Three pitchers with saves already in Orioles' first four games

TORONTO - The Orioles bullpen has sure been interesting to watch over the season's first four games. They were called on often in New York, stumbled late in the game last night and three pitchers already have recorded saves - but Mychal Givens is not among them.

Manager Brandon Hyde has been ready and willing to use various pitchers in various roles during a 3-1 start. Mike Wright recorded his first career save Saturday and Richard Bleier did the same last night. Lefty Paul Fry, who got the save Sunday in New York, said before yesterday's game that he likes that.

"I think as we move on, guys will start to figure out how it goes. But everyone is on their toes right now. It's a lot of fun. We are all rooting for each other and it's good energy," said Fry who got a one-out save in Sunday's 7-5 victory.

The O's 'pen was needed for 16 1/3 innings in the Yankees series and pitched to an ERA of 3.31. But Monday night, three pitchers allowed five runs as a Blue Jays rally fell short.

Fry credited new pitching coach Doug Brocail with helping to keep some of his young pitchers loose and relaxed. He said that has been especially helpful for young hurlers like Jimmy Yacabonis and John Means, who threw strong games in New York as they got out some of the Yankees' best hitters.

"Yeah, and that has to do a lot with communication," said Fry. "We see those guys working their butts off for us. Broc is giving us all the tools we need to succeed in this game, so whether it is on the mental side or just numbers, it's huge.

"It was big for those guys to throw well. Especially at the start of the season. I know last year, when I came up, I had some success right out of the gate. That gave me all the confidence in the world to feel like I belonged here.

"John Means, I was happy for him to come in there (Sunday) and settle down and throw well. Last year, he had just one outing, at Boston. To come in there with bases loaded, he ended up having a walk, but he overcame that and really came up huge for us."

Fry sees team chemistry building nicely so far, both in the bullpen and throughout the entire clubhouse.

"I think it's great. The energy is up. Guys are having fun. It's a lot different and that's nice," he said.

With three straight wins and a 3-1 start, the Orioles return to Rogers Centre tonight for the second game of this series. Right-hander Andrew Cashner (0-1, 13.50 ERA) pitches against right-hander Marcus Stroman (0-0, 0.00 ERA). In his first start on opening day, Stroman pitched seven scoreless innings allowing just two hits to Detroit. In 11 career games (10 starts) against Baltimore, he is 4-4 with a 3.55 ERA and 1.263 WHIP.

Here are the minor league rotations in order that we have at this point:

Triple-A Norfolk: Josh Rogers, Gabriel Ynoa, Luis Ortiz, Keegan Akin, Yefry Ramirez

Double-A Bowie with a six-man rotation: Marcos Molina, Hunter Harvey, Dillon Tate (with Chris Lee as a piggyback pitcher in relief), Zac Lowther, Tyler Herb, Bruce Zimmermann

Single-A Frederick: Brenan Hanifee, Cameron Bishop, DL Hall, Matthias Dietz, Cody Sedlock

Single-A Delmarva with a six-man rotation: Blaine Knight, Grayson Rodriguez, Gray Fenter/Drew Rom, Nick Vespi, Ofelky Peralta, Hector Guance