The Orioles, Tampa and what might be

With the win this evening the Tampa Bay Rays clenched a playoff spot - something that was little more than a foregone conclusion. Congrats to the Rays and their fans, they are a great young team and they are truly one of the best this year. Moreover, the Rays really need this because I think everyone in baseball can see the writing on the wall and the Rays' window may be rapidly closing. Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Eric Aybar among others are most likely gone. Longoria, Price, Davis et al will still be around but with the Rays' ownership announcing that payroll will be cut next year I think everyone can feel that the 2011 Rays will seem like a much different creature.

I think Rays fans feel the same thing. A lot has been made of the atrocious attendance in St. Petersburg this series. With a chance to clench a playoff spot and the best young team in baseball the Rays drew only 12,466 fans out to Tropicana Field, tonight was did not differ that much only drawing a little more than 17,000. Evan Longoria and David Price did not mince words calling the showing "embarrassing". Adam Jones tweeted: "I wonder what Baltimore would look like [in that situation]?".

Why am I writing about this in an Orioles blog? Because as an Orioles fan seeing an empty stadium entertaining a team with as much talent as the Tampa Bay Rays angers me. Jones, I will tell you what Baltimore would look like - it would be packed to the gills. If in 2011 the Orioles are in a situation to clench a playoff berth I guarantee that not only will the stands be packed to capacity but every local establishment not only in the city-proper but the greater Baltimore metro-area will be packed waiting for the final out and a ticket to the post season.

But this post isn't meant to denegrate the people of the Tampa bay area, they have their reasons I'm sure, but rather to comment on the state of the Orioles, Rays and AL East going forward.

2010 will soon be in the books, and the Baltimore Orioles season can not be summed up in one post. So let this be part one: The Baltimore Orioles; what could have been.

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Thoughts and Jose Bautista

Three games. Three straight losses.

This weekend, the Orioles got swept by the Jays. While the black and orange didn't embarrass themselves, they only really came close to beating the Toronto on Saturday, where they lost in extra innings. The pitching wasn't terrible (ok, it was shaky on Sunday - especially VandenHurk and Simon), but the homer happy Jays got the best of the Orioles this series.

Perhaps the Orioles will get back on track against the Rays this week and finish out the season next weekend against the Tigers.

Really, overall during these past three games, I've just been astonished by Jose Bautista and his success. As we all know, he was once a Rule 5 pick by the Orioles, but then bounced around, ended up in Pittsburgh and found himself in Toronto. Many observers thought he had the skills to be more than a platoon/part-time player, and sure enough, he broke out of it.

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The Boston Series; Millwood

Last night, the Orioles could not complete the three game sweep in Boston on Wednesday with a 6-1 loss after wins on Monday and Tuesday; however, they've continued their strong finish to the 2010 season. After getting their arses handed to them the past few seasons by the Red Sox, the Orioles finished with a .500 record - at a 9-9 clip.

I though the Orioles might made a smart move by signing Kevin Millwood in the off-season. One would figure that signing a veteran pitcher might help to stabilize a young rotation, but it's funny how Millwood has the worst record statistics-wise for any starting on the team.

He fell to his 16th loss on the season, giving up five runs in his outing and for the most part looked like the pitcher he's been all season. Millwood has shown some flashes of brilliance, but overall, his season has been one to frankly, say has been a great disappointment. Despite the lack of success this year on the mound, Millwood never really complained and he went out did his job - start after start.

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The Yankees Come and Go...

The Orioles avoided a three-game sweep by the New York Yankees with a incredible walk-off win, 4-3, in front of slight less than 40,000 on Sunday afternoon.

Despite losing a heartbreaker on Friday off a Alex Rodriguez go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth and getting their arses handed to them on Saturday, the O’s fought back on in the final game of the set. Down 3-2 in the ninth, Luke Scott tied the game with a home run off Mariano Rivera and then earned the win in the 11th off Ty Wigginton’s double.

What was more amazing is that the Orioles won a game they surely would have lost not too long ago. The bullpen came through a held the game in check, with Koji Uehara striking out the side in the 10th and Mike Gonzalez nearly blowing the game in the 11th, but getting a crucial double play with the bases loaded.

