May 24th, 2013 at 10:13 AM
By Josh MichaelKevin Gausman made his much anticipated Major League Debut last night, that we have labeled Gausmania, but he ended up taking the loss on the mound as the Baltimore Orioles dropped game one of the four game series against the Toronto Blue Jays 12-6.
Gausman pitched well if you you had reasonable expectations from the 22 year old who has yet to complete his first full year in professional baseball. He surrendered a leadoff base hit to his first batter, but struck out two in his first inning, which by the way was scoreless. It was easy to see that he was hyped and nervous a bit as his fastball command was not what I was used to seeing in Bowie, but he battled well and completed five very respectable innings. He tossed three scoreless innings before the Blue Jays finally got to him, but in a bases loaded jam with no outs, Gausman worked his way out of it by allowing just one run in that situation. J.P. Arencibia chalked up the first home run off Gausman in the fifth, a two run shot that erased a 3-2 lead for the Birds to a 4-3 lead for Toronto, a lead they would not relinquish. Gausman's final line for his debut was five innings pitched, while allowing four runs on seven hits, two walks and five strikeouts. It was a very respectable debut and the future is bright.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 23rd, 2013 at 11:26 AM
By Josh MichaelDuring the 2011 offseason, the Baltimore Orioles signed a couple of lefties from the Pacific Rim in Wei-Yin Chen and Tsuyoshi Wada and have been pleasantly surprised in what they got out of Chen. A decision looms soon by the Orioles in regards to Wada and what they will do when his 30-day rehab stint is complete.
Wada, who was considered the better pitcher of the two coming in, has yet to throw a pitch for Baltimore in the regular season due to undergoing Tommy John surgery last May, and has begun his rehab assignment with the AAA Norfolk Tides.
The issue with Wada is that once his 30-day rehab assignment is completed, the Orioles will have to make a tough decision. Wada has a stipulation in his contract that the Orioles can't option him to the minors without his consent, which no one, but perhaps the Orioles and Wada himself know if he would be willing to do that. If he declines the Orioles' request to option him, Baltimore will have to activate him.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 23rd, 2013 at 7:10 AM
By Josh MichaelNick Markakis, Chris Davis and Matt Wieters all hit home runs to account for all six Baltimore Orioles runs, while Jason Hammel bounces back with a strong start to push the O's to a 6-3 win over the New York Yankees and take the series.
Coming into last night's game, the Orioles offense was going up against Hiroki Kuroda (6-3) who came into the game with a sub 2.00 ERA, while Hammel (6-2) had been struggling as he had allowed 13 runs and 18 hits in his last two starts in just 8 2/3 innings, thus everything seemed to be going against the Birds.
That's why they play the games. Hammel was much better last night and it was easily noticeable. His command was better, not great, but extremely better as he was able to correct one of the main things that plagued him in his last few starts, when he missed his location, he missed outside of the strike zone, rather than over the middle of the plate. The only two true mistake pitches he threw all night resulted in runs, one a solo homer to Curtis Granderson and one a RBI single to Robinson Cano. Hammel's final line for his outing was 6 2/3 innings pitched, while giving up two runs on six hits with two walks and six strikouts. One stat that will show his improvement last night was his strike to ball ratio as he threw 75 strikes in 109 pitches. Hammel had a much needed bounce back start as he gave the Orioles their fourth straight quality start, and picked up his sixth win of the season.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 22nd, 2013 at 8:27 AM
By Josh MichaelIt is well known around baseball that the Baltimore Orioles have two of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball in Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman. We got a small glimpse of Bundy last year in the bigs, but tomorrow night when the O's take on the Toronto Blue Jays, Gausman will make his Major League Debut as he will start the game on the mound.
During the offseason, Kevin was kind enough to sit down with me for an interview to talk about being selected by the Orioles and the upcoming season, be sure to check it out by clicking here.
Undoubtedly, Gausman was going to get the call at some point during this season, but May 23rd is earlier than most people thought. If the question in your mind is whether or not he has pitched well enough to deserve the promotion, my reply to you is YES!
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 22nd, 2013 at 7:08 AM
By Josh MichaelThe Baltimore Orioles hadn't lost seven games in a row since the 2011 season, and that will continue as Nate McLouth hits a walk off shot in the bottom of the tenth inning to lead the O's past the New York Yankees 3-2. Chris Dickerson also blasted two solo shots in the game.
The victory snaps the Orioles six game losing streak and seven game losing streak at home, and could not have come at a better time. Baltimore does not only end their losing streak, but get a great start on the mound and gain a game on the division leading Yankees. Perhaps the best news from the game may have been the fact that the struggling Jim Johnson (2-4), who has blown his last three save opportunities, came in the game and tossed a quick eight pitch tenth inning to pick up the win.
Johnson's command was noticeably better than his last few outings, but not down in the zone like earlier in the season, so he still has a little work to do. He talked to the media after the game,
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