Joe Saunders, who pitched the birds into the ALDS with a dominant performance in Texas last week, got the ball with the season on the line, and he was again sensational.  Saunders threw 5.2 innings, giving up just 3 hits.  He was a bit wild, walking four, but he fanned 5 Yankees, including striking out the side in the third following a leadoff double from Jayson Nix.

The Orioles appeared ready to give Saunders a lead several times.  They put two on with none out in the first, but couldn’t push anything across.  In the third, the Orioles had runners on second and third with nobody out, but again, came up empty.  Runners on first and third with two outs in the fourth, and nothing. Finally, leading off the fifth, the Orioles called on the long ball to get on the board.

Nate McLouth blasted a 1-2, 91 MPH fastball deep into the right field seats for a 1-0 lead, a lead that would stand for an inning and a half.  In the Yankees sixth, the Bronx Bombers manufactured a run.  Derek Jeter led off against Saunders with a double.  An Ichiro sac bunt mover Jeter to third.  Saunders walked Mark Teixeira, and got Robinson Cano on a force out.  Jeter scored on the play, and it was 1-1.  Saunders was lifted for Tommy Hunter.  Hunter blew away the struggling Alex Rodriguez, fanning the Yankees third baseman on a 97 MPH heater.

Hunter was the first of seven Orioles relievers on the night, with all contributing big outs.  He was lifted for Troy Patton after an error by Ryan Flaherty.  Patton was replaced gave way to Luis Ayala one out and one hit later.  With runners on first and second, Ayala struck out Jeter looking.  Buck Showalter decided to let Ayala start the eighth.  Ichiro led off with a single, and moved to second on a Teixeira hit.

Brian Matusz came on, and got Cano on a grounder that advanced the runners.  On came Darren O’Day for his most impressive performance, possibly all season.  O’Day struck out ARod, and got Nick Swisher on a fly out to right.  The potential disaster, late in the game, was averted.

O’Day stayed on in the ninth, getting the Yankees—including Wednesday night’s villain Raul Ibanez—1, 2, 3.  O’Day stayed on through a blemish-free tenth.  Buck reached deeper into the pen in the eleventh, plucking out forgotten man Pedro Strop, who’s performance was far from forgettable.

Strop’s very first pitch was a nasty slider that caused Alex Rodriguez to buckle a bit, for a called strike.  It seemed to feed the enigmatic right hander’s confidence, which had been sorely lacking from Strop for the better part of a month.  Strop set the Yankees down in order with one strikeout in the eleventh.  He gave up a hit in the twelfth, but nothing else.

The Orioles would break through in the top of the thirteenth inning.  Manny Machado led off with a liner over Cano and into the right-center field gap for a double.  McLouth’s ground out moved Machado to third.  Then JJ Hardy broke out, driving a double to the left field wall.  Macahdo scored, and it was 2-1.  But Chris Davis and Adam Jones left Hardy at second, and the O’s went into a save situation with their slumping closer.

Jim Johnson struck out Mark Teixeira looking on a big curve ball for the first out.  Next, Cano lined out to McLouth in left.  And for a second straight night, Yanks manager Joe Girardi pinch hit for ARod, this time with Eric Chavez.  On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Chavez lined out to third for out number three, and a 2-2 series tie.

Game five features Jason Hammel for the Orioles against CC Sabathia for the Yankees.  First pitch is at 5pm.

The GOOD:

• The pitching:  8 Orioles pitchers combined to go 13 innings, giving up just 1 run on 7 hits, 5 walks, and 11 strikeouts.  They held the Yankees to 0/9 with RISP.

The BAD:

• The offense:  1/11 with RISP.
• Davis:  0/6, 3K, 5LOB
• Jones: 0/6, 2K, 5LOB.  Jones is now hitting .105 in the ALDS.

The post Orioles Stay Alive With 13 Inning 2-1 Win Forcing Game 5 appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Three rookies had the Orioles out in front of the Yankees through 8.5 innings.  Ryan Flaherty blasted a one-out homer in the third, giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead.  Manny Machado broke a 1-1 tie with a homer into the Orioles bullpen in the fifth.  And rookie righthander Miguel Gonzalez held the potent Yankees offense at bay, striking out eight, walking none, giving up just one run on five hits through seven innings.

In fact, Gonzalez’s numbers SHOULD HAVE been much better.  Given the lead on Flaherty’s homer, Gonzalez opened the bottom of the third by striking out Curtis Granderson.  Next, Russell Martin doubled to left.  Eric Chavez grounded to first, moving Martin to third with two outs.  Derek Jeter, longtime Oriole killer, strode to the plate.  But instead of Jeter killing the O’s in this at-bat, the Orioles did it themselves.

Jeter picked on a fastball up and in.  He put his trademark inside-out swing on it, and drove it to deep right center.  Adam Jones, who was playing shallow, did not get a great break on the ball, and never really seemed too concerned that he may not reach it.  At the last moment, Jones reached up for the ball, only to have it sail over his glove.  It went for an RBI triple, but it was a badly misplayed ball that Jones usually makes the play on.  And, in the end, it was extremely costly.

Machado’s home run gave the O’s the lead in the middle innings, and that lead lasted into the late innings.  Darren O’Day pitched a perfect eighth in relief of Gonzalez.  The Orioles offense was stagnant in the ninth, as it had been since Machado’s fifth inning home run.  In fact, the Orioles would only pick up two more hits the rest of the way after Machado’s shot.

Into the bottom of the ninth we went.  Jim Johnson, who’d imploded in game one, and set the Yankees down in order in game two, was called in to save the 2-1 lead.  And he did not get it done.  Batter one-Ichiro-put a charge into one, driving left fielder Nate McLouth deep for the catch, and out number one.  Next, Joe Girardi pulled a shocker, lifting the struggling Alex Rodriguez for pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez.  Yes, it was a bold move.  Yes, it worked out pretty well for the Yankees.

Ibanez turned on a thigh-high, 94 MPH fastball, and blasted a no-doubt-about-it shot into the right field seats, tying things at 2.  For Johnson, it was a horrible pitch at a time where there was absolutely no room for error.  The Orioles, just two outs away from a 2-1 series lead, were now headed to extra innings.  And, yes, that has been a strength for this team, statistically to a mind-blowing extent.  But these games are playoff games.  And playoff games are different, especially in The Bronx.

Robert Andino led off the tenth with a single to left.  One out later, though, he was caught leaning off the bag at second on what would turn into an unassisted double play on a sharp line drive from McLouth.  The birds went three-up, three-down in the eleventh.  In the bottom of the eleventh, Brian Matusz came on in relief of Jim Jihnson.  Matusz got the Yankees in order.  In the O’s twelfth, a two-out hit from Mark Reynolds went undelivered.  And Matusz headed back to the hill in the bottom of the twelfth, facing a pair of left handed hitters to start things.  Actually, he never made it past the first lefty.

Matusz’s first pitch to Raul Ibanez missed its spot.  Matt Wieters set up for a pitch down and away.  Matusz’s 91 MPH fastball was up, and Ibanez launched it—a second-deck, walk-off home run to win it for the Yankees, 3-2.

The O’s will be playing for their lives Thursday night in New York.  Phil Hughes (16-13, 4.23) goes for the Yankees.  Joe Saunders (3-3, 3.63) gets the Game 4 assignment for Baltimore.  Gametime is 7:30.

The GOOD:

• Rookies Flaherty, Machado, and Gonzalez led the way.  If only the veterans would have followed.

The BAD:

• The O’s fourth inning opportunity (two on, none out…bases loaded, two outs) was totally missed.
• Jones:  1/5, 1K, 1LOB, 1 huge misplay in center.
• Jim Thome:  0/5, 2LOB.  JJ Hardy:  0/5.
• Jim Johnson:  13.50 ERA, 1.80 WHIP in the ALDS.

The post O’s Choke On The Big Apple, Down 2-1 in ALDS appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Facing this daunting task of a must-win, the Orioles reverted back to their winning ways of the early part of 2012.  The birds picked up that win, but they did so despite themselves.  They were sloppy afield, with a couple of errors and two missed tags at the plate on the same play.  They were less-than-little-league on the basepaths, with JJ Hardy costing the O’s an important run on a huge blunder.  They were not great at the plate, collecting just 7 hits and 1 walk.

But  the hits they did get were timely (3-6 w/ RISP), and the pitching was outstanding all the way around.  Wei-Yin Chen (W, 1-0) hadn’t won a game in nearly two months, and had an ERA well above 5 since August.  One of his roughest outings of that stretch—and, indeed, of the entire season, was his last start against the Yankees.  At Camden Yards September 7, he gave up 7ER in 4.2 innings, taking the loss for the second straight start.  But Monday night, Chen’s A-Game reappeared just in time.

