A ray of hope for Chris
Chris Ray has not had too many good days during this 2009 season. When he looks at the stat sheet he sees an ERA of 7.16.
But there have been better days lately. Ray has not allowed an earned run over his last seven games, covering 8 1/3 innings.
"I feel good," the 27-year-old right hander said. "It's a lot easier to pitch when your arm doesn't hurt. I'm on a pretty good roll right now and hope I can keep it up. I've been more consistent lately."
Ray did not pitch in the Majors...
RHP Chris Tillman (0-0, 5.19) tonight will make his 4th Major League start of 2009, his 2nd at home and the 1st of his career vs. the Angels.
In Tillman's first two starts, he gave up a combined 8ER and 14 hits in 10 2/3 vs. KC and Detroit.
Last Saturday at Toronto, Tillman pitched very well, allowing just four hits and two runs over 6 2/3 innings for his first career quality start. He walked three, fanned four and threw 110 pitches.
Tillman, still looking for his first win or loss, has...
On the night Chris Tillman picked up his first Major League win, he got overshadowed by a stunning night of Orioles' offense.
Felix Pie became the fourth Oriole to hit for the cycle and the O's tied a team-record with 12 extra-base hits in a 16-6 romp over the first-place Angels.
All this offense from an O's club that scored seven total runs in the Oakland series and had scored 12 total runs the last five games.
Pie joined Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr. and Aubrey Huff as Orioles that...
Just a few minutes after he became the fourth Oriole ever to hit for the cycle, Felix Pie was in the O's clubhouse issuing an apology to Angels' manager Mike Scioscia.
Apparently, right after Pie hit a two-run triple in the 7th to reach the cycle, he was gesturing toward the O's dugout. Scioscia, out to remove his pitcher, saw it and didn't like it.
"I'm sad because I showed too much emotion on the field," Pie said. "I apologize, but it was too much emotion, I apologize to Mike...
We could not have seen this coming. Not after the Orioles scored 2, 3, 1, 3 and 3 runs in their last five games. Not after the Orioles were batting .163 their previous five games with runners in scoring positon and had just one ten-hit game in their last 8 contests.
But they produced season highs in runs and hits and batted around twice tonight in a 16-6 win over the Angels. The night saw:
Dave Trembley talks with the media after the Orioles 16-6 win over the Angels
*Felix Pie become the...
Game Preview
LA Angels (68-45) at Orioles (48-67)
After a night of amazing offense and a 16-6 win on Friday over the Los Angeles Angels, the Orioles will look for two staright in the series when the clubs meet at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night.
Brian Matusz (1-1, 7.04) pitches for the Orioles vs. John Lackey (5-5, 3.88).
The Orioles have won two in a row just once since the All-Star game. They posted back-to-back wins on July 29 and 30 vs. Kansas City.
Felix Pie became the fourth Oriole to ever...
Yesterday Felix Pie was just another reserve player on the Orioles. Today, his cleats are headed to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
The Hall has something from each of the seven Major League players that have hit for the cycle this year and last night Pie became lucky number seven.
"I'm excited and happy. I never thought anything like that would happen in my life," Pie said.
Pie has never been to the Hall.
"This is my first time. I'll go check it out later this year now."
The...
O's president Andy MacPhail and manager Dave Trembley took some questions here today at Camden Yards from season ticket holders as part of their latest "State of the Orioles" address.
Here are some of the questions and their answers.
MacPhail was asked about Rhyne Hughes, the player the O's got today as the player to be named later for Gregg Zaun.
AM - "We were able to finish that deal today and acquire a left-handed hitting first baseman that was with Tampa's Triple-A club named Rhyne...
LHP Brian Matusz (1-1, 7.04) tonight makes his 3rd start of the season, his 1st at home and the 1st of his career vs. the Angels.
Matusz's first two starts:
Aug 4 at Det: 5IP, 6H, 1R-ER, 3B, 5K, 99 pitches
Aug 9 at Tor: 2 2/3IP, 7H, 5R-ER, 2B, 1K, 62 pitches
Matsuz has faced almost all right-handed batters so far and the righty hitters are batting .406 (13 for 32) against him while lefties are at .000 (0 for 2). Opponents are hitting .200 off him (2 for 10) when batting with runners in...
I feel for Brian Matusz, who walked three in the third inning tonight leading to a five-run inning by the Angels. They are a team that will take a crack and turn it into a three-foot hole.
Matusz opened the door big time when he walked three of four hitters. That stat sheet won't show the close pitches to Bobby Abreu that were not called strikes although they sure looked like they were.
I guess at Double-A ball, similar pitches would have resulted in an out. But Major League hitters take...
It was an inning where the LA Angels, one of the Major League's best hitting clubs, put together three singles, three walks and an error and turned that into five runs.
The five-run third vs. Brian Matusz carried LA to a 5-1 win over the Orioles, in front of 28,770 at Camden Yards on Saturday night.
Matusz pitched out of trouble in other innings, but in that third, with one out, a single and two walks loaded the bases and the Angels went on to score five times.
Matusz falls to 1-2, 6.75. ...