On a night when the two teams struggled often to get a clutch hit, the Orioles got two big ones in the last of the ninth to beat Tampa Bay 3-2 in front of 26,076 at Camden Yards.
Manny Machado led off the inning with a single to left off Kyle Farnsworth and moved to second on Robert Andino's sac bunt. Then Nate McLouth ripped a single off the right-field wall down the line to give the Orioles a walk-off win and put them three games ahead of the Rays.
Jim Johnson pitched the top of the ninth...
He is starting on the mound for the Orioles tonight and he might be the biggest surprise on the team this year.
Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez is 6-4 with a 3.62 ERA, one year after he pitched a total of 56 2/3 innings in the Red Sox system, mostly at Double-A, going 0-7 with a 5.40 ERA.
Now he is pitching big games for the Orioles in a pennant race.
The Orioles found him pitching in Mexico over the winter and signed him as a minor league free agent on February 28, after spring training had...
One day after leaving the game in the fourth inning with a right knee injury, Orioles pitcher Jason Hammel is still waiting to get an MRI and that won't happen until tomorrow.
His mood is not any beter about the situation, he said.
"Not really, I'm frusrated. That is all I can be right now until something positive shows up. It's just frustrating.
"It is a good thing that there isn't a lot of swelling, but that just raises more questions for me about what is going on," Hammel...
If there is one thing we should have learned about the 2012 Orioles, probably long before now, is they are amazingly resilient and can bounce back time and time again.
They took another hit last night when Jason Hammel limped off the mound injured, just two games after Nick Markakis headed off the field injured. But that didn't keep the Orioles from winning 9-2 over Tampa Bay to start a big three-game series.
Six pitchers combined for a five-hitter as the O's, at least last night, overcame...
It was a night where J.J. Hardy let his bat do the talking. The Orioles shortstop, usually reserved in interviews, had few words to say after his two-homer, five-RBI night led the Orioles past Tampa Bay 9-2 for a share of first place in the American League East.
"I don't know, I can't explain it," Hardy said. "I got a couple of pitches to hit and didn't miss them. He's a tough pitcher (Matt Moore) and it was nice to see him get out of there early.
"Steve Johnson for one came in and...
Orioles pitcher Jason Hammel said he felt great and thought he was back on track tonight in his second start since coming off the disabled list.
Then he felt something in his right knee again, on the second pitch he threw to Evan Longoria with two outs in the top of the fourth. He went on to walk him and shortly after that, Hammel left the game, injured again.
Again, the right knee. The one he had arthroscopic surgery on in July.
"It felt exactly the same as it did in the game against...
It wasn't exactly the way the Orioles drew it up, as their starter left the game in the fourth, but they used six pitchers and a huge game at the plate by J.J. Hardy to beat Tampa Bay 9-2 in Game 1 of a big three-game series at Camden Yards.
Pending the outcome of the Yankees-Red Sox game in Boston, the Orioles trail the first-place Bronx Bombers by a half-game.
Instant update: The Red Sox walked off with a 4-3 win over the Yankees, meaning the O's and Yankees are tied for first place in...
Some O's and Rays notes as this game moves to the fifth inning with the Orioles leading Tampa Bay 3-1.
Steve Johnson came on to pitch in the top of the fourth tonight when Jason Hammel left with a right knee injury. Johnson is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA over seven big league games, including two starts, this year.
In 21 innings, he has allowed just 14 hits with six walks with 27 strikeouts and a batting average against of only .192. Impressive, as he has done that amid irregular work. He has...
Could this series between the Orioles and Tampa Bay be low-scoring?
It certainly was the last time these teams played when there were three straight shutouts. Tampa Bay won the series opener 2-0 on Aug. 3 and then the O's posted 4-0 and 1-0 wins. Over three games, the Orioles outscored the Rays 5-2.
The Rays' pitching staff leads the majors in ERA (3.22) and opponent average (.230) and leads the American League in strikeouts (1,170). Only one pitching staff in the last 25 years has led the...
It is not only players that come up from the minor leagues in September. Teams add some coaches, as well, and today Ron Johnson, the manager at Triple-A Norfolk, and Tides pitching coach Mike Griffin joined the Orioles.
