Back to their winning ways?

The O's need to do their best to shake off yesterdays rough loss. The Red Sox offensively have really struggled this year and I dont think one game will change that. If the Orioles can get some runs against Beckett tonight I think they will be able to pull off this W. Eaton has been pretty poor this year, but I do not think he will be the key to this game. He will let up some runs tonight thats for sure, but it will be up to the bullpen to limit the scoring. This O's bullpen has been pretty poor so far and they will need to step it up if the O's want to continue their winning ways. As always remember, Lets go O's!

Weiters Update

Matt Weiters left yesterdays game after one AB with what was said to be cramping in his hamstring. The Orioles say that this is nothing serious, but it is not know if Weiters will miss anytime.

Tough One To Swallow

Last night the O's had a 7-0 lead in the second inning and ending up losing 10-8 to the Boston Red Sox. Jeremy Guthrie had by far his worst start of the season and was not helped at all by his defense. In the fifth inning Aubrey Huff made a costly error that cost the O's three unearned runs and allowed the Sox to tie the game at eight. Danny Baez continued his poor start to the season as he let up two runs in the sixth that would end the scoring. The O's did get a couple good swings against Papelbon in the ninth but couldnt get them out of Fenway. Nick Markakis led the way offensively going 2/4 with a HR and five RBI's. The O's will continue their series today at 7:10 as Adam Eaton will take on Josh Beckett.

In other local news

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that the Nationals and 3B Ryan Zimmerman are closing in on a contract extension. It has been reported that Zimmerman was looking for a contract similar to the one recently signed by Nick Markakis.

..Not really sure Zimmerman has proven enough to warrant a contract the same as Markakis. He is coming off an injury filled year and has yet to hit 25 or more HRs or bat over .287. Although, in his defense he does play in a tough park with very little lineup protection. Basically I see this as a signing the Nats just have to make because he is the face of the franchise and they cant afford to let him get near free agency.

Weekend Series Preview

Baltimore Versus Boston in a four game set.

Friday - 7:10
Guthrie Vs. Penny

Saturday - 7:05
Eaton Vs. Beckett

Sunday - 1:35
Uehara Vs. Lester

Monday - 11:05
Hendrickson Vs. Masterson


..Tonight's match up favors the O's and Mondays is at worst a push, but Saturday and Sunday are in the Red Sox favor. This series could be a rough one if the O's lose tonight. That said the Red Sox have not been playing well, but are talented enough to ignite at anytime. Lets hope they ignite on Tuesday.

AL east update

The Yankees will look to get their first win today in their new stadium when they face the Cleveland Indians at 1:05. Joba Chamberlain will face off against Anthony Reyes.

..Sure would be nice to see the Yanks open their big fancy ballpark at 0-2.

Prospect Update

Not a huge day in the Minors so I am just going to do a short prospect update. At Norfolk Matt Weiters hits his first HR of the year as he went 2/5 with two runs and an RBI. Lou Montanez continued his strong start by going 2/4 with three runs and two RBI's. He is now batting .483 on the year with an OBP of .559 and is looking like he would be the first OF call up at this point. In AA top pitching prospect Troy Patton moved 2-0 and he went six innings allowing only three hits and striking out six. Not much prospect info from A ball today.

..good to see Weiters hit something other than a single. I think once he gets going he is going to go on an impressive tear.

Good Morning O's Fans

Today feels like its going to be a good day. The O's will look to continue their strong start against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Boston has struggled a little out of the gate and the O's will have the pitching advantage tonight as Jeremy Guthrie aims for 3-0. This is a four game series in Boston so I think a split should be considered a good series and to get that split the O's will need to get the W when Jeremy pitches. On Saturday and Sunday they will have to face Beckett and Lester which puts even more pressure on Guthrie. Tonights game is scheduled for 7:10, Lets go O's.

ROY discussion

Over at MLBTRADERUMORS Tim Dierkes is starting a ROY of the year discussion. Of course in his list of candidates for the AL he has Matt Weiters, but he also has starting pitcher Koji Uehara. Personally I think by the time Weiters gets up here he will not get the AB's to beat out someone who is playing all year such as Travis Snider, but you never know. To go add your two cents to the discussion go here.

