Who's hot and who's not for the Baltimore Orioles:

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Who's hot and who's not for the Baltimore Orioles:

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Baltimore Orioles (25-14, 1^st AL East) @ Washington Nationals (23-15, 2^nd NL East)

Sweep! Okay, yes, it was only two games against a team with the worst home record in the entire MLB, but it feels great anyways. Now the O’s kick off interleague play with a series against the nearby Washington Nationals. The "Battle of the Beltways" stuff is sort of overblown since these teams aren’t real rivals, but it does get a little interesting since both teams have started off the season playing some solid baseball. Will this series have a defining moment?

Nice to see the Orioles come from behind in two consecutive games with some timely hitting from guys like Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy. The pitching wasn’t so bad either. Even Brian Matusz got a quality start. Of course, now they’re headed to the NL parks where there’s no DH and the AL teams all lose a bat. Although that doesn’t seem to be a hindrance to the O’s. In last year’s interleague games, Oriole pitchers posted the following line: .409 BA, 22 ABs, 4 Ks, 2 2Bs, 1HR, 9 hits, 3 runs. That’s not half-bad. Then again, they didn’t face a guy throwing 98MPH every other pitch AND are missing batting extraordinaire Zach Britton (1.750 OPS). The Nationals, on the other hand, are rowing along thanks to some outstanding pitching. They’ve seen everybody and their mother hit the DL so far, but are still managing to win some games. The offense has been rather weak, but Adam LaRoche is crushing it and Ryan Zimmerman is back from the DL. Oh yea…and they’ve got really good pitching. And Edwin Jackson.

Luckily for the O’s, they’ll miss Jordan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez this trip. Night games for the first two (7:05 and 7:15pm) before the Sunday matinee (1:35pm). Orioles projected starters: Arrieta, Hammel, Chen. Nationals projected starter: Jackson, Detwiler, Strasburg. Orioles. Nationals. WHO WILL OWN IT?

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Baltimore Orioles (23-14, T-1^st AL East) @ Kansas City Royals (15-20, 4^th AL Central)

After a rather grueling homestand against some of the American League’s better teams, the O’s hit the road for five games. They’ll start with two games in Kansas City. The Royals are currently 15-20 (winners of 4 straight and 7-3 in their last 10), but they sport the MLB’s worst home record at 4-13. Can the Orioles end the winning streak and extend their home woes?

The O’s survived Monday’s poor showing (both defensively and from the pitching) and recovered to deal CC Sabathia his first loss of the season. The victory ensured the Orioles kept a least a share of the AL East for yet another day. They also did it free of any known cases of Icy Hot abuse. Sweet deal! Meanwhile, Kansas City has won three straight series (Boston, Chicago, and Texas) with some solid offensive performances. It’ll be up to Hunter and Matusz (plus the bullpen) to quell the uprising.

Tonight’s game will be at 8:10pm (we’re in Central time now!). It’ll boast a pitching matchup of Felipe Paulino and Tommy Hunter. Tomorrow’s game will be at 2:10pm. Probably starters are Luke Hochevar and Brian Matusz.

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New York Yankees (19-15, 3^rd AL East) @ Baltimore Orioles (22-13, 1^st AL East)

While the team was under .500 for the week, 3-4 against two of the best AL teams has the Orioles seated atop the East division. Now they’ll kick off the week with two games (if the weather plays nice) against the Yankees. This will be the third time in the young season that the Orioles will face the Yankees (assuming you weren’t bored of seeing them already). This series also marks the end of a nine-game homestand.

After being swept in the second series of the season, the O’s recovered in fine fashion to take 2 of 3 in the most recent Yankees match. The pitching staff allowed just 2 runs and the offense provided 14 in support. Wish you could get those kinds of performances every day! Josh Hamilton was a bother in the Texas series, but guys like Nick Markakis and J.J. Hardy seem to be recovering from slumps and the O’s managed 2 of 3 against Tampa.

