Outfielder Nate McLouth, who was hitting .140 earlier this year and got released by the Pirates, is now thriving with the Orioles. He is batting .306 in 16 games this month.
How did he go from such a low point to playing so well for the Orioles in a pennant race?
The answer is McLouth put in the time to work on his hitting while he was with Triple-A Norfolk in June and July. He was very open to the coaching there from Tides batting coach Denny Walling and O's minor league hitting coordinator...
The Orioles welcomed Chris Tillman back to their rotation tonight by scoring seven early runs for him. Tillman may not have needed that many to once again beat the team that drafted him in the second round in 2006.
Out since Sept. 2 with right elbow discomfort, Tillman gave up just three hits and one run over six innings as the Orioles routed the Mariners 10-4 in Game 1 of a three-game series.
The Orioles improved to 83-64 with their 28th win in the last 41 games and moved to within a...
The Orioles picked up tonight where they left off on offense Sunday in Oakland.
A day after getting nine runs in a win over the A's, the Orioles scored three in the first inning and four in the second tonight to take a 7-1 lead after two innings at Seattle.
It started with the first batter when Nate McLouth homered to right on an 0-2 pitch for his eighth career leadoff homer. Later in the inning, Mark Reynolds produced an RBI infield hit and Manny Machado plated a run with a single up the...
Let's point this out first about the Seattle Mariners: They may be a last-place team, but before anyone thinks the Orioles will walk right into SafeCo Field and rip off three easy wins, consider that the Mariners have the AL's fourth-best record since the All-Star break.
.683 - Oakland (41-19)
.607 - Orioles (37-24)
.583 - Texas (35-25)
.567 - Seattle (34-26)
The Mariners also have the third-best ERA in the American League at 3.76, meaning that over these last three series the O's have...
The Orioles just went through a four-game stretch against Tampa Bay and Oakland where they scored 10 total runs. But they broke out of that by scoring nine Sunday in Oakland. In the nine games before, all that they scored 60 runs.
The point is the Orioles' offense has picked up and so far, they are putting up better numbers in September than they have in any previous month.
The Orioles are scoring 5.46 runs per game this month and the next best is the 4.79 they produced in May. The team...
Based on their play this season against the teams remaining on their schedule, the Orioles seem to have a real good shot at a very strong finish, one that might be good enough for them to win their first AL East title since 1997.
The Orioles are one game behind the Yankees with 16 to play and here are the remaining opponents for both teams:
Orioles:
3 at Seattle
3 at Boston
4 vs. Toronto
3 vs. Boston
3 at Tampa Bay
Yankees:
3 vs. Toronto
3 vs. Oakland
3 at Minnesota
4 at Toronto
3 vs....
Needing a win to avoid being swept in Oakland and to remain just one game out of first place, the Orioles got one as their offense produced 13 hits in a 9-5 win over the A's.
The Orioles won for just the third time in 19 games since 2008 in Oakland and improved to 82-64 on the year. They sit a game behind the Yankees in the AL East and remain 2 1/2 games ahead of the Angels for the AL's second wild card berth.
It almost seems a bit of an afterthought but, with this win, the Orioles...
In an attempt to win today's game at Oakland, the Orioles are counting on a 36-year-old left-hander who won just three of his 24 starts with the Brewers this year and who has pitched just 1/3 of an inning over the last nine days.
At least Randy Wolf is rested.
You can tell that the fact that Wolf is getting the ball for today's game has some fans nervous, and we'll see how he does. He did go 3-10 with an ERA of 5.69 for Milwaukee, and he went 0-4 with an ERA of 6.53 over his last four...
First of all, let me say that it is your right as a fan to have any opinion of the Orioles that you do. But it is my right to not agree with you.
I disagree with several of you today.
Between this blog and Twitter I saw some interesting comments after last night's game:
"Well....it has been an excellent run."
"I fear it is over."
"There is no way the Orioles can be in a pennant race with Chavez in the lineup."
This reminds of one we got a lot earlier this year, "How much longer can...
It's been a rough two nights for the Orioles in Oakland. A loss there Friday cost them a chance to move into sole possession of first place, while tonight's loss dropped the Orioles out of a first-place tie in the AL East.
The Birds fell one game back of the Yankees, who won this afternoon, with a 5-2 loss at Oakland. The Orioles continue to hold the second wild card spot in the AL, leading the Angels by 2 1/2 games.
The Orioles fall to 81-64 and have now lost back-to-back games for the...