Chen escaped a harrowing first inning relatively well.  Derek Jeter led off with a single.  He moved to second on a Mark Reynolds error that put Ichiro on first.  Alex Rodriguez absolutely scorched a line shot that O’s second baseman Robert Andino made a terrific diving catch of, then flipped to Hardy at second to double off Jeter.  That ended up being a very big play in this game, because the next batter, Robinson Cano, lined one off the wall in right.  Chris Davis made a nice play off the wall and a good throw to Andino for the relay.  Andino’s throw was a bit up the third base line, but was in plenty of time to nail Ichiro coming in.

Matt Wieters, though, appeared to catch the ball inside the third baseline instead of outside.  He then had to reach back to try to tag Ichiro, who avoided Wieters.  But Ichiro’s momentum pulled him well off the plate, and he blew past the dish, having to turn around and come back.  Wieters made a lunge across home plate and threw his glove in Ichiro’s direction.  But the veteran outfielder did a bit of a dance, and reached his right hand around Wieters, touching the plate before Wieters touched him, and the Yankees led 1-0.

It stayed 1-0 until the Orioles were finally able to make something happen against Andy Pettitte (L, 0-1) with two outs in the third.  Andino picked up the first O’s hit, a bloop to center.  Nate McLouth’s single to center moved Andino to second.  A walk to Hardy loaded the bases with two outs for Davis.

Davis picked on a 1-0 hanging slider from Pettitte and singled to right.  Both Andino and McLouth scored for a 2-1 Orioles lead.  Next, Adam Jones hit a slow roller toward the hole at short.  This is a play Derek Jeter has probably made 5,000 times in his career, but this time, the ball found its way under Jeter’s glove.  But with two outs, and with third base coach DeMarlo Hale frantically waving Hardy home, the Orioles shortstop held up.  Not only did he not try to score, he didn’t even round third base, suggesting he may have been decoyed by Alex Rodriguez, who’d held his glove up as if anticipating a throw from Jeter.  It was a terrible baserunning play by Hardy, and when Pettitte got Wieters on a popout to Cano on the very next pitch, it proved to cost the Orioles a run.

But Chen would make sure to hold the Yankees right where they were until he got a little more offensive help.  He wasn’t perfect in so doing.  In the fourth, he gave up two hits.  A Hardy error allowed Russell Martin to reach in the sixth.  Into the Orioles half of the sixth, Wieters led off with a double.  Reynolds, looking to move Wieters along to third, was willing to make a productive out.  The pull hitter instead slapped one to the right side, and the ball had eyes, squeezing under Cano’s glove and into right for a hit.  Wieters scored, and the Orioles were up 3-1.

Chen gave up an RBI hit to Jeter in the seventh, and left with one out, but the tying run on first in Ichiro.  Darren O’Day came on for one batter, Alex Rodriguez.  O’Day struck ARod out, but Ichiro stole second.  Buck Showalter called on Brian Matusz out of the pen.  The lefty, a disaster as a member of the Opening Day rotation and a godsend out of the ‘pen, did his thing again.  After an intentional walk to Cano, Matusz got Nick Swisher on a fly out to left, for out number three.  Rarely used much past a batter or two in relief, Showalter left Matusz out there for the eighth.  Matusz responded by giving up a leadoff hit, then setting the next three Yankees down in order.

Into the top of the ninth, and the Orioles held the 3-2 lead.  The closer, Jim Johnson, who’d saved 51 games during the regular season, was called on out of the pen.  After Sunday night’s complete collapse by Johnson (5R, 4ER, 0.1 IP), Orioles Nation had every reason to be petrified.  But Johnson pitched as uneventful a ninth as he has all year, getting Rodriguez swinging to wrap up a 1,2,3 inning, and the 3-2 Orioles win.

Game three of the series, which is tied at 1 game apiece, happens Wednesday night in The Bronx.  Hiroki Kuroda (16-11, 3.32 during the regular season) goes for New York, vs. Miguel Gonzalez (9-4, 3.25) for the Orioles.

The GOOD:

• Chen picked a great time for his best outing since July:  6.1IP, 2R, 1ER, 8H, 3K, 1BB.
• O’Day, Matusz, J. Johnson comibined out of the ‘pen:  2.2IP, 0R, 1H, 4K, 1BB
• Davis:  2/4, 2RBI, now batting .500 in the ALDS.
• Andino:  1/3, 1R, 1 great play.  He’s hitting .400.

The BAD:

• Hardy picked a horrible time to have maybe his wost game of the year:  0/3, 1BB, 1K, 1E, 1 very big baserunning mistake.  If the Orioles would have lost by a run instead of won by one, that play could go down in Orioles lore.  And not for good reasons.

The post Must-Win Goes to O’s Over Yankees, Series Even At 1 appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Joe Saunders took the ball for the birds, sporting a lifetime record and ERA against Texas that led sent shivers up the collective spine of Orioles Nation.  For Texas, Yu Darvish took the hill.  The Orioles had never faced the Rangers’ ace.

The Orioles got on the board first, in the first.  Leadoff man Nate McLouth reached on an error, stole second, and scored on a JJ Hardy base hit.  The birds had their first run in the playoffs before they’d gotten out in the playoffs.

The Rangers answered in the first, though, scoring on a double play ground out from Josh Hamilton.  The game was tied at one in the first, and it looked like a game where the Orioles may have to outslug the hard hitting Rangers.  This was certainly NOT the O’s gameplan going in.  But both Saunders and Darvish settled down, and the 1-1 tie became a pitcher’s duel into the sixth.

JJ Hardy and Chris Davis opened the sixth with back-to-back hits.  With runners on first and third, Adam Jones put an inside-out swing on a slider down and in, and lifted a sac fly to right.  Hardy scored, and the O’s had a 2-1 lead.

In the seventh, Ryan Flaherty picked up a one-out hit.  Pinch runner Robert Andino moved to second on Manny Machado’s sac bunt, and moved to third on a wild pitch from reliever Derek Holland.  McLouth’s bloop single to left plated Andino for a 3-1 lead.

The birds picked up two huge insurance runs in the ninth, with Machado and McLouth delivering RBIs.  Major League saves leader Jim Johnson got into a bases loaded jam in the ninth, but escaped unscathed, and the birds of Baltimore advance to take on the Yankees in the ALDS Sunday.  Game one of the series gets underway Sunday at 6, with CC Sabathia pitching for New York.  The Orioles have yet to announce their starter.

The GOOD:

• BRING ON THE YANKEES!
• The O’s turned three double plays to support superb pitching from Saunders, Darren O’Day, Brian Matusz, and Johnson.

The BAD:

• Two errors.

The post O’s Slay AL Champs, Advance To ALDS vs Yankees appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

There are four games left in the regular season, and the Baltimore Orioles are tied for first place in the American League East.  Go ahead.  Read it again.  We’ll wait…

That’s four games LEFT, not four games IN.  September 29, and the Orioles are in the penthouse.  In 2012.

Before the game Saturday night, the Orioles honored Brooks Robinson with the unveiling of his statue.  There was a sell out crowd.  The Orioles also found out before the game that the Toronto Blue Jays had beaten the first place New York Yankees for the second time in three days.  With a win over Boston, the Orioles would slide back into a tie for first.

Rookie Steve Johnson took the mound for the O’s, carrying a 4-0 record with an ERA well under two. He set the Sox down in order on the first, but ran into some trouble in the second, giving up a walk and a hit.  But he was helped out when Matt Wieters caught Cody Ross trying to steal.  A strikeout and foul out later, and the threat was over.

In the O’s second, Manny Machado smoked a single to center, scoring Chris Davis for a 1-0 Orioles lead.  In the fourth, Orioles star center fielder Adam Jones, who has played ever single game this year (including the All-Star Game) generated a run with his ever-present hustle.

On a grounder to short, Boston’s Mike Aviles fielded and threw high to first.  First baseman Mauro Gomez leaped, grabbed the throw, and came back down on the bag.  But Jones, as he always does, busted it down the line.  Running full speed all the way, Jones crossed the first place bag before Gomez came down.  As it turned out, this play was enormous.  One out later, Chris Davis launched another homer, his fourth in the current homestand and 30th on the season.  Jones’ hustle turned what would have been a solo home run into a two-run shot, and a 3-0 lead.

In the Sox fifth, Johnson gave up a two-run homer to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and the lead was quickly back down to just one.  After Johnson gave up a leadoff hit to Jacoby Ellsbury and a walk to Scott Podsednick in the sixth, Buck Showalter went to the bullpen for Tommy Hunter (W, 7-8).  A ground out and sac fly later, the Sox had tied the score at three.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Orioles rookie provided the game’s big blow.  Machado ripped a 1-1, 92 MPH fastball just over the left field wall for home run number seven, and a 4-3 lead.

