Orioles Beat Royals

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals handily last night. Baltimore won 8-2 behind excellent pitching, defense, and hitting. This is one of the most complete games the Orioles played all year. At what point do Orioles fans get excited about this team.

Jason Hammel had his best game since the knee injury. He pitched 6 strong innings earning a quality start and his 6th victory this year. Now 6-1, Hammel is showing to be quite the offseason addition. The righty did not give up a run and lowered his ERA to 2.78. What a fantastic outing. With starting pitching like that it is difficult to lose.

The bullpen was also very good. Stu Pomeranz gave up KC's only 2 runs. Pomeranz got the call back up to Baltimore yesterday. He was having a terrific season and those are the first runs he has given up in Bowie, Norfolk, or Baltimore this year. This guy deserves to be in the big leagues with how he has pitched. I am not going to let one outing change my mind on that. He was followed by Dana Eveland. Eveland pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the victory. The lefty lowered his ERA to 3.95.

Next, we need to talk about the performance of JJ Hardy. Hardy made a fantastic leaping catch to rob Billy Butler in this game. It was critical to the outcome and Butler is an Oriole killer. Great to see Hardy make such a fantastic stop. The guy did it with his bat also. JJ was 2-4 in the game with a double. He also walked, drove in 2, and scored. This game is all about scoring runs and when you score or drive in someone else it is huge. Big game from JJ.



Nick Markakis had a big night with the stick. He went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles. Markakis now has 11 doubles for the season and continues to hit well. In the process, he raised his average back up to .271. Not only that, but his on base percentage is .350. He gets on base and has increased power numbers and while this is a down year, you can live with this production from Nicky.

Adam Jones with all the contract talk in the air, had a great game. Jones drove in 2 more, strengthening his MVP case.

Meanwhile, Chris Davis had his best offensive game in a while. Davis was 2-4 with his 7th homer. He also had 3 RBIs and raised his average to .299. Davis pictured above had an awesome night.

Also if you go to the game on Monday you will get these sweet camouflage T-shirts assuming you are one of the first 10,000 fans in attendance.

-Noland

Orioles Beat Rays

The Orioles somehow managed to pull out a victory tonight with Jeremy Hellickson on the mound for the Rays. Baltimore scored 3 runs off Hellickson which kept it a close game. After Hellickson came out, Nick Johnson hit a two run homer off of Peralta. Yes, Nick Johnson the guy who does not hit ever hit the go ahead homer against the Rays. Please keep hitting Nick.

Speaking of Nick, the other Nick also came up big today as well. Markakis was 2 for 4 with his 6th home run of the season. Markakis was not the only outfielder that came through though. Adam Jones hit his 10th home run. This guy is absolutely mashing the ball. I wouldn't mind talking extension with Jones at this point.

Another big reason for the win was that Eveland pitched well in his Oriole debut. Anybody that can match Hellickson's performance is ok with me. The guy pitched well today. Especially for just being placed on the roster today. The rest of the pitching staff did well with O'Day picking up the win. Jim Johnson picked up his 10th save for the birds.

The Orioles look to continue to beat the Rays. They now have a one game lead over the Rays in the AL East. Looking good.

The roster moves though, have not ceased. Matt Lindstrom was placed on the DL to make room for Eveland. He injured his right middle finger. To make room on the 40 man, Zelous Wheeler was designated for assignment. No big loss, but it is interesting that Roberts has not been placed on the 60 day DL...

-Noland

Orioles Go Back to Back to Back

The Baltimore Orioles have finally decided to play baseball against the Texas Rangers. During Game 1 of the double header, the Orioles started off with a bang. They went back to back to back. Ryan Flaherty started the party with his first major league home run onto Eutaw Street. Flaherty was followed by JJ Hardy who was followed by Nick Markakis. Ironically the last time a team went back to back to back to start a game was the 2007 Brewers. Why is that ironic? JJ Hardy batted 2nd for that during that game as well. For the Brewers Rickie Weeks led off that game and Ryan Braun hit 3rd. However, the Orioles are the 1st AL team to accomplish that feat.

Back to today's double header, the Orioles were obviously off to a good start with the homers. Even better than the start, was the starter. Wei Yin Chen pitched 7 2/3 against the potent Ranger lineup today. He was only charged with 2 runs and one of them came when Ayala took over for him in the 8th. Anybody that can pitch like this against the Rangers deserves an award. This is the biggest reason the Orioles were able to beat the Rangers 6-5 today.

Jim Johnson gave up a three run homer to David Murphy in the 9th, but held on for the win. Beating Texas is a big step for this ballclub. Johnson picked up his 9th save on the season. His ERA now sits at 0.66. Not too shabby. Johnson is the man.