New York had plenty of chances to finish off Baltimore, but they seemingly could not get the knockout punch.

Although we all probably hoped that the Orioles could have taken two-of-out-three or swept the Yankees, it was great to see them fight. Once again, the park was full with Yankee fans – I’d say they were at least 70% of the attendance that day – but it was good to see them frustrated at the outcome and Joe Girardi’s overmanaging.

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The Orioles finally beat the Jays...

...But the Ravens were on Monday Night Football to open the season and no one cares.

Seriously, the Orioles recorded the fourth lowest all-time attendance with their game against the Jays last night in Baltimore. Fewer than 10,000 people turned out to see what was actually a very good game between the suddenly respectable Birds and the homer-happy Jays. The Orioles finally beat the Jays having gone 0-12 against them so far this year. Not only that, but last night's win means the Orioles are no longer the worst team in AL. The birds have jumped over the Seattle Mariners and are closing in on the Indians and Royals.

The resurgent birds need only to win eight more games to eliminate the possibility of a 100-loss season, something that seemed like a foregone conclusion a couple of months ago.

The Orioles did not get away unscathed. Brian Matusz left the game after throwing only nine pitches and recording only one out. A line drive of Yuniesky Betancourt struck Matusz square in the throwing arm. He was removed for purely precautionary reasons. Brain Roberts was also hit by a pitch in the leg and left the in the eighth. The fastball from Jason Frasor nailed Roberts just above his knee and he crumpled to the ground. After getting up and gingerly jogging to first he would be removed from the game for Josh Bell.

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Orioles Finally Win Against Jays

It's been a great month-and-half for the Baltimore Orioles. After taking two of three from the Tigers over the weekend and winning six out of their last nine games, the Orioles returned home to take on the Blue Jays at home.

Despite being well out of the AL East race, the Jays have managed to stay over .500 and play for something -- pride.

Having beat Baltimore in twelve straight games this season, one could consider that Toronto had their number. However, the Jays were facing the Orioles managed by Buck Showalter - not Trembley or Samuel.

They finally beat the Jays last night, 4-3, off a walk-off single by Luke Scott that plated in Nick Markakis. Brian Matusz, who has looked like a different pitcher over the past month, started the game, but left after being hit on the arm in the first inning. The Baltimore bullpen which had blown the game on Sunday in Detroit did a bang-up job, thanks to Rick VandenHurk's 5 1/3 innings in relief and everyone else doing their part to keep the game close.

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On a Roll...

The Orioles have been on quite a roll as of late, as we know. They won their fourth game in five chances this week, defeating the Tigers in Detroit last night, 6-3.

After their gut-wrenching loss in New York on Wednesday, thanks to a Nick Swisher ninth-inning homer run off Koji Uehara, the Orioles held firm on Friday. Although Kevin Millwood didn’t get a victory, the bullpen once again in as many times for the past few weeks kept Baltimore in the game.

They broke open a 3-3 tie in the eighth off a Matt Wieters’ sacrifice fly and Adam Jones’s RBI-single help put away the game for the Orioles.

Uehara bounced back from his Wednesday outing and got the save. David Hernandez got the win.

At this point, it is conceivable that the Orioles may not lose 100 games after all? They are as of this morning, 54-87 – not good, but much better than where they stood at the beginning of August.

The surge of the Orioles has been to due players coming back – healthy, much better clutch-hitting, a starting pitching corps greatly improved and the bullpen (a healthy Uehara and Gonzalez). Perhaps some players may have realized their jobs are on the line and are now playing with some initiative and hustle.

It’s good to see that the reasons above plus the influence of Showalter has brought some promise to Birdland.

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The Weekend That Was, A Good Start in New York

After a bumpy start to September, the Orioles are once again looking like the team we saw in August.

Now the question in September is – can they avoid the swoon that has engulfed them for more than a decade? So far, the answer may be yes.

The Orioles took two-of-three games from the AL Wild Card leading Rays over the weekend thanks to a dominant win on Saturday and a razor thin victory on Sunday. As well, they kicked off a three game set in the Bronx on Monday against the Yankees and won it, 4-3.