Brian Matusz and Darren O’Day provided the O’s with a shut down eighth inning, and Jim Johnson set the Sox down in order in the ninth for his 49th save, and the 4-3 win.

The Orioles will hope to finish off the sweep of the Red Sox Sunday at 1:35.  Joe Saunders (2-3, 3.62/8-13. 4.08) pitches for the O’s, vs. Zach Stewart (0-1, 27.00/1-3, 7.91) for Boston.

The GOOD:

• On the night the Orioles honored Brooks Robinson, the defense came to play.  Manny Machado started a brilliant 5-4-3 double play with a fine, backhanded pickup on a short hop.  Fading into foul ground off balance, he spun and delivered a perfect throw to Robert Andino at second, who fired to Mark Reynolds at first for two.  Reynolds himself too over the fifrth, with a diving, double-saving stop and put out, followed by a spectacular catch in foul ground that actually saw him end up pinned between the tarp and the stands, and Endy Chavez made a great diving catch in right.
• Bullpen of Hunter, Matusz, O’Day, J. Johnson:  4IP, 1H, 0R, 1k, 1 inherted runner scored.
• Davis:  2/3, 2R, 1HR, 2RBI.
• Machado:  2/3, 1R, 1HR, 2RBI.

The BAD:

• JJ Hardy looked very bad against Sox starter Felix Doubront (L, 11-10).  0/4, 1K, 3LOB.
• Andino:  0/2, 2K, 1LOB

The post Machado and Davis Lead O’s Past Sox, Back Into 1st Place Tie appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

If you want an idea of what the starting rotation is going to look like, obviously, you don’t even need to pick up a copy of the Opening  Day roster.  Brian Matusz?  He’s in the ‘pen.  Tommy Hunter?  He’ll be in the ‘pen also, IF he makes it.  Jason Hammel?  If he’s healthy, you’ve got to believe he’s in.  Jake Arrieta?  He won’t be on the post season roster.  Wei-Yin Chen has a September ERA of over 5, but he MUST be in the rotation.  Right?

So we’ve got Hammel (maybe) and Chen.  Who else?  Joe Saunders?  Probably.  He’s a veteran who’s been there.  And starter #4 will come down to two guys who didn’t break camp with the Orioles this spring.  Miguel Gonzalez, who pitched in Wednesday’s 12-2 win over Toronto. And then, there’s Friday night’s starter.

Chris Tillman, like Gonzalez, has been a savior for this team.  Since he joined the club just before the All-Star break, who’s been better?  No one on this staff.  Tillman improved to 9-2 on the season with Friday night’s dominating performance in the O’s 9-1 win over the Red Sox.  Tillman surrendered just one hit—a bunt single on the game’s second pitch to Scott Podsednick.  Podsednick went to second on a throwing error by Ryan Flaherty.  One out later, he scored on a sac fly from Dustin Pedroia, and the Sox had a 1-0 lead.

Tillman would walk Daniel Nava in the third, and that was it.  The Sox went in order after that, 14-up, 14-down, and Tillman, provided plenty of run support by the suddenly sizzling offense, thre eight innings, giving up just the one unearned run on just the one bunt hit.  He fanned four, and walked one—a stifling performance.

Back to that offense.  Down 1-0, the Orioles got right to work against Red Sox starter Aaron Cook (L, 4-11).  Nate McLouth singled on Cook’s first pitch.  One out later, Chris Davis, who’d homered twice Wednesday against the Blue Jays, Hammered a line drive home run (29) into the right field seats, for a 2-1 Orioles lead.

One out later, Jim Thome singled.   Mark Reynolds walked,  Manny Machado singled, and he bases were loaded for Ryan Flaherty.

Flaherty jumped on a low, 2-1 fastball and drove it deep into the right field seats for his first career grand slam (6).  The Orioles led 6-1, and the game was essentially over.

Back-to-back-to-back doubles from Reynolds, Machado, and Flaherty plated two more O’s runs in the fifth, and Taylor Teagarden’s single scored Flaherty for the 9-1 win.

The Orioles will send Steve Johnson (4-0, 1.62) to the mound Saturday vs. Boston’s Felix Doubront (11-9, 4.91).  First pitch:  7:05.

The GOOD:

• Tillman is, right now, the ace of this staff.  How crazy is that, for a playoff-bound squad?
• Flaherty:  2/4, 2R, 1HR, 5RBI.
• Multi hit efforts from Thome (3/4) and Machado (2/4), as well as Flaherty.

The BAD:

• Flaherty’s error, though he certainly made up for it.

The post Tillman and Flaherty The Heroes in 9-1 O’s Win Over Boston appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Forget about the lopsided final.  Before the barrage of bombs, this was a nail-biter.  The Jays actually struck first, in the first, with a homer of their own.  Edwin Encarnacion blasted his 42nd home run for a 1-0 lead.  Nate McLouth answered, leading off the O’s first with his 6th homer, tying things at one.

There it stayed until the fifth.  Anthony Gose picked up an RBI single off of Gonzalez, and it was 2-1 Toronto.  But the Orioles had 15 more outs to play with (though they only needed 12), and they got the absolute most of them.

In the O’s fifth, Jim Thome ripped his 3rd Orioles homer (8th overall) just over the out-of-town scoreboard in right, and we were tied at 2.  Two outs later, Manny Machado again displayed what the buzz is all about with him.  On a 2-1 changeup on the inside from Carlos Villanueva (L, 7-7), Machado somehow managed to collapse his arms, draw his hands tight to his body, and meet the ball with the barrel of the bat.  Somehow, someway, on an 81 MPH changeup, with his hands against his buttons, looking more like he was tied up by the pitch, Machado generated enough bat speed to line a shot into the Orioles bullpen in left center.  Machado’s 5th home run gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead.  And the Orioles were just getting started.

Next, McLouth singled to left.  JJ Hardy singled to left, and up stepped Chris Davis, with 7 home runs against Toronto this year.  Davis jumped all over a hanging, 0-2 slider, launching a blast that was as high as it was deep, for a three-run homer (27).  The Orioles had a 6-2 lead, and the Blue Jays were visibly beaten.  And still, the O’s were just getting started.

Mark Reynolds’ two run homer (23) in the sixth made it 8-2.  In the seventh, Davis added another homer (28), a two-run shot, for a 10-2 lead.  Machado hit his second homer of the night (6) in the 8th, for the final runs in a 12-2 win.

The O’s return to action in a very, very big weekend set with the Red Sox beginning Friday.  The last regular season home series gets underway at 7:05.

The GOOD:

• Great game from Gozalez:  7IP, 2R, 5H, 1BB, 1K, 1HR.  When an Orioles starter goes 7 or more innings, the Orioles are 35-2.
• Every O’s starter reached base.
• Multi-hit games from McLouth, Hardy, Davis, and Machado, with Davis and Machado hitting two homers each.  Of the O’s 12 hits, 8 went for extra bases (7 homers and a double).
• Just when you though Mark Reynolds was heading back to slumber, he wakes up with a very long, very high home run blast.  His bat carried this team for about two and a half weeks.  Oh, how nice it would be to see him go through another one of those stretches.
• Brian Matusz and Tommy Hunter combine for two scoreless innings of relief, giving up 2 hits (both by Hunter) and striking out 2 (both by Matusz).

The BAD:

• Randy Wolf is gone for the season and post season with an elbow injury.  Yes his ERA was in the 5’s, but he actually pitched pretty well and threw some very important innings for the O’s.
• The Jays now host the Yankees for 4 games.  Go Blue Jays!

The post Team Record 7 Home Runs Lift O’s Over Jays appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Chris Tillman was very solid again, giving up one run on six hits and a walk in six innings.  Tillman struck out four Sox batters, and was hurt by a Robert Andino error on a would-be double play.  Andino bounced his relay throw to Mark Reynolds, allowing Cody Ross to score.

The O’s answered in the fifth.  Lew Ford led off with a single off Red Sox starter Felix Doubront.  Chris Davis’ double moved Ford up to third with no one out.  Manny Machado blooped one into shallow right.   Sox second baseman Pedro Ciriaco never got a good read on the ball, drifted into shallow right, and could not grab it.  Ford scored to tie it at 1, and the Orioles had runners on first and third with no one out.

Needing a fly ball, or even a double play grounder to score another run, the birds fell flat.  Andino was called out on strikes.  Nate McLouth struck out swinging.  And JJ Hardy grounded out to first.  The O’s, who’ve been doing a nice job of cashing in at opportune moments, let a golden opportunity get away.

Reliever Luis Ayala was touched for the losing run in the eighth.  Dustin Pedroia led off with a double to right, and scored on Cody Ross’ double high off the Green Monster, making it 2-1.  Brian Matusz came on and retired pinch-hitter Mauro Gomez.  Then, Buck Showalter went to the pen and ordered up the major league debut of 19 year old Dylan Bundy.

