Orioles Beat Down the Red Sox

The Orioles made the Red Sox look like a bunch of chumps last night. Well, the Red Sox are a bunch of chumps, so it had to happen, but it was nice to see anyways. There is no team I love to see my Orioles destroy more than the Boston Red Sox. That Red Sox nation is the most annoying nonsense in sports. Time for that to be nipped right about now. The final score was 7-1. That is a beatdown. Good pitching, good hitting, good everything.

The offensive charge was led by.....Mark Reynolds. Wait, is that right? I am still in disbelief. Reynolds seemed to have found his power stroke last night. If he can start doing this kind of thing about once a week, we are going to be tough to beat. I really hope he found his stroke. Reynolds hit 2 home runs last night. The two bombs brought Reynolds total up to 11 for the season. He is over 30 most seasons, so to get to that number he has to get incredibly hot. This certainly is a good start with two homers in one night though. The Orioles needed those homers as they helped the O's stay atop the wild card standings. In fact, Baltimore is tied with Tampa Bay atop the wild card standings now. No more being the second wild card. They are 6 games behind the Yankees, who they hope to catch by the end of the season.

Another big bat came from the unexpected source a couple weeks ago, but expected now. That's right, Omar Quintanilla hit another massive homer onto Eutaw Street. On the bounce, it actually hit the warehouse. This guy is a playmaker! It was Quintanilla's 3rd Oriole home run already. This guy is a keeper. DD picked him up for scraps. Great pickup DD!

Chris Davis was also 2-3 with an RBI and Matt Wieters had an RBI. These guys provided the rest of the offense, past Reynolds and Quintanilla.

The pitching staff was again terriffic. Last night's starter was the great Wei Yin Chen. Chen made a quality start and looked impressive in the process. 6 innings with only one run given up. Very impressive from Chen. This guy certainly looks to be our #1 starter in the postseason if we finish this thing and make it.

Darren O'Day was especially impressive today and continues to show how valuable he is. Not only did he extend his scoreless innings streak and look impressive, but he was absolutely dominant. O'Day struck out 3 in his innings. 3 outs all strikeouts. That is quite impressive out of the pen. O'Day now has an ERA of 2.45. This guy may be the most underrated player on the team. He has just been lights out lately. As a fan personally, I love the sidearm action. Chad Bradford was my favorite bullpen arm when he is here and O'Day is my favorite outside the big 2.

The big 2 didn't pitch yesterday, but another Duquette acquistion did. Matt Lindstrom pitched a scoreless 9th and lowered his ERA to 2.43. That Guthrie trade is looking better everyday.

JC Romero made his Oriole debut last night as well. He gave up one hit and no runs in 1 innings to finish with an ERA of 0.00. I wonder how long it will stay there. Very solid debut for Romero. Romero was brought in because Troy Patton had to go to the DL. Steve Johnson was also recalled in place of Miguel Socolovich. No word yet on when Johnson's next start will be.

-Noland

More Comparisons Between This Team & '89

The Orioles continue to do well and exceed expectations. You cannot count them out. There was another year they were expected to compete and they did that until the very last day. When that happened it was 1989 and it looks like it is happening again. Behind another amazing extra inning victory in which the Orioles won in 14 innings they shrunk the division lead to 4 1/2 games. Baltimore is now tied with Oakland for a wild card spot as well. However, nothing matches up to the 1989 team like a familiar face. One of the faces of that team, was Dave Johnson the pitcher. Yesterday, the Orioles called up Dave's son Steve to make his 1st major league start tomorrow! Now this team is really looking like 1989.

I have long been saying that Steve Johnson should join the rotation as the 5th starter. Showalter and Duquette finally agreed with me. This is very exciting to a lot of Orioles fans. Steve Johnson was not the most hyped prospect. However, he was most deserving of the opportunity, he is on normal rest, and he is a good local kid. The Orioles faithful loves Steve Johnson. I expect a hug crowd @ Camden Yards tonight.

