O's Quietly Hammer the White Sox in Empty Yard

    Good evening O's fans. Today was a day like no other in baseball history and a day hopeful that we will never have to see again in our beautiful city of Baltimore. The O's played in front of zero fans today due to the recent riots in Baltimore due to the Freddie Gray incident after peaceful protests became violent and completely out of control. There was a city wide curfew set by the mayor of 10:00pm causing the Orioles and MLB to have to change their whole schedule. It is amazing that hoodlums can create this kind of turmoil.  It was great to see about a hundred fans that gathered outside the left center field area behind the gates that tried to catch the action from there.

   The O's did not waste any time as they came out of the gates hot.  They jumped on White Sox starter Jeff Samardzija for 6 runs in the first inning.  Alejandro DeAza led off the game with a walk. Jimmy Paredes then reached on an error followed by a Delmon Young single.  Adam Jones hit a sac fly to make it 1-0. Chris Davis then hit a 3 run bomb to make it 4-0 quickly!!  He has been swinging a hot bat and the O's hope it continues.  The inning continued with back to back doubles by Machado and Everth Cabrera to make it 5-0 and then Caleb Joseph singled in Cabrera to make it 6-0.  Should the fans stay away?? No way, but man what an inning.

    Manny Machado had a big day with 3 hits including a homerun in the bottom of the fifth to cap off the Orioles scoring for the day.  Ubaldo Jimenez got the start today and man did he impress again. He went seven innings only giving up only two runs, striking out six and only walking one. His confidence is building with every outing.  What a difference he can be for this team if he continues to pitch like this. He has a 1.59 era right now, wow what a difference from a year ago.

    Now the O's who were scheduled to play at home this weekend, now have to go to Tampa to play at AWFUL Tropicana Field where they will be the home team to face the surprising Rays.   It is going to be interesting to see if the O's get these home games back at some point in the schedule. It sucks that a team now has to play 84 road games to only 78 home games. It is just unreal what the idiot hoodlums did to our great city. It is an absolute travesty. The O's will do what they have to do and the people of Baltimore will as well to get our wonderful city back in order in hopes that something of this nature never happens again. God bless our law enforcement officers, fire fighters and all that are involved keeping our city safe.  Let's come together Baltimore and make our city proud again. Let's go O's. You heard it From the Booth.

From the Booth

No Comment, not worth my time

O's Lose Again in Toronto for 3rd Straight Loss

    Well O's fans, the O's are just not looking good right now. They have now lost three straight and lets see  they are not hitting, not pitching, and not playing defense. These last three games have just been pure ugly.

    Chen early exits against Boston in 7-1 rain shortened loss with 5 walks yet 5 unearned runs due to three errors.   Bud Norris continues his terrible 2015 giving up 9 runs in just over two innings yesterday. Then you have Adam Jones yelling at Jose Batista after he trotted around the bases trailing 11-4. Batista may not be my favorite player in the world but he was thrown behind before he hit the bomb. I would have walked around the bases. Adam should just answer with the bat rather than his mouth. The final last night was 13-6.

    Tonight Ubaldo tried to right the ship. He got some early help from Jimmy Paredes hitting a two run bomb. That was it though. The Jays starter Aaron Sanchez walked 5 hitters and the O's could not take advantage.  The O's loaded the bases with one out in the 6th and also got nothing.  They trailed 4-2 heading to the 9th.  They put the tying runs on first and second with no out.  I thought for sure Caleb Joseph would bunt them into scoring position. Nope, he did not and struck out looking. One batter later Delmon Young grounds into a double play to end the game and send the O's into fourth place.

    There is no timetable on J.J. Hardy as he took a step back in his rehab. We still know nothing definite on Matt Wieters. This is why I wanted Dan Duquette to help this team in the off season coming off a AL East Title. Instead we let three major components go in the mere hopes that Wieters, Machado and Davis return to form.  We see how that is working so far.  Somebody better step up and lead this team before they tailspin out of control. They are lucky that the division is mediocre and they are in the pack.  I know it is only April but to me these games matter as much as September.  Hopefully they can salvage a win before returning home.  Very frustrating series in Toronto. Let's go O's, get this thing right.

