Minor league updates on Lew Ford, Bobby Bundy, Oliver Drake and more

Minor league updates on Lew Ford, Bobby Bundy, Oliver Drake and more
Outfielder Lew Ford, who made several key contributions to the Orioles' 2012 playoff run, has been out since May 10 after a sports hernia injury. Ford saw a doctor recently and surgery is a possibility. No decision on that has yet been made. It was quite a story last season when the Orioles signed Ford out of the Atlantic League on May 17 and called him up from the minors in late July. He was on the club's playoff roster in October. With a glut of outfielders at the higher levels of the...
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Chris Davis: Mashing baseballs and leaving them laughing, too

Chris Davis: Mashing baseballs and leaving them laughing, too
Chris Davis came to bat in the seventh inning last night and the Orioles had just taken a 7-6 lead on Washington. With Nick Markakis on second base and first base open, Davis didn't know if he'd even get a chance to swing the bat. He did, and he took a mighty swing and miss at the first pitch he saw from the Nationals' Tyler Clippard. Two pitches later, on an 0-2 count, he hit his second homer of the game and 19th on the year. "I wasn't sure if they would pitch to me or not," Davis...
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Comments from Steve Johnson, Chris Tillman and Manny Machado after the O's win

Comments from Steve Johnson, Chris Tillman and Manny Machado after the O's win
Chris Davis had the starring role tonight and a crush of reporters around his locker. Crush, get it? But other Orioles had a few things to say after the comeback win. Steve Johnson about the feeling on the bench in the last of the seventh: "It was awesome. We got on a roll. Even over the last few days, we've hit the ball hard and we always have the thought we can come back. We piled it on." Chris Tillman on his outing: "Not very good. Fell behind a lot. Call it poor execution and poor...
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Chris Davis talks about another big night at the plate

Chris Davis talks about another big night at the plate
After his latest big night at the plate, Chris Davis talked about being locked in so well at bat right now. "It's fun," Davis said. "You are always working on things. Just the consistent approach every day has helped me out. The routine. I heard for such a long time that routine is such a big part of this game and I've really found one that I like. I've continued to do that every day. "When you have a team like this with a bunch of guys that rally around each other, it makes it easier...
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Chris Davis homers twice as Orioles come from down four to beat Nats

Chris Davis homers twice as Orioles come from down four to beat Nats
What a wild night at Camden Yards. Chris Davis got out-homered three to two by Ryan Zimmerman, but the Orioles stormed back from a four-run deficit to beat the Nationals 9-6 in front of a stirred up crowd of 39,129 at Oriole Park. The Birds went to the last of the seventh down 6-3 but scored six times to get the lead. The inning featured a two-run homer from Steve Pearce and an RBI double by Manny Machado to tie it 6-6. Nick Markakis singled him in for the 7-6 lead and Davis' second homer of...
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Hot-hitting O's offense faces the NL wins leader tonight (updated twice)

Hot-hitting O's offense faces the NL wins leader tonight (updated twice)
The Orioles offense, which has produced a batting average of .309 and 5.4 runs per game over the last 17 games, gets a real challenge tonight. They face Nats right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, who is 8-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 10 starts. He has allowed two earned runs or less in seven straight starts, recording nine quality starts on the season. Zimmermann has pitched seven innings or more in his last six starts. The O's entire starting staff has gone seven or more just five times all...
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Pedro Strop talks about fielding ground balls at shortstop today

Pedro Strop talks about fielding ground balls at shortstop today
It was a strange sight at Camden Yards this afternoon - Orioles pitcher Pedro Strop, who went on the disabled list Saturday with a lower back strain, fielding ground balls at shortstop and making throws to first base. It turns out J.J Hardy has nothing to worry about. Strop, who was an infielder from 2005-08 in the Colorado organization, is not going back to the dirt. But when he gets back on the mound, the Orioles want him to throw more strikes and today was one step in the process of helping...
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Ryan Flaherty talks about returning to the Orioles

Ryan Flaherty talks about returning to the Orioles
In a bit of a surprise, Ryan Flaherty returned to the Orioles today. He will bat eighth and start at second base tonight against the Nationals. He got the phone call from Norfolk manager Ron Johnson to head to the airport and here he is, already back at Camden Yards. Flaherty was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk while Yamaico Navarro was optioned back to the Tides. Flaherty was sent to the minors following the game on May 18. In eight Triple-A games, he batted .265 with two homers and five RBIs....
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After busy spring, O's scouting director Gary Rajsich set for his second draft with club

After busy spring, O's scouting director Gary Rajsich set for his second draft with club
After having a selection between the third and fifth pick in the first round of the First-Year Player Draft for the last six years, the Orioles will not make a selection until the 22nd pick in the draft in round one this year. The draft will be held from June 6-8. The last time the Orioles picked 22nd or lower with their first pick was in 1998 when they drafted Georgia high school outfielder Rick Elder with the 26th overall pick. One year after selecting LSU pitcher Kevin Gausman with the...
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Nats rock Gausman and O's 9-3 to even series

Nats rock Gausman and O's 9-3 to even series
After allowing just three homers over eight starts and 46 1/3 innings this season at Double-A Bowie, right-hander Kevin Gausman gave up three tonight as the Nationals beat the Orioles 9-3 at Nats Park. Gausman gave up a three-run homer to Adam LaRoche on a 2-0 fastball after allowing back-to-back singles with one out in the first inning. The Orioles got solo homers from Chris Davis (his 17th) and J.J. Hardy (his 10th) to tie the game in the top of the fourth. Davis has hit four homers in his...
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After allowing three homers in eight starts at Bowie, Gausman has allowed three tonight