The top prospect got Ryan Lavarnway on a flyout to left, and Danny Valencia on a fly ball to right, to get the O’s back in the dugout.

In the ninth, the O’s again put themselves into a terrific position to steal the game.

On a 3-0 pitch, Matt Wieters thought Sox reliever Andrew Bailey had walked him with a pitch that appeared to be up and away.  It was called a strike.  On the next pitch, Wieters grounded out to second, for out number one.  Mark Reynolds singled to left, and Jim Thome, pinch-hitting for Lew Ford, ripped a ground-rule double down the right field line.  Bailey intentionally walked Davis, and the birds had the bases loaded with just one away.

But Machado hit a slow chopper to first, and Reynolds was forced out at the plate, for out number two.  Pinch-hitter Ryan Flaherty then took a called third strike to end the game.

The O’s head back home after their 6-3 road trip.  The O’s will face Toronto in a double header at Camden Yards Monday.  Steve Johnson (3-0, 1.91) and Wei-Yin Chen (12-9, 3.98) pitch for the O’s, with Johnson starting game one at 4:05.

The GOOD:

• Manny Machado’s defense was again on display.  In the seventh, Machado dove to his right to snare a grounder, sprang to his feet, and fired across the diamond to nail speedy fellow rookie Pedro Ciriaco.
• Davis:  2/3, 1BB.

The BAD:

• Buck Showalter’s decision to send Endy Chavez out to run for Jim Thome after Thome’s pinch double.  Now, Chavez is a better baserunner than Xavier Avery, but he’s not faster.  Pure speed matters a lot in that situation.  Not only that, but it forced Buck to then use Flaherty, the Rule 5 rookie, to pinch-hit for Andino.  If Avery runs for Thome, Chavez hits for Andino.  Easy to second guess, because things didn’t work out as they normally do.
• Speaking of Andino, he had a lousy game:  0/3, 3K, 4LOB, 1 very big error.
• Ayala (L, 5-5):  0.1 IP, 2H, 1R.

The post O’s Lose Opportunities, And Lose Boston Finale 2-1 appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Thome’s bomb to right with one out in the twelfth bounced on the warning track and over the short wall at Fenway, scoring Adam Jones (who’d led off with a double himself), breaking a 6-6 tie.  Thome’s blast was followed by an RBI hit by Endy Chavez, another by Manny Machado, and the Orioles’ record 47th save from Jim Johnson.  And while an extra-inning win is nothing unusual for the birds—this WAS their 16th in a row—how they got there was odd for this bunch.

The O’s built a 3-1 lead on Boston by the fourth, thanks to an RBI single from Manny Machado, sandwiched between an RBI groundout from Jones, and Mark Reynolds’ 22nd homer of the year.  In their half of the fourth, the Sox tied it up on a two-run Danny Valencia homer off O’s starter Randy Wolf.

Ryan Flaherty plated a pair in the sixth with a triple, and it was 5-3.  Jones’ 31st home run of 2012 made it 6-3 in the seventh.  This is the point where the game is usually over.  The back end of the O’s bullpen has been bulletproof, and with a three run lead with nine outs to go, Orioles Nation was already celebrating.   Too soon?  Indeed.

Jake Arrieta, on in relief of Wolf, allowed the first three Red Sox to reach, then gave up back-to-back, run producing groundouts.  It was 6-5.

Pedro Strop came on in the eighth, looking to snap out of a funk.  He didn’t do that.  The Sox mounted a two-out rally, starting with Daniel Nava’s double to center.  Next up, Scott Podsednik hit a fly ball to left.  Nate McLouth, the one-time gold glove winning outfield who has absolutely solidified the O’s outfield defense, misplayed this one.

McLouth started to his left, but overran the ball.  Then, he leaped, thinking his back was against the wall.  In reality, McLouth had another stride left, and the ball hit in a very catch-able spot on the Monster.  Nava scored, and we were tied at 6.

The O’s did get some fine relief work from Luis Ayala and Brian Matusz before Tommy Hunter (W, 6-8) entered.  Hunter was dominant, setting the Sox down in order, and actually hitting 100 MPH on the Fenway radar gun.

The Orioles are going for the sweep of the Red Sox Sunday afternoon, with Chris Tillman (8-2, 3.22) taking the hill against Felix Doubront (11-9, 5.09).  Game time is 1:35.

The GOOD:

• Who knew in July that guys like Thome, Hunter, Matusz, Chavez, and Reynolds would be making such contributions?  Let alone Machado or McLouth…
• Multi-hit efforts from Matt Wieters and Machado (3 hits each), Jones, Chris Davis, and Ryan Flaherty (2).  For Flaherty, the hits were his first big league double, and his first triple in the majos.
• Reynolds vs. Boston this year:   6HR, 16RBIs.

The BAD:

• McLouth’s day was not good:  0/6, 1BB, 2K, 1SB (9), 6LOB, and the misplay in left.
• Hardy:  0/6, 1K, 4LOB. So the 1-2 hitters for the Orioles combined for an 0/12 night with 3 K’s and a combined 10 left on base.
• The Yankees won in 14 over the A’s.

The post Overtime is Orioles Time: Birds Beat Boston in 12 appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Randy Wolf made his initial O’s start, and was roughed up in the very first inning.  Collin Cowgill led off with a double to center.  One out later, Josh Reddick blasted a two-run homer (29), and it looked like it was going to be another long day in Oakland.

But Wolf’s battery mate Matt Wieters hammered a one-out solo homer (20) in the second, making it 2-1.  The Orioles tied it in the third with some small-ball.  Endy Chavez led off with a hit.  Robert Andino’s sac bunt moved Chavez to second.  Chavez advanced to third on Nate McLouth’s ground out to second, and JJ Hardy picked up a base hit (though it could’ve been ruled an error) that A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson deflected into foul ground.

Wieters led off the fourth with another home run (21), and the birds had their first lead of the day.  In the fifth, the string of one-run innings continued for the O’s, thanks to A’s starter Dan Straily’s wildness.  The rally began with two outs and none on.  Chris Davis walked.  Adam Jones ripped his 34th double of the season, moving Davis to third.  Straily intentionally walked Wieters, bringing up Mark Reynolds.  The O’s first baseman worked a five-pitch walk, and the Orioles had a 4-2 lead, and had knocked Straily from the game.

The fourth was also Wolf’s last inning.  He settled down quite a bit after the first, and finished with just the two runs allowed on six hits.  He walked two and struck out four while throwing 45 of his 72 pitches for strikes.  Tommy Hunter came on for one inning of scoreless, if not spotless, relief.  He gave up a walk and a hit, but struck out the final two A’s in the inning.

On a day when the bullpen would have to shine, it was Brian Matusz (W, 6-10) who burned brightest.  Matusz pitched two perfect innings with a pair of stikeouts.  He was helped by a great diving catch from left fielder McLouth in the sixth.

In the O’s seventh, Wieters and Reynolds led off with back-to-back walks.  Manny Machado the delivered a double into the gap in left center, plating Wieters.  A chopper by Chavez found its way into center field, scoring both Reynolds and Machado, and the O’s were up 7-2.

Both Darren O’Day and Pedro Strop struggled in relief.  Strop’s issues led to a cheap, one-out save for Jim Johnson (43), and the Orioles escaped Oakland with one win in the three game set.

The birds head up the coast to Seattle for a three game set with the Mariners starting Monday.  Hector Neosi  (2-11, 5.54) starts for Seattle against former Mariner Chris Tillman (7-2, 3.39), making his first start since September 2.  Game time is 10:05.

The GOOD:

• Wieters:  2/3, 2HR, 2RBI, 2BB, 3R.
• Chavez:  4/4, 1BB, 2RBI, 2R.
• Robert Andino and JJ Hardy:  2 hits each.  Reynolds drew 3 walks
• Who DIDN’T have trepidation about Brian Matusz coming on as Troy Patton’s left handed replacement in the bullpen?  But like so many other moves the mad geniuses in the Warehouse and Dugout have made, this one has had better results than anyone could have possibly imagined.  As a stater, Matusz was awful:  5-10, 5.47 ERA.  But out of the ‘pen?  1-0, 1.93.  In just over 9 relief innings, Matusz has struck out 13, walked 1 (intentionally), and given up just 3 hits.  He’s a different guy.

The BAD:

• O’Day:  1IP, 2R, 2H, 1HR, 3K.
• Strop:  0.2IP, 1R, 2H, 1K, 1BB.
• Jones:  1/6, 1K, 6LOB.

