More notes before tonight's game (O's win 6-5)

While former Orioles pitcher Erik Bedard settles into retirement, the assumption being that he'll find a quiet spot to be alone with his thoughts, Chris Tillman takes the mound tonight against the Red Sox and Adam Jones continues to patrol center field while in search of his fifth Gold Glove.

How's that trade working for the Orioles?

Pipe down, Tony Butler.

Bedard was 71-82 with a 3.99 ERA in 11 major league seasons, including 15-14 with a 3.31 ERA in 46 starts with the Mariners over three seasons. He went 40-34 with a 3.83 ERA in five years and 114 games with the Orioles and finished fifth in Cy Young voting in the American League in 2007.

My only beef with Bedard centered on the pure enjoyment he received in being the worst interview in the clubhouse. The smirk stayed with me.

jones-fielding-ball-white-sidebar.jpg

I'd prefer having a pitcher refuse to talk rather than waste our time at his locker with three-word answers that served no purpose other than to make us look foolish. I saw no point in it. And he wasn't that way while in the minors. I had plenty of friendly exchanges with him.

A few members of the media still found him amusing. For me, the act got old real fast - as did Bedard, judging by his career path.

Jones entered tonight batting .393 (11-for-28) in his last seven games, including a double, two triples, three home runs and five RBIs. He ranks ninth in the league with a .306 average and needs four more home runs to tie Frank Robinson for eighth place on the club's all-time list with 179.

Jones has recorded five of the Orioles' 20 outfield assists, which lead the majors. According to FanGraphs, they rank second with a DFS (defensive runs saved) rating of 20.

Manager Buck Showalter is tied with Charlie Grimm for 33rd place on the all-time wins list with 1,287. His 405 wins as Orioles manager are fourth in club history behind Earl Weaver (1,480), Paul Richards (517) and Hank Bauer (407).

Matt Wieters is hitting .375 (6-for-16) with a double, triple, home run and three RBIs since coming off the disabled list. Does he bring a different feeling inside the clubhouse now that he's back?

"You get beat 10-1 tonight, no," Showalter said.

"There's a certain presence you get when you get people back who have a track record. And a certain calmness in certain situations. There's a confidence not only for his teammates but for us. The tempo of the games moves... Caleb (Joseph) has done a great job, as did Clev (Steve Clevenger). We had some games like that, too, but it's just about having more people like that.

"Matt, you can tell he's enjoying the competition and talking about the game and things mattering. You feed off that sometimes. Things that Matt does are infectious in a club and they can be infectious with players good or bad. Matt's are good. He's talking the game all the time, he doesn't take himself too seriously, he's always approachable with his teammates. He doesn't have a moody day. He's engaged in the game every day. You know what you're going to get."

Update: Jones hit his 10th home run to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

The trade that keeps on giving.

Manny Machado led off with a single and was picked off.

Chris Tillman has retired the first six batters.

Update II: The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the second on consecutive singles by Chris Davis, J.J. Hardy and Steve Pearce.

Update III: Nolan Reimold, who already has four putouts in left field, led off the bottom of the third with a home run to center field. Jones doubled and scored on Delmon Young's single to increase the lead to 4-0.

Reimold hadn't hit a home run since Aug. 31, 2014 with the Diamondbacks. He hadn't homered for the Orioles since July 10, 2013.

Update IV: The Red Sox scored three runs off Tillman in the fourth.

Tillman retired the first nine batters before loading the bases with no outs in the fourth. Mike Napoli lifted a sacrifice fly with one out and Pablo Sandoval produced a two-run double with two outs.

Machado homered with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, his 10th, to increase the lead to 5-3.

This is the first time that Miley has allowed three home runs in a start in 2015.

Update V: Tillman is charged with four runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings, with two walks and two strikeouts. He threw 108 pitches, 69 for strikes.

Brad Brach let an inherited runner score on Xander Bogaerts' RBI single.

Tillman is searching for his first win at home since Sept. 20, 2014.

Update VI: The Orioles scored an unearned run in the seventh after Sandoval's error to lead 6-4. Matt Wieters had a sacrifice fly that scored Machado, who reached on the error.

Chaz Roe is pitching in the eighth inning.

And David Ortiz just homered off Roe with one out to reduce the Orioles' lead to 6-5.

Update VII: Game over. The Orioles defeat the Red Sox 6-5 to run their winning streak to a season-high four games. They're one game below .500 for the first time since May 29.

The Orioles have won six of their last seven games.

Tillman won at Camden Yards for the first time since Sept. 20, 2014. Zach Britton recorded his 17th save.




Kevin Gausman allows four runs tonight at Bowie (u...
O's game blog: Orioles look for three-game sweep o...
 

By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://www.masnsports.com/