O's tie series After Very tough loss in Opener at Fenway

    Good evening O's fans. It is always better as you know when the O's are in the win column.  This was a great bounce back win tonigh after last night's fiasco with Ubaldo being tossed for no reason. I am not going to talk about that because it will just make me angry.  The O's got a great bounce back win today 4-1 to even the four game series at one a piece.

    The O's needed Tillman to go as deep into the game today as possible with the bullpen needing some rest. He battled through 5 1/3 innings throwing 105 pitches. I thought he was yanked a little early in my opinion. I would have liked to have seen Buck let him get through the sixth. I guess he did not want to stretch his ace too far too early on.  He was pulled and Brad Brach came on to finish the sixth and seventh. O'Day pitched the eighth and Britton closed it out.  Bullpen was awesome today!!

    Chris Davis had a big game today getting 3 hits with a huge opposite field homerun over the monster in the top of the ninth to give the O's some much needed insurance. The O's had chances to blow this game wide open as they had the bases loaded three times against Buckholtz but could not get the big hit and let him off the hook.  

    On a sour note, Jonathan Schoop will be on the DL with a torn PCL. He will be out at least 8-10 weeks. This could have been from the Sandoval slide last night or when he tripped over Mike Napoli's foot at first base.  The Evereth Cabrera signing is now huge. Jimmy Paredes was called up. Maybe he can add some spark to the lineup as he had a great spring. 

    The O's will send Miguel Gonzales to the hill tomorrow to try to get game 3. He will face Rick Porcello. No easy task tomorrow for O's hitters. Miguel will need to be sharp as he was in his last outing when he struck out 10 Yankees. You heard it From the Booth and let's go O's!!!!

   

O's Have Big 5th Inning to Win Rubber Match Against Yanks

    Good evening O's fans. It is always a better evening when the O's are in the win column. This was not the prettiest win in the world but it is a win and another series win. There were some good signs and some bad but the most important thing is that they win and move on to Fenway after a 7-5 win to finish off the Yankees.

    I was talking with my buddies today and Mike Winters and Will Polyniak both agreed that the O's success is going to depend a lot on the success of Chris Davis. Tonight there were some good signs and bad signs with him. He gave the O's the lead in the first inning with a single and had a big two run double as part of a O's five run fifth inning.  In the at bat with the double he swung at two pitches prior and looked terrible.  He ended up striking out three times in the game. We all know his potential when he makes contact but it needs to be more consistent. In our conversation, Mike said lets see where he is after 150 at bats. If he is hitting .175 at that point a decision needs to be made. I think that is a fair assessment.

   Another bright note was that Manny Machado got his first homerun of the year with a blast deep into the left field stands, a true no doubter. Jonathan Schoop also hit a bomb for the birds. He is looking really good so far.  Caleb Joseph had a great series with another base hit and RBI tonight. Delmon Young and Alejandro DeAza had good games tonight as well. The offense has been producing. The best thing is that we are scoring runs without prodction prior to tonight from Chris Davis or Machado.  J.J. Hardy is obviously still out as well along with Matt Wieters.  Hardy is taking batting practice and should start a rehab assignment soon. He is not making the trip to Boston. Matt is throwing from 120 feet and catching bullpen sessions and also hitting in simulated games.

   Now, on to the pitching and a few concerning things. Bud Norris did not have very good command after the second inning tonight. He seemed to lose it.  He was able to battle and keep the O's in the game through five innings. He was really all over the place though. He gave up 3 runs in his five innings of work.  I really like Bud as he is a gamer but he needs to be much better.  Tommy Hunter really struggled again tonight giving up two runs in the 8th inning. He has not looked good at all.  I have a thought and it is just a thought.  Could Bud Norris be Tommy Hunter soon? Maybe Norris goes to the bullpen coming out throwing 96 for an inning and Gausman moves to the rotation. I would like to hear everyone's opinion on that.  The starting pitching needs to be much better. 

   With all this said, we are 5-4, have won two of three series and we now head to Fenway on a winning note. This should be a great series. Would love three of four but would be happy with a split.  Ubaldo Jimenez gets the start on Friday. Let's hope he can follow up with another great start and down the Sox in game one. You heard it From the Booth, Let's go O's!!!!

