BALTIMORE—After some uncertainty, the Orioles’ Tuesday night game against the Miami Marlins will be played, although the starting time was pushed back to 8:15 after the Marlins were cleared to play. Miami hasn’t played since July 26th after at least 18 players tested positive for Covid-19. Tuesday afternoon, Major League Baseball issued...
BALTIMORE—The Orioles’ bullpen had no place to go but up. Through eight games in 2020, it’s an area of strength. In 2019, Oriole relievers had baseball’s worst ERA at a 5.79. It’s at 4.58 so far and, if you remove Cody Carroll’s 162.00 ERA, it drops all the way to 3.16. In...
BALTIMORE—Pat Valaika had just won Saturday night’s game with a base hit, and there was no wild celebration on the field. Instead, Oriole players were high-fiving the air, trying to maintain social distancing rather than engulfing Valaika. But this is 2020, and the Orioles did their celebrating alone; there were no fans...
BALTIMORE—It’s been nearly two years since the Orioles recorded a sweep. On Sunday, manager Brandon Hyde, who went through the 2019 season without even a two-game sweep, got to enjoy a three-game one. The Orioles’ 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays moved their record to 5-3 ahead of a day off...
BALTIMORE—The Orioles got their first experience in extra-inning baseball in 2020, and they liked what they saw. Pat Valaika’s single to right scored Bryan Holaday from third base to lift the Orioles to a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in 11 innings Saturday night at Camden Yards. The Orioles turned...
BALTIMORE—The trade of relief pitcher Richard Bleier wouldn’t have been surprising had it occurred a month later, on August 31, at this year’s trade deadline. But the Orioles moved quickly to move the 33-year-old left-hander to the Miami Marlins after Friday’s game for a player to be named later. The player that...
BALTIMORE—Richard Bleier was sitting in the Orioles’ bullpen, hoping to get in a game that required five relievers to work five innings. He didn’t, and after the Orioles’ 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night, found out that he was traded to the Miami Marlins for a player to...
Chris Davis returned to the Orioles on Friday after missing two days because of a sinus infection. Davis said he was available to play but isn’t in the starting lineup for the Orioles against Tampa Bay left-hander Blake Snell. “I feel fine. I feel well-rested,” Davis said in a video conference call....
BALTIMORE—For a few minutes, it looked as if the Orioles were going to break their long, painful losing streak against the New York Yankees. Instead, the lead they snatched was quickly taken away, and they suffered their 18th straight defeat to New York, a team record. The night before they had tied...
BALTIMORE—For the second straight day, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is not in the lineup, and manager Brandon Hyde said again that he was “unavailable.” Hyde said that Davis worked out with the team on Tuesday, but declined to elaborate on his absence. “I’m going to leave it at that,” Hyde said...