The Orioles are currently down 4-3 in game 2 of the double header. Tommy Hunter will possibly be sent back down after the game, especially with Dana Eveland the starter tomorrow night. Eveland deserves the chance to start. The guy has been quite good in Norfolk and had a solid spring. Meanwhile Hunter and Matusz have been struggling. Give the guy a chance.

Josh Hamilton has hit another home run against Baltimore. Some things never change. This one landed on Eutaw Street.

-Noland

Orioles Lose, Drop Into Tie For First

I am very happy with how the season has started for the Orioles, but there are two problems. As I pointed out yesterday in my post about the Tides, there are two current Orioles that they could do without on the big league club.

1. Kevin Gregg
2. Brian Matusz

Gregg is a lost cause and they need to just release him. He did not pitch last night, but has pitched in the majority of the losses this season. The guy presents no trade value and is just stopping us from having either Berken, Neshak or Eveland in the pros.

Then there is Brian Matusz, the guy lost his third start this season and hasn't won a start since 2010. I know we have a lot tied to Matusz and he at one point was filthy, but he just isn't right. The guy cannot get anyone out right now. Send him down and have Peterson work with him. If we are serious about this being the year we contend we cannot continue this exercise. Eveland has to come up tomorrow. Look at him, he is ready.

Tsuyoshi Wada is still bothered by his neck and isn't pitching well. He's not ready. I have no idea when Wada will be ready, neither do the Orioles. Nobody knows when Matusz will be ready, Bergessen doesn't look right, Tillman is struggling. Eveland is the guy right now. Duquette was so excited to trade for Eveland at the winter meetings. Well then let him throw in the bigs. The time is now. The Orioles cannot take a loss every time the 5th starter comes up because Matusz is working through it. We are in 1st place. Lets make a bold first place move. Plus, its my birthday so you should just listen to me. We Want Eveland!!!

-Noland

P.S. Nolan Reimold continues to mash the ball. He went 3 for 5 last night raising his average to .370 and he hit his 5th home run. Reimold also hit his 4th double.

Anyone Looking Good @ Norfolk?

With a few Orioles struggling, the question usually goes to who do we bring up? In order to look at that we have to look at how each person is doing at Norfolk. Unfortunately, the Tides look bad and are in last place, but that doesn't mean they are all bad.

Here is a look at some of the people we may be seeing in Baltimore this year.

Xavier Avery is hitting .276 with a .364 OBP. This certainly has to be encouraging for the Orioles with Avery showing some plate discipline. The odds of seeing him this year aren't too great with the money tied into Chavez, but it is a possibility. The outfield will probably stay as is though unless Reimold moves to DH if Johnson is sent out.

Everyone else is under a .250 average other than the catchers. Not much chance of seeing any of them with those kinds of stats. The two catchers aren't likely to come up either with what we got in the system.

Ryan Adams has been especially awful hitting .179. Many fans wanted to see him as our everyday second baseman so I am thrilled Buck didn't listen to the fans. Andino is proving Buck to be right and Adams is as well.

The pitchers have been much better other than perhaps the three most important ones. Brad Bergessen is 0-1 with a 8.33 ERA. Not good for someone that thought he was back in form. And the sad thing is Bergessen hasn't been the worst one.

Tsuyoshi Wada has been awful on his rehab assignment. Wada lost his start and has a 20.25 ERA. That is not a misprint, Wada's ERA actually is 20.25. Let's hope Wada gets a lot better before he heads up north.

Chris Tillman has been slightly better than the other two, but not good. Tillman is 1-2 with a 4.73 ERA. He has been the best from that group, but he is far from the best so far in Norfolk.

Pat Neshak who didn't give up a run in spring training, still hasn't given up a run. You have got to think Neshak heads north soon. I'd replace Kevin Gregg with Neshak today.

Miguel Gonzalez has also not given up a run. Heck, Gonzalez hasn't given up a hit. He seems to be a guy that came out of nowhere. Are the Orioles really ready for an M.Gonzalez though? If it gets rid of Kevin Gregg, I say heck yes!

Who replaces Matusz if he struggles tonight? Dana Eveland and Jason Berken look like solid choices. Berken hasn't given up a run yet in 9 innings, but has not really been stretched out enough to start in the big leagues. Considering his past success, Berken might be a likely candidate to take over for Gregg as well. Eveland is 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA and seems to be the guy to be next in line if Wada isn't ready.

What about Zach Phillips? Phillips has a 2.25 ERA and is still one of the next guys in line.

Here is where I think everyone stands.
Starter who replaces someone for ineffectiveness in order. If Matusz is bad tonight he's in AAA
Eveland
Wada
Tillman
S.Johnson
Berken

Bullpen replacements, hopefully for Gregg
Neshak
Berken
Phillips
Eveland
Gonzalez

I'd expect some type of move after this road trip.

-Noland