The post O’s Pull Out Of Oakland With 9-5 Win appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

And Wednesday’s 3-2 win wasn’t just ANY win.  This was a victory Orioles Nation has been waiting 14 years for.  This was the Ding-Dong win, the one that killed the witch.  It was win number 81 for the 2012 Orioles, the one that clinches the Orioles’ first non losing record since 1997.  If you’re going to slay that kind of dragon…if the monkey you’re chasing from your back is King Kong…you should probably do it with a 14-inning, walk off win, delivered by the representative of the future of the franchise.  And so, the Orioles did.

Yes, being Manny Machado is good.  The 20 year old once (and future?) shortstop played a starring role in Tuesday night’s walk off win, both in the field and at the plate.  Wednesday would be similar, though it certainly didn’t start out that way.  In his first at-bat, after Chris Davis doubled in the second, he struck out swinging.  At-bat number two can following a walk to Adam Jones and a Davis single.  With one out, Manny hit into a 4-6-3 double play.  In the seventh, Manny led off by reaching on an error.  Taylor Teagarden would chase him home, but we’ll get to that…

More on Manny:  In the eighth, Lew Ford led off with a hit.  One out later, Davis reached again on a single to right.  Endy Chavez came on to run for Davis, and Manny stepped in with runners on first and third.  But after falling behind Manny 2-0, reliever Joel Paralta got nasty in a hurry, throwing three straight stikes to set the kid down, again leaving runners on.

On to the tenth.  With two outs, Chavez picked up a hit.  But Tampa closer Fernando Rodney, one of the game’s very best, got Manny on a force out.  In the thirteenth inning, Manny came up second.  After Chavez walked, Manny dropped a nice sac bunt, and wound up on first on a throwing error by Rays pitcher Chris Archer (L, 0-3).  Mark Reynolds followed that with a bloop hit, and the Orioles loaded the bases with no one out.  But in one of the most frustrating series of at-bats this year, the O’s simply refused to take what the Rays nearly insisted on giving them.

Rays manager Joe Maddon pulled one of his outfielders, replacing Sam Fuld with Reid Bignac, a fifth infielder.  Robert Andino stepped up, and hit directly into the new defense.  Second baseman Elliot Johnson fired to Catcher Jose Molina for the force on Chavez.  One out, but the bases were still loaded.

Matt Wieters pinch-hit for Teagarden, whose hit in the seventh SHOULD’VE been the game winner, but for Teagarden himself.  But, I promise, we’ll get to that…

Archer’s first three pitches to Wieters were all well off their mark.  But just when it looked like the Rays would walk in the walk-off, Archer started pitching again:  Called strike one…called strike two…foul ball.  Then, on the at-bat’s seventh pitch, an elevated, 93 MPH fastball (just what Wieters needed for a game-winning sac fly, really), Archer got Wieters swinging.  Next, Tuesday night’s other hero, Nate McLouth, struck out swinging.  From bases loaded and none out in the bottom of the thirteenth tied at 2, the Orioles could score no runs.

In the bottom of the fourteenth, JJ Hardy and Lew Ford went two-up, two down.  Then, Adam Jones drew a walk.  Endy Chavez singled to left, and up stepped the kid.  Manny Machado, with the winning run on second, was 0/5 on the day with 6 runners left on base.  He had played a nice third base, but offensively, he’d seemed overmatched all day by four different Rays pitchers.

Like he did with Wieters the inning before, Archer started Manny off with three straight balls.  Pitch number four was out of the strike zone, too.  But Manny took a hack at the 91 MPH fastball up and in anyway.  He blooped it down the left field line, just out of the reach of Matt Joyce on the dive.  Jones flew around third with the winning run, and the Orioles had their second walk-off win in a row, and the historic 81st win in the 2012 season.

If all goes well, there will never again be a string of 14 straight losing seasons.  In a perfect world, there won’t be one more losing season—not one more—for at least another 14.  If so, Manny’s fourteenth inning swing, to snap to 14 straight losing seasons, will be an image that will go down in the annals of team lore.  Think Brooks leaping into the arms of Dave McNally after the final out of the ’66 World Series.  Think Earl Weaver’s sendoff after the final game of ’82.  Think Eddie Murray blasting two homers off the scoreboard at Veteran’s Stadium in Philadelphia to help clinch the ’83 Series.  Think about the goodbye party thrown by the Orioles—similar to none previous, but so often duplicated now—to bid farewell to Memorial Stadium.  Think of a record-setting night in September, 1995, when the city of Baltimore invited the world to look in as she honored her favorite son and begged him to take a victory lap for breaking The Unbreakable Record.

While goal number one–or should we say, FAN’S goal number one—has been achieved,  O’s goal number one…Buck’s goal number one…is still being chased.  The Orioles will continue that chase out west, beginning with a crucial, three-game series in Oakland starting Friday night.  For the Orioles,  it’ll be Joe Saunders (8-11, 4.22/2-1, 4.24) on the mound.  Oakland counters with Tommy Milone (12-10, 3.90).  First pitch is 10:05.

The GOOD:

• Starter Wei Yin Chen:  7.1 IP, 8H (only 1 of which was hit hard), 2ER, 1BB, 7K.  He deserved far, far better.
• The bullpen was spectacular.  Darren O’Day, Luis Ayala, Jim Johnson, Tommy Hunter, Brian Matusz, and finally, Randy Wolf (W, 5-10, 5.69/2-0, 5.68) combined to go 6.2 innings, 0R, 4H, 9K, 1BB.  As it would happen, Wolf, the winning pitcher in a 14 inning game, threw just 4 pitches.
• Welcome back to Baltimore, Endy Chavez:  2/2, 1BB, 1SB.
• Chris Davis (the guy Chavez entered for):  3/4, 1 2b.
• Taylor Teagarden’s big, 2-run double in the seventh with one out and two on was another clutch hit from the O’s backup catcher.  It put the Orioles on top 2-1, and may have won the game but for…

The BAD:

• …A passed ball by Taylor Teagarden.  It was big.  With Desmond Jennings on first, it allowed him to get to second.  Jennings then stole third, and scored on Ben Zobrist’s 38-foot screamer down the third base line.  That tied the game, and got the hook for Chen.
• Orioles:  3/14 with RISP, 16 left on.
• The 1-4 spots in the Orioles lineup:  combined 3/25, 1R, 3BB, 8K, 12 LOB.

The post O’s Walk-Off Again, This Time With Win 81 appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

These are still the Baltimore Orioles, though, so there just HAD to be some adversity.  Starter Jason Hammel, making just his second appearance since returning from knee surgery, had to leave the game in the fourth inning after re-injuring his right knee.  Hardy’s first homer of the night had the O’s on top 3-1 at the time, and Hammel was cruising.  He’d given up just one hit—a Ryan Roberts home run—in 3.2 innings of work when he had to come out.   Hammel has an MRI scheduled for Wednesday, but he almost certainly will be pushed back in the rotation, at best.

Replacing Hammel with two outs in the fourth was Steve Johnson (W, 3-0).  The rookie right hander struggled to get anything off speed over the plate, so he used a fastball that ranged from 88-92 MPH as his out pitch.  He was not spectacular, but was solid, striking out two and walking two in 1.1 hitless, scoreless innings.

The Orioles added runs in the fifth (on an two-RBI double from Matt Wieters), sixth (on a hit from Hardy), and seventh (on Chris Davis’ 25th home run), to extend the lead to 7-1.  Hardy’s second home run of the night was his 21st of the season.  He became the fourth Oriole with 20 or more here in 2012, joining Adam Jones (29), Davis, and Mark Reynolds (21).  Wieters is just one knock away, at 19.

The birds and Rays do battle again Wednesday, with the Orioles looking to lock up a series win.  Miguel Gonzalez (6-4, 3.62) faces Tampa’s Alex Cobb (9-8, 4.28).  Game time is 7:05.

The GOOD:

• Hardy:  4/5, 1 double, 2HR, 3R, 5RBI, and a great defensive play early in the game.
• Wieters:  3/3, 1 double, 2RBI
• Nate McLouth, leading off:  2/5, 2R, 1SB
• O’s bullpen of Johnson, Luis Ayala, Brian Matusz, Darren O’Day, and Pedro Strop combined:  5.1IP, 1ER, 4H, 1HR, 2BB, 7K
• Minutes after the Strop recorded the last out in this one, the Red Sox walked off with a 4-3 win over the Yankees.  The O’s and Yankees are again tied atop the AL East.  The Rays are 2 games out.

The BAD:

• Fingers crossed for a quick recovery from Hammel.  With Chris Tillman already having been pushed back after experiencing elbow stiffness, and with the team handling Miguel Gonzalez and Wei-Yin Chen with kid gloves due to concerns of overuse, the Orioles do not need to lose Hammel here in the stretch run.

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Miguel Gonzalez was on the mound, trying to build on the momentum of his last start Friday night in New York—a seven inning, four hit, zero run outing.  Instead, the Blue Jays got to the Orioles rookie for five earned runs on seven hits through 6.1 innings.