Manager Buck Showalter thought so much of their work this year that he had that duo join him at the podium for his pregame press conference today.
Showalter has said several times how much he appreciated the job Johnson and his staff did this year as Norfolk went 74-70,...
It must have seemed like a pretty quiet afternoon for LJ Hoes. He was watching television a little after noon when he got the phone call telling him to come to Baltimore to join the Orioles and play in the big leagues for the first time.
"I was sitting at home watching a movie, 'Mr. Baseball,' so they called and said we need you here by 2:15. So now I'm here," the 22-year-old Hoes said. "They told me after the season to work out and stay in shape. Just want to help this team any way I...
After a day of rest, the Orioles begin a huge three-game series tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards. The Orioles open this series one game ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL East and also for a wild card berth.
Both teams are playing well. Tampa Bay has won six of its last eight and is 21-11 over its past 32 games. The Orioles have won 11 of 16 and are 23-11 over their last 34 games.
Since the All-Star break, the Orioles are 33-22 while the Rays are 32-22. Against the AL East, the...
When it comes to Orioles vs. Yankees, emotions run high. But no matter how upset some Orioles fans are over Nick Markakis getting hit Saturday night by CC Sabathia, you are not going to convince me that Sabathia did that on purpose.
Believe me if I thought that, I'd be among the first to express anger about it. Some fans are still expressing the opinion today that the Orioles should have retaliated yesterday. For what? There was no reason to throw at any Yankees in Sunday's game (although...
The stretch drive has arrived in Major League Baseball. Now there are just 22 games left for the Orioles in the 2012 regular season. Once again, we can say that if the season ended today, the Orioles would be in the playoffs as they would claim the second wild card berth and would meet Oakland in a one-game playoff for the right to advance to a series against Texas.
After Sunday's loss, the Orioles are just one game out of first place in the American League East at 78-62, but they are also...
Zach Britton struggled with his command today, especially in that fourth inning where he walked three and the Yankees scored four times. But he said the ground ball that hit him in the face at the end of the third inning, was not a problem for him an inning later.
"It didn't really hurt," he said. "It hit my eye and moved my contact around but it didn't do anything and really didn't have an effect on anything today. Not at all."
What did hurt Britton was New York's ability to lay off...
Nick Markakis just told reporters that the surgery he will have tomorrow to repair his broken left thumb could have him back playing baseball again in "around four weeks" - if the Orioles are still playing games then.
"It's good and bad," Markakis said. "They said the surgery will actually knock off about three weeks of recovery. So, hopefully we are looking at somewhere around four weeks. You know, it's good news and bad news, I'm just going to go ahead and get it done and get it out...
Zach Britton took the mound today with a record of 4-0 and ERA of 0.94 over his previous four starts. But it didn't go nearly that well for him, and he allowed five runs over 3 1/3 innings as the Yankees crushed the Orioles 13-3 at Camden Yards to gain a split of their four-game series.
The Yankees arrived in town Thursday with a one-game American League East lead and will leave with that same edge on the Orioles.
Today's game drew 40,346 to the Yard and the four-date series attracted...
The Orioles have a chance today to do a few things they have not done since 1997.
For one, a win over the Yankees would give them the season series versus New York, 10 wins to eight. The last time they won a season series against New York was in 1997, when they went 8-4. The Orioles are 3-5 in Baltimore and 6-3 in New York, where they won all three series this year.
A win today gives the Orioles sole possession of first place in the American League East. They last did that this late in the...
There is no question that losing Nick Markakis is a big loss for the Orioles. But one thing they may add to the leadoff spot with Nate McLouth batting there is a base stealing threat atop the order.
McLouth said he has the green light to run and may look to do that more when batting first.
"I think that is a good point (that he can use his speed more batting first). Hitting third, having (Adam) Jones and (Matt) Wieters right behind me, a lot of times you want to let those guys hit. Not...
We don't know if the move will become permanent for the rest of this season, but for today, Chris Davis is the replacement for Nick Markakis and will be starting in right field for the Orioles.
"I feel good about it," Davis said moments ago in the O's clubhouse. "Not happy with how it came about. Nicky has been on fire lately. It just gives us that much more reason to go out there and win. I went out there today and took some fly balls. Feel good, my legs feel good. I've had plenty of...
