Pitching by numbers
Pitching by numbers
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The Orioles and Giants have split the first two games of this series, and they're sending pitchers to the mound today with sub-4.00 ERAs. Here's one difference: Tim Lincecum is 6-2. Jeremy Guthrie is 3-7. Lincecum also has won the last two NL Cy Young Awards. That's worth mentioning, as well. Lincecum had allowed 17 runs in his last four starts covering 22 1/3 innings before holding Oakland to two runs over eight innings last week. Guthrie has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his...
Arrieta breaks trend
Arrieta breaks trend
Josh Land
Orioles
When Jake Arrieta won his Major League debut on June 10 against the Yankees he became the latest pitching prospect to come up to the Orioles from the minors and enjoy instant success. But when he followed it up with a win in San Francisco to improve to (2-0), he broke a trend by winning his first two big league starts. Last season Brad Bergesen, Jason Berken, David Hernandez, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz all made their major league debuts for the Orioles. Bergesen, Berken, Hernandez and...
Hernandez saves the night (w/Samuel quote)
Hernandez saves the night (w/Samuel quote)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
David Hernandez got the ball again tonight in a save situation, with interim manager Juan Samuel choosing to ease Alfredo Simon back into the role. Good choice. Hernandez picked up his second save with a scoreless ninth, brushing aside a two-out walk in the process and preserving a 4-1 win. It was pretty easy, and we're not used to such things from an Orioles closer. A drama-free ninth? Outrageous. Gary and Jim talks with Juan Samuel about the O's 4-1 win over the Giants "We do not want...
Arrieta does it again as O's top Giants, 4-1
Arrieta does it again as O's top Giants, 4-1
Steve Melewski
Orioles
So can Jake Arrieta pitch more often than once every five days? Probably not. But the 24-year-old rookie right-hander is now 2-0, 2.77 after two Major League starts. Pitching vs. a Giants team that had won four in a row and had scored 10 runs the night before, Arrieta gave up just three hits and one run over seven innings and one batter on Tuesday night. He walked two, fanned three and threw 95 pitches. Here is a pretty remarkable stat. O's starting pitchers have just two wins over...
Pass the baton (updated)
Pass the baton (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Interim manager Juan Samuel removed Jake Arrieta in the bottom of the eighth inning after Bengie Molina's leadoff single. That's only three hits for the Giants, who still trail, 4-1. Left-hander Will Ohman enters the game with Arrieta's pitch count at 95. Assuming the inherited runner doesn't score - and why would it? - Arrieta has allowed four runs and seven hits in 13 innings over two major league starts. He picked up the win against the Yankees. He deserves this one against the...
The one Jake
The one Jake
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
You must be feeling pretty good about Jake Arrieta right now. I know you've been scarred from the missteps of other young pitchers on this staff - and I'll still insist that it's way too soon to give up on any of them - but it's OK to get a little excited about Arrieta. The former fifth-round pick is rolling again tonight, holding the Giants to one run and two hits over six innings. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval homered in the third inning to account for all of San Francisco's...
P-Nats' Bronson makes steady progress
P-Nats' Bronson makes steady progress
Byron Kerr
Nationals
Potomac Nationals left handed pitcher Evan Bronson is coming off one of his best starts of the year Thursday against Lynchburg. Bronson went 5.1 innings, scattering five hits, allowing no runs, no walks and striking out three batters. 23-year old Bronson is a 6-3 195-pound lefthander out of Trinity College was selected in the 29th round of the 2009 draft. Last season, Bronson was 3-0 with an 0.55 ERA for Vermont and was named a mid-season All-Star. I caught up with the Midlothian, VA...
Minor league notes
Minor league notes
Steve Melewski
Orioles
Here are some updates on a couple of players. Cla Meredith is struggling since he went down to Triple-A. In four games, he is 1-0 with an ERA of 17.18. Today he gave up two runs in one inning vs. Columbus. In 3 2/3 since joining Norfolk, he has allowed nine hits and seven runs with five walks and strikeouts and a .450 batting average against. Jim Hoey, who pitched for the Orioles in 2006 and 2007, has put together quietly a solid season at Double-A Bowie. Hoey is 0-0, 2.57 after pitching...
Tillman to 'pen for now
Tillman to 'pen for now
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Orioles interim manager Juan Samuel told reporters in San Francisco that pitcher Chris Tillman, who allowed six runs in two innings last night, will go to the bullpen while the club needs only four starters. MASN's Amber Theoharis tells me that pitching coach Rick Kranitz believes that Tillman is still a starter, but the young right-hander can work out some issues in the bullpen and "just let it out." Tillman could return to the rotation on June 26, when the Orioles need a fifth starter...
Hopefully, Arrieta won't be feeling the pressure tonight
Hopefully, Arrieta won't be feeling the pressure tonight
Steve Melewski
Orioles
So Jake Arrieta has been with the Orioles five days now and he has seen the team win one game and he started that game. No pressure Jake. Actually I hope the confidence he exudes is there again tonight and that he does not feel any extra pressure to perform vs. the Giants. Hope he is not aware of this stat: Over the last 18 games the Orioles have one win by a starter and that was his win Thursday vs. the Yankees. It's his second Major League start and, on this team, he's already become...