It’s nice to see the young arms picking it up and the work of Brian Matsuz as of late has been impressive. After a horrific start to the season, he won his fourth straight game yesterday going six innings and allowing three runs to come in.

If you look at it all, Baltimore’s surge in the last month has been due to the starting pitching – not the offense. The New York Times, this morning has a piece on Buck Showalter and his effect on the 2010 Baltimore Orioles since he took over:

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September off to a rocky start

The Orioles have encountered their first three-game losing streak of the Showalter-era having lost their first three games of September. The Orioles saw two very winnable games against the Sox slip away and then last night were shut down by the Rays and the ever-chatty Matt Garza.

During the losses the Orioles have seen a regression in their overall game. The starting pitching has been solid enough but defensive miscues, shoddy pen work and an inability to get get that one clutch hit have reared their ugly heads yet again.Injuries to Adam Jones and Corey Patterson haven't helped out much. Nick Markakis continues to be mired in a month-long slump hitting only .232. Heck, Nicky is only hitting .243 for the second-half! If this is any indicator on how things are going to go from here-on-out it will be a long September.

One bright-spot has been the starting pitching. Despite losing the last three the Orioles starting pitching has only given up 10 ER over the last week, Millwood being responsible for four of those runs last night. The starters' ressurgence over the last trip through the rotation was just a wonderful thing to watch and even though they don't get to play the Angels every game in September if the starters can keep that type of momentum up the Orioles should finish fairly strong. Or at least a lot stronger than they normally finish.

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Welcome to September

Welcome to September.

With roughly 30 or so games left in the 2010 season, the Orioles are trying their best to finish on a definite high note.That would be a welcome change from what we have seen the last 13 years or so.

Last night, the Orioles defeated the Boston Red Sox, 5-2, thanks to yet another strong start by Brian Matusz, hefty work by the bullpen and the offense breaking through. The game was settled in the eighth inning as Luke Scott and Felix Pie homered.

Matusz stymied the Red Sox into the seventh inning and kept them off balance all night – especially J.D. Drew and David Ortiz. He seemingly has bounced back from his nightmarish start to the season and is finally looking like the young lefty that everyone had hyped up last year.

Even more impressive was the effort the bullpen gave to help Baltimore to the victory. The triumvirate of Jim Johnson, Mike Gonzalez and Koji Uehara saved the game for the Orioles and it‘s amazing what could have been if all three were healthy.

The Orioles might not be .500 team, but they would not have a .370 winning percentage either. More importantly, the Orioles avoided their usual August swoon, going 17-11 during the month.

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A Winning August

With last night's solid win against the Angels the Orioles secured their first winning month of the year and their first winning August since 1997. The Orioles, so far, have gone 15 and 11 this month with three games remaining. Not only is this month the only winning month for the Orioles thus far, it is the first time this year the Orioles have recorded more than 10 wins in a month. That is simply how bad the birds have been all year, looking at them now it really does feel like a different team.

Having a strong August was very important for this team because in September the Orioles will enter schedule-hell. Thanks to the unbalanced nature of the schedule September sees the Orioles taking part in what amounts to a round-robin AL East tournament, one the Orioles have had trouble with this season. The clouds may be gathering on the horizon but the Birds of August are enjoying every last bit of sunshine this new life has brought.

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Things So Far...

After only winning one game out of three in Chicago against the White Sox, the Orioles flew out to the West Coast to face the Angels.

On Friday, the Orioles beat the Angels, 3-1, as Brad Bergesen bounced back from a so-so performance last weekend. He went eight strong innings, gave up a run on four hits, and kept the Angels off balance. Koji Uehara got the save.

Baltimore got runs from a Nick Markakis RBI-single in the first, a Luke Scott RBI-single in the sixth and a Corey Patterson groundout in the eighth inning.

The only run for Los Angeles came off a Bergesen balk in the first inning.

Now that there are 33 games left in the season, what should we expect from here? It’s been a long season, but it’s good to have seen the team play much better overall under Showalter and actually play some competitive baseball.

