Are some fans concerned about O's first baseman Chris Davis?
I can sense the answer to that question is yes but I don't see any reason to be concerned yet. Yes, Davis has just one homer and has not looked good at the plate in the Boston series so far, but it's just too early to draw any conclusions.
Davis has just three hits over his 18 at-bats. He does not have a multi-hit game over his last eight games, going 5-for-26 in that time.
In his first 16 games, he's batting .255 with four...
The Orioles won a replay challenge today and it gained them a run, but they lost the game 4-2 in Boston as the Red Sox evened the four-game series at a win each.
The Orioles' three-game winning streak ended as they fall to 8-8 on the season and 2-3 against Boston.
Matt Wieters drew a leadoff walk against Koji Uehara in the ninth, but the former Oriole then struck out the next three hitters. He got the save, his fourth in four chances in 2014.
The Red Sox scored twice in the last of the...
The Orioles look to go two games over the .500 mark for the first time this season today when they play the second game of a four-game series this afternoon at Fenway Park. A win today would give the Orioles a four-game winning streak.
In going 1-4 to start the year, O's starting pitchers worked to an ERA of 7.56. In going 7-3 over their last 10 games, O's starters have pitched to an ERA of 3.12. Pretty clear cut how important starting pitching is to the win-loss record.
Chris Tillman got...
Considering the Orioles are playing without Manny Machado, Ubaldo Jimenez is 0-3 with an ERA of 7.31, J.J. Hardy missed six games, Chris Davis and Adam Jones have one homer each and the O's started 1-4, an 8-7 record looks pretty good about now.
It sure does, as the Orioles have suddenly won seven of their last 10 games. They've won three in a row, outscoring the Rays and Red Sox 18-5.
Meanwhile the question that fans keep asking reporters is what happens when Machado returns?
Good...
Chris Tillman had to struggle to get through five innings tonight. Jonathan Schoop did not struggle tonight, and he came up with his first career four-hit game.
Tillman notched his second win as the Orioles beat Boston 8-4 to open a four-game series at Fenway Park.
Schoop went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. He has now hit safely in seven straight games, going 12-for-28 (.429) with six doubles, a homer and seven RBIs.
The Orioles go over .500 at 8-7 with their third win in a row and...
Double-A Bowie left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez will miss his scheduled start tomorrow night due to a sprained knee.
The Orioles' No. 3 prospect according to Baseball America, Rodriguez came up with the injury yesterday during normal-between starts weightlifting. The injury is not considered serious, but Rodriguez is likely headed for the minor league disabled list.
Rodriguez saw a doctor who diagnosed the injury as a sprain. The organization now wants to give Rodriguez some time to...
The Orioles play at Fenway Park tonight in the opener of a four-game series. It's a ballpark where they have a winning percentage of .682 since late in the 2011 season.
The Orioles have won six of their last seven series at Fenway, going 15-7 in that time. That includes a record of 12-6 there the past two seasons.
Maybe the Orioles will find their longball swing at Fenway. The Birds led the majors with 212 homers last season, which was 24 more than the next closest team. Right now, they've...
For left-hander Tim Berry, it seems the power of positive thinking is just as important as the power of a well located fastball.
After a very solid 2013 season with Single-A Frederick and a very strong Arizona Fall League, Berry is off to a great start in his first year with Double-A Bowie.
He got another no decision Thursday night, but went six innings giving up just five hits and one run. Berry has an ERA of 1.00 over three starts to rank sixth in the Eastern League. Over 18 innings he has...
The Orioles are looking to go over the .500 mark for the second time this season tonight. If they win at Boston they'll move to 8-7 on the year and over .500 for the first time since winning opening day.
The team has seven games remaining in a stretch of playing 19 of its 22 games against American League East opponents to start the year. The O's are 6-5 so far in AL East games.
The Orioles have done well at Fenway Park the last two seasons, going a combined 12-6 and they are 15-7 in their...
We knew it when last season ended. We knew it at the Winter Meetings. We knew it when spring training started.
The key for the Orioles in 2014 would be the pitching.
After a very poor start the pitching has started to come around. When the Orioles started 1-4, their team ERA was 5.86. In winning six of nine games since then, the team ERA is 2.93. The starters ERA was 7.56 during the 1-4 start and is 2.91 since then.
O's record when each pitcher starts:
* Chris Tillman 2-1
* Ubaldo Jimenez...
