With Tampa Bay's loss Saturday night, the Orioles are now tied with Cleveland just one game back of the Rays for the American League's second wild card berth. Tampa Bay is 2-7 on its West Coast road trip, and has lost 11 of 14 games. Things change quickly around here.
The Orioles have not swept a four-game series this season. They have that chance this afternoon against the 56-85 Chicago White Sox. Bud Norris (10-10, 4.01 ERA) pitches against right-hander Andre Rienzo (1-1, 5.03 ERA )at 1:35...
After the Orioles sixth walkoff win of the year, Matt Wieters talked about his two-out, two-run single that pushed the Orioles past Chicago today 4-3 in 10 innings.
The O's were 1-for-17 with runners in scoring before his game-winning hit.
"Just keep getting opportunities, that is all you can ask for," Wieters said. "Whether you succeed or not, you want that next opportunity to come to you.
"It was a slider and I swung at a slider the AB before on a pitch I felt I could have done...
In the end, they finally got the clutch hit.
When Matt Wieters came to the plate with runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the tenth, the O's trailed the White Sox 3-2 and they were 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position for the day.
But Wieters delivered a two-run, walk-off single to right and the O's frustrating day ended with a win, 4-3 over Chicago.
The Orioles have their first three-game winning streak since Aug. 6-9 and improve to 76-65 while the White Sox...
It happened last night. Once anyway.
The Orioles scored a run that didn't come via a home run.
But of the Orioles last 18 runs, 17 have scored by a homer. In the last 11 games, 27 of 41 runs have come via the longball.
Have the Orioles become too reliant on the home run ball?
"Runs are runs," manger Buck Showalter said. "You want me to tell them to stop doing it. Knowing who you are and who you're not. Like to figure out a way to get some people out there when they hit them."
What...
Infielder Jonathan Schoop has now been with the Orioles for a few days. He was called up after Monday's Triple-A game at Norfolk, when the Tides' season ended.
Schoop knows he is not likely to play much while he is here with the Orioles going with their regulars as they chase a playoff spot, but he is taking advantage of the experience however he can.
"This is amazing," he said this morning. "Being around the team and watching the games and see if I can learn something.
"I watch B-Rob...
The Orioles minor league award winners for 2013 will be announced on Sunday. The Player of the Year receives the Brooks Robinson award while the Pitcher of the Year earns the Jim Palmer award.
The pitcher honor appears to be a two-man race between left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez and right-hander Mike Wright.
Wright, the club's third-round pick in 2011 out of East Carolina, went 11-3 with a 3.26 ERA for Double-A Bowie over 26 starts and tied for first for the Eastern League ERA crown. In nine...
ABERDEEN, Md. - The Aberdeen IronBirds and Tri-City ValleyCats are locked in an early pitchers' duel in Game 1 of their New York-Penn League playoff series tonight at Ripken Stadium.
Two pitchers that have had good seasons with strong finishes have carried that over so far in this game. Aberdeen and Tri-City are scoreless through three innings.
Aberdeen starter Sebastian Vader went 7-3 with an ERA of 2.43 in 14 games, 13 as a starter this year. He allowed an average against of just .222 over...
ABERDEEN, Md. - It is a big night at Ripken Stadium. The short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds play in the first playoff game in the team's 12-year history.
The IronBirds host the Tri-City ValleyCats, a Houston Astros affiliate, in the best-of-three league semifinals. Tri-City, which finished with the better record, is the higher seed and will host Game 2 Saturday at 7 p.m. and Game 3, if necessary, on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Aberdeen finished 40-32 to win the McNamara Division title. The...
The Orioles instructional league will begin Sept. 11 at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla., and runs through Oct. 8.
The Orioles are sending 27 pitchers, seven catchers, 10 infielders, 10 outfielders and six players listed on rehab to the camp for a total of 60 players.
Aberdeen manager Matt Merullo is instructional league manager and he'll be joined by a large staff of minor league coaches and instructors. The players will play games against teams from Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Boston,...
For the short-season, Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds, it was one of their biggest homers of the season. Last Sunday at Brooklyn, the IronBirds trailed the Cyclones 1-0 in the eighth inning. They needed to beat their division rival to stay ahead of them for first place.
Conor Bierfeldt took a swing and drove a ball estimated around 425 feet out to center field to tie the game.
