The Orioles made two moves this afternoon that kept their 40-man roster at 36 players. Pitcher Alex Cobb has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and pitcher Gabriel Ynoa became a free agent after clearing waivers. Cobb is recovering from hip and knee surgeries in Tennessee. He's expected to be ready for spring training. Unable to pitch on opening day due to a strained groin muscle, Cobb lasted only three starts during April before again landing on the injured list with a lumbar...

The Orioles are continuing to clear space on their 40-man roster for future moves. Outfielder Mason Williams was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk after clearing waivers and declined the assignment, electing free agency rather than staying in the organization. He could be re-signed later in the winter, but will explore other opportunities. Williams already was eligible to become a minor league free agent if he hadn't been placed on the 25-man roster. The outright assignment was listed yesterday...

The Orioles have reduced their 40-man roster to 38 players while making a waiver claim and outrighting four pitchers to Triple-A Norfolk. Much more activity will follow as the season concludes tonight with Game 7 of the World Series. Infielder Pat Valaika has been selected from the Rockies, who chose him in the ninth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of UCLA. He plays every infield position, mostly in the middle, and has some experience in left field. Right-handers Luis Ortiz, Ryan...

TORONTO - A marathon game that featured 21 runs, 29 hits, 10 homers and 20 pitchers finally ended early Tuesday morning at Toronto. Anthony Alford hit a walk-off homer with two outs in the last of the 15th as Toronto beat the Orioles 11-10. Alford hit a 2-2 changeup from right-hander Ryan Eades, the 10th O's pitcher, to end a five-hour, 21-minute struggle. Eades had thrown 2 2/3 scoreless when Eades connected for his first career home run in his 51st career plate appearance. Earlier, for the...

Richard Bleier emerged from the Orioles dugout at 6:45 p.m. and began making the walk to the bullpen. Coaches Doug Brocail and John Wasdin were waiting for him. So, too, was Chance Sisco, who grabbed a ball and played catch to loosen his arm. Bleier wasn't on the usual starter's warmup schedule. He wasn't in the traditional mindset. This was a reliever used as an opener and he was going to do it his way. Filling a spot in the rotation that he hadn't occupied since the minors and winter...

Renato Núñez felt the ball slam into his left hand Monday afternoon, spun out of the batters' box and measured the levels of pain and anger. Bones tend to shatter in these circumstances, especially in the part of the hand that absorbed the pitch from Tigers reliever Buck Farmer. Núñez stayed in the game and X-rays were negative, but he remained on the bench last night in the Orioles' 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. Mark Trumbo was available to play after being scratched...

DETROIT - Four pitches into today's start, left-hander John Means already had surrendered a leadoff triple and a long home run. He hadn't worked up a sweat. Hadn't built up any mound dirt in his spikes. Means would get on a serious roll after Jordy Mercer's 424-footer into the left field seats. Back to the form that allowed him to string together four consecutive quality starts and surrender two earned runs or fewer in five. Would it be too late? Would a team knocking off the two hardest...

DETROIT - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde knew exactly what was coming. When the Tigers were making their first bullpen move and which reliever would enter the game. There are certain tendencies that begin to take shape. The trick is being able to counterpunch. Left-hander Daniel Norris worked three innings for the seventh start in a row and right-hander Drew VerHagen replaced him for the sixth time during that stretch. The Tigers didn't send out alerts to the visiting side, but Hyde and his...

Aaron Brooks got called third strikes on Delino DeShields and Ronald Guzman tonight in the top of the first inning and the crowd erupted. Jeff Mathis went down swinging for the final out, but the reaction was a bit more subdued. The fans must have been running low on sarcasm. Brooks wasn't fooled, of course. He understood the reasoning behind the enthusiastic response. Six runs already had scored and 31 pitches were thrown before the first out. Forty-one were needed for Brooks to make it back...

The list of Orioles who are going to join the expanded September roster is bound to include some pitchers who have spent the summer on the shuttle. Extra arms are coveted over the final month. We can speculate about guys like David Hess, Evan Phillips, Branden Kline, Chandler Shepherd, Tom Eshelman, Tanner Scott and Tayler Scott. We'll wonder about Keegan Akin. We'll assume that it's not happening for Dean Kremer, who's assigned to the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League. Luis...

The news has slowed down at Camden Yards as the Orioles perform fielding drills, take batting practice and throw in the outfield. Players are allowed to wear shorts and T-shirts. Hey, it's their weekend. Trey Mancini is getting a day off. There's nothing wrong with him physically. "He needs a breather," said manager Brandon Hyde. Reliever Shawn Armstrong said his right forearm feels better after the Orioles placed him on the 10-day injured list yesterday with a strained muscle. "Honestly,...

The Orioles have recalled right-hander Ryan Eades from Triple-A Norfolk this afternoon as the latest pitcher to enter their bullpen. Eades replaces left-hander Ty Blach, who was optioned to Norfolk following last night's 7-1 loss to the Rays. Blach worked four innings and the Orioles don't have a pressing need for a fifth starter with two off-days next week. Eades could become the 55th player used by the Orioles, one short of the club record set last season. He'd also be the 38th...

BOSTON - The Orioles have increased the number of reserves on their bench today to four by reinstating outfielder DJ Stewart from the seven-day concussion injured list and optioning reliever Chandler Shepherd to Triple-A Norfolk. Chandler made his major league debut Tuesday night in New York and held the Yankees to one run over four innings. Stewart attempted to make a sliding catch in left field in an Aug. 6 game against the Yankees and the ball struck him on the left temple. He played two...

Getting away from the Yankees offers the kind of relief to the Orioles that the bullpen has struggled to provide this season. Sixteen losses in a row to them. Seventeen total out of 19 games. Some ugly, some competitive. They count just the same. Among the lessons learned is the wisdom in walking Gleyber Torres. Doesn't matter whether first base is open. Down five runs in the eighth, two on and two outs, you hold up four fingers. Manager Brandon Hyde would have been roasted by media and fans...

The Orioles have been searching for pitchers to improve their depth in the rotation and bullpen, and they made a minor move this afternoon by claiming right-hander Ryan Eades off waivers from the Twins, according to multiple sources. Eades, 27, made his major league debut earlier this summer and appeared in two games. He blanked the Tigers on two hits over two innings on June 8 at Comerica Park and the Mariners on two hits over 1 2/3 on June 12 at Target Field. He's walked two batters and...