Both games will be at 7:05 should the weather hold up. The Orioles will send Jason Hammel (hopefully) and Wei-Yin Chen to the mound against Ivan Nova and C.C. Sabathia. If the game is played and Nova pitches, it’ll be the third time he faces the O’s this season.

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Who's hot and who's not for the Baltimore Orioles:

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Tampa Bay Rays (20-12, T-1^st AL East) @ Baltimore Orioles (20-12, T-1^st AL East)

Okay, so that last series didn’t go as planned. Texas is an outstanding team, boasting the American League’s best run differential at +68, but you kind of hoped there would be at least a series split. Now the Orioles have to weather yet another series against a top AL team as the Rays come to town for three games. The winner of this series will grab sole possession of the top spot in the AL East (Because they are tied. For first. But you can read that.)

Obviously, the pitching was really bad. The Texas offense is great, but allowing six home runs to one guy (Josh Hamilton) in one series, including four in one game, is just bad. At least it wasn’t 30-3. Just 14-3. Halfway there. Of course, Jason Hammel missing his start due to a sore knee didn’t help, but it just further defines the O’s lack of pitching depth. Among the struggles were Brian Matusz, Tommy Hunter, Jason Berken, and Zach Phillips. Two of the four are no longer with the team. Go figure. Wei-Lin Chen got that lone win for the Orioles, helped out by back-to-back-to-back home runs by Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy, and Nick Markakis. First time that has ever happened in the American League. Pretty cool. Something else cool? The last team to hit homers in their first three at-bats? The Milwaukee Brewers. You know who was on that team (and one of the home run hitters)? J.J. Hardy. A little trivia for you – info to use a cocktail parties or something. Meanwhile, Tampa is cruising along even without the services of hard-hitting 3B Evan Longoria.

The first two games are at 7:05pm on Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s game will be at 1:35pm. Scheduled to pitch for the Orioles are Dana Eveland, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta. The Rays get to face Dana Eveland. Good for them. Tampa’s scheduled starters are Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore, and James Shields. Not good for us.

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Texas Rangers (18-10, 1^st AL West) @ Baltimore Orioles (19-9, 1^st AL East)

After a sweep of the Boston Red Sox, the Orioles sit atop the AL East with the AL West-leading Rangers coming to town. Pretty big road swing for the O’s, as they took two of three from the New York Yankees before the sweep in Boston (in somewhat dramatic fashion). Not a bad way to start a fairly brutal stretch of the schedule. Only negative from that sweep is that the bullpen got plenty of work which isn’t so great considering the next off day isn’t until May 24^th.

You probably don’t need a recap of any of the events from the weekend in Boston, but it was great. The bats were fairly lively and the pitching was, for the most part, exceptionally solid. Only one run allowed by the bullpen, which includes two innings from Chris Davis (pretty remarkable strikeout on Adrian Gonzalez). Matt Wieters, J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones, and Mark Reynolds all pitched in with a number of solid ABs as well. Texas also brings a number of solid bats, plus, they’re fresh off of a series loss in Cleveland, so they’ll be looking to rebound from that. Josh Hamilton is still hitting .381 at the heart of a lineup that also includes Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and Elvis Andrus.

All four games will be at 7:05 (Monday through Thursday). Pitching for the Orioles will be Matusz, Arrieta, Chen, and Hammel. Also note that Stu Pomeranz will be called up as an extra arm for the bullpen. He’s not currently on the 40-man roster. Harrison, Feliz, Lewis, and Holland are expected to pitch for Texas.

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Baltimore Orioles (16-9, 2^nd AL East) @ Boston Red Sox (11-13, 5^th AL East)

Fresh off of a series win in New York against the Yankees, the Orioles travel up I-95 to Fenway for a three-game weekend set with the Boston Red Sox. This is the second series in a fairly brutal stretch of games including the Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, and Rays. It also kicks off 15 straight days of baseball. That’s somewhat bad for the Orioles (hope the bullpen is rested!), but it means we can focus more on baseball than politics or bike lanes.

