The Baltimore Orioles got back into the win column as they defeated the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night, 4-1.
Well, the game was impressive as I attended in person and got to see a win. It was a glorious night to catch a ballgame, and the rain was nowhere to be found.
The big news of today out of Birdland was that Brian Roberts – yes, the second baseman – will start a rehab assignment in Bowie starting on Wednesday according to Britt Ghiroli from the Orioles.com website.
I’ll have more in the morning, and I’m spilt on his potential comeback and how it will affect the team. I’m happy for him and glad to see him back playing competitive baseball.
He has been looking good out on the field – at least from what I’ve seen on tape – and perhaps the worst with the concussion issues are over.
He has worked hard to come back, and we should be commending him. Obviously, Roberts has been through a lot. Who knows how long it will take for him to get to the majors and what Roberts’ role will be. Perhaps for a change, he will be on a contender this year and serve as a spark plug for the Birds.
Moving on…
Brian Matusz – who has been through times of trouble until the last month – won again as he perhaps pitched his best game of the year, going 6 1/3 innings and giving up only one run.
Matusz threw well on the night, and he looked like the pitcher we saw at the end of the 2010. He was dealing to the powerful Red Sox lineup, and his only real mistake came in the fourth inning as Kevin Youkilis took him deep with a solo home run.
Other than that, he looked like an ace on the mound. His night was devoid of any real critical issues, and Matusz left to a wonderful ovation by the Camden Yards faithful. He has won four out of his last five starts, and his record is now 4-4.
Felix Doubront took the loss. He pitched well, but gave up two runs in six innings.
He got all the help that was needed in the second inning as Steve Tolleson hit a two-run homer that ended up in the Baltimore bullpen. Tolleson’s homer was the first in his major league career, plus he played a terrific third base, making quite a few plays in the field.
Baltimore added two big insurance runs in the eighth inning as Wilson Betemit homered for the sixth time this season, taking reliever – and former Oriole – Matt Albers deep.
His homer was a two-run shot.
Jim Johnson got his 16th save and the bullpen did their job again, tossing 2 /3 scoreless innings. The Orioles are now 28-16 and still lead the division by two games over Tampa. The announced attendance was 25,171.
Matt Wieters has undoubtedly been scuffling at the plate, and was 0-for-3 on the night. Perhaps he is tired already; however, I just think he is going through a bad slump. He has been golden behind the plate, but the Orioles need his bat to heat up. His average has dipped down to .240.
Adam Jones went 1-for-3 and his hitting streak is now at 14 consecutive games.
no commentsFrom the good folks at the Baltimore Orioles...
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Orioles to host Military Appreciation Day Sunday; Will wear camo script jerseys to be auctioned
The Orioles will host a special Military Appreciation day on Sunday, May 27 for their game against the Kansas City Royals. All Orioles uniformed personnel will wear special jerseys with the Orioles script in camouflage and numbers and names in dark green. The game-worn jerseys will be autographed, authenticated and auctioned off at www.orioles.com/military to benefit the Fort Meade Alliance's Foundation. The Fort Meade Alliance is an independent community organization designed to promote the well being of the region. The alliance's foundation is undertaking a fundraising effort to support resiliency programs for military, civilians, and their families at Ft. Meade. The online auction will begin on Sunday, May 27 at noon and will conclude Sunday, June 3 at 11:59 p.m.
The Orioles will also welcome the US Army Drill Team from the 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) stationed at Ft. Myer, VA to perform prior to Sunday's 1:35 p.m. game. The team has earned international acclaim for their routines with bayonet-tipped 1903 Springfield rifles.
In addition to the Drill Team, pre-game ceremonies include a ceremonial first pitch by Col. Edward Rothstein, the Ft. Meade Garrison Commander, Staff Sgt. Randy Wight with the US Army Field Band will sing the National Anthem, and the Color Guard will be the Armed Forces Color Guard from the Military District of Washington. During the National Anthem, nine service members will each take the field with a player.
