallardo, who ranks seventh among major league pitchers in getting ground balls over the last two seasons,...
After winning on opening day for the sixth consecutive season, the Orioles will look for a 2-0 start tonight in the second game of their series against the Minnesota Twins.
Matt Wieters' single in the last of the ninth Monday afternoon gave the O's a 3-2 walk-off win, their fifth walk-off win on opening day, but their first since 2003.
O's batters went 4-for-11 (.364) with runners in scoring position in the opener and drew five walks while winning without a homer. O's pitchers allowed just...
A topic of conversation in the Orioles clubhouse today was the slide by Toronto's Jose Bautista last night that was ruled as illegal because it was determined Bautista tried to grab the leg of Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe, interfering with him.
Originally, two runs scored on the ninth-inning play at second base and Toronto moved ahead of Tampa Bay 4-3. Then, after a replay review, the slide was ruled illegal, the play was changed, two outs were ruled and the game was over with Tampa Bay...
When the Orioles added 30-year-old right-hander Yovani Gallardo to their starting rotation, they knew were getting a veteran pitcher with a solid track record. One that has made 30 or more starts seven consecutive seasons, pitching to a career ERA of 3.66. He's also a pitcher with a career .576 winning percentage at 102-75.
But while Gallardo has been a winning pitcher six of seven seasons since 2009, he has gotten those wins as a different style pitcher in recent seasons. Once a guy who...
FREDERICK - Looking for their first playoff berth since winning the Carolina League championship in 2011, the Single-A Frederick Keys start a new season on Thursday night. The Keys play at Myrtle Beach to begin a season-opening seven-game road trip. The home opener is April 14 at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.
Frederick's new manager is Keith Bodie, who was hitting coach last season for the 2015 Eastern League champion Double-A Bowie Baysox. Bodie is a veteran manager of 18 minor league...
BOWIE - The defending Double-A Eastern League champion Bowie Baysox will open a new season at Prince George's Stadium on Thursday night. Orioles reliever Brian Matusz may pitch during that game for the Baysox. And right-hander Kevin Gausman, who like Matusz is also on the O's disabled list, is slated to start on Saturday night for Bowie, according to manager Gary Kendall.
Gausman, who got a cortisone injection on March 20 for shoulder tendinitis, is working his way back to the O's rotation...
It was just one game and one win. One game to start the marathon that is a major league baseball season. But opening day produced some good signs for the Orioles:
* They got some solid at-bats in keys spots, drew five walks and won without hitting a home run* Newcomer Mark Trumbo went 4-for-5 and Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard had two hits and had fans chanting his name by his third plate appearance* Tyler Wilson produced a clutch three-inning relief outing and stated his case yet again for the fifth...
For a guy who was playing for the Single-A Charlotte Stone Crabs this time last year, this was not a bad day.
Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard hit .397 this spring and he kept up the pace today on a much bigger stage. Rickard went 2-for-4 on opening day in his major league debut in the Orioles' 3-2 walk-off win over the Minnesota Twins.
"It was amazing," the 24-year-old Rickard said. "It was all I thought of plus more. Passionate fans out there and they loved it and they supported me. Hope I can...
A walk-off win on opening day. The Orioles overcame two rain delays today and beat a team they were winless against last year in the season opener.
Matt Wieters, who had been 0-for-4, singled with two outs in the last of the ninth to give the O's a 3-2 victory over Minnesota in front of a chilled sellout crowd of 45,785. Not too many were left at the end after nearly three hours of rain delays.
With two outs and none on in the ninth against right-hander Kevin Jepsen, Chris Davis drew a walk....
Welcome to the first game blog of the 2016 season. There will be 161 to follow. If you are new here, this is a place where readers comment throughout the game. They react to plays as they happen, discuss strategy and just keep a good conversation going during the game. Welcome in and join in. Don't wait for the game to start and drop in some comments right away if you like.
As for today's lid-lifter, Chris Tillman has started on opening day the last two seasons for the Orioles. They won both...
As he gets ready to play in a major league game that counts for the first time in his life, new Orioles outfielder and Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard said he's gotten some advice from his teammates about opening day.
"Guys have been telling me even veteran guys can get nervous on opening day," Rickard said. "They said embrace it and they have my back. I'll try to enjoy it and relax out there."
At least on the outside, the youngster seems pretty calm and relaxed for someone making the jump to...
Coming off a season where he filled up the stat sheet, won another Gold Glove and finished fourth in the American League MVP voting, Orioles third baseman Manny Machado is ready to get the new season started.
"Opening day - this is where it all begins," Machado said this morning in the Orioles clubhouse. "All the hard work we've done in the offseason and in spring training will pay off today."
At 22 last year, Machado played in every game and hit .286 with 30 doubles, a triple, 35 homers,...
Happy opening day, everyone - and welcome to the 2016 Orioles season!
When they play ball today at 3:05 p.m. at Camden Yards against Minnesota, right-hander Chris Tillman (11-11, 4.99 ERA in 2015) faces right-hander Ervin Santana (7-5, 4.00 ERA in 2015). In his last seven starts last season, Santana went 5-1 with a 1.62 ERA.
While Santana will be making his first opening day start, this is the third in a row for Tillman. In the last two openers, he went 1-0 with an ERA of 1.54. He pitched the...