We’re into May now and the Orioles have gone 8-2 over their last ten and have won the past three series. They’ll try to keep that streak alive against a Red Sox team that currently finds itself in last place for the AL East (after a very sluggish start). They’ve begun to play some improved ball lately, but now find themselves without the services of 3B Kevin Youkilis who is out with a back injury. They continue to play without top OFs Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury. Lucky for them, they’ll have the top of the rotation up to face the O’s.

Tonight’s game will be at 7:10pm, but Saturday and Sunday will both be afternoon games. The Orioles will pitch Chen, Hammel, and Hunter while the Red Sox counter with Lester, Cook, and Buchholz.

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Baltimore Orioles (14-8, T-1^st AL East) @ New York Yankees (12-9, 3^rd AL East)

After a series win versus the Oakland and a 5-1 homestand, the Orioles head north to New York to kick off a fairly brutal month of baseball. Over the next 15 days, the Orioles will play the Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, Rays, and Yankees (again). Now we get to see just what kind of team the O’s really are. Will they stay or will they go?

The O’s we’re swept at home by the Yankees in early April and will look to repay the favor up in the Bronx. All things considered, the Orioles didn’t play that poorly, but will need a significant increase in offense this time around (10 runs over 3 games previously). Luckily, the O’s will face the pitching to do such a thing. Kuroda and Hughes have been extremely beatable this season. Nova, while 3-0, sports an ERA over 5. Can the Orioles take advantage? They’ll counter with Hammel, Matusz, and Arrieta. Another 10 run game couldn’t hurt either….

All night games for this one. They’ll be at 7:05pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before the off-day on Thursday. Game 3 (Wednesday) will be on ESPN in case anyone is interested.

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Oakland Athletics (10-10, T-2^nd AL West) @ Baltimore Orioles (12-7, T-1^st AL East)

The Orioles second sweep of the season has pushed them to a 12-7 record, good enough for a tie with Tampa Bay for the division lead. It was also the second series win versus the Toronto Blue Jays on the season. The O’s remain at home for the weekend to take on the visiting Oakland Athletics (also coming off of a series win at home versus the Chicago White Sox).

As surprising as an Orioles series sweep is, it gets even more surprising after you learn Brian Matusz was on the mound for one of the games. He didn’t get a win, but definitely had his best start of the season (if not best start in the past two seasons). The offense was relatively silent yet again, but quality outings from the starters (Hunter, Hammel, and Matusz), plus even better relief pitching helped lead the way (okay, the Toronto outfield helped at one point….). In all, the bullpen provided eight scoreless innings, and that was without closer Jim Johnson, who has been hospitalized with a stomach virus. The A’s will bring rookie CF Yoenis Cespedes to town for the first time. Some of you might be hoping he hits home runs to assist your HR Derby league team…..

Three game set begins tonight at 7:05pm. Jake Arrieta goes for the O’s against Brandon McCarthy, which should be a pretty solid matchup. McCarthy does not yet have a win this season, but he’s got pretty good stuff. Games two and three will be at 7:05pm and 1:35 on Saturday and Sunday. Chen and Hunter will also pitch for the Orioles.

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Toronto Blue Jays (10-6, T-1^st AL East) @ Baltimore Orioles (9-7, 3^rd AL East)

After dropping just their second series of the year in Anaheim, the Orioles head back home to take on the Toronto Blue Jays for the second time this season. At 10-6, the Blue Jays are tied with the New York Yankees atop the AL East division. The Orioles have dropped to third place after losing the series 2 games to 1.

After a fairly decent start, the bats really went silent in California, totaling just 9 runs on a 21-101 (.208) clip for three games. Considering that the pitching wasn’t extremely effective, 3 runs per game will not win many ballgames. The Orioles will need decent starts from Matusz and Hunter if they wish to remain competitive in the series (and the offense remains non-existent). Meanwhile, Toronto is fresh off of a four-game sweep of Kansas City. They’ve gone 5-2 since dropping the first series to the Orioles.