Around the Minors

The Norfolk Tides defeated the Charlotte Knights by a score of 3-2. Super prospect Matt Weiters had the day off and top prospect Nolan Reimold was held in check going 1/4 with two K's. Last years O's minor league pitcher of the year Brad Bergesen picked up the win going six innings only allowing two runs on two hits and two walks.

In Erie the Bowie Baysox easily defeated the Seawolves 9-3. Brandon Snyder cooled off a little only going 1/5, but is still batting over .400 for the year. Top pitching prospect Jake Arrieta made the start and got the win going five innings and allowing only one earned run.

The Frederick keys picked up the win over Myrtle Beach 3-2. Top ten prospect Billy Rowell hit his first home run of the season.


..In his O's on deck blog today Dean Jones Jr. has a good story on Keys pitcher Zach Britton.

In case you missed it

The O's recalled Radhames Liz to take the spot of Alfredo Simon who was placed on the DL. Liz was part of last nights horrific bullpen as he let up four runs on five hits in one inning.

Liz may be forced to return to the minors if the O's decide to use a different starter to take Simons place when his turn comes up again.

Last Night

The O's took a pounding last night losing 19-6. All that you need to know from this debacle is that Adam Jones continued his great start going 2/4 with a HR and three RBI's and that the O's bullpen let up 10 runs in just over four innings. Starter Mark Hendrickson let up nine runs but only two were earned as the Rangers were aided by a couple of O's errors in the fourth inning.

Here is the full recap if you dare.

.....This is all I am going to say about this game, lets remember that the O's are 6-3 and have an off day today before their first series of the year at Fenway.

Around the AL East

It looks like Xavier Nady of the Yankees could be headed for surgery that will keep him out for the rest of the season. Nady re-injured his elbow on a throw last night.
The injury is said to be a tear in his elbow.

As for Dice-K's short outing last night. It was originally said to just be arm fatigue, but now it looks like he will also be heading to the DL.

....These injuries are not coming at a good time for these teams as both are struggling out of the gate.

Jackie Robinson

Just a quick reminder to everyone that today is Jakie Robinson day. His story will always be remembered as one of the greatest and most important stories in baseball history. Thank you Jakie Robinson.

Present Vs. Future

There is a great article in the Baltimore Sun today by Peter Schmuck detailing the issues that face GM Andy MacPhail. Does he try to rush some young players in an effort to help the team continue their strong start. For instance should he bring up one of the top pitching prospects to replace the injured Alfredo Simon. This start is great by the O's and the excitement around the teams is high right now, but I do not think that means that they should start a "win at all cost" type thinking. Other than Matt Weiters most of the O's prospects could use at least a half a season at AAA and throwing them into the fire this early in the year would not be the best course of action. If say a couple months from now the team is still hovering around .500 and the prospects have looked goood, then it may be a good idea to give them a shot in the majors. Unfourtunatly for the O's, this division is going to be very hard for them to compete in for the full season with this current roster, with or without the prospects. Thad said, a year or two from now when hopefully these young pitchers have developed and are able to combine with the obvious hitting ability this team has then they can definitely compete. I dont think it is worth it to risk these young pitchers for short term success. Luckily it seems like the O's have a GM that understands that.

Short Minors Update

The Tides took the loss yesterday 3-1. Top prospect Matt Weiters continued his quiet start by only going 1/3 with a single. He has yet to have an extra base hit. Nolan Reimold added to his hot start going 2/4 with a double.

Bowie picked up its second win in a row beating Erie 7-2. Prospect Brandon Snyder continued his torrid start to the season going 2/5 and hitting his second HR. He is now batting .462 on the year.

Finally the Frederick Keys got the win 10-5 over Myrtle Beach. Brian Matusz got the win going 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and striking out 6. Not the best start for him, but he was staked to a 5 run lead in the second so he may have just been trying to throw strikes.

