Long on hitters: "We've had a lot of room to grow"

Long on hitters: "We've had a lot of room to grow"
Because the terms of manager Brandon Hyde's contract with the Orioles weren't shared with the public - and that does include the media, even if some of us shouldn't be allowed to mingle - it's more of an assumption than solid confirmation that his three-year deal includes an option for the 2022 season. The expectation is that he's returning, though nothing official has come across. The outlook is more uncertain for the coaching staff, which routinely seems to undergo changes. Doug Brocail...

Orioles rally for lead and relinquish it in ninth in 4-3 loss (updated)

Orioles rally for lead and relinquish it in ninth in 4-3 loss (updated)
Gary Sánchez drove a fastball to deep center field tonight in the second inning, flipping his bat on the backswing, and began his trip around the bases. Where else was he going after making that kind of contact? Cedric Mullins sprinted to the ball, timed his leap at the fence and reached high above it, came down, hopped twice to his left - sticking the landing wasn't important in this event - and flipped it to Austin Hays. Hays would flip the lead later and watch it spin back. John Means...

This, that and the other

This, that and the other
The Orioles went through their off-day without making any changes to their roster. There's still time to tweak the pitching staff before the series opener against the Yankees at Camden Yards. I've seen a lot in my 25 years on the beat, much of it good and some stuff that made me rub my eyes and wish I could cleanse my mind. Pretty much the entire 2018 season needs to be burned like unwanted film. And that 30-3 loss to the Rangers in 2007. And every attempt to interview Erik Bedard. Losing a...

Orioles lose lead in seventh and drop Game 1 11-10 (updated)

Orioles lose lead in seventh and drop Game 1 11-10 (updated)
Dean Kremer was handed the ball today and given no promises. Lots of run support, but no promises. The 29th man for a September doubleheader knows his way back to the minors. But there are no rules against him staying, just that someone must be optioned after the nightcap. Kremer's first start with the Orioles in more than two months lasted four innings and included more strikes, but also three home runs among six extra-base hits and leads that shrank or disappeared. The Orioles wouldn't let...

Leftovers for breakfast

Leftovers for breakfast
The Orioles ran out of rookie relievers making their major league debuts. Their streak of bullpen wins by newbies ended last night at two. A modest total for most streaks, but no other team in the modern era went back-to-back before the Orioles, who provided the opportunity for Mike Baumann the previous night and Manny Barreda on Wednesday. Could there be more contrasting relievers than these two? Baumann, 25, the third-round pick in 2017 who's ranked as a Top 10 prospect in the system by...

Game gets away from Orioles late in 6-0 loss (updated)

Game gets away from Orioles late in 6-0 loss (updated)
Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells wasn't available to pitch tonight after Orioles manager Brandon Hyde reluctantly had to use him to get the final out in Wednesday's remarkable comeback win. The rookie pitched in back-to-back games and in three of the last four, and he wasn't going to close if a slim lead carried to the ninth. Hyde was just hoping to be pressed into a decision. No jokes about avoiding one-run games. He'd take any margin as long as his club was on the right side of it. Kansas City...

Orioles rally for nine runs in eighth inning and win 9-8 (updated)

Orioles rally for nine runs in eighth inning and win 9-8 (updated)
A quality start from Matt Harvey on Aug. 27 against the Rays has been followed by two failed attempts to complete the fifth inning. What's also going to follow are questions about his remaining time in a rotation that keeps getting younger and less experienced. The Orioles will figure it out. In the meantime, they seem to be getting more frisky. More confident in themselves. Less inclined to wait for something bad to happen to them. There's no reasonable way to question it. They made sure...

Orioles rolling out the rookies in rotation

Orioles rolling out the rookies in rotation
Matt Harvey made his 28th start last night, the former Orioles reclamation project in spring training who turned into the No. 2 guy in the rotation breaking camp. Before all the shuffling that wrecked the order like a wet NASCAR track. Whether Harvey receives a 29th, or when he does, is under discussion. Whether the Orioles bend to the need to evaluate and offer chances to their prospects who suddenly have formed a conga line to Camden Yards. Mike Baumann made his major league debut Tuesday...

Mike Baumann's thrilling debut highlights win over K.C.

Mike Baumann's thrilling debut highlights win over K.C.
It's exciting - thrilling, really - when a rookie gets his big chance and runs with it like Mike Baumann did last night. Nights like that can give Birdland hope that there may be more talents like Baumann still to come. They hope the young talent comes crashing into Camden Yards like waves into the shoreline. And the waves keep coming. And coming. It was before the game in the Orioles dugout when Baumann spoke with reporters and told us how excited he was to get the shot to make his major...

O's hit three homers and Baumann gets win in debut (updated)

O's hit three homers and Baumann gets win in debut (updated)
The Orioles keep building new streaks as if tool belts are now part of the uniform. Usually the kind that feel like a drill bit twisting through the temples of their manager. Brandon Hyde was able to joke about the most recent streak, the one-run games that reached five in a row going into tonight. How he told his players it was OK to win 7-2 once in a while. They didn't exactly follow orders against the Royals, but a four-run first inning hinted that they no longer wanted to be so...

