Orioles News - 10/28/07 - Birkins Claimed Off Waivers

Left handed pitcher Kurt Birkins has been claimed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays off of waivers that the Baltimore Orioles placed him on. This reduced the amount of players on the O's roster to 39, one less then the limit of 40. Birkins wasn't a huge loss for Baltimore. If you look at his stats, he wasn't great. He wasn't even mediocre really... He was drafted in the 33rd round in 2000, and in his major league career for the Orioles, he went 6-4. Nice record. But the ERA... That's where it goes down hill. A 6.61 ERA. Ouch. That's not good. That's actually pretty bad. - John T.

Orioles News - 10/6/07 - Looking back at 2007

For the final part of the Baltimore Orioles season wrap-up, I will look back at the 2007 season and analyze some stats. This is going to hurt...

• The Baltimore Orioles gave up a total of 868 earned runs all year. That means the Orioles opponent's averaged over 5 earned runs per game. That is pathetic. How are you supposed to win when your giving up that many runs? This Baltimore team is not built for slug fests, as you can see below...
• The O's average 4 runs per game total. That's including un-earned runs too. So, if the Orioles pitching allows 5 runs per game, and the Orioles average only 4 runs per game, then you can see that the Orioles are being outscored, which means more losses for Baltimore. Sad.
• Baltimore's team ERA: 5.17. That's second-worst in the Majors, with only the Tampa Bay Devil Rays having a higher team ERA. Ouch.
• The Orioles hit only 142 home runs last year, which ranks them 23rd out of 30 teams. Camden Yards is a hitter park, one where the Orioles should be blasting many more homers.
• Baltimore walked 696 batters, the most in baseball.
• Roughly 1/6 of those walks came from Daniel Cabrera. And he's supposed to be our "future ace." Riiiiiiiight.

I'll leave you with that. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/5/07 - 17-2 loss to the Devil Rays

What a difference a day makes. One day the Orioles pick up a late inning win, the next night they get whupped 17-2 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And they have a 4 game series with Boston coming up. This just keeps getting better. The D-Rays had a 8 run 4th inning, hitting 3 homers during this inning. Delmon Young hit a 3 run shot, Brendan Harris hit a solo shot, and Carlos Pena hit a grand slam. ALL IN ONE INNING!!! Pena also smacked a 2 run shot in 6th inning to bring his grand total to 7 RBI's on the night. Jonny Gomes hit a home run in the 7th inning to score the game's final run. Radhames Liz looked terrible, giving up 4 runs while retiring only 5 batters. He did take a line drive off his leg, to be fair, but he still stayed in the game. The O's are now 2-13 in their last 15 games. Pretty sad huh?

This offseason, the Orioles need 2 things: A better bullpen and Peter Angelos to sell the team. How many games has the bullpen lost us so far this year? How many times have we had the lead in late innings, only to have the bullpen blow the game? Too many. And since Angelos doesn't want to spend the money to overhaul this team, he should sell. With a new owner who is willing to spend money to get stars, instead of 2nd and 3rd rate players, the O's would be in a much better situation. More fans would come to the ballpark, and with reason because they know their team can compete. Now, hardly anyone comes out to games simply because they don't care. They always know the end result: A loss. Angelos needs to go! - John T.

Orioles News - 9/4/07 - O's win

The Orioles picked up a rare win last night, 8-4 over Tampa Bay. The O's had a 5 hit, 4 run 8th inning to help them win. For once, the tables were turned, as it was not the Orioles bullpen that gave up a win, it was the Devil Rays bullpen that gave up a win. The O's gave rookie pitcher Jeremy Guthrie a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning after Corey Patterson hit a solo homer and Miguel Tejada doubled, scoring on Nick Markakis's weak infield single. The Rays fought back in the 2nd inning, earning a run on 2 hits. Tampa Bay took the lead in the 5th inning on a bases loaded single that scored 2 runs. In the 7th inning, Melvin Mora walked on a full count and on the 1st pitch he saw, Aubrey Huff hit a 2 run homer to rightfield. The O's took the lead, 4-3. Tampa Bay tied it in the 7th inning, WITHOUT EVEN GETTING A HIT!!!! In the 8th inning however, Melvin Mora hit an RBI single to give the O's a 5-4 lead. Ramon Hernandez later hit a 3 run double to provide the games final runs. So, the O's finally pick up a win. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/3/07 - O's lose again

The Orioles lost again last night, 9-7 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Orioles have now lost 12 of their last 13 games. Kurt Birkins made his 1st career start last night and got a no-decision even though he blew a big lead. The O's provided him with a 4-0 lead in the 3rd inning on a collection of basehits, stolen bases, and errors. Birkins however, couldn't hold onto this lead. The Devil Rays made it close with a 3 run 3rd inning, and then tied up the game with a run in the 4th. In the 7th inning, Carlos Pena hit a 2 run homer off Jim Hoey as the D-Rays took the lead. This "home run" however, was debateable. It was hit off of the catwalk and outfielder Nick Markakis played it and threw the ball into the infield. The umpire called it a home run however. Tampa Bay got another run in the inning too. Then in the 8th inning, Brian Burres gave up a 2 run shot as the Rays extended their lead. Ramon Hernandez hit a 3 run homer in the 9th to make the score more respectable. It was an ugly loss as Tampa Bay moved within 3 games of 4th place in the AL East. - John T.

