The Orioles returned home and the winning continued Friday as Dean Kremer, Cionel Pérez and Félix Bautista combined on a six-hit, 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.

For the Orioles (55-51), it was a nice start to a homestand.

Tampa Bay won Friday but Seattle lost, and the Mariners have now dropped into the third American League wild card spot. They lead the Orioles for that by 1 1/2 games. The O's are two games back of Tampa Bay, which holds the second AL wild-card berth. 

The Orioles went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position but the Baltimore pitchers made the one run stand up as they pitched their 10th shutout of the season and second in the last eight games. The 10 shutouts match the total from the full 2019 and 2021 seasons combined, when they had five each.

The Orioles have gone 20-7 the last 27 games. It's their best single-season 27-game stretch since going 20-7 from Aug. 28-Sept. 24, 2014.

He may hitting just .145 in 76 games this year, but new Orioles outfielder Brett Phillips has good numbers in his career batting at Camden Yards. And tonight he’ll take the field for his first start as an Oriole. And it probably won’t surprise you to know that the ultra-enthusiastic Phillips could not be much more excited.

“Coming into a clubhouse that has a lot of energy as it is, I’m a guy who brings the energy and feeds off of energy. Just being here the other day for the first time I’ve recognized that we’ve got a group that is hungry here and that’s willing to get better and wants to win. We have a good opportunity here and I’m trying to come in here and do what I can to help this team win. And whatever opportunity that Brandon Hyde has for me, I’m going to be ready,” Phillips said earlier in the Baltimore clubhouse.

He has watched the Orioles from across the field with Tampa Bay and sees a very different team in 2022. One that begins tonight at 54-51 and two games out of the final American League playoff spot.

“Being on the Rays, we won 18 of 19 against Baltimore last year and looking from the other dugout (this season) it’s night and day different,” he said. “How they are preparing, their approach, the information that they are getting. I told the hitting coaches, I’m a sponge. I wanna bring the energy, contribute as much as I can and I want to win the World Series. You have to belive that first then actually do it.”

Phillips is a career .259/.355/.537 (14-for-54) hitter in 22 games at Oriole Park, with eight extra-base hits (4-2B, 3B, 3 HR), eight runs scored, 11 RBIs, eight walks, and four stolen bases. His .892 career OPS at Oriole Park is his highest at any ballpark where he has played at least 10 games. And his batting line is .280/.308/.400 (7-for-25) with three doubles, two runs scored, one RBI, one walk, and two stolen bases in eight games at Camden Yards this season.

With their win last night over the Los Angeles Angels on Manny Machado's walk-off grand slam in the ninth, the Orioles now have five wins this year when trailing after eight innings. That is tied for the American League lead. Such wins are rare. The Orioles are 5-57 when trailing after eight, while the New York Yankees are 5-52 and Tampa Bay is 5-56. Division-leading Boston is 3-48 and seven American League teams have two or fewer such wins. Machado's slam was his third homer of the night and...

Yesterday's reunion of the 1992 Orioles that opened Camden Yards has left me with more material than I can squeeze into a few blog entries. Leftovers can be stretched only so far. And this is coming from a guy who's eaten cold Chinese food that's more than a week old. I've brought slices of pizza back to life. I've sniffed and scarfed liver and onions that were hidden in the back of the fridge. I've chewed through chicken that had turned to jerky. You can't scare me. One of Brady...

Rick Sutcliffe, the man who stood on the mound for the first inning of the first game at Camden Yards back in 1992, remembers the excitement in his household as the letter arrived from the Orioles inviting him to the 25th anniversary celebration that's taking place this weekend, beginning with today's luncheon at the B&O Warehouse. The feeling was much different for Glenn Davis, the former first baseman who arrived with tremendous fanfare and left as the centerpiece in arguably the worst...

Manager Dusty Baker likes to see his starting pitchers running to stay at a premium physical level for the entire season. He pointed to his Cy Young Award-winning starter Max Scherzer as the pitcher that most incorporates running into his routine to get ready for each start. Baker said it was something he noticed from his old Dodgers teammates, and others around the league back in the day, and it has stayed with him for his entire career as a player and manager. "All of them ran back then,"...

Breathe, Birdland. We're one week closer to the start of spring training. If you are suffering from Orioles withdrawal, we may have a cure: Five "Orioles Classics" on MASN HD this week. We have a variety of games, including three from the past two seasons, one from 2007 and one from 1992. Here's what's on deck: Monday, Jan. 19, 2 p.m. and 11 p.m.: We have two 2014 games for you to watch today. First, you don't want to miss the Orioles' 60th anniversary game from Aug. 8. After the game,...

As a free agent following the 1991 season, pitcher Rick Sutcliffe had no intention of playing in the American League in 1992. He figured he'd sign with St. Louis so he could be close to home and stay in the more familiar National League. Johnny Oates, the Orioles' manager at the time, had other ideas. He brought Sutcliffe to Camden Yards on a cold December day and sold him on becoming an Oriole. "He told me I was going to make Orioles history by throwing the first pitch in Camden Yards,"...

Twenty years ago today, right-hander Rick Sutcliffe threw a five-hit shutout to pitch the Orioles past Cleveland to open Camden Yards. He threw another strike today to help lift off the 2012 season. He said that 1992 opening day was among the most special in his career. "There was nothing like that one," Sutcliffe said. "There was always going to be another opening day, but there was never going to be another first opening day at Camden Yards." Sutcliffe remembered being a free agent a...

When the Orioles open the 2012 season Friday against the Twins - and begin a season-long celebration of the 20th anniversary of Camden Yards - they'll turn back the clock to 1992 for the ceremonial first pitch. Rick Sutcliffe and Chris Hoiles, who were the pitcher and catcher during the ballpark's debut two decades ago, will reprise their role as battery mates for Friday's festivities. Sutcliffe, you'll remember, threw a five-hit shutout against the Indians on April 6, 1992 in the first...