Young delivers triple off bench and O's tie game (O's lose 5-3 in 10 innings)

Young delivers triple off bench and O's tie game (O's lose 5-3 in 10 innings)
If you had Sept. 19 as the date when Delmon Young would hit his first triple as an Oriole, go to the window and collect your money. Young delivering as a pinch-hitter has become routine, but the triples are scarce. Young's three-bagger with two outs in the seventh inning scored Alejandro De Aza, and shortstop Xander Bogaerts' throwing error allowed the Orioles to tie the game. Young has 11 career triples, the most recent before tonight coming in September 2012 with the Tigers. He had four...

Hardy sits with Pearce, Young in lineup for Orioles vs. Rays

Hardy sits with Pearce, Young in lineup for Orioles vs. Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles are 8-1 after being shut out this season. They've won six in a row. Can they make it seven today? They'll do it with shortstop J.J. Hardy at least starting the day on the bench. He's out of today's lineup with Delmon Young at designated hitter, getting his first start since Monday, and Steve Pearce at first, playing for the first time since Aug. 29. Pearce had been out with a strained abdominal muscle. Jimmy Paredes was originally starting at third with...

Young returns to the lineup Saturday, and other notes

Young returns to the lineup Saturday, and other notes
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Delmon Young will return to the lineup for Saturday's game against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Young hasn't started since Monday. Showalter has been using plus-defenders Alejandro De Aza and David Lough in left field. Lough is in left tonight, with Nelson Cruz again serving as the designated hitter. The Rays are starting left-hander Drew Smyly on Saturday. Smyly has held left-handed hitters to a .166 average. Showalter also...

Young succeeding as second hitter (we're tied)

Young succeeding as second hitter (we're tied)
Orioles starter Chris Tillman has thrown 38 pitches tonight in two scoreless innings, stranding three runners along the way. The first two Twins reached in the first before Tillman struck out Joe Mauer on a 91 mph fastball and retired Kennys Vargas on a grounder and Oswaldo Arcia on a fly ball. Kurt Suzuki doubled with one out in the second, but Tillman fanned Eduardo Escobar and Jordan Schafer. Tillman had allowed 19 runs in first inning this season and 17 in the second. He got away clean...

Tough day for May: Davis' grand slam leads O's over Twins

Tough day for May: Davis' grand slam leads O's over Twins
For the Orioles, no double steal was needed tonight. The longball returned to the offense. Twins' starter Trevor May opened the door and the O's kicked it in with a couple of big swings in a 9-1 romp over Minnesota in the opener of a four-game series. The Orioles are 77-56 and tie their season high in moving 21 games over the .500 mark. Making his fourth major league start, the 24-year-old May sailed through the first three innings on just 43 pitches. But his control eluded him in the...

Just to review ... (O's win 4-2)

Just to review ... (O's win 4-2)
Due to the pace of tonight's game at Camden Yards, it has now been reclassified as a mini-series. We had two crew chief reviews in the first three innings. We've had only one run score despite six hits by the Rays. We've decided that a pillow and blanket might be needed later. I had a beef and broccoli stir fry for dinner, but that's not official. The umpires want to take another look at it. The Rays might have scored more than one run off Wei-Yin Chen in the top of the first, but...

This, that and the other

This, that and the other
So, what did it mean for the Orioles to bounce back last night with a 9-1 victory over the Rays? Delmon Young has the floor. "It's good," he said, "because it seemed like y'all went in panic mode when we got swept in Chicago." I had no idea that Young read this blog. But seriously ... "We weren't scoring many runs, but it happens and then we're back in our division at home facing a guy we've seen before, a team we play," he said. "We know their tendencies and everything. And...

Showalter speaks after 9-1 win

Showalter speaks after 9-1 win
The Orioles score four runs in three games at Wrigley Field and tally six tonight in the bottom of the fifth inning. Baseball is, indeed, a funny game. The Orioles remain six games ahead of the Yankees in the American League East following a 9-1 win over the Rays at Camden Yards. The losing streak ends at three games. The Blue Jays lost to the Red Sox in 10 innings and are nine games back. In case you missed it earlier, tonight marks the first time since moving to Baltimore that the Orioles...

Homer happy: Orioles bash five homers in 9-1 rout of Rays

Homer happy: Orioles bash five homers in 9-1 rout of Rays
To put tonight's game in perspective, the Orioles scored four runs on 13 hits with two homers in the three-game weekend series at Wrigley Field. Tonight, they scored nine runs on 14 hits with five homers. The Orioles bashed Tampa Bay 9-1 and "bash" is the appropriate word as the longball returned to the offense. Twice tonight the Orioles hit back-to-back homers and the second time they hit three in a row. Tonight marks the first time in club history that the Orioles hit back-to-back homers...

Orioles and White Sox lineups

Orioles and White Sox lineups
CHICAGO - Delmon Young gets another start in left field tonight and Chris Davis continues to bat seventh as the Orioles' third baseman for the second game of their series against the White Sox. Nelson Cruz is serving as the designated hitter and Steve Pearce is playing first base against White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana. Pearce is batting second. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Steve Pearce 1B Adam Jones CF Nelson Cruz DH Delmon Young LF J.J. Hardy SS Chris Davis 3B Jonathan Schoop 2B Nick...