As part of Military Appreciation Day the Orioles have donated over 1,000 tickets to service members and their families from Ft. Meade. The Orioles will also continue the Military Sunday Suite program presented by Geico in which service members will enjoy a complimentary catered suite, meet with MATT WIETERS prior to the game and receive an Under Armour Wieters t-shirt.
Finally, on Sunday, the first 10,000 fans 15 and over will receive an Orioles camouflage script t-shirt. Fans are encouraged to buy tickets in advance and arrive early to the ballpark.
AT THE BALLPARK
SAVES FOR SHOCK TRAUMA
UMMS will team up again this year with Kelly and Associates Insurance Group and KTBS Payroll to donate $1,000 to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center for each Orioles save during the 2012 season. Last year, over $32,000 was donated to the center. Since 1996 Kelly and Associates Insurance Group and KTBS Payroll have donated over $650,000 to the Shock Trauma Center through the Saves for Shock Trauma program. On Sunday, May 27, the Orioles will recognize these efforts with a pre-game ceremony that includes Karen Doyle, Vice President of Nursing and Operations for the University of Maryland, Senator Frank Kelly and Eyasu Kelly who represent KTBS Payroll & Kelly and Associates Insurance Group and a member of the Orioles bullpen.
FIELD TRIP DAY
On Wednesday, May 23, OriolesREACH, in partnership with MASN and WJZ-TV, will host the fifth annual Field Trip Day before the Orioles play the Boston Red Sox at 12:35 p.m. More than 6,400 students from local schools will be at Camden Yards to learn about the weather from WJZ TV'S First Warning Weather Team of Bob Turk, Bernadette Woods and Tim Williams. Orioles Head Groundskeeper Nicole Sherry and Chris Strong from the National Weather Service will speak to the students as well.
LITTLE LEAGUE DAY
On Sunday, May 27, the Orioles will host their second Little League Day at Camden Yards. Over 6,000 pre-registered youth baseball participants will take part in a pre-game parade around the warning track and meet Orioles players as they walk by the dugout. Teams dressed in their uniforms will carry banners and wave to their family members as they round the field. The parade begins at 11:30 a.m., with first pitch against the Kansas City Royals set for 1:35 p.m.
STEAL SECOND BASE PRESENTED BY ESSKAY
The Orioles will again feature the Steal Second Base contest for every Sunday home game this season. Presented by ESSKAY, the Steal Second Base contest allows a young fan to participate in a timed race from the grounds crew area in center field to retrieve second base. Fans can sign up for the opportunity at the ballpark at any Fan Assistance Center. The lucky winner will receive four tickets to that day's game, gift certificates to use inside the park, an Orioles jersey and an Orioles prize pack. This year, for the first time, the contestants will also get to keep the authentic base that they steal. This Sunday's winner is Grayson Rist, a 12-year old from Baltimore, MD.