Orioles News - 8/30/07 - 9 straight losses

The Orioles lost again last night, 8-6 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. That's 9 straight losses for the O's. Last night's game completed their worst homestand in team history as they went 1-9 through this homestand. The O's gave Jeremy Guthrie a 3-0 lead in the first inning after a double by Brian Roberts. Then on a sacrifice bunt, Corey Patterson moved Roberts to third and was safe while doing so. With a 2-0 count, Nick Markakis then crushed a homer to give Guthrie a 3 run cushion. (This is rare, when does Guthrie get run support?) Guthrie would eventually cough up that lead in the 3rd inning after a solo homer by Josh Wilson and a few batters later, a 3 run shot by B.J. Upton to make the score 4-3, D-Rays. The O's fought back later in the inning, as Miguel Tejada singled off the left field wall. 4 pitches later, Kevin Millar put the ball over the left field wall for a 2 run homer as the O's took the lead, 5-4. Tampa Bay tied the game up in the 4th inning and took the lead for good in the 6th inning. Radhames Liz will make his 2nd major league start tonight against the Boston Red Sox. In the game after that on Saturday, Garrett Olson, another rookie, will make a start. Here's your ugly Orioles fact of the day: During this most recent homestand, the Orioles were outscored 100-44. Ouch. - John T.

Orioles News - 8/29/07 - O's drop 8th straight

Another game slipped away from the Baltimore Orioles last night, 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 12 innings. This was the Orioles 8th straight loss. The O's had a 3 run lead going into the 8th inning, but the bullpen blew another game. (Surprise, surprise.) The D-Rays scored twice in the 8th, with both runs coming off Chad Bradford. Then in the 9th inning, with a 1 run lead, 2 men out, 0-2 count, and 1 pitch away from ending the Orioles losing streak....and pitcher Dany Baez gives up a single to B.J. Upton. A walk to Delmon Young and now there's 2 men on with 2 men out. Brendan Harris then hit a single to left field to tie the game. Fast forward to the 12th inning, and Rob Bell wasn't able to keep Tampa from scoring, as they take the lead. Aubrey Huff had hit a home run against his old team, but it didn't matter anyway. Now for a look at starter Steve Trachsel, who was great in yesterday's game, allowing only 1 earned run. He should have gotten the win if not for a terrible bullpen. But, more on that later.Anyway, Trachsel might be on his way out. Teams must have their final roster set by Friday, and several teams have been interested in possibly trading for him. I can't blame other teams for being interested. Look at some of his stats. He hasn't allowed more then 3 runs in a start since July 26. And yesterday he threw his 2nd straight game in which he allowed only 1 earned run. But the bullpen always ends up blowing it anyway. Here's a look at how the bullpen was before the O's lost 8 straight and how it is now.

Reliever ERA Before ERA Now
Chad Bradford 3.47 3.76
Brian Burres 4.45 5.48
Dany Baez 5.74 6.20
Rob Bell 4.18 6.49
Paul Shuey 6.75 9.82
Jim Hoey 3.38 12.10

Pretty sad huh? I'll leave you with that. - John T.

Orioles News - 8/28/07 - O's give up 11 runs in 8th in loss

The Orioles lost last night to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 15-8. This is their 7th straight loss. Baltimore gave up 11 runs in the 8th inning! 11 runs! The O's hit 6 home runs in the game but that was still not enough to get a win. The Orioles had a 3 run lead in the 8th inning. Surely our shaky bullpen can hang on to this 3 run lead with only 2 innings to play right? Nope. The Rays sent 15 men to the plate, and 11 of them ended up scoring. Reliever Jim Hoey gave up 5 earned runs, reliever Brian Burres gave up 3 earned runs, and Chad Bradford gave up 3 earned runs all on a grand total of....2/3 of an inning. Miguel Tejada had 2 of the 6 home runs for Baltimore, but it was all for nothing. The O's also hit back-to-back home runs twice yesterday. Nick Markakis hit a 2 run shot in the first inning, which was followed by Miguel Tejada's solo shot. Then in the 8th inning, Tejada hit another home run, followed by Kevin Millar who also hit one out. Before last night, the Orioles hadn't had back-to-back homers all year. Thats 130 games without back-to-back homers. And the worst part of giving up 11 runs in the 8th inning, is that the D-Rays did so without hitting 1 home run. They scored the 11 runs on base hits. But, look at it this way. If the game ended after 6 innings, the Orioles would be one awesome team. So, 11 runs in one inning, 3 pitchers, 2/3 of an inning, and one more blown game. - John T.

Orioles News - 8/27/07 - Off

The Baltimore Orioles had off last night, which is a good thing considering the way they have been playing. The O's begin a 3 game series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays tonight. On the mound for the Devil Rays is Jason Hammel. On the mound for the O's tonight is Daniel Cabrera, the great yet inconsistent strong throwing righthander. He'll have to face Carl Crawford of the Devil Rays, who has been on fire this month hitting .396. Baltimore comes into this game with a 8-16 record in August so far and having dropped 6 straight games. But the O's are 10-2 against the D-Rays so far this year. Baltimore desperately needs this series to go their way because after this they face the Boston Red Sox, who almost always end up beating us. With the season slipping down the drain, the O's need to get a grip. - John T.