Miguel Gonzalez pitched the Orioles to a win tonight and he improved to 11-8 with an ERA of 3.78, allowing just two hits and one unearned run over seven innings against Toronto.
"Everything was working," Gonzalez said. "The splitty was great. I threw enough offspeed for strikes for them to swing at. Fell behind a couple of hitters but we made some great plays all around and finished great with J.J. (Jim Johnson) and (Tommy) Hunter.
"I'm happy I finished well. I'm healthy and that's the...
Miguel Gonzalez will be able to say he finished strong in 2013.
The right-hander capped a solid September with a sharp seven innings tonight in pitching the Orioles past Toronto 3-2 in front of 27,498 at Camden Yards.
With the win, the Orioles broke the 9-9 tie and won the season series, 10-9 over the Blue Jays. The O's improved to 34-39 in games against the AL East and to 18-31 in one-run games.
Gonzalez gave up just two hits and one unearned run, with one walk and five strikeouts. He...
Miguel Gonzalez is finishing this season well and, as he makes his last start of 2013 tonight, he'd like to add one more good outing to that.
Gonzalez is 10-8 with an ERA of 3.94 for the season over 29 games, 27 starts. In four September starts, he is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA and a .198 batting average against.
He has been solid against the Blue Jays in 2013, going 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA over four starts. In seven career games, he is 3-2 with a 3.51 ERA against Toronto.
Lefty Mark Buehrle, who is...
Chris Tillman has had another good year for the Orioles. We just don't know yet if he's made his final 2013 start. He might pitch the O's season finale Sunday, but then again he may not. Tillman said today either way is fine with him and he'll do whatever Buck Showalter asks him.
What he has been doing this season is taking the ball every fifth day for the Orioles and when he pitched seven innings Tuesday night, Tillman became the fifth O's pitcher since 2001 to work 200 innings or...
I certainly didn't expect to ever link Jonathan Schoop, current Orioles infielder with Larry Haney, one-time Orioles catcher from the late 1960s.
But as of last night they are the only two Orioles to ever homer in their first major league games. Haney did it on July 27, 1966 against the Cleveland Indians. He was in a lineup that day that included Frank and Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell and Davey Johnson and he caught Dave McNally in a 7-1 O's win.
The 21-year-old Schoop homered in his third...
Jonathan Schoop singled in his first major league at-bat and homered in his third, helping the Orioles to a 9-5 win over Toronto tonight.
Schoop became the second Oriole to homer in his major league debut. Larry Haney was the first on July 27, 1966 against Cleveland.
It was some night for the 21-year-old infielder and O's 2011 minor league Player of the Year.
"For me, that is the first one ever in my career, my major league debut. It's an experience I'll never forget," Schoop...
The offense finally showed up for the Orioles.
Jonathan Schoop homered in his third major league at-bat and Ryan Flaherty hit a pair of two-run homers as a lineup that featured several Orioles reserves beat Toronto 9-5 in front of 23,698 at Camden Yards.
With the win, the Orioles improved to 82-76 and clinched a second straight winning season for the first time since 1996-97. The Orioles also ended a six-game losing streak that had tied a season high.
Flaherty went 2-for-2 with a hit by...
Baltimore native Steve Clevenger has played at Camden Yards before, just not as a Baltimore Oriole. Tonight he will, making his home debut, batting seventh and catching.
Clevenger, a graduate of Baltimore's Mount St. Joseph's high school, played at Camden Yards in 2004 in the Brooks Robinson high school All-Star game.
"First time I will play in Camden Yards besides in high school. It will be fun and exciting," Clevenger said.
He is 2-for-7 with a double and two RBIs in two starts for the...
Some changes are under way at Harbor Park in Norfolk, the home of the Orioles' Triple-A International League affiliate.
Very much a pitcher's park where it is tough to hit a homer, the fences are being moved in 10 feet in center field and the left- and right-field power alleys. In addition, they are completely redoing the playing field with new turf and dirt.
The Orioles had input into the move and Norfolk manager Ron Johnson, who is with the Orioles this month, said moving the fences in...
As Chris Davis puts the finishing touches on a tremendous season, he does so knowing he is under team control and will be an Oriole through the 2015 season.
But he said today if the club chooses to explore a contract extension with him this offseason, he is open to that.