Expanded roster still stretching Orioles thin

Expanded roster still stretching Orioles thin
Grant manager Brandon Hyde one baseball wish and he could go in pretty much any direction, no GPS capable of leading him to an exact spot. Give him a bunch, however, and he's demanding more length out of an expanded roster. The bump from 26 to 28 players just doesn't cut it. He'd rub the shine off the genie lamp for a deeper bench and pitching staff. "I wish we had a 35-man roster in September this year," he said yesterday morning, sitting in the dugout for his media session and confirming...

Orioles notes before today's series opener (updated)

Orioles notes before today's series opener (updated)
The Orioles are recalling rookie left-hander Zac Lowther from Triple-A Norfolk today but haven't announced the move or who's leaving the active roster for the series opener against the Royals at Camden Yards. This is Lowther's second major league start and sixth appearance. He's allowed 10 runs and 13 hits in 8 1/3 innings. His lone start was May 8 against the Red Sox, when he surrendered seven runs and seven hits in 2 1 /3 innings. Lowther has never faced the Royals, who are 61-75 overall...

The benefit of playing and winning the close ones

The benefit of playing and winning the close ones
When a team has the record the Orioles team has, it's kind of hard to take a small sample of five games and put a lot of importance on it. But, at the same time, the last five games did produce three wins in close games at both Toronto and New York. So the Orioles have played five in a row, all on the road in the division, and all decided by two runs or by one, and they went 3-2. Small steps, and maybe some small progress was made as some players had to make clutch plays against two clubs...

Mullins joins 25/25 club and O's rally for 8-7 win (updated)

Mullins joins 25/25 club and O's rally for 8-7 win (updated)
Nine consecutive four-seam fastballs to Gary Sánchez in the second inning today showed tremendous confidence in the pitch. But also with the obvious risks and other potential repercussions. Sánchez got the barrel on the ninth, with the bases loaded and the Orioles ahead by a run, and launched it into the second deck for a grand slam. The chance at a rare series win on the road seemed to disappear with the ball, but the Orioles kept clawing, kept putting runners on base and finally found...

A few thoughts and notes on a series win in the Bronx

A few thoughts and notes on a series win in the Bronx
A few thoughts, notes and impressions on today's game and this weekend as the Orioles ended a six-game road trip to Toronto and New York going a respectable 3-3. They take two of three at New York, winning a series in the Bronx for the first time since March 28-31, 2019. * The last five games of this trip were each decided by two runs or less, with the Orioles going 3-2. That is certainly a sign of progress, but in a very small sample size. But you take that in the American League East on the...

This, that and the other

This, that and the other
We tend to poke fun at the Rule 5 draft and the Orioles' past obsessions with it. Selecting three players at the 2017 Winter Meetings. Trying to carry more than one. Allowing it to become the biggest story for beat writers at those sites. "I attended the Winter Meetings and all I got was this lousy Rule 5 pick" There have been a few good choices, however, and Tyler Wells is proving to be a steal. Dice are rolled when a team gambles by trying to carry an inexperienced pitcher in its bullpen,...

Taking the Orioles rotation for another spin

Taking the Orioles rotation for another spin
The revisiting of the Orioles rotation could have worn a path deeper than the actual pitching staff. Chris Ellis and Keegan Akin are confirmed to close out the series at Yankee Stadium, and Matt Harvey would stay on turn if he pitches Monday afternoon against the Royals at Camden Yards. John Means won't be ready before Wednesday after starting last night and allowing two runs in five innings. What the Orioles do for the remaining weeks of the season is one of the more interesting topics to...

Orioles rally to tie and lose in 11th 4-3 (updated)

Orioles rally to tie and lose in 11th 4-3 (updated)
The Orioles couldn't carry pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. as a Rule 5 selection. Tonight, they couldn't break through against him until the sixth inning. Trey Mancini's first home run since Aug. 14 sent Cortes to the bench with two outs and sliced the deficit in half. Jorge Mateo was a three-time Top 100 prospect who began his professional career with the Yankees, finally made it to the Bronx tonight and hit a game-tying homer in the seventh. The redemption angle held up through regulation. Four...

Tyler Wells on his big out versus Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Tyler Wells on his big out versus Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
For a rookie pitcher who was a Rule 5 draft pick last December, one with just 34 big league games under his belt and no career saves, it was a big-time situation. Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells came in to face Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the last of the seventh last night at Toronto's Rogers Centre. There were two on and two outs and the Orioles were leading 4-2. Guerrero had hit his 39th homer an inning before on a 97 mph fastball. The night before, he had homered twice. In 11 games this year...

Orioles go from no-hit to no loss in Toronto (updated)

Orioles go from no-hit to no loss in Toronto (updated)
In a season with so many challenges for the Orioles, testing them seemingly in every way imaginable, the attempt to win a game on a particular night can suddenly become a struggle of a different sort. Just trying to get a hit. Blue Jays left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu allowed two baserunners in the first inning tonight but retired 15 batters in a row and flirted with history until Ryan Mountcastle lined a double into right field with two outs in the sixth in a one-run game. Austin Hays drove in the...