After allowing three homers in eight starts at Bowie, Gausman has allowed three tonight
I wonder how Birdland is dealing with seeing Kevin Gausman get hit hard tonight by the Washington Nationals? Gausman gave up four runs over five innings to Toronto last Thursday and allowed seven runs in the first four innings tonight at Nats Park. Right after a pair of Orioles homers tied this game at 3-3 in the top of the fourth, the Nats quickly untied it against Gausman in the last of the fourth. With one on and one out, he left an 0-2 slider up and Tyler Moore hit that hanger out for a...
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The 2013 Orioles offense is outperforming the 2012 version by a big margin

The 2013 Orioles offense is outperforming the 2012 version by a big margin
This just in: The Orioles did not hit a homer Monday. They had hit at least one homer in the previous seven games and had hit 16 homers in the previous six games. It didn't slow their offense even a bit, however, as they banged out 15 hits and, despite leaving 14 on base, beat Washington 6-2. The team's offense is humming along pretty well right now. Over the last four games they have 16, nine, 14 and 15 hits with a batting average of .346 in that time. The Orioles have scored six runs or...
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Does a higher volume of minor league innings provide young pitchers big league success?

Does a higher volume of minor league innings provide young pitchers big league success?
Is it a question that evokes much discussion and debate. How much seasoning on the farm does a young pitcher need, and when is he ready to make the jump to the majors and have success there? Are players like Chris Sale and maybe now Kevin Gausman, who pitches tonight, showing that if you have enough talent that you just don't need all those minor league innings? The Orioles have had high hopes for several young pitchers the last few years and let's take a look right now at three of them in...
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Hammel pitches a gem as O's take series opener against the Nats

Hammel pitches a gem as O's take series opener against the Nats
After a four-game series where O's pitchers gave up 29 runs and O's starters failed to go six innings once, the Orioles needed Jason Hammel to go deep in today's game. Hammel did just that, pitching eight very solid innings as the Orioles beat the Nationals 6-2 in Game 1 of a four-game home-and-home series. The game attracted a sellout of 41,260 at Nats Park. Hammel allowed eight hits and two runs with no walks and eight strikeouts. He improves to 7-2 with an ERA of 4.98 and threw 107...
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Will defense be the difference in this series? (O's get lead)

Will defense be the difference in this series? (O's get lead)
Something worth tracking in the Orioles-Nationals series over the next four days is the defensive disparity between the teams. The Orioles are tied for first in the American League with a .990 fielding percentage while the Nats tie for last in the National League at .979. The O's have made the fewest errors in the AL (18) while the Nats are tied for the most in the NL (39). O's catchers rank first in the AL, throwing out 52 percent on the season while the Nats rank last in the NL at 13.2...
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After latest ninth-inning struggles, what is Showalter's next move with Jim Johnson?

After latest ninth-inning struggles, what is Showalter's next move with Jim Johnson?
First of all, I don't have great answers to the two pressing questions of the day: What is wrong with Jim Johnson and will Buck Showalter give Johnson the ball today at Washington if a save situation presents itself? As for the second question, Showalter did say he would go to Johnson today on the MASN postgame interview Sunday. However, you have to wonder if Johnson will even be available after throwing 14 pitches Saturday and 37 yesterday. Now here are the raw numbers: Over his last six...
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Toronto scores four in ninth off Jim Johnson to win 6-5

Toronto scores four in ninth off Jim Johnson to win 6-5
A shaky save would have been better than a blown save, but the O's didn't get one today. Toronto No. 9 hitter Munenori Kawasaki drilled a two-run double on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the last of the ninth as the Blue Jays stunned the Orioles 6-5. Toronto scored four in the ninth off Jim Johnson, who suffered his fourth blown save in his last five chances. The O's went to the bottom of the ninth up 5-2 but Toronto pulled within 5-3 on a J.P. Arencibia RBI single and 5-4 on a Mark DeRosa...
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O's need a victory today to win another AL East series (updated)

O's need a victory today to win another AL East series (updated)
The Orioles have a chance to win another American League East series today. So far this season, they have won five of seven series within the division. They recently had a five-game AL East losing streak, which included being swept by Tampa Bay. That streak ended when they won the last two games of the Yankees series. Overall, they are 13-11 versus the AL East this year: At Tampa Bay: 2-1 At Boston: 2-1 At New York: 1-2 Vs. Tampa Bay: 2-1 Vs. Toronto: 2-1 Vs. Tampa Bay: 0-3 Vs. New York:...
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The homer-happy Birds

The homer-happy Birds
The 2013 Orioles are suddenly bashing and mashing baseballs. The Orioles have become homer happy. If those homers lead to wins, that makes their fans happy. In the last few days, they have been. The Orioles have won four of the last five games, hitting 15 homers in that stretch. Over their last 12 games, they have hit 26 homers with nine games of two or more homers. The Orioles are on a pace to hit 225 homers for the season. Last year's Birds bashed a few, 214 to be exact, which was second...
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Orioles beat Toronto 6-5 with Garcia getting the win and J. Johnson the save

Orioles beat Toronto 6-5 with Garcia getting the win and J. Johnson the save
For the fourth time this season, the Orioles faced a pitcher that won a Cy Young Award in 2012. They are now 4-0 in those games after producing a 6-5 win over R.A. Dickey and the Toronto Blue Jays. Dickey gave up nine hits and six runs over 6 2/3. He falls to 4-6 on the year with an ERA of 4.85, and Toronto is 4-7 in his 11 starts. In four starts against the Orioles this season, Dickey and Tampa Bay's David Price have pitched to a combined 6.20 ERA, allowing 30 hits and 17 earned runs over...
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