After going through a four-start stretch where he gave up just three runs, Zach Britton gave up five runs in his last start Sunday against the Yankees. He looks to bounce back from that outing tonight at Oakland.
In his four starts before that one, Britton won a career-high four straight games, going 4-0 with an ERA of 0.95. Over 28 2/3 innings, he gave up 21 hits with seven walks and 29 strikeouts.
But he lasted just 3 1/3 innings versus New York, allowing five hits, five walks and five runs...
Well, that was a rarity. An Orioles one-run loss. With it goes a chance for the Birds to move into sole possession of first place in the AL East after the Yankees loss earlier Friday night proceeded the O's 3-2 loss at Oakland.
That was just the Orioles second one-run loss in their last 18 one-run games and they fall to 27-8 on the season in the one-run contests.
It was a frustrating night for an O's offense that had scored 66 runs in the previous 11 games. In six of nine innings they got...
The Orioles' instructional league is under way at the team's spring training home in Sarasota, Fla. There are 59 players listed on the instructional league roster, with 31 pitches, five catchers, eight infielders, eight outfielders and seven players taking part in rehab.
Here is the complete O's instructional league roster:
Pitchers: Wilmer Aquino, Tim Berry, Parker Bridwell, Dylan Bundy, Miguel Chalas, Zach Davies, Dioni Dominguez, Gene Escat, Miguel Garcia, Kevin Gausman, Kevin Grendell,...
Here are some notes on several Orioles hitters as the club begins this big three-game, weekend series at Oakland.
* Robert Andino: Is 2-for-18 over his last five games and is 5-for-11 vs. Oakland.
* Chris Davis: Over his past 18 games, he's batting .323 (21-for-65) with seven homers and 12 RBIs. He is 10-for-21 (.476) this year with two homers and six RBIs vs. Oakland.
* Lew Ford: Has three homers over his last 29 at-bats.
* J.J. Hardy: In the last 10 games, he is batting .333 (14-for-42)...
Is it time for the Orioles to Buck a trend (pun intended) against Oakland?
It is not like the A's have been a juggernaut over the years but they have won a lot of games against the Orioles. The O's went 4-5 vs. Oakland last year and they have not won the season series since 1998, going 8-3.
The Orioles are 2-14 at Oakland since 2008 and went 1-5 there last year. Also, the Orioles have lost 25 of their last 36 vs. Oakland and are just 38-80 against Oakland since 1999.
That is a lot of...
Are the struggles of Orioles reliever Pedro Strop now a thing of the past? He thinks they may be.
Strop put together back-to-back scoreless innings against Tampa Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday, and thinks he may now be back on track. Strop said he made a slight mechanical adjustment, said he is mentally tough and thinks the combination of the two will help to keep him pitching well.
"For some reason, I was struggling with my command a little bit. But you cannot let that take you out of your...
I think all Orioles fans that have suffered through 14 losing seasons should take a minute or two at least to savor today's win. It seemed almost as if it took 14 years, but the Orioles now officially will not have a losing record in 2012. They'll have one much better than last year, the year before that and that and so on.
The sweep of Tampa was big for so many reasons, but for a key one, the O's have distanced themselves now by four games from the Rays, and it would have been just two...
After the Orioles' pitching staff gave up 31 runs in the four games of the Yankees series, the Birds staff has allowed just four in two games against Tampa Bay.
In fact, the Orioles are 5-1 in their last six games against the Rays, allowing just eight total runs in those six games.
The starters had gone six consecutive games without a quality start, pitching to an ERA of 6.67 in that time, until Miguel Gonzalez delivered one last night, allowing just two runs over six innings.
When the...
Manny Machado's defense at third base has been very solid since he got to Baltimore on Aug. 9. He has certainly surprised some people with a flawless move over the diamond from short. But has he surprised himself with how well he has done there?
"I wouldn't say I'm surprised, but you know I'm athletic, and I'm a shortstop. It's a tough adjustment, but I think I've been doing it pretty well," Machado said before yesterday's game with Tampa Bay.
"Whenever I have time, I go out there...
This must be pretty exciting for Nate McLouth. Batting .140 and let go by the Pittsburgh Pirates in late May, now he's batting .279 and leading off for the Orioles and tonight getting mobbed by his teammates after a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth provided a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay.
"This is neat," McLouth said. "Almost daily you can kind of sense and feel the excitement growing. The crowds, it's almost like a college football crowd to to be honest with you. It's been neat to...