"Our whole bench erupted and about 6,500 people just sat down in their seats," Aberdeen manager Matt Merullo...
When the game was over, Adam Jones was more interested that the Orioles got the win than any personal milestones, but he did hit his 30th homer tonight to drive in his 100th run.
Jones became the seventh Oriole to reach the 30-homer mark in back-to-back seasons and first outfielder since Frank Robinson hit 49 in 1966 and 30 a year later. He also reached 100 RBIs for the first time.
"Cool feat," Jones said. "You play the game for team success but individual success comes with that. That is...
Badly needing a win after a 3-6 road trip, the Orioles will take runs any way they get them right now. Homer or no homer.
Tonight they got them the way they often do - via a longball - hitting three homers to back Miguel Gonzalez in a 3-1 over Chicago to start an eight-game homestand. The Orioles have now scored their last 14 runs on homers.
Tonight's attendance was 17,383 which put the Orioles over the two million mark for the second year in a row and the 24th time in club history.
Adam...
Coming off one of the worst starts of his career, Miguel Gonzalez looks to rebound from that outing tonight in the opener of an eight-game homestand, when he faces the Chicago White Sox at Camden Yards.
Gonzalez gave up six hits and seven runs in four-plus innings last Friday at New York. He sailed through the first three innings on just 30 pitches.
In six games in August, Gonzalez went 0-2 with a 5.25 ERA. He has an ERA of 5.77 since the All-Star break.
Lefty Jose Quintana pitches for...
Michael Morse will make his third Orioles start tonight and his second in the field, batting sixth and playing in right field.
Despite some of the recent losses, he's enjoying his first few days as an Oriole.
"It's been fun. The guys are great and I'm really enjoying myself," he said.
Morse made 53 starts for the Mariners this year in right field and he has played more there in his career than in left.
"I've played enough in right," he said of his assignment for tonight. "I've...
Jason Hammel is back on the Orioles' active roster. Out since July 29 due to a right flexor mass strain, Hammel has made two rehab outings in the minors and today is back in the majors.
"Very excited to be back," Hammel said. "Being healthy, number one. But being back with these guys, a fun group. I tried to get back as quick as I could. It was tough to watch on TV. I want to be there with them and go through the ups and downs together. I know I can help and tried to get back as quick as I...
They had a first-year manager and plenty of new players, some brand new to pro ball coming right out of the 2013 draft.
Then the short-season, Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds started the season 0-5 and were outscored 28-9. They were probably not thinking about the playoffs then, but Aberdeen picked up a key extra-innings win the next night and went 6-1 over the next seven games to right the ship.
"We were 0-5 but no one panicked," manager Matt Merullo remembered. "The guys were just getting to...
A few thoughts after a road trip that put a real damper on the Orioles' playoff chances, as the Birds lost three series against three teams that they are competing with for postseason berths.
* Michael Morse has started just two of the five games he has been an Oriole. Even if we don't count Saturday since he had a long travel day and there was not a plan to start him then, it is still two of four games. Now the O's have only faced one lefty in that stretch, but I thought they might just...
Well, that road trip could have gone better.
The Indians scored twice in the fifth inning to break a 4-4 tie and beat the Orioles 6-4 at Progressive Field. The Orioles lost all three series on this trip and went 3-6 in the nine games at Boston, New York and Cleveland.
The Orioles, who began the night three games out of the second American League wild-card spot, could fall four back later tonight.
The Orioles have lost seven of the last 11 games, are 8-13 over the last 21 games and 73-65...
Jason Hammel has pitched in 41 games for the Orioles the last two years and each one has been as a starter. But as he is set to return to the team now, if they want to use him out of the bullpen, he's up for that.
"Obviously I'd like to be a starter, but it's September and everybody is used in any situation," Hammel said after his outing last night in Aberdeen. "I am just happy to be healthy and feeling good and I know I can help the team.
"It is a completely different mindset, but I...
First baseman Trey Mancini has been named the Most Valuable Player for the playoff-bound short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds.
The Orioles' eighth-round pick in June out of Notre Dame, Mancini has hit .324 with 18 doubles, two triples, three homers and 35 RBIs in 67 games for Aberdeen. He has a .447 slugging percentage and .826 OPS.
"Trey has been our most consistent bat in the lineup and his presence at first base has really solidified our infield," IronBirds manager Matt Merullo...