O's Get Bounce Back Win in Game 2

    Good evening O's fans. This is a much happier version of the Booth tonight.  The O's tie the series up at one a piece behind a gem from Miguel Gonzales and the sizzling Adam Jones.

    The O's got just what the doctor ordered tonight from starter Miguel Gonzales. He was awesome as he usually is against the Yankees.  He went 7 innings striking out 10 and only giving up 1 run while walking only 1. The bullpen has been overworked early in the year so far and got some much needed rest.

    Adam Jones continues swinging a hot bat on the home stand with another home run in the first inning. He also added a sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning.  Caleb Joseph had a big night for the O's as well with a RBI single and a lead off triple that lead to the Orioles fourth run

    Miguel Gonzales was the story of the night as he was just awesome. I loved the fact that he struggled a lIttle in the sixth and came right back out in the seventh and retired the side in order. He was dealing tonight. Kevin Gausman struggled a lIttle in the 8th giving up a run in just 2/3 of an inning. Britton came in with two outs in the 8th retiring Brian McCann to end the inning. He then closed it out with a perfect 9th for the save and putting the O's back in the win column.  The one bad note of tonight is the continuing struggles of Chris Davis. I just don't know what to think about Davis. He needs to get his head straight. I think he is putting too much pressure on himself thinking about his pending free agency.  Me and every other O's fan hope he figures it out.

    The O's try to win the rubber match tomorrow behind Bud Norris. Let's hope Bud can right the ship and getv the series win for the Birds!!  You heard it From the Booth. Let's go O's!!

O's Give Yankees Win in Game one of Series

    Well O's fans, the last couple days we have seen the off season moves coming back to haunt them. Markakis not being in right field, overpaying Chris Davis, letting Miller go, and the list goes on. The O's make several huge mistakes in 6-5 loss to the Yankees.

    Wei Yen Chen pitched well enough to win going six innings and only giving up two runs.  Tommy Hunter had an awful 7th inning walking a couple and then giving up a Grand slam to give the Yankees the lead.

   Adam Jones did give the Orioles a 4-2 lead tonight with a two run homerun but then Tommy Hunter gave up the four runs. Buck or Dave Wallace never even came out of the dugout to try to settle him down or give him a minute breather. Guess the pitching coaches job is to just sit on their butt on the bench.

    If I were the Orioles, I would part ways now with Chris Davis. He hurts this team more than he helps it. He should NEVER be in the 3 hole in the line up, EVER!!!!! You need somebody who can make contact and drive in runs. Chris Davis should be a six or at best 5 if in the line up at all.  Adam Jones needs to be your everyday three hole hitter.  I think the O's overpaid Chris Davis after a horrible year and being suspended. They could have spent that money on Andrew Miller.  Dan Duquette was too busy worrying about the Blue Jays job rather than making this team better.

    If I were the Orioles, I would send Chris Davis down, who cares if they lose him on waivers, bring up Reimold and give him the at bats. How much worse can he do? Chris Davis will never hit 50 homers again but will strike out 200 times a year for the rest of his career.  This is the same stuff I preached about Mark Reynolds.

    Adam Jones has a great night and then he loses his head and tries to steal second with no outs in the 7th down by a run.  You just have to be smarter than that. Man, sometimes I just don't get what these guys think. You just have to be smart, know the situation. Then Travis Snyder walks. Instead of first and second with no outs, its one out and a guy on. These kinds of things are just not acceptable.

    The O's better get this stuff out of the way now because this division is going to be tough. The Jays are going to be tough to beat. The Red Sox are improved. Oh yeah, their GM's were not jockeying for other jobs in the off-season. These kind of games will come back to haunt you in September.  Not a happy camper tonight From the Booth. Let's go O's, right the ship!!!!!

O's Drop Finale Against Jays

    Good evening O's fans. The O's could not get it done today at the yard as there comeback attempt fell short in a 10-7 loss in the rubber match in the series against the Jays.

    It is amazing how bad a team can look when they do not get good pitching. Chris Tillman was just all over the place today and just could not get it together. He did not make it out of the 3rd inning after he walked the bases loaded and Travis Snider mis-played a hard hit ball to right by Devon Travis  letting it get over his head clearing the bases.  Kevin Gausman came in and gave up a single to Jose Reyes and it was 7-2.