The O’s spotted Gonzalez a 2-0 lead in the second.  Adam Jones began the inning with his 27th home run off Jays’ starter Brandon Morrow.  Three walks and one force out later, it was 2-0.  The Jays got one back on an RBI double from Kelly Johnson in the second.  Rajai Davis homered off Gonzalez (L, 6-4) in the third to tie things at 2.

Gonzalez then settled down, retiring 11 of the next 12 Blue Jays before hitting a wall in the seventh.  Yunel Escobar hit Gonzalez’s first pitch of the inning into right for a bloop double.  A bunt single from Johnson moved Escobar up to third.  One out later, Adeiny Hechavarria dropped a safety squeeze that plated Escobar for a 3-2 Toronto lead, and the night was over for Gonzalez.

Luis Ayala entered, and, as has been an issue for him more so than most of the O’s bullpen this season, both his inherited runners would come in to score.  Speedy Anthony Gose tapped one to JJ Hardy, but the O’s shortstop couldn’t handle it.  The infield single loaded the bases for Rajai Davis.  Ayala’s 1-0, 90 MPH fastball in was sent back up the middle by Davis, finding its way into center field.  Johnson and Hechavarria scored, and Gose was awarded home plate on a throwing error by Adam Jones, who bounced on past Manny Machado at third base.

The O’s would get a couple of other shots.  Down 6-2 in the eighth, the O’s had Machado on second and Hardy on first with one out.  With Jays lefty Darren Oliver pitching, Buck Showalter went to his bench, giving Lew Ford a pinch hitting at-bat for Nate McLouth.  After hitting a fly ball that was ruled foul (it was—barely) down the left field line, Ford smashed one hard, but right to third, for a 5-4-3 double play.

Mark Reynolds tacked on a two-run homer (17) in the ninth to pull things close, but the next batter, Omar Quintanilla, was called out on strikes to end the game.

The Orioles head back home to take on the Yankees in a four-game weekend set beginning Thursday night.  Jason Hammel (8-6, 3.54) makes his return from the DL for the O’s, vs. David Phelps (3-4, 3.13) for New York.  First pitch is 7:05, but before that the O’s will honor Cal Ripken with the unveiling of his statue in the legends series.

The GOOD:

• Jones:  2-3, HR, RBI.
• Machado:  2-3, 2B, RBI.
• Brian Matusz: .2IP, 2K, 1BB.
• Tommy Hunter:  1 perfect inning in relief.

The BAD:

• O’s were 0-6 with RISP.
• Chris Davis:  0/3, 1BB, 3K.
• Nick Markakis:  0/4, 4LOB.
• The Yankees win.  The Yanks are a game up on the O’s in the AL East.  And, don’t look now, but here come the Angels.  They beat the A’s Wednesday, which may not be the worst thing in the world, but the Angels have now won 8 of 9, and are just 2.5 games behind in the wild card race.

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This win doesn’t come without its toll.  Chris Tillman, arguably the best pitcher on the staff over the last six weeks, left the game with elbow tightness after three innings.  And, while in the game, it was apparent he was not himself.

In the first, he issued a five-pitch walk to leadoff man Derek Jeter.  He also unleashed a wild pitch in the inning, but the Yankees could not take advantage.  Inning number two featured a walk to Russell Martin, and a screaming line drive homer to right by Chris Dickerson (1).  With two outs, Jason Nix doubled to right.  But Tillman wiggled out of it by fanning Jeter, and the O’s were down 2-0 after two.

Tillman completed a three-up, three-down third, but he could go no further.  In the fourth, Randy Wolf (W, 1-0/4-10) made his Orioles debut, and retired the side in order.

All the while, the Orioles offense was spinning its wheels.  Manny Machado picked up the forst O’s hit in the third, but was stranded.  In the Orioles’ fourth, Nate McLouth singled with one away.  But Yankees starter Phil Hughes (L, 13-12) got Adam Jones and Matt Wieters to retire the side.

The O’s got on the board in the fifth, courtesy of first baseman Mark Reynolds.  On the sixth pitch of a 2-2 at-bat leading off, Reynolds blasted a 91 MPH, high fastball very deep into the stands in left for his 15th homer of the season, and his third in the series.  The Orioles would pick up two more hits in the inning from Chris Davis and Nick Markakis, but could not push another run across.

The Yanks answered in the bottom half of the fifth, with a lead off hit, a sac bunt, and a Nick Swisher RBI, making it 3-1.

But the Orioles mugged Hughes in the sixth.  McLouth walked.  Jones singled him to second, and Wieters singled him home.  Up stepped Reynolds.  Hughes’ second pitch was a hanging, 74 MPH curve, and Reynolds jumped on it.  Another towering home run deep into the seats in left (16) gave the Orioles a 5-3 lead, and completely turned this game on a dime.

The O’s piled on in the eighth.  Wieters led off with a walk against Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlin.  Reynolds’ third hit of the game—a single—moved Wieters to second.  One out later, and with Derek Lowe on in relief, Machado singled to load the bases.  Next up was Robert Andino, who produced a run without ever lifting the bat from his shoulder.  A five-pitch walk made it 6-3.  Again, Joe Girardi went to his bullpen, this time for Boone Logan.  The lefty-lefty matchup against Nick Markakis did not work out well for New York, with Markakis smacking a sharp grounder into right for a two-run single for their 8-3 final margin.

The Orioles head north to Toronto next.  Monday’s game time is 1:05, and features Joe Saunders (0-1/6-11) in his second start as an Oriole.  Left hander J. A. Happ (10-10, 4.77) pitches for the Blue Jays.

The GOOD:

• The Orioles are 15 games over .500, just 2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East chase, and currently hold the lead for the number 2 wild card spot.
• Randy Wolf’s Orioles debut:  3.1IP, 3H, 1R, 1BB, 1K, and 1W.
• Bullpen overall (including Wolf, Luis Ayala, Brian Matusz, and Darren O’Day):  6IP, 3H, 1R, 2BB, 2K.  And 1W.
• Reynolds:  3/5, 3R, 2HR, 4RBI, 0K
• Multi-hit efforts from Markakis and Machado.
• Offense:  4/10 with RISP

The BAD:

• The expansion of rosters may make his loss easier to handle, but losing Tillman long-term would be a shame, both for him and for the Orioles.  There is no question.  Tillman has turned a major corner.  The Orioles will find out more in the next couple of days.  Tillman will undergo an MRI in Baltimore Monday.

The post O’s Earn Series Win In New York appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Neither rust from 11 days off, nerves from pitching in Yankee Stadium, or the challenge of becoming the first O’s pitcher to throw a meaningful game in New York this late in the season since Scott Kamieniecki in 1997 would slow the O’s rookie.  Through five innings, Gonzalez retired 15 of 16 batters he faced.  By the time he ran into some trouble in the sixth, he was pitching with a 4-0 lead.  The Orioles got to Yanks starter Hiroki Kuroda (L, 12-10) in the second.

Adam Jones and Matt Wieters started tings with back-to-back singles to right, putting runners at the corners with no outs.  Chris Davis was given the chance to make a productive out, and he did, plating Jones with a sac fly to Raul Ibanez in right.  The next batter, Mark Reynolds, blasted a 2-0 fastball into the second deck in left field for a two-run homer (13), and a 3-0 Orioles lead.  A solo homer from JJ Hardy in the sixth made it 4-0.

Things looked like they were about to go downhill for Gonzalez in the bottom of the sixth.  Ichiro led off with a hit and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Lance Nix walked, and with two on and no outs, the top of the order was coming up.  But Gonzalez got Derek Jeter on a force out, Nick Swisher on a strikeout, and Robinson Cano on a foul out to third baseman Manny Machado.  The rookie, staked to a lead in New York, slammed the door on at least on future Hall-of-Famer, one All-Star, and one superstar…a spectacular performance.

In the seventh, running out of gas, Gonzalez wiggled out of a two-on, two-out jam, by getting another future Hall-of-Famer—this time, Ichiro—to tap out to short.

The birds added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth.  With two outs and none on, Mark Reynolds hit his second homer of the game and 14th of the year off of reliever Derek Lowe.  Robert Andino and Machado followed that with consecutive hits, and Andino scored on Nick Markakis’ base hit.

Brian Matusz relieved Darren O’Day in the ninth, and gave up a one-out, solo homer to Curtis Granderson to break up the shutout.

The Orioles send Wei-Yin Chen (12-7, 3.78) against Freddy Garcia (7-5, 4.90) for the Yankees Saturday.  Game time is 1:05.

