Held to two runs Monday night, the Orioles doubled that before the game's second out was recorded Tuesday and beat Seattle 7-2 to even this three-game series at a win each.
The Orioles scored four runs in the first inning against rookie right-hander Brandon Maurer, who entered this start with an ERA of 15.43 in the first inning this year.
It started with a leadoff homer to right by Nate McLouth. It was his second homer of the year and his 11th career leadoff homer. It was also his 16th hit...
The good teams seem to avoid long losing streaks and the Orioles will try to avoid having a three-gamer tonight. Prior to last night, the Birds had not lost back-to-back games since losing three in a row April 6-8.
The 2013 Orioles are 7-2 after a loss.
Some other notes on the Orioles:
* Manny Machado is batting .412 (14-for-34) during an eight-game batting streak with three doubles, a triple and five RBIs. He has raised his average from .250 to .300 during this stretch.
Machado is...
What T.J. McFarland is trying to do is certainly not easy. He is trying to stay in the major leagues with the Orioles as a Rule 5 pick and do so with just 17 career starts at the Triple-A level under his belt.
The Orioles felt McFarland had a decent chance to make the opening day roster when they selected him from the Cleveland Indians' organization at December's winter meetings.
Now, here he is with an 0-0 record and 2.38 ERA after five games. Over 11 1/3 innings, McFarland has allowed 12...
Should Orioles fans be concerned about J.J. Hardy?
Maybe a little. He is batting just .192 with one multi-hit effort through 26 games after going 0-for-3 last night. His on-base percentage is just .236 and his OPS is only .559.
Hardy is batting .162 against right-handed pitching and his average has been over .200 after only six of the team's 26 games.
Plus, this continues a run of Hardy's stats trending downward since his first season with the club in 2011. Starting then, his average has...
After giving up just one run in each of his last two Triple-A starts, Zach Britton gave up one on his second pitch tonight. His evening never got too much better, as the Orioles lost 6-2 to Seattle in the opener of a three-game series.
Former Oriole Joe Saunders got the win tonight, pitching a complete-game four-hitter.
Michael Saunders hit a belt-high fastball out for a 1-0 lead off Britton, who gave up 10 hits and six runs over six innings. He walked two and fanned two and threw 101 pitches...
When Zach Britton pitches in Seattle tonight, it will be interesting to track how many groundouts and how many flyouts he gets. It's not a secret that Britton has a power sinker, and when it is on, opposing batters hit on top of the ball and the groundouts start to mount.
Britton went 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Norfolk. Over 13 2/3 innings, he gave up 13 hits with seven walks and five strikeouts.
But here is an amazing stat: He recorded 29 groundouts and just one out in...
Double-A Bowie right-hander Kevin Gausman made his fifth start Sunday for the Baysox. He threw well, allowing just five hits and one run over a career-high 7 2/3 innings. He threw a season-high 94 pitches, but took a tough 1-0 loss at home against Harrisburg.
Gausman is 1-3 with a 3.77 ERA. Over 28 2/3 innings, he has a 29-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Eastern League left-handed batters are hitting .283 against him and right-handed batters are hitting .258. He allows an average of .208 when...
Don't panic Birdland, don't panic.
In this social media age, which includes our blog comments here, we saw some big-time venting after the Orioles' loss last night. The fans now can react publicly and immediately and they do when it doesn't go well.
Don't hold it in, I guess.
OK, let's talk big picture first. The Orioles have won 15 of 25 games. They have won four straight series. They are 4-1 in five AL East series and 9-6 in AL East games. They are 8-5 in road games.
They even look...
So close to their first four-game sweep at Oakland since May 22-25, 1987.
The Orioles lost a 5-0 lead after five innings and a two-run lead in the last of the ninth today, and fell 9-8 in 10 innings to Oakland.
After Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer with one out in the the last of the ninth off Brian Matusz to tie it 8-8, the Orioles defense came unglued as they lost it an inning later.
Eric Sogard led off the 10th with a single off Pedro Strop and advanced to second on a bunt when Strop...
The stats sheet says when Miguel Gonzalez takes the mound, the Orioles have a pretty good chance to win. Today, he will try to pitch the O's to their first four-game sweep at Oakland since May 22-25, 1987.
Gonzalez is 2-1 with a 4.13 ERA over four starts in 2013. The Orioles are 3-1 in those starts and 7-1 in Gonzalez's last eight starts, dating to September.