    The O's played comeback all day today. Adam Jones hit a 2 run homerun in the bottom of the first tying the game at two. That was short lived as Tillman gave up a homerun in the 2nd to Kevin Pillar.  Then we all know what happened in the 3rd.  The O's got two back im their half of the 3rd on rbi singles by Adam Jones and Chris Davis.  That was short lived as Gausman gave up a run in the top of the fourth and it was 8-4.   The O's pulled closer in the 5th after Steve Pearce and Adam Jones reached, Travis Snider hit a 3 run homerun cutting the Jays lead to 8-7.  It looked like an amazing O's comeback at the yard.

  The comeback fell short though as the Jays got a 2 run homerun buy Jose Batista in the 8th inning making it 10-7 which was the final.

    The Jays are going to be the Orioles competition this year in the AL East if they stay healthy.  The O's are going to have to pitch well against them as their lineup is dangerous.  The Bronx Bombers make their way into town next to.open a 3 game set.  The O's are now 3-3 in the young season. Time to beat up on the Yanks! You heard it From the Booth. Let's go O's!!

O's Bounce Back to set up Rubber Match Today at the Yard

   Good Morning O's fans. I did not get a chance to post last night. Better late than never I always say.  Man, this is the true beauty of baseball. You get crushed 12-5 the day before and the next day you bounce back and lay one on them.  The O's did just that last night as they trounce the Jays 7-1 behind a Ubaldo Jimenez great outing setting up the rubber match today.

    Ubaldo Jimenez after a laughing stock of a year last year got off to an amazing start last night. He improved every start in spring and carried it over into his first start of the year.  Ubaldo went seven innings striking out eight and more importantly only walking one. Ubaldo had 8 strike outs and 11 ground ball outs. That means 19 of the 21 outs never left the infield or went into play. That is a pretty impressive outing. If this Ubaldo is the one the O's can depend on what a huge x factor he can be. Us fans have to be excited about that.  The O's also flashed the leather last night as Manny Machado made several incredible plays at 3rd and Everth Cabrera did the same at short. Both of these guys have rocket arms. Buck may have some interesting decisions to make at short this year. What a great problem to have. 

    The offense teed off on Jays pitching last night using the long ball as they love to do.  Alejandro DeAza hit a lead off home run to start the O's offense in the first inning. Chris Davis followed a few batters later with his first homerun of the year driving one out to opposite field.   The O's added another run in the third making it 3-0 when Adam Jones grounded into a double play and DeAza scored from 3rd.  The O's loaded the bases in the 5th inning with no outs for Jonathan Schoop.  Jonathan launched one way back into the left field stands for his first career grand slam giving the O's a 7-0 lead and the yard was rocking!!! 

    Tommy Hunter pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Zach Britton came in to close it out to get some work. He did give up one run after a lead off double but still looked very sharp.  Today Chris Tillman squares off against Drew Hutchison in the rubber match.  The O's have not faired well against Hutchison in the past and Tillman has not faired well against the Jays. As I said earlier, that is the beauty of this game as all of that could turn around today. Let's hope the O's can get this one today and win their second series of the year. You heard it From the Booth. Let's go O's!!!

O's Drop Home Opener

Good evening O's fans. I was not coherent enough today to tell you exactly what happened.  The O's were beat badly today to open the home season 12-5.

Bud Norris was not good as he was not in spring.  The pitchers that followed were not much better.  On a bright note Adam Jones went 4-4 and hit his first homerun of the year.

    I never made it into the game today but had a great time at Sliders with great friends Doug Nelson, Will Polyniak, Mike Winters, George Bloxom, and Holly Jones. The O's got this one out of their system and move on to game two. Let's see if they bounce back Saturday behind Ubaldo Jimenez in his first start of the year. Not much heard tonight From the Booth but Let's go O's!!!

O's Drop Finale in Tampa

   Well O's fans, not much to say about tonight's game. The Rays took the last game of the opening series 2-0.

