Showalter speaks after 6-4 win

Showalter speaks after 6-4 win
The Orioles have won all three games while playing with a 24-man roster following third baseman Manny Machado's suspension. A win Thursday would give the Orioles their first four-game sweep of the Rangers at Camden Yards since 2004. Manager Buck Showalter knew he'd need contributions from everyone this season, and not only with Machado off the roster. Ryan Flaherty stepped up tonight with a tie-breaking home run in the seventh and several good plays at third base. "We talked about how we...

Patience pays off for Orioles, Flaherty homer gives them lead (O's win 6-4)

Patience pays off for Orioles, Flaherty homer gives them lead (O's win 6-4)
Ryan Flaherty led off the bottom of the seventh inning tonight by homering to right field off Rangers left-hander Neal Cotts and giving the Orioles a 5-4 lead at Camden Yards. Flaherty has four home runs this season, including one on Sunday. They've all come at home. The Orioles finally got rid of Rangers starter Miles Mikolas in the sixth inning, and they did it by keeping the bat on their shoulder while plate umpire Toby Basner tried to figure out the strike zone. Mikolas, in his first...

Game update and notes on Norris and Yoon (Jones homers, Tillman done)

Game update and notes on Norris and Yoon (Jones homers, Tillman done)
Chris Tillman gave up three singles in the top of the first inning tonight, the last by Alex Rios that scored Shin-Soo Choo and gave Texas a 1-0 lead at steamy Camden Yards. It's 87 degrees here, but it's a wet heat. None of the balls were hit particularly hard, but they counted just the same. Tillman has allowed 16 runs in the first inning this season. He retired the Rangers in order in the second to leave his pitch count at 25. Making his first major league start, Miles Mikolas retired...

More notes and Showalter on Norris and Davis (not the radio tandem)

More notes and Showalter on Norris and Davis (not the radio tandem)
With a win tonight, the Orioles would move six games over .500 to match their season-high from May 10, when they were 20-14. They also would move above .500 at home for the first time since being 9-8 on May 12. Steve Pearce has hit three home runs in his last two games. He's never homered in three consecutive games. Pearce has collected 10 homers in 46 games and 150 at-bats. He needed 192 games and 488 at-bats to hit his first 10 in the majors. The Orioles have hit multiple home runs in...

Davis on his slump and the nightly shifts

Davis on his slump and the nightly shifts
Bud Norris threw his bullpen session today at Camden Yards and manager Buck Showalter said he should have an update later today. Norris is eligible to come off the disabled list on Monday. Showalter indicated that the right-hander would need to pitch in a rehab or simulated game before the club activated him. Norris won't go directly from a side session to the Orioles rotation. First baseman Chris Davis took some swings off a tee while Showalter and hitting coach Jim Presley offered...

Orioles lineup vs. Rangers

Orioles lineup vs. Rangers
Ryan Flaherty remains at third base tonight and Chris Davis stays at first, as the Orioles try to improve to 3-0 during Manny Machado's suspension and guarantee a series win against the Rangers at Camden Yards. Davis is batting .205/.324/.402 with nine doubles, 13 homers, 41 RBIs, 39 walks and 87 strikeouts in 68 games. He's hitless in his last 19 at-bats, 7-for-62 in 18 games and 10-for-80 in 23 games. In 27 games in June, Davis was 17-for-97 (.175) with two doubles, six homers, 16 RBIs, 16...

Tillman vs. Mikolas tonight at Camden Yards

Tillman vs. Mikolas tonight at Camden Yards
The Orioles have won the first two games of their series against the Rangers, and they're scheduled to face a pitcher tonight who's making his first major league start. Heck, T.J. McFarland already had one before last night. He's a seasoned pro by comparison. Miles Mikolas, brought up yesterday after left-hander Joe Saunders was designated for assignment, is the 11th different Texas pitcher to start this season - the most in the American League and one behind the Rockies. Mikolas, 25, is 3-1...

More on McFarland, monthly stats, All-Star guesses and a few notes

More on McFarland, monthly stats, All-Star guesses and a few notes
To the fans who kept asking why Orioles manager Buck Showalter chose the "awful" T.J. McFarland to start last night, I'll challenge them to look up his June stats - since the ones I posted apparently went ignored - and to come up with a better solution at Triple-A Norfolk. McFarland was fortunate to surrender only two runs, but the bottom line is he gave Showalter five much-needed innings and left with an 8-2 lead. He induced ground balls, as Showalter anticipated when he put Ryan Flaherty...

Showalter on McFarland and an 8-3 victory

Showalter on McFarland and an 8-3 victory
Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn't ready to name a starter for Sunday. He's only willing to include T.J. McFarland in the mix. It's a small mix. McFarland or Kevin Gausman. McFarland stated his case tonight by allowing two runs over five innings in the Orioles' 8-3 win over the Rangers at Camden Yards. "He pitched as well as we thought he could," Showalter said. "One of the reasons why we wanted to be as good as we could in the infield was because we felt like if he's doing well,...

McFarland gives Orioles five innings (O's win 8-3)

McFarland gives Orioles five innings (O's win 8-3)
Orioles manager Buck Showalter would have signed up for it in blood. Left-hander T.J. McFarland, pulled from the bullpen tonight to make his second major league start, lasted five innings and gave up two runs. Showalter didn't call upon his first reliever until Ryan Webb headed to the mound in the top of the sixth. McFarland had one clean inning, retiring the Rangers in order in the fourth on two strikeouts and a ground ball. Texas was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and failed to...