How did Johnson finally join the rotation? Zach Britton got shelled. Britton has not been effective since his return other than the one start. Tonight, he gave up 7 runs in 5 innings to really put the Orioles in a hole. Britton's loss is Johnson's game. Because of the fact that he had to warm in the bullpen to go in, Tommy Hunter is unavailable to start tomorrow night now. Hunter looks like he would have entered in the 15th if the game had continued. Showalter said they were getting close to Chris Davis time though so maybe he was coming not far behind.

Let's start with the craziest news first and go from there. The Orioles have played in the most games this season lasting 13 innings or more. This is their 5th game past 13 and they are 5-0 in those games! Amazing. After Britton left the game, the score was 7-2. The bullpen pitched 9 scoreless innings to lead the comeback effort. 6 pitchers led to that scoreless performance. Surprisingly, Kevin Gregg was the 1st pitcher in that unit and he pitched 2 scoreless. Patton, Ayala, Strop, Lindstrom, and O'Day also pitched in the game. With O'Day picking up the win. The win moved O'Day to 6-0 on the season. Everyone besides Gregg in that groups has a sub 3 ERA. Obviously, the best one in that group is Pedro Strop @ 1.27. Strop was huge once again.

The comeback started in the 6th inning. The Orioles scored 1 in the 6th and 4 in the 7th to help push it to extras. They won the game on an Adam Jones single with the bases loaded in the 14th. The Mariners intentionally walked Davis to get to Jones. I don't know why anyone would want to pitch to Jones in a walkoff situation, but Go Mariners. I will gladly take it. Guess which Oriole scored the winning run? Omar Quintanilla.

Making the decision to walk Davis more strange was the fact that he was the only Oriole not hitting last night. Davis was 0-6 for the game. Adam Jones and Omar Quintanilla each had 2 hits in the game. Btw, if you need more reason to love Robert Andino, look at that smile in the picture above. I absolutely love the passion and fun he plays the game with.

Other key contributors last night were Markakis and Hardy. Nick Markakis was 4-7 from his leadoff spot. He is now hitting .294. JJ Hardy was 1-4, but hit a very crucial 3 run homer. It was Hardy's 16th homer of the season. Great job by JJ!

There was only one guy more impressive than Markakis, Hardy, and Jones. That man is Matt Wieters. Not only did Wieters catch 14 innings like a boss, but he played it amazingly defensively. Oh, and he hit 2 home runs! Now Wieters is up to 15 on the season. Terrific job last night by Wieters. There is a strong chance that he gets a night off or is the DH tonight.

Ok, now the other ugly part of the game. Wilson Betemit made his 15th error last night. The guy is horrible at 3rd. Just play Andino!

All that being said, WHY NOT?!?!

-Noland

Orioles 5 Yankees 4

Sometimes the best way to start off a conversation is to say the score of an important game. Well, guess what? The Orioles beat the Yankees! Go O's! Now see how it happened...

Miguel Gonzalez pitched a pretty fantastic game. Buck may have left him in too long, but Gonzo grinded it out. He gave up back to back homers in the 7th to keep the Yankees close, but he was strong through 6 2/3. Including the homers, he gave up 4 runs in those 6 2/3 innings. Not bad against the Yankees, especially considering if Buck had taken him out a little sooner it would have been 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings. Gonzo also managed to have 8 huge strikeouts. That makes 20 strikeouts by Oriole starters in 2 games. Pretty fantastic.

The bullpen was great for their 2 1/3. Perhaps the biggest strength for the Orioles this year, the bullpen came through again. Darren O'Day started the charge for the Orioles as he ended the seventh. O'Day picked up his 8th hold and lowered his ERA to 2.88. As I have said numerous times, the 8th inning is the best time for the Orioles. Our secret weapon enters the game at that time, Pedro Strop. Once again, Strop was brilliant in the 8th. Strop lowered his ERA to 1.34 and picked up his 17th hold. This guy is awesome. Then comes the 9th, which is of course, Jimmy time! Jim Johnson did not disappoint. He delivered again. Johnson is now at 31 saves on the season. He looks like he might get that record. We will see of course.