The GOOD:

• Gonzalez was extremely pitch-efficient, throwing just 55 pitches through 5.  He was in total control in this game, even the few times the Yankees were able to get runners on.
• Reynolds’ overall game was one of his best as an Oriole.  Two big homers, and a pair of gold glove caliber plays defensively.
• Machado and Markakis with multi-hit games.
• The Yankees’ Nick Swisher:  0/4, 4K, 2LOB.
• If the Orioles are going to continue to beat the Yankees, they will have to continue playing solid fundamental baseball.  Reynolds’ homer will grab all the highlights from the O’s three-run second, and he deserves it.  But look what happened prior:  Jones went first-to-third on Wieters’ single to right.  Then Davis hit an RBI sac fly, and on Ibanez’s throw home, Wieters took the extra base, going to second.  For a team so reliant on the long ball, a little small ball heading into September can go a long way.
• The Rays lost in Toronto 2-1, in a game that ended with the Rays’ would-be tying run thrown out at the plate.

The BAD:

• Being relegated to rooting for the Red Sox just feels icky.  Boston is playing Oakland out west this weekend.  Well, they’re IN Oakland.  Whether they’re actually playing is debatable.  The A’s beat the Sox Friday night 20-2.  The Tigers beat the White Sox, and the Angels beat Seattle.

The post Big (Apple) Win Courtesy of Gonzalez and Reynolds appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Nick Markakis’ clutch, two-out, three-run double in the second would be all the O’s needed offensively, but not all they’d get.  Lew Ford hit a solo home run for the second straight night in the fourth, picking on a two-out, 1-0 fastball below the knees, and lining it into the left field seats.  Manny Machado drove in Mark Reynolds with a sac fly in the sixth, making it 5-0.  And in the seventh, Adam Jones snapped a career-high, 110 at-bat homerless streak.  Jones picked on Sox reliever Philip Humber’s eighth pitch of the at-bat, and drove it just over the scoreboard in right for his 25th home run of the year, and 100th of his career.

As plentiful as the offense was, the true story was Tillman.  He didn’t give up his first hit until Dayan Viciedo led off the fifth with an infield hit.  He walked the next batter, for his fourth walk of the night.  But then, he rediscovered his grove, setting down the trio of Gordon Beckham, Dewayne Wise, and Kevin Youkilis.  Then, he retired six more in a row, before turning things over to Brian Matusz , for two scoreless relief innings.

Having taken the first two games of this very big, four-game series, The Orioles roll out their latest import Wednesday.  Joe Saunders, acquired from Arizona over the weekend, will make his O’s debut at Camden Yards against Chicago.  Game time is 7:05.

The GOOD:

• Tillman’s line:  7IP, 0R, 1H, 4BB, 5K.
• Matusz:  2IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 2K.  24 pitches for Matusz, 19 of which were strikes.
• Numbers 7,8,9 in the order (McLouth, Machado, Andino) combined:  5/9, 3R, 2BB, 1RBI, 2SB.

The BAD:

• Only 12,841 at Camden Yards after about 10,000 Monday night.  School being back in session in most places doesn’t help, but…

The post Tillman Dominates White Sox In 6-0 Shutout appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

Up went Jason Berken. Down came Tommy Hunter.  Down came Berken, up went Dana Eveland.  Up went Stu Pomeranz, down came Eveland.  Joel Pineiro was signed, and talk the talk centered around his future role in Baltimore.  And the transactions kept coming.  Matusz, down.  Hunter back up.  Hunter back down, Miguel Gonzalez up.  Zach Phillips, up.  And down.

He had an out clause in his contract, stipulating that if he was not a member of the 40 man roster at one point, he could opt out and become a free agent.  The Orioles were apparently willing to take that risk, but when Johnson alerted told the team he was going to walk, the Orioles blinked.  Thankfully.  He got his spot on the 40 man, but still had to wait for the actual call.

The call came on July 2, as the Orioles added him as insurance.  Two days later (and still having not made his ML debut), he was back on a flight to Norfolk, trading roster spots with Chris Tillman.  And the roster moves in Baltimore continued…Matusz, back down.  Arrieta, down.  Miguel Socolovich.  Zach Britton.  And Hunter again.  Jason Hammel went on the DL July 15, and Johnson was called back up.  And the next day, he was sent back down.  And Eveland came again.  And Eveland went again.

Now, it’s hard to argue any single one of the transactions made by the Orioles this year.  How Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter have been able to sweat the resources to keep this team in contention all season long is well beyond most baseball folks.  But, for someone like Johnson, who’s paid his dues in the minors since 2005, and who in many ways was putting up the best numbers he ever has this season, being a spectator—and a travelling one at that—has HAD to take its toll.

Saturday night, he finally made his second big league start, 17 days after his first one.  Forget the fact that his first start in the bigs—a six-inning, nine-strikeout, two-earned run win—warranted far more than a two-plus week rotation removal.  Life isn’t fair.  Johnson, we can say with some certainty, has figured this out.

Johnson (W, 2-0) got into early trouble, giving up a long, two-run home run to Edwin Encarnacion (34) in the first.  But he gave up no more runs and just two more hits for the rest of his six innings.  He struck out seven, walked two, and relied heavily on battery mate Matt Wieters to do the rest, both with the bat, and behind the plate.

Wieters nailed all three Blue Jays trying to steal on him.  Offensively, while he did strike out three times, Wieters delivered a sac fly and an RBI single, Joining Adam Jones and JJ Hardy as O’s with a pair of RBIs apiece.  Hardy’s RBIs came on a home run (17) that just did elude Jays’ outfielder Rajai Davis’ leaping attempt at the wall in the fifth.  That shot was one of three hits for Hardy on the day, and gave the Orioles a 6-2 lead.

In relief of Johnson, Luis Ayala threw two shutout innings, and Kevin Gregg struck out the side in order in the ninth.

The O’s will go for the sweep of Toronto Sunday at 1:05.  Chris Tillman (6-2, 3.71) pitches for the Orioles, against Toronto’s Henderson Alvarez (7-11, 4.84).

The GOOD:

• The one thing you have to like about Johnson is his composure.  To a certain extent, he does wear his emotions. But he also carries with him an outwardly obvious “I got this” air.  He pitches with poise and confidence.  Now, he’s pitched in five games total, throwing good starts at Toronto and Seattle, and a good relief appearance against Boston.  When he’s faced good teams, pitching in relief against Detroit and Texas, he hasn’t fared as well.  It’s a very small sampling, so the jury is still out, but you have to be impressed with the tenacity.
• JJ Hardy has a five-game hitting streak, and is now 5 for his last 9.
• Manny Machado, Mark Reynolds, and Nick Markakis chipped in multi-hit games.
• One has to wonder when the league is going to learn NOT to run on Matt Wieters.  Until then, by all means, they should have at it.

The BAD:

• The birds left nine runners on base.

The post Johnson Pitches O’s Past Jays appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

• Ryan Flaherty went 2-3 with a Double and BB.
• Joe Mahoney went 1-4.
• Endy Chavez went 1-4 with a Double.
• Jake Arrieta (L, 3-4) pitched 6.0 innings with 1 H, 2 R, 8 K, 5 BB allowed.
• Brian Matusz pitched 1.0 inning with 0 H, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB allowed.
• Sean Gleason pitched 1.0 inning with 0 H, 0 R, 0 K, 0 BB allowed.

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Bowie 9, Richmond 3	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
69-61	Box Score	Harrisburg Senators	Home	7:05 PM	Mike Wright
Antoan Richardson went 1-2 with 2 RBI, 3 BB and a SB. Tyler Kelly went 1-5 with a RBI. Jonathan Schoop went 0-4. Buck Britton went 1-4 with a BB. Caleb Joseph went 1-4. Zelous Wheeler went 2-3 with a Double, HR, 3 RBI and a BB. Josh Barfield went 2-4 with a Double, HR and 3 RBI. Eddie Gamboa (W, 7-4) pitched 7.0 innings with 6 H, 1 R, 7 K, 0 BB allowed. Mike Belfiore pitched 2.0 innings with 2 H, 2 R, 1 K, 0 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Wilmington 3, Frederick 6	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
54-72	Box Score	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Home	7:00 PM	Trent Howard
Glynn Davis went 1-3 with a RBI, BB and SB. Joe Oliveira went 2-2 with a Double and RBI. Michael Mosby went 1-2 with a Double, RBI and 2 BB. Tyler Wilson (W, 7-6) pitched 8.0 innings with 3 H, 2 R, 12 K, 0 BB allowed. David Walters pitched 1.0 inning with 1 H, 1 R, 0 K, 0 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Delmarva 6, Lakewood 4	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
50-78	Box Score	Lakewood BlueClaws	Away	7:05 PM	Juan Guzman
Gregory Lorenzo went 1-5 with a SB. Roderick Bernadina went 2-4 with a Double, 2 RBI and a BB. Michael Ohlman went 2-4 with a Double and BB. Sammie Starr went 2-4 with a Double, HR, and 2 RBI. Eduardo Rodriguez pitched 5.0 innings with 5 H, 2 R, 2 K, 1 BB allowed. David Baker pitched 2.0 innings with 3 H, 2 R, 1 K, 2 BB allowed. Gene Escat (W, 3-2) pitched 2.0 innings with 1 H, 0 R, 2 K, 0 BB allowed. Jason McCracken (S, 1) pitched 1.0 inning with 2 H, 0 R, 1 K, 1 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Lowell 3, Aberdeen 2	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
25-37	Box Score	Lowell Spinners	Home	7:05 PM	David Richardson
Manuel Hernandez went 2-3 with a Double. Branden Kline pitched 3.0 innings with 3 H, 2 R, 1 K, 1 BB allowed. Josh Hader pitched 1.0 inning with 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, 0 BB allowed. Cameron Coffey pitched 5.0 innings with 3 H, 0 R, 3 K, 4 BB allowed. Jesse Fernandez (L, 0-1) pitched 2.0 innings with 2 H, 1 R, 1 K, 2 BB allowed.
Notes
Hector Veloz was promoted to Aberdeen.