With Jim Johnson back in the fold, it’ll be interesting to see how he does during the rest of the season (Armando Gabino was sent down). However, Brian Roberts (hip) and Adam Jones (shoulder) are ailing a bit.

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Brian's Baseball Bash

Yesterday evening, baseball fans, kids, parents along with a strong representation of current and ex-Oriole players were once again on hand for Brian’s Baseball Bash. The event, in its fifth year, has a change of venue from downtown Baltimore to Dave & Buster’s at Arundel Mills Mall, but that didn’t stop hundreds from supporting a good cause and meeting the various celebrities in attendance.

Brian’s Baseball Bash each and every year helps to improve the lives of sick children in the greater Baltimore metropolitan area and in the state of Maryland – primarily, the University of Maryland Hospital for Children.

He and his wife, Diana, were hosts of the event and they spoke about their devotion to the community, their work with the hospital and plus were appreciative of the crowd that came out for the event.

As most Oriole fans know who know all about the player, he is known for spending some of his free time during season in Baltimore visiting sick children in the hospital and doing his part to lift their spirits.

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A Coming Out Party for Josh Bell; O's Beat Rangers and Cliff Lee

It was quite an afternoon for Josh Bell in Baltimore on Saturday. Over the past weeks, some have wondered if Bell had been rushed up to the majors too quickly in light of his struggles; however, against Rangers’ ace Cliff Lee and in front of a National audience, he showed the promise the Orioles had in him.

Yesterday, Baltimore beat Texas, 8-6, as they put on quite a power display. Bell has two homers off Lee and drove in five runs in easily his most productive day as a major leaguer so far, and Luke Scott along with Ty Wigginton hit back-to-back home runs to start a five-run, fourth inning.

Brad Beregsen got the win, although he was not exactly at his best. He allowed five runs in seven innings of work on the afternoon, while Koji Uehara got his 1st major league save.

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Orioles Stymied by Rangers; Markakis and Showalter Tossed

It was a very frustrating Friday for the Baltimore Orioles as they lost to the Texas Rangers, 2-0, in the second contest of a four game set.

Nick Markakis got his first career ejection after arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Jeff Nelson; meanwhile, Buck Showalter too vented at Nelson later and found himself tossed – only after a memorable tirade that had shades of Earl Weaver written all over it.

Then, the fans got into Nelson for the final few innings of the game attempting to get under his skin, booing, mocking cheers and saying sarcastic things.

Seriously, Nelson’s strike zone was fairly questionable on the night and that in turn hurt the Orioles, but then again, C.J. Wilson – who on the night started for the Rangers on the mound – was brilliant.

Overall, Wilson stymied the offense for 8 2/3 innings, allowed only three hits and struck out twelve. Of course, Nelson helped Wilson on the night, and the Rangers’ catcher, Taylor Teagarden sold the calls well.

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The Buck Bump

The Buck Bump, is it real - how long will it last? Before last night's win the Orioles lost two series in a row, two winnable series and Orioles fans everywhere began to consider the notion that the Buck Bump had passed and the Orioles would fall back into their old Pre-Buck (or P.B.) ways. Orioles fans can be a panicky bunch; after all 13 years of losing baseball will do that to you. Until the World Series parade starts on Pratt Street Orioles fans exist in a perpetual state of "waiting for the other shoe to drop". Let me be the first to say this O's fans: DON'T PANIC (notice the large friendly letters) the Orioles are still experiencing the influence of Buck Showalter and the bump is still in effect.

Despite dropping back-to-back series to the Rays and Mariners the key thing to remember is the Orioles have been playing very solid baseball. The Rays are simply a better team right now and the Mariners - well - frankly the M's got a little lucky. It is not everyday that Matt Tuiasosopo pretty much wins a game single-handed. I still don't know how he caught Matt Wieters' double the other night and I bet he doesn't either. That is baseball even when you are playing well sometimes you just don't get the breaks.

