Tonight's live blog: The Yankees host the Orioles tonight in Game 3 of the American League Division Series. This blog will be here throughout the game and I'll be looking for reader questions and comments. What are your thoughts on tonight's game? What is the key for an O's win?
Will the offense break out?: The Orioles' offense may not be scoring a lot of runs lately, but a late-season trend that saw the club get some real solid pitching has carried over for the first three postseason...
Here is a random Orioles thought as we get closer to the start of Game 3 of the American League Division Series.
It seems we are reading some stories that portray the Orioles as a group of overachievers led by a brilliant manager. I get the part about Buck Showalter. He is a brilliant manager, setting a great tone for the team and whole organization really.
But he is not leading some band of no-talent misfits. Sure, they have some reclamation projects, like Nate McLouth and Lew Ford, that...
Do the Orioles have the Yankees right where they want them as this series now heads to New York?
After all, the Orioles won all three series there this year, going 6-3 at Yankee Stadium. It's the first time since 1976 that the Orioles won all three series at that ballpark. The Orioles' six wins there is their most since they won eight in 1976.
Nate McLouth, who has four postseason RBIs, said that success there is important now.
"I do think that matters. When you go into a tough place like...
Aberdeen's own Cal Ripken Jr. was not there to greet them, but the New York Yankees made an unscheduled stop in Ripken's hometown on their way north early this morning as they were leaving Baltimore after Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi, on a conference call with reporters to take questions about the ALDS, explained what happened after last night's game.
"I would say we got to the train station around 1:10 or 1:15," Girardi said. "We took off...
How good has Darren O'Day been for the Orioles this year? Throw out just about any superlative you want, and it likely fits.
O'Day continues to be outstanding in the postseason. He has pitched in all three games against Texas and New York with a combined 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with no walks and three strikeouts.
He came into the Texas game and preserved what was, at the time, a 2-1 lead. He kept the game tied 2-2 Sunday and struck out Alex Rodriguez in the seventh...
Here is a sampling of some comments tonight from a victorious Orioles clubhouse after the 3-2 win evened the American League Division Series at 1-1.
Darren O'Day said he was confident in Jim Johnson:
"I could tell last night he was going to be fine. A lot of guys would be feeling sorry for themselves. But I was in the training room after the game, joking with him about fantasy football. He laughed at my stupid jokes, which really aren't funny, so I knew he wasn't dwelling on it and he was...
There was no doubt that if the Orioles took a one-run lead to the ninth tonight that Jim Johnson would get the ball. You knew Buck Showalter would call on him and Johnson certainly wanted it to be that way. He wanted to be back on the mound tonight.
"I did. To come back from a bad outing, usually you want the ball right away," Johnson said after he retired the top of the Yankees order on 12 pitches to save the O's 3-2 victory. "You don't want to sit on it for a day and have an off day. As...
Facing an 0-2 deficit in the American League Division Series with a loss tonight, the Orioles recieved a gutty effort from Wei-Yin Chen and a save from Jim Johnson as they beat the Yankees 3-2 in front of 48,187 to even the ALDS at 1-1.
Pitching a night after giving up five runs in the ninth in Game 1, Johnson got Derek Jeter to ground out on the first pitch of the ninth. He then got Ichiro Suzuki on a ground out and Alex Rodriguez on a swinging strikeout to end it to send the towel-waving...
Tonight's live blog: Time to get started with tonight's live blog for Game 2 of the American League Division Series between the Orioles and Yankees. The Birds need a win to even the series after losing 7-2 last night. I hope many readers will post many questions and comments in here tonight. Keep 'em coming. Often. I mean it.
Tonight the O's face their old friend Andy Pettitte. Since some of you feel we jinx the players when we post positive stats about them (even though that is our job,...
Matt Wieters admitted today, he was not sure what he would see or feel when he walked into the Orioles clubhouse last night. How would the team react after such a difficult ninth inning? Was the clubhouse the same as it had been all year?
"It actually was," Wieters said at a press conference this afternoon at Camden Yards. "I haven't experienced a playoff loss before, so you don't really know what to expect when you get back in the clubhouse but everybody was (like), 'It's one game,'...