Gonzalez has made 19 career starts in an O's uniform and the club is 14-5 in those games for a win percentage of .737.
Gonzalez was...
Double-A Bowie's Caleb Joseph began this year as the Baysox's third catcher and as a player that was expected to get most of his at-bats between designated hitter, first base and left field.
But Joseph's hot start at the plate had the Orioles re-evaluating a few things. Joseph is back catching almost full time for now and expected to get the bulk of the catcher innings at Bowie beginning immediately.
After going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles while catching last night, the 26-year-old...
In his postgame interview today on MASN, Orioles manager Buck Showalter told Gary Thorne that Taylor Teagarden is likely headed for a stint on the disabled list.
Teagarden left today's game when he took a foul ball that dislocated his left thumb in the last of the sixth inning. Teagarden quickly removed his mitt and headed toward the O's dugout.
"It is just a matter of when the soreness and the swelling abates and it gets down to a point where he can catch," Showalter said. "He's going...
In Oakland today, the Orioles lost a catcher, but won another game. Taylor Teagarden suffered a dislocated thumb on his left hand in the sixth inning and exited the Orioles' 7-3 win over Oakland.
It is possible that Teagarden will now head to the disabled list and that Luis Exposito, who is on the 40-man roster, could be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.
Meanwhile, with today's win, the Orioles have now won four games in a row at Oakland (counting the last one last year) for the first time...
It wasn't that long ago that Buck Showalter said he felt playing 20 games in 20 days - a stretch the Orioles are currently in the middle of - could be a good thing for the starting pitchers.
He figured getting the pitchers working on an every-fifth-day routine would be a good thing and perhaps recent results prove he was right about that.
Over the last seven games, O's starters have produced five quality starts for their best stretch of the season. The starters' ERA is 3.19 in the seven...
Lefty reliever Chris Jones, a player the Orioles acquired from Atlanta in the trade April 10 for Luis Ayala, was today promoted from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk.
Since joining this organization, the 24-year-old Jones pitched in four games at Bowie. Over seven innings, he allowed eight hits and two runs with no walks and six strikeouts. A 15th-round draft pick by Cleveland out of high school in 2007, this will be Jones' first chance at the Triple-A level.
Bowie manager Gary Kendall saw...
On the first pitch he ever saw in the Eastern League last April, Manny Machado homered off a Harrisburg pitcher. Last night, on the first pitch he ever saw playing at Bowie's Prince George's Stadium, Henry Urrutia homered off a Harrisburg pitcher.
Now, that was Machado's first game - the 2012 Double-A season opener - and Urrutia was playing his sixth game, but first at home.
Still, it was an impressive home debut last night for the 26-year-old Cuban outfielder the Orioles signed to a bonus...
Wei-Yin Chen became the first Orioles starter to go seven innings this season and took it one step beyond that, pitching them to a 3-0 win over the Oakland A's tonight in game two of the series.
After going 3-16 the last five years at Oakland, the Birds are 2-0 there in 2013.
Chen went eight superb innings, a career high, allowing just two hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 106 pitches in improving to 2-2 with an ERA of 2.53 after his fourth straight quality start.
It was...
BOWIE, Md. - Nice home debut for Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia.
Playing in front of the Double-A Bowie Baysox fans for the first time here tonight, the 26-year-old Urrutia smoked a solo homer over the center field fence on the first pitch he saw in this game.
Urrutia, batting .316 with one homer and five RBIs in his first five Baysox games since joining the team a week ago, led off the last of the second against Harrisburg right-hander Brian Broderick and hit it out to give Bowie a 1-0 lead....
BOWIE, Md. - It has been an interesting first few weeks of the season for Double-A Bowie's Caleb Joseph. He has been hitting the ball very well for the Baysox, but has had just two starts as a catcher, which was his regular position until this year with the O's organization.
But now, after starting 11 times as a designated hitter, three at first base, once in left and twice behind the plate, Joseph is moving back to more catching duty and he got that word recently from Orioles minor league...
BOWIE, Md. - The Double-A Bowie Baysox are back at Prince George's Stadium, where tonight they begin a seven-game homestand hosting the Harrisburg Senators.
Tonight Baysox and Orioles fans have a chance to get their first in-person look at Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia, who was activated by the team a week ago today. Over five games, the 26-year-old Urrutia is batting .316 with one double, a homer and five RBIs. He is 6-for-19 so far for Bowie with a .526 slugging percentage and .907...