Three game set begins tonight at 7:05pm. Tommy Hunter will try to regain his form against Henderson Alvarez. Games two and three are also at 7:05pm on Wednesday and Thursday. Hammel and Matusz are the scheduled Orioles starters.

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Baltimore Orioles (8-5 – 1st, AL East) @ Anaheim Angels (4-9 – 4^th, AL West)

After back-to-back series wins in Toronto and Chicago, the Orioles head to Anaheim for a three game set to finish off the ten game road swing. They’ll be back in Baltimore on Tuesday to face the Blue Jays once again. Will any of you left coast Camden Chatters be on hand for this series?

Biggest story from this past series involved Matt Wieters’ game 1 heroics (2 home runs, including a grand slam in extra innings). He’s pretty good, that one. Other notable performances included Nolan Reimold (2 home runs, although dealing with neck spasms, leg cramps, and other various ailments) and Adam Jones (2 home runs). In other news, Wei-Yin Chen picked up his first MLB win. Solid stuff.

Fairly pedestrian start for the Angels, who are still waiting for some significant bats to get rolling. Those bats shall remain anonymous to avoid jinxing the situation. They’re also having some questionable performances from the bullpen early on. Kendrys Morales is a good story though. Nice to see him hitting the ball rather well in his return to baseball.

Three game set begins tonight at 10:05pm EST. Brian Matusz will be on the hill for the Orioles. Here’s hoping he returns to form as his first two starts have been pretty scary. Game two will also be an evening game. Sunday’s game three will be late afternoon for any east coasters.

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Baltimore Orioles (5-4) @ Chicago White Sox (5-3)

Fresh off of a series win north of the border in Toronto, the Orioles head back to America for a four-game set at U.S. Cellular Field against the Chicago White Sox. Nice to see the O’s shake off a sweep, courtesy of the New York Yankees, and take two of three for their second series (and first road) win of the year. Meanwhile, Chicago took two of three from Detroit to prepare for series’ versus the O’s, M’s, and A’s.

The offense came alive, producing 13 runs in the first two games (15 overall – up from 10 in the NYY series), but solid pitching (mostly from the bullpen) set the table in the two victories. Notable performances include two scoreless innings (and saves) from Jim Johnson, a 5 for 10 and 2 HR weekend from Nolan Reimold, and a 5 for 11 with two doubles/one HR from Chris Davis. Chicago also received solid pitching performances against a potent Tigers lineup. Starting pitchers allowed just 3 of the 8 Tigers’ runs.

Four game set begins tonight at 8:10pm. Jake Arrieta gets the ball for the O’s against Philip Humber of the White Sox. Games two and three will be night games, starting at 8:10pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday’s game is a 2:10pm matinee.

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Baltimore Orioles (3-3) @ Toronto Blue Jays (4-2)

After cruising to a 3-0 start versus the Twins, the O’s came back to earth with three close games against the Yankees. The pitching wasn’t as sharp, the defense not as solid, and the bats ultimately quiet. Now the Orioles head north across the border for their first road series of the season - a three game set with the division-leading (well, tied anyways) Toronto Blue Jays.

The pitching will need to be sharper overall for the Orioles to find success (although one could argue Jake Arrieta and Wei-Yin Chen had solid starts). The offense wasn’t short on hits, averaging almost 10 per game, but couldn’t seem to find the runs, especially in the extra innings. Toronto has also struggled some on offense, especially with the middle of the order (Bautista, Encarnacion, and Lawrie) starting the season a combined 17 for 74. Pitching, however, has been a stronger point there, as Toronto is fourth in the AL with only 20 runs allowed.