Jim Thome is the voice of experience in the Orioles clubhouse. When it comes to playoff games, that is certainly true. He has played in 67 in his career. The rest of the players in the O's clubhouse had a total of 58 going into Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
Thome was asked how crucial tonight's game is as the Orioles try to even this series.
"We just play one game at a time. We don't look two games ahead," Thome said. "They've got a very good ball club, we know that...
If you go back over the Orioles' last five games, their offense has produced just 12 runs in that stretch. But is that because they are struggling at the plate now at such a critical time or just because they've faced some very good pitching?
In those five games - starting with the Tampa Bay series - the Orioles are batting just .170 as a team with four doubles and three homers.
In September, the Orioles hit .270 as a team with an OPS of .806. They averaged 5.46 runs per game and hit 47...
To no one's surprise, the Orioles came to the defense of their closer tonight. They've seen Jim Johnson do too many special things for them this year to do anything else. He is one of the team leaders and they were standing behind him tonight after he gave up five runs in the ninth in Game 1 of the ALDS.
"It's not deflating," catcher Matt Wieters said. "We have to do a better job getting him the lead. Jim's been great for us all year and everyone in this clubhouse wants to give him the...
Jim Johnson said he made mistakes with his location tonight, costing him and the Orioles as the New York Yankees scored five in the ninth off the O's closer to post a 7-2 win tonight in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
"I made a mistake, obviously to (Russell) Martin and a couple of other mistakes over the middle of the plate, and we paid for it," Johnson said. "It's unfortunate after the effort we got out of everybody else. I didn't hold my end of the bargain. I feel...
Jim Johnson has been so great for the Orioles this year. He entered this game in the top of the ninth of a 2-2 tie tonight having allowed just one run over his last 26 innings and three homers all year and none since June 5.
But Russell Martin homered to left on a 2-0 pitch leading off the ninth and the Yankees went on to a 7-2 win in Game 1 of the American League Division Series in front of 47,841 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles will need to win tomorrow night behind Wei-Yin Chen or they will...
Tonight's live blog: Our live blog for Game 1 of the American League Division Series is under way. Please check back here often tonight for updates, but I also hope to see a lot of comments from fans and readers. Post often your thoughts on this game and series. Ask any O's questions you have. Start leaving comments right now if you have one.
Some O's playoff history: The Orioles have never lost an American League Division Series. OK, they have only played in two of them, but they beat...
A reporter pointed out to Matt Wieters that all the Orioles in the clubhouse now have playoff experience. It may just be one game for some of them, but that was a pretty big one and Wieters said the players' effort against Texas could help them in the American League Division Series against the Yankees.
"That one game was playoff experience like you get in a Game 7," Wieters said. "Some of the nerves for some of the guys, you get it out of your system and that means you care. Winning that...
It has been a pretty good first year for Wei-Yin Chen as an Oriole and the next step for him is starting Game 2 for the Orioles tomorrow night against the Yankees here at Camden Yards.
"It's been a great year to me and the Orioles," Chen said today through his interpreter. "I'm so lucky to be here and I want to give everything to the fans and the city of Baltimore. This has been an amazing year to me and I don't want to think too much right now, just want to keep going, keep going and...
Several Orioles players and manager Buck Showalter said they hoped to bring a home playoff game to Camden Yards and tonight is the night. The Orioles host the Yankees in the first playoff game at Camden Yards since Oct. 15, 1997.
"We feel like the fans came out to support us and it's big to get two games at home and hopefully more. We know we'll have Camden Yards rocking," catcher Matt Wieters said.
"Baltimore is a great baseball town and we saw it this year. What great fans we have...
It seems some Orioles fans have not been able to forget what happened in the fifth inning at Camden Yards on the night of Sept. 8. The Yankees' CC Sabathia hit Nick Markakis with a pitch on his left thumb. Markakis suffered a broken thumb and has been out of the lineup ever since.
Tonight, when the Orioles face Sabathia again in Game 1 of the American League Division Series, they want to beat him to win this series and not because they feel Sabathia intentionally hit Markakis. In fact, they...