The pitching wasn't the only thing working for the O's last night. They got some key hits as well. Nick Markakis led the charge from his leadoff spot again. Markakis is hitting .364 since coming off the DL and leading off. After last night, he raised his season average to .286. I'd say Orioles MVP is between him, Jones, and Strop. I would vote Markakis, Strop, Jones personally. Why Markakis #1? He sets the tone for this team. Last night, he was 3-4. Markakis also drove in 2 and scored once. This guy makes the Orioles a much better team. Wilson Betemit also picked up multiple hits. He was 2-4 including his 12th home run of the season. Very huge game from Betemit who also scored twice.

Finally, Omar Quintanilla came through again with the bat. Quintanilla was 1-2 with an RBI and a run scored. He is doing a fantastic job getting on base and having quality at bats. Very impressed so far with this guy.

-Noland

Orioles Shut Out Braves For 2nd Straight Day

For the first time since August of 2010 the Orioles have posted back to back shut outs. You got to love quality pitching from the Orioles. The Orioles beat the Braves 2-0 due to the shutout. Tonight's brilliant pitcher was Wei Yin Chen. He went seven scoreless for the victory tonight. Chen lowered his ERA to 3.36 and picked up win #7 in the process. He now joins Hammel in the 7 win club, in fact they are the 1st Orioles teammates to record 7 wins by this point in the season since 1999. In 1999 Mussina had 8 wins at this point and wait for it...Sidney Ponson had 7 wins.

Obviously, since Chen pitched only 7 innings there were others involved in the shut out. One of those pitchers was Darren O'Day, who did not even record an out. That has got to be an interesting piece of history. The bullpen's effort was led by Jim Johnson who picked up his 20th save of the season. No way Johnson doesn't get an all-star appearance. He lowered his ERA to 1.21. The other bullpen stud also came through as Pedro Strop lowered his ERA to 1.42 and picked up his 12th hold. One other pitcher was involved in the shutout and his name was Troy Patton. Patton's ERA now sits at 3.45 as he pitched 2/3 of the 8th. Strop retired the only batter he faced.

Brian Roberts had the day off for the offense as they were pretty stagnant today. They did manage to get two runs today though. The offense was paced by Steve Pearce and Adam Jones who each scored a run. Even without Markakis and Reimold, the offense is being carried by the outfield. This Jones guy might be an all-star.

-Noland

Orioles Beat Red Sox, Roberts to Return Soon

Brian Matusz pitched perhaps his best game of the season as the Orioles beat the Red Sox 4-1 last night. Matusz improved to (4-4) behind another quality start. The guy had 9 strikeouts yesterday. When was the last time you remember Matusz having 9 strikeouts? I sure don't remember it. He only gave up 2 hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 4.86. The Orioles can win with this guy pitching this well.

 The bullpen was once again spectacular. Darren O'Day followed Matusz and pitched 2/3 of an inning. In that 2/3 of an inning, O'Day struck out both batters he faced. O'Day lowered his ERA to 1.23. Following Darren, was Pedro Strop. Strop lowered his ERA to 1.09 in a scoreless outing. The flamethrower picked up his 8th hold and got a strikeout in the process. Then, came the great Jim Johnson. Johnson recorded his 16th save with another amazing outing. The closer lowered his ERA to 0.87. He has been the leader of an absolutely amazing bullpen.

Nick Markakis was the only Oriole with multiple hits last night. The right fielder went 2 for 4 and raised his average to .264. Wilson Betemit hit a clutch 2 run home run. The homer came off of Matt Albers, and was Betemit's 7th on the year. Betemit doesn't play that often so the fact that he has 7 home runs is quite impressive. Very solid role player for the Orioles this season. Youngster Steve Tolleson had a big game himself. Tolleson was 1-3 with a homer, raising his average to .313. He also has one of the best on base percentages on the team at .353. Given it is a small sample size, but Tolleson has done a great job thus far. Speaking of high on base percentages, what about Bill Hall? Hall, entered the game as a pinch runner for Chris Davis and managed to get a hit in his only at bat. He now has an on base percentage of .545. Again, small sample size, but impressive.