Three game set begins tonight at 7:07pm with Tommy Hunter going up against Brandon Morrow. Games two and three will be afternoon games on Saturday (4:07) and Sunday (1:07). Apparently, due to the exchange rate in Canada, the games have to start two minutes later than normal games.

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New York Yankees (0-3) @ Baltimore Orioles (3-0)

Sweep! Okay, raise your hand if you got this question right in the pre-season contest. Yep, didn’t think so. Also raise your hand if you thought Boston AND New York would get swept to start the season and the O’s would lead the league in runs allowed with just five. Yep, didn’t think so. Of course, this is just one series, but you’ve got to take what you can get.

If you ignore only scoring one run off of a long reliever making a spot start, the offense really kicked off the season nicely. Nick Markakis had two home runs and a triple (not kidding). A bunch of other guys (Jones, Hardy, Wieters) hit home runs as well and/or had multi-hit games. Even Ronny Paulino was 4 for 4. The real story, however, was the pitching. Jake Arrieta returned from season-ending surgery to pitch seven solid innings. Tommy Hunter had a good start. Jason Hammel took a no-no bid into the eight. Yep. Solid. Oddly enough, Kevin Gregg didn’t pitch and the Orioles won three games. Coincidence?

Different story on the Yankees’ side of things where the pitching wasn’t as great (see Mariano Rivera and C.C. Sabathia) and the offense was somewhat non-existent. Here’s hoping the left-handed portion of the Orioles rotation continues that trend.

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Minnesota Twins (0-0) @ Baltimore Orioles (0-0)

Opening Day is here! Finally! Some of you will be noshing on crab cakes and Natty Boh while reading this. The rest of us sad, sad folks will be spending this wonderful holiday on the couch…or worse, in the office. In any case, on to business!

Not much in the way of statistics to post right now since we haven’t even played a game yet, but here are some factoids for you to digest along with your delicious crab cakes. Jake Arrieta will make his first ever Opening Day start. Feels pretty weird not to be typing Jeremy Guthrie right now, but there is hope that Jason Hammel, the game two starter acquired from Colorado, will bring a similar presence at the top of the Orioles starting rotation. If you haven’t been keeping up with the Orioles offseason goings on, Hammel isn’t the only new face. Several other Orioles will make their team debut at some point early in the season (possibly this series), including Nick Johnson (1B/DH), Ryan Flaherty (sleeper pick for many categories in the CC preseason contest), Luis Ayala (RP), Wei-Yin Chen (SP), Endy Chavez (OF), and more.

On the other side of the field, the Twins enter with a revamped (for better or worse) lineup and pitching staff. Big names such as Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, and Jason Kubel bolted in the offseason, replaced with names such as Josh Willingham, Ryan Doumit, and Jason Marquis, etc. On the plus side for the Twins, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau appear to be healthy. Mauer is coming off a very solid spring and could return as a top catcher. Morneau will move into a full-time DH role in order to keep him in the lineup on a daily basis. Pitching is a big question mark, as the Twins will look to more…senior…..guys (Carl Pavano and Jason Marquis) to lead the way in front of the younger Liam Hendriks and Francisco Liriano.

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Plenty of space to discuss pick'ems and fantasy football etc.

Open for all of your daily chatterings.

In case you don't wish to talk about the cardiac Capitals opening night victory (Game Over Green!), the rainy evening in Texas, Chris Carpenter yelling at batters from the mound, or Ryan Howard's ruptured achilles (enjoy that 125 mil contract!), you can talk about football here.

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For all of your fantasy football and pick'em pool chatterings.  Games this week threaten to divide the pool.  WHO WILL OWN IT?

Who's hot and who's not for your Baltimore Orioles:

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Chat it up about fantasy and pick'em pool goings on.

Who's hot and who's not for your Baltimore Orioles:

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Sorry about the tardiness of your favorite weekly article.  "Upgrade" to Windows 7 caused all sorts of computer issues.  Better late than never, here's who's hot and who's not for your Baltimore Orioles:

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