Pearce, Cruz turn on power again in first (Joseph homers, O's lead 8-2)

Pearce, Cruz turn on power again in first (Joseph homers, O's lead 8-2)
For the second night in a row, the Orioles have hit two home runs in the bottom of the first inning. They led the majors with 46 homers in June and they've already got two on the first night in July. Steve Pearce homered twice last night and he hit No. 10 tonight in his first career at-bat against Texas right-hander Nick Martinez. Nelson Cruz launched a ball into the Orioles' bullpen with two outs to increase the lead to 2-0 and tie him with White Sox rookie Jose Abreu for the major league...

Orioles DFA Reimold

Orioles DFA Reimold
The Orioles made the expected move this afternoon, reinstating outfielder Nolan Reimold from the 60-day disabled list and designating him for assignment. The Orioles now have 10 days to trade, release or waive Reimold. Should Reimold pass through waivers, which isn't expected to happen, he would have to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. Reimold, 30, was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26, following corrective surgery to fuse to vertebrae in his neck....

Gausman starting Wednesday at Aberdeen

Gausman starting Wednesday at Aberdeen
Right-hander Kevin Gausman is scheduled to start Wednesday night at short-season Single-A Aberdeen, where he threw in the bullpen yesterday. Gausman will face Staton Island, with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. The Orioles wanted to keep Gausman on a normal turn and will limit his innings and pitches to make him a candidate for Sunday's start in Boston. T.J. McFarland, who starts tonight, also is a candidate. For now, the rotation lines up as Chris Tillman Wednesday, Wei-Yin Chen Thursday,...

Flaherty at third base tonight

Flaherty at third base tonight
Ryan Flaherty gets the start at third base tonight for the Orioles, with Chris Davis returning to first. Steve Pearce is in left field and batting second. That's the norm these days. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Steve Pearce LF Adam Jones CF Nelson Cruz DH Chris Davis 1B J.J. Hardy SS Jonathan Schoop 2B Ryan Flaherty 3B Caleb Joseph C T.J. McFarland LHP For the Rangers Shin-Soo Choo LF Elvis Andrus SS Alex Rios RF Adrian Beltre 3B Robinson Chirinos C Chris Gimenez 1B Adam Rosales...

Almanzar returned to Red Sox

Almanzar returned to Red Sox
It took almost seven months before the Orioles surrendered their pick from the 2013 Rule 5 draft. The Orioles returned infielder Michael Almanzar to the Red Sox today. Both teams confirmed the transaction on Twitter. Almanzar, 23, joined the organization during the Winter Meetings on Dec. 12. The Orioles placed him on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 23, with left patellar tendinitis and transferred him to the 60-day DL on June 6. Yesterday, the Orioles announced that they...

McFarland making second major league start tonight

McFarland making second major league start tonight
One day after Orioles manager Buck Showalter gave Chris Davis the start at third base, he's turning reliever T.J. McFarland into a starter against the Rangers. How far does Showalter want to carry this theme? He could give a player a different assignment every game. Who wouldn't want to see Adam Jones at shortstop, where he played 275 games in the minors? Or Nick Markakis take the mound, since he used to pitch? Showalter won't go to those extremes. The Orioles needed a starter tonight...

Showalter on Jimenez and a 7-1 win

Showalter on Jimenez and a 7-1 win
Orioles manager Buck Showalter confirmed tonight that left-hander T.J. McFarland will start Tuesday night's game against the Rangers at Camden Yards. Talk about having a tough act to follow. (And talk about a tired cliche.) Ubaldo Jimenez held the Rangers to an unearned run over a season-high eight innings in a 7-1 win over the Rangers - his first victory at Camden Yards this season. "He's had some good ones this year," Showalter said. "It's that time of year as far as track record and...

Home finally sweet for Jimenez (O's win 7-1)

Home finally sweet for Jimenez (O's win 7-1)
Ubaldo Jimenez has a legitimate chance to finally win a game this season at Camden Yards. Jimenez was 0-6 with a 6.28 ERA at home before taking the mound tonight against the Rangers. The Orioles hadn't scored more than two runs while he was still in the game. They were blanked in his last four outings and five of six while he was pitching. They weren't trying to diss him. It just kept working out that way. Jimenez had completed seven innings only twice this season, most recently May 13...

Pearce, Hardy and Jones muscle up (Pearce homers again, O's lead 7-1)

Pearce, Hardy and Jones muscle up (Pearce homers again, O's lead 7-1)
Former Rangers are hitless in three at-bats tonight against left-hander Joe Saunders, with Nelson Cruz grounding out twice and Chris Davis striking out. If only Saunders could face seven more of them. Steve Pearce hit a long two-run homer before Cruz's grounder in the first inning, and Adam Jones homered before Davis struck out. The Orioles led 3-0 only four batters into the game. J.J. Hardy led off the second inning with his second home run of the season. The Orioles led 4-0 only seven...

Orioles select contract of Ramon Ramirez

Orioles select contract of Ramon Ramirez
The Orioles brought up a fresh arm for their bullpen today, purchasing the contract of reliever Ramon Ramirez from Triple-A Norfolk and optioning Evan Meek. The move leaves the Orioles' with the same number of relievers, but Meek threw 24 pitches yesterday and was charged with four runs in one inning. Ramirez tossed two innings Saturday for the Tides and is available tonight. He's also on a roll. Ramirez, 32, has registered eight scoreless innings for Norfolk in five relief appearances...