Patton waits for his chance
Troy Patton has been with the Orioles for more than a day this time.
Patton was called up for just one day and one game on July 21st, but he's been back with the club now since last Sunday in Kansas City.
He is still waiting to get into his first O's game on the mound. When he does it will be out of the bullpen and the 24-year-old lefty has made just two relief appearances in 125 pro outings.
His last one, on September 7, 2007 was memorable, but not for a good reason.
"Funny story, my...
Jason Berken took the loss tonight after allowing two runs in 1 1/3 innings. He's surrendered 13 earned runs in his last 16 2/3 innings over 13 appearances. In his first 27 outings, he gave up eight runs in 45 innings.
Berken was kicking himself for walking Alexei Ramirez with two outs in the seventh after Nick Markakis threw out Mark Kotsay trying to stretch a single into a double.
"Stuff like that you can control. It's just not acceptable at that point for me to do that," he said.
"I...
My good friend David Ginsburg from the Associated Press reminded Buck Showalter that he hadn't lost a game in years. That's quite an impressive streak.
Can Showalter be satisfied that the Orioles ran off four straight wins before tonight?
"No," he said. "I don't like losing. I ain't real happy. The thing about our game is the pluses and negatives don't last too long. You've got a chance right around the corner. You don't sit on tough losses for seven days like football coaches do....
Even with Buck Showalter as manager, the Orioles can't win them all.
Saturday night they took an early 2-0 lead, but then saw it evaporate in a 4-2 loss to the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox in front of 24,929 at Camden Yards.
After an Adam Jones homer in the second and Ty Wigginton RBI single in the third, Chicago came back.
Kevin Millwood left a start with a lead for just the fifth time in 22 outings, but did not get the win as Jason Berken could not hold a 2-1 edge.
Buck Showalter...
It sure does look like the Orioles will regret letting Gavin Floyd off the hook.
Jason Berken gave up another run in the eighth on Alex Rios' single up the middle that scored Juan Pierre, who singled and advanced on a sac bunt.
White Sox 3, Orioles 2.
Manager Buck Showalter was rewarded the last time he let Berken return for a second inning after the right-hander struggled, but not on this night. Berken stands to be the loser if the Orioles don't rally.
Berken is charged with two runs and...
The Orioles keep letting Gavin Floyd off the hook, and you wonder if it's going to bite them in the back pocket.
Ty Wigginton ran into the final out of the third inning after pausing between second and third base.
Adam Jones and Felix Pie singled to open the fourth, but the Orioles couldn't build on their 2-1 lead. Matt Wieters got ahead, 2-0, and grounded into a double play, and Cesar Izturis tapped to the mound.
Floyd allowed three earned runs in 33 2/3 innings in July. His ERA has...
The reader that calls himself "eagleeye" had an interesting question earlier today.
He wanted to know how Joe Mahoney's great start with Double-A Bowie compared to Matt Wieters torrid start when he tore it up at Bowie in 2008.
An interesting question and, after a little research, here are the numbers for Mahoney and Wieters in their first 24 games at Bowie.
Wieters in 2008: .333-3-11......13 runs.....6 doubles.....419 OBP......519 slugging.......938 OPS.
Mahoney in 2010: .413-7-20....21...
Making his second start for Triple-A Norfolk, right-hander Rick VankenHurk allowed five runs (three earned) and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings against Louisville. He walked two, struck out one and hit a batter.
VandenHurk threw 91 pitches, 57 for strikes.
Obtained from the Marlins in the Will Ohman trade, VandenHurk had allowed one earned run in each of his last five starts before tonight.
Nolan Reimold (left field) and Brandon Snyder (first base) committed errors for the Tides.
The Orioles...
Well, this isn't the only time that Kevin Millwood has escaped the first inning without the opposition scoring, but it sure feels that way.
Millwood had given up at least two runs in the opening frame in 11 of his last 12 starts - and a total of 34 runs. He kept dumping the team in an early hole. He kept getting beat because of it.
Not tonight. Millwood walked the leadoff hitter, Juan Pierre, but he retired Omar Vizquel on a pop up, Alex Rios on a fly ball and Paul Konerko on a grounder to...
Jim Johnson made another one-inning start with the Gulf Coast League Orioles today, walking one batter in a 5-0 win over the GCL Rays.
Johnson only faced three batters. The leadoff hitter, Deshun Dixon, reached on an error and was eliminated on a double play. Craige Lyerly walked and stole second, but catcher Riley Hornback threw him out attempting to steal third. Hornback was a 12th-round pick this year out of San Jacinto Junior College.
Johnson is expected to report to Double-A Bowie on...
The education of Josh Bell continues. He's learning on the job now in the Major Leagues, while at the same time, trying to impress Buck Showalter enough to play himself into a spot in the Orioles future.
All of this with just 81 Triple-A games under his belt.
Bell went 0 for 4 last night. After producing five hits in his first 19 big league at bats, now he is just two for his last 19 trips.
For sure, that's way too small a sample size to form any real opinion about his shot to be the...