Jones on O's 60th anniversary celebration and other notes

Jones on O's 60th anniversary celebration and other notes
So if you think you enjoyed the Orioles 60th anniversary celebration after the game on Friday night, check out how Adam Jones felt about it. "The Orioles, and it starts at the top, they outdid themselves," Jones said. "During the last decade-and-a-half or something, I'm sure it's been difficult to get that group together. But, for one night, Peter (Angelos) did ... that was big league. Every facet of it was big league. "I'm sure the old time guys appreciated it and the younger players...
Continue reading

Manny Machado talks about his right knee injury (plus Davis and Norris quotes)

Manny Machado talks about his right knee injury (plus Davis and Norris quotes)
Leaving the game with a right knee sprain after falling to the ground in a third-inning groundout tonight, Manny Machado said he doesn't yet know how long he will be out or the severity of his injury. "We don't know. X-rays came out negative. The MRI tomorrow will tell us what is going on. How long or how many days I'm going to be out. We'll know more tomorrow," he said after the game in the Orioles clubhouse. Is Machado optimistic about tomorrow? "I have no idea. Doesn't feel too...
Continue reading

Machado injured, while Cruz, Schoop and Davis homer as O's beat New York

Machado injured, while Cruz, Schoop and Davis homer as O's beat New York
In the third inning, Manny Machado left the game injured. In the fifth inning, the player that replaced him hit a go-ahead homer. The Orioles were far from done on offense at that point. So it wasn't all bad tonight for the Orioles. Chris Davis entered for Machado and hit a two-run shot off New York's Chris Capuano in the fifth as the O's moved ahead by one run. They added to that lead with three in the seventh for a four-run edge and turned it into a rout with four in the eighth for an...
Continue reading

O's game blog: Adam Jones on O's AL East lead and other notes

O's game blog: Adam Jones on O's AL East lead and other notes
No one is calculating magic numbers in the Orioles clubhouse these days but O's center fielder Adam Jones talked about the club holding the largest division lead of any team in baseball. As they open a three-game series at home against the Yankees tonight they lead Toronto by five games and New York by six games. "Well, we are in a unique position," Jones said. "A position that most of us haven't been in. We're just grinding it out. We're expecting to go out there and play good...
Continue reading

J.J. Hardy provides an update on his injured thumb

J.J. Hardy provides an update on his injured thumb
Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy is not in the starting lineup for the second day in a row due to a sprained left thumb. Before the lineup was posted today he indicated it was doubtful he would be in it. "I hope tomorrow," Hardy said. "Every day I hope I wake up and it's fine and I can play that day. Little sore today, probably about the same as yesterday. Just still trying to get past that point where I feel like I can go out and play and not hurt it worse." If he were absolutely needed...
Continue reading

Orioles continue to win, but Chris Davis continues to struggle

Orioles continue to win, but Chris Davis continues to struggle
In the big picture, the Orioles had a good weekend. They rolled off a seventh straight series win. They opened a six-game lead atop the division, their largest since 1997, on Saturday. They are just one game behind the Angels for the second-best record in the majors. But some frustrations seemed to surface for fans again on Sunday. One was seeing the team go 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Another was seeing Chris Davis leave all those runners on base. Davis has batted seventh twice...
Continue reading

Kevin Gausman on his outing today against St. Louis

Kevin Gausman on his outing today against St. Louis
Kevin Gausman had a streak of three straight quality starts end this afternoon. He was struggling almost from the start, allowing two runs and four hits in the first inning as the Orioles lost 8-3 to St. Louis. "From the first inning on, it was kind of a battle of keeping my pitch count down," Gausman said. "I did a good job of bouncing back in the second inning. That first inning was a rough one. "It kind of seemed like wherever they hit the ball, we didn't have a guy there. Sometimes...
Continue reading

St. Louis gets early lead, pulls away late to beat O's and avoid sweep

St. Louis gets early lead, pulls away late to beat O's and avoid sweep
There were no homers this time. Not enough clutch hits either. And on a day when the Orioles were playing catch-up from the start, they never did quite catch up and the Cardinals pulled away late. St. Louis scored two runs in the first today and three in the ninth on their way to an 8-3 over the Orioles to avoid getting swept. Four times today the Orioles fell behind by two runs and three times they pulled back within a run. But they never did tie or take the lead as they fall to...
Continue reading

O's game blog: A look at the offense this series and Joseph on his power

O's game blog: A look at the offense this series and Joseph on his power
The Orioles are batting .413 with nine homers in their series against the St. Louis Cardinals. They scored 12 runs on 15 hits Friday and added 10 runs on 16 hits yesterday. They have hit those nine homers against a St. Louis team that began this series allowing the fewest homers in the majors with 71. The last time a Cardinals team allowed nine homers over two games was in May 2003 against Pittsburgh, according to MLB.com. This is the second time this season that the Orioles have scored 10 or...
Continue reading

Delmon Young on O's power surge and his time in Baltimore

Delmon Young on O's power surge and his time in Baltimore
Delmon Young said it is not hard to explain why the Orioles have hit nine homers in the series against St. Louis. "We're not missing pitches out over the plate that we were missing before," he said simply. Young went 2-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBIs on Saturday. He's now batting .321 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 156 at-bats. Young, who is 9-for-17 as a pinch-hitter, has a .474 slugging percentage and .828 OPS. He is batting .368 since the All-Star break. He has shown an...
Continue reading