.....Sorry for the short minors update, but there is a lot going on this morning

O's Win In Extras

Adam Jones hit a go ahead two run homer in the top of tenth to send the O's to their second consecutive road win. Although Jones is deserving the real hero in this game was the bullpen. After O's starter Alfredo Simon was forced to leave the game after only one and a third innings the O's bullpen came in and allowed only two runs in eight and two thirds innings. Even more impressive was that those two runs were allowed by Sherrill in the bottom of the tenth in a non save situation. The offensive hero's included Jones with his HR and three RBI's, Luke Scott with his HR and 3 RBI's, and as usual Brian Roberts who collected three hits and two runs. With this win the O's improved to 2-0 on the road for the first time since 2006. Tonight they finish their series with the Rangers as they look to go 3-0 on the road for the first time since 1987.

Here is a full game recap.

Mora to the DL

Melvin Mora's hamstring will force him to go on the DL. He will be replaced on the roster by reliever Matt Albers. Ty Wigginton will get the majority of the starts at third in Mora's absence.

Update....

Alfredo Simon has left tonight's game in the second inning with an unidentified injury.

Tonights Matchup

Tonight the O's continue their series with the Texas Rangers. They will send out Alfredo Simon for his second start of the year. Simon lasted five innings in his last start (Yankees) giving up four runs and taking the loss. The Rangers have former White Sox prospect Brandon McCarthy on the mound looking for his second consecutive win. For the O's to take this one I feel like they are going to have to score runs like they did last night as Texas's lineup is going to put up a descent amount of runs against Simon, but the O's can do the same against McCarthy. Basically if you are a betting man I would take the over.

Game Time - 8:05 EST

Quick Injury Update

Melvin Mora said that his hamstring is not improving and that although he knows he did not pull it he is still not able to run.

As for starter Rich Hill he is scheduled to have a bullpen session today and it looks like Hill is nearing a rehab assignment.

Minors Update

The Norfolk Tides defeated the Charlotte Knights by a score of 7-0. Chris Tillman took the mound and was unhittable going four innings and allowing no hits and only three walks while striking out five. Matt Weiters collected a couple singles and a walk in five plate appearences and Nolan Reimold continued his strong start going three for four with a walk and a couple runs.

In AA the Bowie Baysox defeated the Erie Seawolves by a score of 2-1. O's top ten prospect Brandon Snyder led the way offensively going three for four and hitting his first homer of the season. Bobby livingston had a strong start and got the win allowing only one run on six hits through five innings. Wilfrido Perez picked up his second save of the season.

As for the Frederick Keys they took the loss at 8-6. Not too much prospect news in this one, but Pedro Florimon and Kraig Binick continued their strong starts collecting two hits apiece and O's top prospect Billy Rowell collected a couple hits as well including a double and an RBI.

O's Win

In a poorly pitched game on both sides the O's held on for a 10-9 win to improve to 5-2 on the season. My prediction of a strong outing by Koji Uehara was off the mark as he let up 7 ER's in only 5 innings. Lucky for him the O's bats came to play yet again. Led by Aubrey Huff's four hit day the O's pounded out ten runs on sixteen hits and chased Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla in the fourth inning after he had let up seven earned runs and eleven hits. George Sherrill picked up the save in an eventful ninth inning that included a great defensive play by Nick Markakis.

Here is a full game recap

Quick Former Player Update

Daniel Cabrera started today for the Nats against the Phillies and had a fairly strong outing. He went 5 innings allowing only one earned run on six hits and two walks. The nationals defense did not do him any favors as he was credited with three unearned runs. He also only struck out two. Cabrera is now 0-1 with an ERA just under 5.

Todays Matchup

The O's look to rebound after a poor showing against the Rays as they face the Texas Rangers in their first road game of the year. If they are going to get back in the win column they are going to have to look to get off on the right foot on the road. Last year the O's had the second worst road record in the AL finishing 19 games under .500 (31-50). They will send rookie Japanese starter Koji Uehara to the mound to face Rangers righthander Vincent Padilla. Padilla in his first start of the season pitched into the sixth allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. Uehara will look to build on his strong first start against the Yankees where he pitched five strong innings only allowing one run and picking up the W. I would expect another strong start for Uehara as his first few games he should have the advantage since no one has faced him and there will not be much video on him available. As always lets go O's.

Welcome

In an effort to keep you and me up to date on all things O's I am starting an Orioles blog that will cover the Orioles major league team, their top prospects, rumors, rumblings, and maybe even some fantasy baseball talk. Thanks for stopping by and come back often for updates.