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Twins 2, Orioles 0	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
24-32	Box Score	GCL Twins	Home	12:00 PM	N/A
Adrian Marin went 2-3 with a Double. Andres Aguilar went 1-2 with a BB and SB. Ron Schreurs went 1-2 with a BB. Jhondaniel Medina (L, 1-3) pitched 6.0 innings with 4 H, 2 R, 6 K, 1 BB allowed. Sean McAdams pitched 2.0 innings with 0 H, 0 R, 2 K, 1 BB allowed. Dioni Dominguez pitched 1.0 inning with 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, 0 BB allowed.

The post Minor League Scores – 8/22/12 appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

• L.J. Hoes went 1-5 with 2 RBI and a BB.
• Ryan Adams went 1-5 with a RBI and BB.
• Ryan Flaherty went 1-5.
• Ronny Paulino went 2-4.
• Steve Tolleson went 2-4 with a RBI and BB.
• Jamie Hoffman went 2-3 with a HR, 4 RBI and a BB.
• Dana Eveland (W, 5-4) pitched 7.0 innings with 3 H, 0 R, 5 K, 0 BB allowed.
• Brian Matusz pitched 1.0 inning with 0 H, 0 R, 0 K, 1 BB allowed.
• Pat Egan pitched 1.0 inning with 0 H, 0 R, 0 K, 0 BB allowed.

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Bowie 3, Richmond 7	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
68-61	Box Score	Richmond Flying Squirrels	Away	7:05 PM	Eddie Gamboa
Jonathan Schoop went 0-4. Robbie Widlansky went 2-3 with a Double and BB. Caleb Joseph went 1-4 with a Solo HR. Brian Ward went 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI. Rick Zagone (L, 4-4) pitched 6.1 innings with 8 H, 7 R, 1 K, 3 BB allowed. Jason Gurka pitched 0.2 innings with 1 H, 0 R, 0 K, 1 BB allowed. Robert Hinton pitched 1.0 inning with 0 H, 0 R, 0 K, 0 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Wilmington 5, Frederick 4	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
53-72	Box Score	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Home	7:00 PM	Tyler Wilson
Glynn Davis went 2-4. Brenden Webb went 1-4. Torsten Boss went 0-3. Garabez Rosa went 1-3 with a RBI. Tim Berry (L, 4-5) pitched 3.2 innings with 7 H, 5 R, 1 K, 3 BB allowed. Ryan Berry pitched 3.1 innings with 1 H, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB allowed. Matthew Bischoff pitched 2.0 innings with 2 H, 0 R, 2 K, 0 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Delmarva 4, Lakewood 2	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
49-78	Box Score	Lakewood BlueClaws	Away	7:05 PM	Eduardo Rodriguez
Gregory Lorenzo went 3-4 with a Triple. Connor Narron went 2-4 with a RBI. Michael Ohlman went 1-3 with a Double, RBI and BB. Lucas Herbst went 1-4 with a RBI. Zach Davies (W, 5-6) pitched 6.0 innings with 5 H, 2 R, 8 K, 1 BB allowed. Alex Schmarzo (S, 1) pitched 3.0 innings with 1 H, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Lowell 3, Aberdeen 6	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
25-36	Box Score	Lowell Spinners	Home	7:05 PM	Branden Kline
Anthony Vega went 2-3 with a Triple, BB and SB. Creede Simpson went 3-5 with a HR and 2 RBI. Sam Kimmel went 3-5 with a Triple and RBI. Joel Hutter went 1-4 with a Triple, RBI and BB. Manuel Hernandez went 0-3 with a BB. Lex Rutledge pitched 3.0 innings with 2 H, 0 R, 4 K, 2 BB allowed. Sander Beck (W, 3-3) pitched 4.0 innings with 2 H, 2 R, 5 K, 2 BB allowed. Bennett Parry pitched 1.0 inning with 2 H, 1 R, 0 K, 0 BB allowed. Tommy Winegardner (S, 8) pitched 1.0 inning with 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, 0 BB allowed.
Notes
Torsten Boss was promoted to Frederick. Manuel Hernandez was promoted to Aberdeen. Elias Pinales was promoted to Aberdeen

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Orioles 4, Red Sox 9	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
24-31	Box Score	GCL Twins	Home	12:00 PM	N/A
Raymond Hunnicutt went 0-4 with a BB and SB. Alexander Mercedes went 0-3 with 2 BB and a SB. Adrian Marin went 2-5 with a RBI. Steel Russell went 3-5 with a RBI. Ron Schreurs went 1-3 with 2 BB. Andres Aguilar went 1-4. Jalen Simmons went 0-4 with a BB. Domingo Salas (L, 3-2) pitched 3.0 innings with 4 H, 6 R, 2 K, 6 BB allowed. Luc Rennie pitched 1.2 innings with 4 H, 2 R, 2 K, 1 BB allowed. Duke Porter pitched 1.1 innings with 2 H, 0 R, 2 K, 1 BB allowed. Jose Figuereo pitched 2.0 innings with 3 H, 1 R, 3 K, 0 BB allowed.

The post Minor League Scores – 8/21/12 appeared first on Orioles-Nation.

• Ryan Flaherty went 4-4 with a Solo HR.
• Joe Mahoney went 1-4 with a RBI.
• L.J. Hoes went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI.
• Jason Berken pitched 6.2 innings with 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 4 K, 2 BB allowed.
• Brian Matusz pitched 1.0 inning with 2 H, 2 R, 1 K, 2 BB allowed.
• Zach Phillips (W, 2-2) pitched 1.1 innings with 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, 0 BB allowed.

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Bowie 3, Trenton 4	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
68-59	Box Score	Trenton Thunder	Away	7:05 PM	Dylan Bundy
Jonathan Schoop went 0-4 with a BB. Tyler Kelly went 2-4 with a Triple and BB. Buck Britton went 2-4 with a Double, RBI and BB. Timothy Bascom pitched 6.0 innings with 2 H, 2 R, 4 K, 3 BB allowed. Mike Belfiore (L, 4-1) pitched 1.1 innings with 2 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 K, 1 BB allowed. Robert Hinton pitched 0.2 innings with 0 H, 0 R, 0 K, 0 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Winston-Salem , Frederick	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
53-71	POSTPONED	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Home	5:00 PM	Devin Jones
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Hagerstown 8, Delmarva 2	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
48-77	Box Score	Lakewood BlueClaws	Away	7:00 PM	Parker Bridwell
Gregory Lorenzo went 1-4 with a SB. Connor Narron went 1-4 with a BB. Michael Ohlman went 0-2 with a RBI and 2 B. Roderick Bernadina went 0-2 with a RBI and 2 BB. Jason Esposito went 0-2 with 2 BB. Williams Louico went (L, 0-6) pitched 2.2 innings with 6 H, 5 R (4 ER), 1 K, 4 BB allowed. Eric Wooten pitched 5.0 innings with 5 H, 2 R, 4 K, 0 BB allowed. Bobby Wilkins pitched 1.1 innings with 3 H, 1 R, 1 K, 0 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
	Aberdeen 0, Connecticut 5	Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
24-35	Box Score	Connecticut Tigers	Away	7:05 PM	Sebastian Vader
Lucas Herbst went 1-3. Will Howard went 1-3. Brady Wager pitched 6.0 innings with 6 H, 0 R, 5 K, 1 BB allowed. Jose Nivar (L, 2-1) pitched 2.0 innings with 5 H, 5 R (1 ER), 1 K, 1 BB allowed.
Notes

	Today’s Result	Tomorrow
		Opponent	Location	Time	Starter
24-29	OFF	GCL Red Sox	Home	12:00 PM	N/A

The post Minor League Scores – 8/19/12 appeared first on Orioles-Nation.