SALISBURY, Md. - The pitching matchup tonight between Hunter Harvey and Lucas Giolito at Perdue Stadium did not disappoint as the two 19-year-old pitching prospects combined to throw 11 scoreless innings, allowing just three singles.
For Harvey, the Orioles' No. 4 prospect according to Baseball America, it was another solid start for Single-A Delmarva.
He went six innings, allowing just one single. He walked one, hit two batters and fanned seven. Harvey threw 89 pitches in lowering his season...
SALISBURY, Md. - First pitch of today's doubleheader is minutes away as Single-A Delmarva right-hander Hunter Harvey pitches against Hagerstown right-hander Lucas Giolito in a matchup of two of the game's top young pitching prospects.
Check back on this very blog and I'll provide a few updates during Game 1 of the doubleheader.
The Shorebirds are 5-7 to start the year. Delmarva beat Hagerstown 9-2 Monday to snap a three-game losing streak before last night's game was rained out.
Delmarva...
SALISBURY, Md. - Delmarva Shorebirds manager Ryan Minor knows a little something about top pitching prospects taking the mound for his team.
The skipper of the Shorebirds, the Orioles' low Single-A affiliate, managed Dylan Bundy when he buzzed through here two years ago, pitching 30 innings, allowing just five hits and no earned runs with 40 strikeouts.
Hunter Harvey may not put numbers quite that good, but he is off to a good start for this year's Shorebirds team. Today at 5:05 p.m.,...
The Orioles drafted outfielder Trent Mummey in the fourth round out of Auburn University in 2010. He had some solid early success in pro ball, making the New York Penn League All-Star team in 2010 and a year later hitting close to .300 at two levels.
But during that 2011 season Mummey suffered a concussion and, four games after he returned from that, he injured his right hamstring. The hamstring issue, especially, lingered for parts of the next two seasons and this week Mummey's time with the...
This is the South Atlantic League's version of Chris Tillman against Justin Verlander.
Tonight when the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds host the Hagerstown Suns in Salisbury, top pitching prospects Hunter Harvey and Lucas Giolito will oppose each other.
This marquee matchup was to take place at 7:05 p.m., but after a rainout last night, it will now take place in first game of a doubleheader starting at 5:05 p.m. at Perdue Stadium.
Harvey and Giolito are both hard-throwing 19-year-old...
So how is life pitching in the ninth inning? The O's new closer Tommy Hunter is still finding that out.
Hunter is 3-for-4 in save chances, and suffered a blown save Saturday night when he gave up a Colby Rasmus homer with two outs on a 1-2 pitch and with his club leading, 1-0.
Hunter admits he is still finding his way and learning about his new role.
"There is definitely a lot to learn," he said this afternoon. "It's not something I can say I'm accustomed to it at all, because I'm...
Orioles lefty Zach Britton has found his sinker again. He is pounding two-seam fastballs down in the zone and throwing them at a greater velocity. He is getting very impressive results to start this season.
Just when some were doubting they'd see Britton pitch well again in the big leagues, he's doing it.
Over five games, Britton is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.00. He has given up just two hits over 8 1/3 scoreless innings. He leads American League relievers with an .080 batting average against...
Orioles catcher Matt Wieters was asked what made the difference tonight for pitcher Wei-Yin Chen. He had an ERA of 6.75 over his first two starts, but this evening gave up just one run and five hits over 6 1/3 innings in the Orioles' 7-1 win over Tampa Bay.
"He was able to throw strikes early, get early outs and let our defense work behind him," Wieters said. "He was carrying a little bit more of a fastball tonight which also helped him out."
Meaning he had more velocity tonight?
"Yeah,...
Wei-Yin Chen had been struggling to get outs and the Orioles had been struggling to score runs.
But Chen had a strong outing and the Orioles came up with their second-highest run total of the season tonight in a 7-1 win over Tampa Bay in the opener of a three-game series.
In the first three innings the Orioles scored six runs, one more than they had scored in three games over the weekend against Toronto. In those three at-bats, O's hitters went 9-for-18 with five doubles and 5-for-10 with...
The Orioles have lost three of four series this year. They'll try to turn that around starting tonight, but they will have to do it against a Tampa Bay team that they went just 6-13 against in 2013.
Remember that four-game sweep the O's suffered late last season in St. Petersburg? It pretty much ended any of their playoff hopes.
The Orioles lost 11 of the last 13 games between these two teams last season, and are 1-5 in thei last six home games against the Rays.
Matt Wieters does enjoy...