ORIOLES REACH COMMUNITY BOOTH
During each home game the Orioles provide a community booth for charitable, non-profit organizations to distribute information, sell raffle tickets, register participants or conduct health care screenings for Orioles fans. The following groups will be at the community booth, located near Gate D, during this homestand:
DATE ORGANIZATION
Mon, May 21 Babe Ruth Museum
Tue, May 22 Girl Scouts of Central MD
Wed, May 23 Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation
Fri, May 25 Pets with Disabilities
Sat, May 26 American Legion Auxiliary, Department of MD
Sun, May 27 Oriole Advocates
ORIOLES REACH GAMEDAY EXPERIENCE PROGRAM
This season, OriolesREACH will again host thousands of underprivileged youth as part of the OriolesREACH Gameday Experience Program. Group members receive game tickets, concessions vouchers, an Orioles t-shirt, a cap and transportation to and from the game. Tickets are provided courtesy of Orioles players. Players participating in the program this year include ROBERT ANDINO, JAKE ARRIETA, WILSON BETEMIT, WEI-YIN CHEN, KEVIN GREGG, JJ HARDY, TOMMY HUNTER, ADAM JONES, NICK MARKAKIS, and BRIAN MATUSZ. The following organizations will attend games at Oriole Park during this homestand, courtesy of these Orioles players:
DATE ORGANIZATION SIZE PLAYER SPONSOR
Mon, May 21 Charlesmont Elementary School 150 J.J. Hardy
Tue, May 22 Logan Elementary 150 Tommy Hunter
Wed, May 23 Academy for Career and College Exploration 150 Nick Markakis
Fri, May 25 O'Donnell Height Tenant Council Inc. 150 Brian Matusz
Sat, May 26 Sara Roach Elementary 150 Adam Jones
Sun, May 27 Cooper Lane Elementary School 150 J.J. Hardy
GIVEAWAYS AND TICKET OFFERS
DATE ITEM/OFFER SPONSOR ELIGIBILITY
Tue, May 22 Ollie's Bargain Night Ollie's Bargain Outlet All Upper Reserve seats are $9
Wed, May 23 Field Trip Day MASN & WJZ-TV Pre-registered school groups
Fri, May 25 AT&T Student Night AT&T Upper Reserve seats $6 for students with valid school ID
Fireworks Night All fans (post-game)
Sat, May 26 2110 Eutaw Street Southwest Airlines Pre-registered fans
Sun, May 27 Orioles Camouflage Script T-shirt First 10,000 fans (15 and over)
Little League Day #2 Pre-registered little leaguers
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I wrote this last week for MASNSports.com...
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The Orioles 
are fast approaching the quarter-pole of the 2012 season, and I'm sure many fans are asking themselves these questions:
Are the Orioles for real? Can they keep this up? Or are they pulling the wool over our eyes, and will the team that we've seen for the last 14 years make an appearance?
Right now, I'd say they are for real. I am still having a hard time believing it.
The Orioles are winning games that would not have won in the past, plus they are getting excellent starting pitching, timely clutch hitting and the bullpen has been phenomenal.
They sit at 24-14 as of this morning and tied for first place with the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.
However, it does not seem that fans have turned out Camden Yards in large numbers at all.
Why?
I went to the Yankees-Orioles game Tuesday night with a co-worker, a buddy and some of his friends. My co-worker is a Yankees fan and it made for some interesting conversation during the evening. Although the forecast for that day was for rain to appear off and on in the area with thunderstorms, at game time, the weather was nothing short of wonderful. There were blue skies with some clouds in the air, and the temperature was in the high-70s. Alas, it seemed as if only half the ballpark was filled.
It was surprising for my co-worker to see and he was completely dumfounded. Granted, it was only his second game ever at Camden Yards and he is a transplant from northern New Jersey.
He said, "The Orioles are off to a hot start and they are beating up on everyone. Your park is beautiful, you all have great pitching, you're winning. It's a lovely night, but where the hell is everybody?"
I remarked, "Well, I don't know. Yeah, it is a nice night out, but I think fans are still wondering about the team. Honestly, they have sucked for so long that it's a wait-and-see mode for many people. They have given us very little to cheer about. Why should fans put their financial and emotional investment into something, if there's been little reward since Clinton was president. If the Orioles are in it - in the wild card, or divisional hunt - after late June or July, then the fans will start to come back in numbers."
no commentsWell, the Orioles had to lose sometime, and it happened on Sunday as they lost to the Washington Nationals, 9-3, on Sunday afternoon. The Nationals salvaged a game in the regional rivalry and avoided a sweep in front of a bipartisan crowd of under 42,000 at Nationals Park.
It was yet another beautiful day, but not so for the Orioles.
The Orioles saw their nine-game road win streak come to end. They saw their five game win streak also cease. Sadly, Baltimore pitching could not save the day, nor could Jones, Markakis, Hardy and company spur the offense. Their record is now 27-15, and they still hold a two-game lead in the American League East.