"I would love to stay in Baltimore," Davis said. "This has been like a second home for me. This has been a place where I've really felt like I've been accepted, been loved and really appreciated. That's rare in this...
The questions will come up a lot over the next few days and weeks: Was the 2013 season a failure for the Orioles, and should fans be disappointed?
The answers to those questions will be yes and yes for many of you, I would expect. After making the playoffs and winning 93 games last season, a playoff berth was a fair and realistic expectation for the 2013 Orioles, and they didn't make it.
But where does that leave the Orioles as fans begin to look to the future? One writer believes they're...
In a way, it was somewhat symbolic of the 2013 season. In the defeat that officially eliminated the Orioles from the playoffs, they lost a lead, didn't score enough runs and came up one run short.
They are going to come up short of the playoffs and not make it back-to-back postseason trips. They have lost six in a row and still need at least one win to be able to say they've had consecutive winning seasons.
In the quiet of the Orioles clubhouse just minutes after last night's game, Nate...
After the loss that officially eliminated them from playoff contention, J.J. Hardy was asked if tonight's 10-inning loss to Toronto kind of summed up the whole year for the Orioles.
"You could look at it like that. We look at our team as we have a good team and we still believe that, but this just wasn't our year," Hardy said.
"We played all the way from Feb. 15 or whenever we started to get to the playoffs. You know, it is hard to think that, after however many games we have played...
The Orioles' losing streak is now six games to match a season high after they lost 3-2 in 10 innings to Toronto tonight to begin the final homestand of the 2013 season.
Coupled with Cleveland's comeback win tonight, the loss officially eliminates the Orioles from playoff contention.
Mark DeRosa singled in the go-ahead run off Francisco Rodriguez in the 10th. It scored Jose Reyes from third. Moments earlier, on a pickoff play at second, Reyes was ruled safe. Brian Roberts had the ball in...
Without Manny Machado available, it is Ryan Flaherty who gets the start at third base tonight for the Orioles.
"It's nice to be in there, but under the circumstances, losing one of the most promising players in the game and one of the best teammates I've had, that is not fun to see," Flaherty said.
"I feel comfortable over there. I'll do some early work and I feel good there. The throws are different, but defense is defense."
Flaherty becomes the first player, other than Machado, to...
Even the most optimistic Orioles player or fan knows the club's odds of making the playoffs are an extreme long shot at this point.
"We just have to win six straight and hope all the other teams lose six straight," Adam Jones said. "I don't know what the odds of that are. But there are no sad faces in here.
"Our fans are frustrated that the last week played out the way it has. We haven't played the best baseball, we haven't hit. I know they are frustrated, but it's better than...
It certainly wasn't a speech about the end of his Orioles career, but when asked today if he has wondered if he does have a future with the club, Brian Roberts admitted he may not. His contract ends after this season and Roberts is embracing his time remaining with the team, even if that turns out to be just six more games.
"Sure, we all think about our future and what that might hold, but I don't have any idea at this point," Roberts said. "I'm just trying to enjoy every day that I've...
I'll join the chorus of players and fans who have sent their expressions of concern and good wishes to Manny Machado. While that knee injury looked serious, here is a hope that we get better-than-expected news today.
Even if surgery is needed, here's hoping the young man has a quick and full rehab and recovery and fans see him back in the lineup come opening day 2014.
Beyond his talents on the field, which are there for all to see, Machado has been impressive from the day the Orioles took...
A bad series ended badly.
James Loney led off the last of the ninth with a homer to right off Tommy Hunter as Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 5-4 to complete a four-game sweep.
The loss in the series finale this afternoon was overshadowed by what happened in the top of the seventh inning.
The Orioles and their fans had to watch as their talented 21-year-old third baseman, Manny Machado, was taken from the field on a stretcher.
Machado hit a grounder to second that was bobbled. As he reached the...
Wei-Yin Chen, who has struggled at times late this season, does have good numbers this year and in his career against Tampa Bay. He'll try to pitch the Orioles to a win today so they can salvage a game in this series.
It's not even close to what the Orioles wanted, but all they can get now.
Tampa Bay has never had a four-game sweep against the Orioles at home but has swept a pair of four-game series from the Orioles in Baltimore. The first was May 15-18, 1998 and the second was Sept. 22-24,...