Jon Shepherd: O's forged on contributions of unwanted and overlooked

Jon Shepherd: O's forged on contributions of unwanted and overlooked
A friend of mine lived in Montana for most of his life and came to Baltimore to attend law school. Before driving into town the night before classes began, he had never set foot here. He was recruited for the school from afar and he signed his rental agreement on a row home from afar. As his old pickup limped across the country and into town around 3 a.m. that morning, he saw something that was forever etched in his memory. Parking in the alley behind the row home, he saw something in his...

Delmon Young on O's power surge and his time in Baltimore

Delmon Young on O's power surge and his time in Baltimore
Delmon Young said it is not hard to explain why the Orioles have hit nine homers in the series against St. Louis. "We're not missing pitches out over the plate that we were missing before," he said simply. Young went 2-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBIs on Saturday. He's now batting .321 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 156 at-bats. Young, who is 9-for-17 as a pinch-hitter, has a .474 slugging percentage and .828 OPS. He is batting .368 since the All-Star break. He has shown an...

Orioles and Cardinals lineups

Orioles and Cardinals lineups
Orioles manager Buck Showalter is sticking with the hot hand today. Or bat, in this case. Delmon Young remains in the lineup, starting in left field against Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn. Nelson Cruz is serving as the designated hitter. Caleb Joseph will attempt to tie the Orioles' record for consecutive games with a home run. Joseph has homered in five straight. Miguel Gonzalez stopped by the clubhouse this morning. He's going to join Triple-A Norfolk on Monday and pitch the following...

Orioles going for sweep today

Orioles going for sweep today
If I have to provide a list of my biggest Orioles surprises in 2014, it would include Delmon Young hitting .354 in 96 at-bats against right-handers. Did you really see it coming? Be honest. Young is a career .301 hitter against left-handers and a .276 hitter vs. right-handers, including his production this season. If he had any shot at contributing in 2014 after signing a minor league deal in January, it figured to be in a platoon role against southpaws or coming off the bench against them....

Caleb Joseph homers for the fifth game in a row as O's top Cardinals

Caleb Joseph homers for the fifth game in a row as O's top Cardinals
Caleb Joseph homered for the fifth game in a row. Two of his teammates also connected as the Orioles home run barrage continued this afternoon. The Orioles hit three more longballs today in an 10-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals that gives them their seventh consecutive series win. A crowd of 40,894 was on hand at Camden Yards. The Orioles are a season-high 18 games over .500 at 67-49 and have opened a six-game lead over both New York and Toronto atop the American League East. Right...

Orioles and Blue Jays lineups

Orioles and Blue Jays lineups
Chris Davis moves down to seventh in the Orioles' lineup tonight for the second time in three games. The Blue Jays are starting left-hander J.A. Happ. Davis batted fifth last night against right-hander Drew Hutchison. Delmon Young is batting fifth tonight as the designated hitter. Caleb Joseph is catching. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Manny Machado 3B Adam Jones CF Nelson Cruz LF Delmon Young DH J.J. Hardy SS Chris Davis 1B Caleb Joseph C Jonathan Schoop 2B Miguel Gonzalez RHP For the...

Joseph and Schoop go back-to-back (O's win 9-3)

Joseph and Schoop go back-to-back (O's win 9-3)
Following last night's win in Washington, I approached Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph at his locker and asked about his hot streak. I started to recite his numbers over his past nine games. I had the average memorized. Joseph smiled and said, "Oh no." Worried about a jinx? No reason. Joseph has homered in three straight games, and the Orioles are leading the Blue Jays 4-0 in the fourth inning at Rogers Centre. Joseph is 12-for-32 (.375) in his last 10 games. Jonathan Schoop followed...

Davis, Young and other notes

Davis, Young and other notes
The Orioles lead the majors with a 3.12 ERA at night, and their 47 wins rank third in the majors and second in the American League behind the Angels' 50. Someone is keeping track. And the Orioles PR department was kind enough to share. The Orioles have a night game against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Roof open or closed, it's still night. The Orioles' 33 road wins lead the league and rank second in the majors behind the Dodgers' 34. In their last eight road games, the Orioles have...

Cruz stays in Orioles' lineup, Davis lowered to seventh

Cruz stays in Orioles' lineup, Davis lowered to seventh
Tonight's game at Rogers Centre marks the fourth-latest matchup between the Orioles and Blue Jays with both clubs occupying the top two spots in the American League East, according to STATS. The only later games took place on Sept. 29, 1989, Aug. 16, 1989 and Aug. 10, 1992. The Orioles will attempt to increase their division lead, which stands at four games. Nelson Cruz is mired in a 1-for-32 slump since his home run in the second inning of a July 25 game in Seattle, lowering his average...

Showalter, Joseph, Young, Gausman and Brach after 7-3 win

Showalter, Joseph, Young, Gausman and Brach after 7-3 win
WASHINGTON - The Orioles head to Toronto late tonight with a four-game lead over the Blue Jays in the American League East following tonight's 7-3 win over the Nationals. Sleep fast. And be ready to play. Here's a batch of post-game quotes from Nationals Park: Manager Buck Showalter On Kevin Gausman, who picked up the win after allowing three runs in six innings: "It was a challenge for him. To be able to keep your team engaged in it when he's not in command. He had good stuff and...