If there were any positives on Sunday for Baltimore, Xavier Avery and Chris Davis had two hits.
Overall, the Battle of the Beltway series has given a boon to Orioles fans, as they are still enjoying the team’s remarkable run.
It is good to see both the Orioles and Nationals contending at the top of their divisions and will hopefully bring a buzz to the region as summer heats up. The two teams will meet up again at Camden Yards in June.
Despite building an early 3-0 lead, the Orioles could not hold it, as pitcher Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals offense ended their five-game win streak. Wei-Yin Chen lost his first game as an Oriole -- and in the majors -- as he got hit hard on Sunday. In the end, he gave up six runs in only 4 1/3 innings of work. Chen clearly struggled with his pin-point locations that we as fans have grown accustomed to seeing. The Nationals made him pay for it – dearly.
The Orioles got three quick runs off Strasburg early, scoring once in the first inning off a Nick Markakis single. They added two more in the second inning as Robert Andino plated in a run with a groundout, and Xavier Avery had an RBI-single. Baltimore was aided by a whopping Bryce Harper error in left-center field; however, the offense for the Birds would die after that as Strasburg got into a groove and did not relent.
Chen was rolling until the third inning, as he gave up three runs as Bryce Harper had a two-run triple and Ian Desmond plated Harper with a groundout. Nick Markakis nearly had a highlight reel moment as he nearly caught Harper’s drive to right; however, as he dove on the warning track, the ball popped out of his glove and Harper was off to the races.
With the score tied at three in the fourth inning, it got worse for Baltimore. Chen would give up back to back homers to Jesus Flores and Strasburg – yes; plus, he allowed another run to the Nationals in the fifth inning after Desmond’s RBI-single. After that, Chen was pulled from the game and Darren O’Day stopped the bleeding for 1 2/3 innings.
The Nationals poured it on again at the plate as Dana Eveland – in mop-up duty – allowed three runs in the eighth as he served up a two-run homer to Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche plated in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Overall, Strasburg only pitched five innings, but struck out eight Orioles, but left to due biceps tightness according to ESPN; overall, Nationals pitching stuck out thirteen Orioles. Xavier Avery, Adam Jones, Wilson Betemit and Wei-Yin Chen struck out twice. Matt Wieters had the day off, and is mired in an 0-for-18 slump.
no commentsFor the second straight game, the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Washington Nationals in another close game, this time, 6-5.
They are now 27-14, and lead the American League East still by two games. There was another huge crowd for the game in Washington - well over 42,000 - and one has to think if both teams can stay the their respective divisional races, this area could be a hot bed of baseball. The Orioles have taken the first two games in the first go-round of 2012's 'Battle of the Beltways'.
The duo of Adam Jones and Nick Markakis each hit two-run homers - in the third, and fifth respectively - to help the Orioles win their fourth straight in a row, and ninth on the road. Robertt Andino has a two run-double in the second inning; however, the Baltimore offense didn't do much after the fifth inning.
Jones is on another level now and I don't know what to say or think. You saw flashes of brilliance during his first four years, but now he's putting it all together. He is a huge part of this team, obviously, and it looks like that he can carry the team on his shoulders if needed. Josh Hamilton seems to have gotten all the attention this month, but the national media should perhaps focus their glare on Jones now. Plus, it is good to see Nick Markakis coming around and getting his power stroke back.
They sent Washington starter Ross Detwiler to the showers early, as he gave up six runs in five innings. His reaction to Markakis' homer - if you can find it on tape - is priceless. He would take the loss.
The Orioles’ Jason Hammel allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings to earn the win.
Hammel stymied Washington until the fifth inning as Steve Lombardozzi’s RBI-single gave them their first run on the game. They would score three more in the sixth inning to come within two of Baltimore’s lead, 6-4, as Rick Ankiel plated in a run with an RBI-single, and then Carlos Maldonado drove in another run with a groundout. Roger Bernadina followed up with a single to plate Maldonado.