More good news: B-Rob is almost back. The second baseman will begin his rehab assignment with Bowie tonight. He hasn't played since May 16, 2011 and is anxiously waiting a return. Position players get a maximum 20 days on a rehab assignment, and B-Rob is expected to take the full 20 days. After 20 days, the Orioles will have to make a decision on their roster. The clock on those 20 days starts today with Roberts first game. Roberts will play 2nd base at Bowie. I really wish Roberts all of the best.

-Noland

Orioles Beat Nationals

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Washington Nationals last night in game one of the beltway series. The Orioles were lead by a tremendous pitching effort as they gave up only one run in 11 innings. Jake Arrieta had his best start in a while as he only gave up 1 run over 7. Arrieta keeps the quality start streak going for the O's. If they can have quality starts every game, they will win the overwhelming majority of them.

The bullpen was absolutely flawless. Darren O'Day went 1 1/3 innings and was perfect as he didn't allow a baserunner. O'Day now has an ERA of 1.37. Troy Patton finished an inning going 2/3 of an inning and was also perfect. Then came Kevin Gregg...Gregg pitched a perfect inning as well. He lowered his ERA to 3.46 and has been perfect for several outings in a row now. What happened here? Kevin Gregg also won the game and now has 2 victories on the year. You know what they say, "every game there's a different star that's the magic of Orioles baseball." Finally, Pedro Strop came in for the final inning and picked up his 3rd save of the season. Strop did give up a hit, but it didn't matter as he preserved the 2-1 victory.

The offense came through for the birds also. Nick Markakis had one of his best games of the year as he had two extra base hits. Markakis had his 9th double of the season and his 7th home run. His power numbers have definitely come up, although his average has dipped. He now is hitting .258 for the season when he is usually around .300. This guy still has plenty of time to bring it up though. The other Oriole outfielders both had 2 hits. Xavier Avery went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. This guy continues to impress. Avery is now hitting .280. Adam Jones went 2 for 5 with an RBI. Game 2 will feature

-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

Jason Hammel Picks Up 4th Win

Jason Hammel was fantastic again as the Orioles beat the Red Sox this afternoon. Hammel won his 4th start out of 5 and now has an ERA of 2.09. The starter picked up 8 more strikeouts this afternoon. This guy has to be the most pleasant surprise of the year thus far.

Hammel was not the only pitcher throwing bullets today. The other pitchers did not give up a single run. Even Kevin Gregg pitched well today. Gregg threw a scoreless inning (trade him quick). Darren O'Day didn't give up a run once again and now has an ERA of .68. Matt Lindstrom only pitched 1/3 of an inning, but he didn't give up anything. Lindstrom still hasn't given up a run on the season.

The Orioles' hitters also had a big day. Baltimore had 7 runs in the 3rd inning and 8 for the game. That 3rd inning explosion allowed Hammel to pitch with a huge lead. The explosion was led in part by Adam Jones who continues to dominate offensively. Jones had his 7th home run of the season and 2 RBIs. Wilson Betemit did amazing again as DH and went 2 for 3. I really like this pickup that the Orioles had in the off-season. Chris Davis again had multiple hits and is now hitting .326. Mark Reynolds had his second homer tonight and multiple hits today. Reynolds finished with 3 RBIs today and certainly increased his trade value.

Great job all around by the birds.

-Noland

Orioles Finally Beat Yankees

Not only did the Orioles beat the Yankees, but Nick Johnson finally got a hit and Brian Matusz was pitching for the O's. We can only hope that Matusz is back on the right track and this will continue. Back to back good starts from Matusz is certainly an encouraging sign. He went 6 1/3 today and I am thrilled with how he shut down the Yankee lineup.

The offense was paced by Chris Davis. Davis went 3 for 4 raising his average to .333. The first baseman also scored three runs and hit his 5th home run on the year. Chris Davis is off to an amazing smart and is making the Koji trade look better by the day.