    Miguel Gonzales started tonight for the O's. He struggled in the first inning loading the bases but managed to get out of it. He settled down and pitched into the sixth inning. He left not giving up a run yet but had men on first and second with two out. Brian Matusz came in and struggled with his command walking the next two batters and unfortunately that run is charged to Miguel. Matusz did strike out Beckham to end the inning. The Rays added an insurance run in the eighth on a Desmond Jennings single. That was the final tonight 2-0. The O's bats went silent tonight. Tip your hat to the Rays pitching.

   The O's start the season doing what they do which is winning series. That is Buck's motto, win series.  I will take a series win on the road anytime. Now it is a day off for the guys and it is home to the Yard in front of 45,000 plus for the home opener. I'm sure the yard will be rocking as long as the weather allows. Have a great night O's fans and see you Friday!!! Let's go O's. You heard it From the Booth.

O's Guarantee Series Win in Tampa to Start 2015

    Good evening O's fans. The O's have guaranteed their first series win of the year taking game two in Tampa 6-5.

Early on it looked like blowout city as the Orioles put up a 4 spot in the first inning.  They got four consecutive hits to start the game. DeAza, Pearce, and Snider singled and it was 1-0 that quick. Travis Snider continues to impress early on as an Oriole.  Wait until he gets to the atmosphere at the yard. Adam Jones then ripped a two run double putting the O's ahead 3-0. Manny Machado drove in the other run with a sac fly to make it 4-0.  Steve Pearce then drilled his second homerun of the year in the 2nd inning to make it 6-0. The O's were cruising. This looked like it was in the book. Well, it was definitely not.

    Wei Yen Chen struggled with his command early and often. He also forgot how many outs there were in the 2nd when a ground ball back to him should have been a double play but he threw to first thinking there were two outs.  He only made it through 4 2/3 giving up 3 runs not qualifying for the win. He just could not put hitters away and really drove his pitch count up. He did make some good pitches to get out of jams. This was not the start he hoped for but he did manage to minimize the damage. Kevin Gausman came in and pitched pretty well. He gave up a two run homerun after a walk in the 6th to Kevin Kiermaier. This made it 6-5. What started out a cake walk was now a one run game.   Gausman went 2 1/3 only allowing the two run homer. He hit 100 mph twice.  Darren O'Day went 1 1/3 allowing no runs and Zach Britton in true closer style struck out the side in the 9th to close it out for the save!!

    This was a great win. It felt like one of those games that may slip away but they were able to hang on with the bullpen getting it done. Gausman got the win as Chen as mentioned did not qualify only going 4 2/3.  The O's improve to 2-0 and go for the series sweep Wednesday sending Miguel Gonzales to the mound. Let's go O's. You heard it From the Booth.

  

O's Open Up 2015 With a Few Bangs in Tampa

Happy Opening Day O's fans. Man is it good to see baseball games that count again after a long winter. The O's added some fireworks to a lifeless Tropicana Field. I actually feel bad for any Major League team to have to open up in a terrible stadium and atmosphere like that. With that said the O's went about their business getting in the win column to kick off the 2015 season as they try to defend their 2014 American League East title.

    Chris Tillman got off to a great start going 6 2/3 innings and only allowing one run.  The O's got a unearned run in the first inning when new Oriole Travis Snyder drove in the first O's run of the year driving in Alejandro DeAza who reached on an error by Rays starter Chris Archer.  They never looked back.  DeAz blasted a 2-run homerun in the 5th to put the O's ahead 3-0. Steve Pearce hit a blast in the top of the 6th to give the O's a 4-1 lead.  Travis Snyder doubled in a run in the 8th driving in Steve Pearce. Pearce was originally called out but Buck Showalter challenged and the call was overturned giving the O's a 5-1 lead. The Rays got a run back in the bottom of the 8th but Ryan Flaherty blasted his first homerun of the year in the top of the 9th. 

   It was great to see the O's get six runs with Adam Jones and Manny Machado not really involved too much. Adam did hit a deep fly ball in the first moving DeAza to 3rd.  Travis Snyder was huge in his O's debut with 3 hits, a outfield assist and a diving catch.  It was a well rounded team win to kick off the 2015 season. Hope to see about 90 to 95 more of these!!!  Let's go O's. You heard it From the Booth.