The Nationals added some more intrigue towards the end of the game. Ryan Zimmerman’s solo two-out home run - his second of 2012 - in the bottom of ninth off Baltimore closer Jim Johnson sent the ballpark into frenzy. That brought Washington within one run of tying the contest, 6-5; however, Adam LaRoche was retired on strikes and the game ended.
Johnson would get the save, as dramatic as the final frame turned out to be. It was his 15th save of the season.
Where I was sitting - in right field with my youngest brother and his girlfriend - it was a fair mix of both Nationals and Orioles fans. In the ninth inning, however, we were kind of nervous seeing Johnson serve up the home run to Ryan Zimmerman, but the game eventually ended. It was an ungodly beautiful night for baseball, almost perfect, and it is surreal to see the Orioles winning as they are. Every fan I spoke to who rooted for the Orioles are happy to see them doing well, but are cautiously optimistic.
There were no delusional fans I chatted with hoping to reserve playoff tickets right now; however, if the Orioles can stick around the divisional lead and avoid a swoon, things will change for sure. We all remember 2005, but things are very much different now.
Today's game is a must-see, as Wei-Yin Chen tries to stay undefeated as the Orioles face young uber-ace Stephen Strasburg for the first time.
no commentsWow.
The Baltimore Orioles continue to amaze, and they emerged victorious against the Washington Nationals, 2-1, in eleven innings on Friday night.
With the game tied at one, Nick Markakis’ solo homer in the 11th inning off reliever Ryan Mattheus made the difference for the Birds.
They are now 26-14 and lead the American League East by two full games. Kevin Gregg earned win by pitching a scoreless 10th inning, and Pedro Strop earned the save, his third of the season. Amazingly, he has pitched very, very well as of late. I'm sure a lot of people were averting their eyes when Gregg was on the mound, but aside from plunking a guy, he was very effective on Sunday. I think he has pitched seven scoreless innings so far, and has found a role again when it is a tight game.
Once again, this team found a way to win a game that they would have possibly lost in the past.
The Orioles could found themselves losing to the Nationals in the final innings; however, impressive double plays in 10 and 11th, helped greatly – especially Chris Davis starting an impressive 3-6-3 double in the deciding frame.
If fans expected a pitching duel, they got one on Friday night as Washington’s Jake Arrieta and Baltimore’s Jake Arrieta put on a show.
Baltimore scored their first run of the game off Washington starter Edwin Jackson off an Adam Jones RBI-infield single – which went off the mound and Jackson’s foot – that plated Xavier Avery.
However, after that, Jackson dominated the Orioles. He went eight innings and allowed only a run.
For Baltimore, Jake Arrieta was straight up dealing as well, going seven innings and too only allowing a run. He struck out nine, and looked flat-out like an ace.
His only mistake came in the sixth inning as he gave up a home run to Ian Desmond. It was the sixth of the season.
He looked much better on Friday night than in his previous outing. Arrieta kept his team in the game, and the bullpen – Darren O’Day, Troy Patton, Gregg and Strop – handled the rest like they pretty much have the entire season.
The Orioles once again played an extra-inning game, and came back. They have won four in a row, and eight straight road games. I don’t know how much longer the winning can be sustained, but the Orioles – much like in the days of Earl Weaver – are relying on pitching, defense, and the homer (ok, not the three-run).
Adam Jones has a ten-game hit streak, Xavier Avery continues to impress – he had two hits, and Nick Markakis has continued his strong week with two more hits.
I went out to the game in Washington, and their park was pretty much filled with a bi-partisan crowd. It seemed everywhere I went, there were Oriole fans everywhere with black and orange on.
They are winning the close games and getting the clutch hits. Watching the Orioles so far has been a joy; let’s hope the good times continue to roll.
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