Nick Markakis was 2 for 5 and appears to be breaking out of his slump. If we can get Markakis going this is going to be a fantastic season.

Robert Andino was 1 for 2 and is still hitting over .300. Andino's average sits at .316. He also walked twice and scored a run. Once again, the guy is a gamer. Do you remember how we got Andino? Hayden Penn ring a bell? If it doesn't check out the picture on the left. This is looking like one of the best trades in recent club history. If not the best trade in recent history.

O'Day and Ayala were amazing again in relief. Neither reliever gave up a run. I sure am liking this bullpen other than Gregg. It sure is nice to see Orioles 7, Yankees 1 after the game. Maybe the O's can do this again tomorrow night.

-Noland

Orioles Beat Blue Jays, AGAIN!

The Toronto Blue Jays have not fared well against the Orioles this season. Baltimore did another fantastic job last night beating the Jays 5-2. Reimold returned to the lineup and Matusz finally had a solid start.

Nolan Reimold went 1 for 5 in his return and is now hitting .353. Nick Markakis went 3 for 4 and really played a terrific all around game. Markakis also scored a run. Adam Jones finished off the solid night for the outfield with a home run in a 2 for 4 performance from him. Jones is now hitting .316. Chris Davis also went 1 for 3 as he added to his home run total. The story was not the bats though, it was the pitching.

Brian Matusz got his first quality start of the season. Matusz went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs. He actually gave the Orioles a chance to win. While he did not get the win, You could say that he deserved a win and say it with a straight face. Neither of the runs Matusz gave up were earned and one of them came because of a really bad play by Nick Johnson.

Darren O'Day picked up the win for the Orioles moving to 2-0 on the season. O'Day has been a terrific pickup for the Orioles and lowered his ERA to 0.90. Luis Ayala was not to be outdone as he picked up the save and continues his solid pitching. Ayala has an ERA of 0.00. Hopefully the bullpen keeps it up because this is fantastic.

More good news comes in the form of Jim Johnson and Robert Andino. Andino is expected back today and Johnson shortly thereafter. The corresponding roster move is not necessarily Jason Berken going back to Norfolk, it could be a DL move for Kevin Gregg. Who wouldn't love that?

Nick Johnson continues to disappoint for the Orioles. The critical error last night and another 0 for 3 performance. Johnson and Gregg are really holding this team back right now. If they continue to be dead weight, this can't go on much longer.

-Noland

Showalter Ejected, but O's Win

Buck Showalter was ejected in the 6th inning and the Orioles responded with a win. The birds won in the 10th inning following the ejection. Guess why Showalter was ejected? He was ejected protecting Nick Markakis who was upset with a strike call. How does Markakis respond? The right fielder ended his RBI drought and got all three Oriole RBIs for the game. That'll do, that'll do. Nick Markakis is up to 8 RBIs on the young season.

Wei Yei Chen was brillant on the bump today for the O's, but ended up with a no decision. Chen gave up 1 run in 6 1/3 innings. Only giving up one run in six innings to that lineup is a job well done. Darren O'Day had another great outing and is looking like a better pickup by the day. O'Day lowered his ERA to 1.17 today, not bad for a guy we got for free.

The amazing pitching didn't end with Chen and O'Day either. After Strop gave up a run, Jim Johnson came in and did what Jim Johnson does. Johnson saved his seventh game. He is now 7 for 7 on save attempts. If he keeps this up the O's will have multiple all-stars for the first time in a long time.

There are a few more interesting notes from this game. Nolan Reimold had to sit out again with neck spasms. Endy Chavez had his best game of the young season today and scored a key run while playing fantastic defense in Reimold's place. Check out Roch's piece on Chavez. Ronny Paulino got the start for Wieters as the best catcher in baseball got the day off, or so we thought. Wieters pinch hit for Paulino and got a key hit at a crucial time in the game. Robert Andino also had another fantastic game, going 2 for 3 and scoring 2 runs. One of the runs Andino scored was the winning run and he is now hitting .316. Time to smile O's fans.

-Noland