WASHINGTON—After four losses against a team reeling from the coronavirus, the Orioles broke out against the defending World Series champions. The Orioles set season highs in runs and hits (19) in an 11-0 blowout of the Washington Nationals Friday night at Nationals Park. In losing four straight to the Miami Marlins, who...
Alan Means, the father of Orioles pitcher John Means, died of pancreatic cancer on Tuesday night. He was 57. Means’ wife, Caroline, tweeted the obituary. Means, who pitched against Miami on Tuesday night, went on the bereavement list on Wednesday. Manager Brandon Hyde said that he doesn’t know when Means will rejoin...
BALTIMORE—Whether they were the home team or the road team in this unusual four-game series, the Orioles couldn’t find a way to beat the Miami Marlins. The Marlins came to Baltimore to make up the four games postponed last week when at least 18 of their players tested positive for Covid-19 and...
The Orioles have spent five years waiting for outfielder DJ Stewart to blossom. Stewart, the club’s first draft pick in 2015, got a brief opportunity with the Orioles in 2018 and a longer one that was cut short by an ankle injury last year that required surgery. He was still recovering in...
BALTIMORE—After their three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays last weekend, the Orioles were 5-3 and appeared to have an advantage over their next opponent, the remade Miami Marlins. Three games into a four games series, the Orioles have just 10 hits and one run—scored in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s second...
BALTIMORE—The most jarring sound in the first game of the Orioles’ first seven-inning doubleheader came in the middle of the fifth when John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” came wafting through the ballpark’s sound system. For decades, the Orioles have played Country Boy during the seventh-inning stretch, but in this...
BALTIMORE—After a spate of Covid-19 forced the Miami Marlins to wait eight days to play a game, the Orioles might have thought the patchwork team that was hastily assembled wouldn’t present much of a challenge. However, pitching can be the great equalizer, and the Marlins’ pitchers were sharp and dominant in a...
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...