Notes on the offense, Aberdeen's All-Stars and more with the Hall of Famers

Notes on the offense, Aberdeen's All-Stars and more with the Hall of Famers
Will the real Orioles offense stand up? Is it the group that scored just three runs on six hits in the last two games of the Toronto series? Or is it the group that scored 22 runs on 31 hits with nine homers the last two games against St. Louis? Chris Tillman and Ubaldo Jimenez probably don't want to analyze it. They are happy to get that run support, and the Orioles look for the sweep this afternoon at Camden Yards. After scoring nine or more runs in just five of their first 111 games, the...
Continue reading

Joseph on his homer streak, Jimenez on his outing and the win

Joseph on his homer streak, Jimenez on his outing and the win
Caleb Joseph today became the 15th catcher since 1914 to homer in five consecutive games. For a player that not long ago had a hard time getting out of Double-A, he's been on quite a run. And he showed some emotion today with a fist pump when he hit that one. "It's just a big whirlwind of kind of emotions," he said. "You set a record and maybe seven or eight months ago, I was thinking about hanging it up. "Every day in the big leagues is such a blessing, and especially to be on this...
Continue reading

Caleb Joseph homers for the fifth game in a row as O's top Cardinals

Caleb Joseph homers for the fifth game in a row as O's top Cardinals
Caleb Joseph homered for the fifth game in a row. Two of his teammates also connected as the Orioles home run barrage continued this afternoon. The Orioles hit three more longballs today in an 10-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals that gives them their seventh consecutive series win. A crowd of 40,894 was on hand at Camden Yards. The Orioles are a season-high 18 games over .500 at 67-49 and have opened a six-game lead over both New York and Toronto atop the American League East. Right...
Continue reading

O's game blog: Jimenez returns to rotation and some homer notes

O's game blog: Jimenez returns to rotation and some homer notes
Well, we know the Orioles rely a lot on the home run ball. At least they hit them often, and that is not just referring to the six they hit last night. The Orioles lead the majors with 42 games where they have hit two or more homers. They are 32-10 in those multi-homer games. They are 55-25 when they hit even one homer in a game. The Orioles now lead the majors with 144 homers. Here are the top six teams: 1. Orioles, 144 2. Toronto, 137 3. Houston, 128 4. Colorado, 127 t5. Milwaukee and...
Continue reading

Looking back on an amazing night, Jimenez on his start and more

Looking back on an amazing night, Jimenez on his start and more
For an Orioles fan, does it get much better than last night? The Orioles hit six homers, routed a good team, started a homestand off big and capped the night with an amazing show linking their proud past with their promising present. It ends with the O's Hall of Famers and the current Orioles on the field together as their adoring fans cheer until they can't anymore. Perfect. That is what it was. I don't know if they'll be able to top that for a while. Maybe with something in...
Continue reading

Tillman, Hardy and Machado on the win over St. Louis and more

Tillman, Hardy and Machado on the win over St. Louis and more
Chris Tillman said it well in one sentence during his postgame interview. "It was a good night to do what we did," he said after the Orioles' 12-2 win over St. Louis. The Orioles put on a great show tonight for the crowd and for the 23 Orioles Hall of Famers that returned as part of the 60th anniversary celebration tonight. They were introduced during an amazing postgame ceremony. It ended with the 2014 Orioles joining the former O's on the field. Yes, it was amazing. "With all these...
Continue reading

Home run derby: Orioles bash six homers in rout of Cardinals

Home run derby: Orioles bash six homers in rout of Cardinals
After playing nine one-run games in the last 13 contests, this was quite different for the
Continue reading

O's game blog: Some notes and some quotes as the homestand begins

O's game blog: Some notes and some quotes as the homestand begins
The Orioles' latest homestand begins tonight here against the 2013 National League champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Yankees come to town Monday. The Orioles begin play tonight with the largest division lead in baseball at five games and with the majors' third-best record at 65-49. St. Louis is 61-52 and is one game out in the NL Central. The Orioles are just 1-5 all-time against the Cardinals. They lost two of three in St. Louis in 2003 and got swept three straight here in 2011. Tonight,...
Continue reading

Frank and Brooks Robinson on their time as Orioles and the current team

Frank and Brooks Robinson on their time as Orioles and the current team
Reporters got to hear from a steady stream of Orioles and Baseball Hall of Famers today. We heard from some of the greatest players to ever wear orange and black. Yeah, we had a good afternoon. In the last press conference of the day, Hall of Famers Eddie Murray, Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson spoke. Frank spoke eloquently about his time here as a player and the good feeling he has now coming back for tonight's 60th anniversary celebration. What made it special to be an Oriole? "The...
Continue reading

Back end of the bullpen looks strong as O's are set to begin a big homestand

Back end of the bullpen looks strong as O's are set to begin a big homestand
We may have gotten a look at the Orioles future game plan for October last night. That is, if the club is fortunate enough to make the postseason. With a very strong back end of the bullpen, the O's can turn a contest into a six-inning game. Turn over the lead late to Andrew Miller, Darren O'Day and Zach Britton and you can win some games. That trio was outstanding in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings last night at Toronto. Miller fanned two and has struck out six in 3 2/3 scoreless...
Continue reading