I stated a while ago here in this very blog that the real test of this team under Buck's tenure would be how they react to their first bit of trouble and last night I think they showed us. Brian Matusz was masterful against a very tough Rangers lineup and the Birds made easy work of the Texas Club shutting them out 4-0. It was just an excellent performance from everyone involved. The Orioles are simply playing better ball and that usually translates into more wins. Every once and awhile good ballclubs lose games they have no business losing, like the third game of the Mariners series, but so long as the play remains consistent there good teams tend to win more games than they lose.

Sitting here in the pressbox tonight, be sure to follow me on twitter (@hampden42) for live commentary and Q+A. this will be my third game of the season sitting with the rest of the press. I have to say everyone has been so very nice and welcoming to li'l ol' me. The Orioles are really going out of their way to open this experience up to the electronic media and I am thankful for the opportunity.

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Matusz and The Team...

After two disappointing losses to the Seattle Mariners in their three-game series this week, the Baltimore Orioles got a huge shot in the arm as Brian Matusz threw eight shutout innings as they beat the Texas Rangers, 4-0.

They snapped a two-game losing streak, and used a four-run seventh inning to emerge victorious.

Matusz – who had a season full of ups and downs – perhaps had his best showing in the majors so far on Thursday. On the night, he just allowed five hits and one walk against the Rangers – a team more than likely playoff-bound.

We all know he’s got the stuff – the question is can he pitch with some consistency?

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O's Win; Machado Signs

Monday was a huge day for the Orioles as they not only beat the Seattle Mariner, 5-4, off an Adam Jones’ RBI-bunt that plated Nick Markakis for the winning run, but also signed a potential part of their future.

After losing two straight against the Rays this weekend, the Orioles picked up the win last night and are now 10-4 under Buck Showalter, plus are 11-3 in extra inning affairs.

O’s starting pitcher Brad Bergesen was solid on Monday, but nowhere as immaculate during his last start. He went 5 1/3 innings and gave up three runs. The bullpen kept the game in check until Seattle scored in the top of the tenth – that is until Baltimore scored in the bottom of the inning.

The Orioles are 42-77 on the season.

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The Night That Was: The Pumpkins, I Mean the O's, Shutout Rays & Are 9-2 Under Showalter...

Imagine if Buck Showalter had been with the Orioles earlier…

In all seriousness, the Orioles won their 9th out of 11 games since Buck Showalter took the helm of the team, as they defeated their American League rival, the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-0. The shutout on Friday was only the second on the year for the Baltimore.

Jeremy Guthrie pitched six shutout innings and the bullpen – Koji Uehara and Mike Gonzalez – preserved the lead.

Adam Jones had a two-run triple in the first and Felix Pie had a RBI-double in the first inning off James Shields – who started for Tampa and took the loss – for a quick three run lead.

Josh Bell added an RBI-single in the fourth and Luke Scott hit his 22nd homer in the seventh (just imagine if he was traded).

It’s good to see Uehara and Gonzalez healthy and productive – obviously, they both have had a tiny role in the surge of the Orioles as of late. As well, Luke Scott has not been in a prolonged slump for a good long while and has been hitting for the better part of two months. In fact, it would be safe to say that Luke has carried the team at times.

Well, it’s good to see the Orioles are climbing in the loss column; however, the question I have is this – where was this team for the first 2/3 of the season?

It’s crazy.

While I don’t think the success of Baltimore has been about Buck Showalter – it might be.

This is what Jeremy Guthrie said after the game (from the Orioles.com): "It's not a coincidence that we've turned it around since Buck showed up.”

He adds: "We know what he expects and we've played good baseball with him here. No magic formula, but maybe just a good shift in gears for us."

Really. Could these guys not have as well as they have under Juan Samuel, or Dave Trembley? That’s confusing. Are these guys not professional athletes? Do they need that much extra motivation to win? Whatever is going on – it keep it up, but I’m perplexed.

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Just something that needs to be said...

Last night's uniforms were awesome!

In case you missed it the Orioles dug out their 1971 day-glo orange roadies for the game in TB.

Un-effing-believable. Surprisingly they have been a bit polarizing I am seeing way too many people are hating on these uniforms frankly you all have a severe lack of both joy and style. These uniforms are awesome, certainly not something I would want to see everyday but I would love to see the Orioles bust these uniforms out once or twice a year.

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