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OF Felix Pie Designated for Assignment

spacer August 23rd, 2011 spacer Matt Loede spacer Posted in News, Roster Moves

The Orioles designated outfielder Felix Pie for assignment on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old Dominican hit a paltry .220 with eight doubles, one triple and drove in seven runs over 85 games this season, his fifth in the majors.

In 398 games with the Cubs and Baltimore since 2007, Pie batted .249 with 17 homers, 44 doubles, 13 triples and 97 RBI.

The O’s also recalled outfielder Matt Angle from Triple-A Norfolk and selected the contract of infielder Jake Fox from the Tides.

Fox spent 19 games with Baltimore earlier in the season, totaling two homers, two doubles and four RBI while hitting .188.

Angle, 25, made his major-league debut with the Orioles on July 17 but went hitless in seven at-bats over two games. He hit .272 and stole 27 bases in 107 games for Norfolk this year.

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Orioles Play Long Ball in Topping Twins 4-1

spacer August 23rd, 2011 spacer Matt Loede spacer Posted in Game Stories

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J.J. Hardy and Matt Wieters each smacked home runs as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Twins, 4-1, to open a four- game series.

Zach Britton (7-9) was activated from the disabled list earlier Monday and allowed one run on six hits and four walks to snap his career-high, five-game losing streak. He placed on the DL on August 5 with a left shoulder strain.

Kevin Gregg needed just eight pitches in a perfect ninth to close out the game for his 18th save of the year.

“You can just see by the way our team has been gelling we needed to get that win today. I think we turned it around and we’re going to show it,” said Orioles reliever Mike Gonzalez.

Carl Pavano (6-10) went seven innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks in the Twins’ fourth loss in five games.

Robert Andino led off the third with a single, stole second, moved to third on Nolan Reimold’s base hit and crossed the plate on Ryan Adams’ single up the middle to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

A Hardy sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out, but Nick Markakis grounded back to the mound and Adam Jones flied out to center to keep it a one-run game.

After a Ben Revere single and a Trevor Plouffe double put runners on second and third in the bottom half of the inning, Joe Mauer’s groundout to short plated Revere and tied the game at one.

Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel worked back-to-back walks to load the bases with two outs, but Jim Thome flied out to left to end the inning.

Baltimore then added a run in three straight innings to take the lead.

In the fifth, Hardy pulled a two-out, solo home run over the wall in left field, and Wieters added a solo shot to right in the sixth.

“I was trying to stay away from the inside part of the plate and the first time I [went there] he hit it out. I had a feeling he was trying to juice something,” Pavano said about Hardy’s home run.

Hardy worked a one-out walk in the seventh and came around to score on a Markakis double to make it a 4-1 game.

Minnesota entered the game batting .261 with runners in scoring position, but stranded a runner at third in the fourth, a man on second in the fifth and runners on second and third in the seventh. The Twins ended the game 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.

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Suzuki’s 2 Solo Homers Sink Orioles in 6-5 Loss to A’s

spacer August 17th, 2011 spacer Matt Loede spacer Posted in Game Stories

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Kurt Suzuki already had produced a stellar day; a pair of solo home runs and a throw to second to nail a baserunner trying to steal.

Then Oakland’s go-to catcher put a game-saving tag on his former Cal State Fullerton teammate to close the Athletics’ 6-5 victory over the Orioles on Wednesday.

He needed this one, too. It’s been a rough year.

Suzuki connected in the second and sixth against Alfredo Simon (3-6) for his second career multihomer game and right fielder David DeJesus cut down pinch-runner Blake Davis with a perfect throw to the plate for a dramatic finish.

“The plays to right field, those are the toughest ones because you can’t really judge where the runner is,” Suzuki said. “I took one last peek right before Dave got the ball to see where the runner was. I knew it was going to be a bang-bang play. I played with Blake in college for three years. I knew he was going to try to slide around me, either that or he was going to try to trick me and try to run me over.”

Brandon Allen tripled and scored on the same play and also had a sacrifice fly for the A’s, who snapped a four-game losing streak Tuesday night and followed that up with another victory for a winning series.

DeJesus—who entered as a defensive replacement for the final inning— flubbed Nick Markakis’ RBI single but recovered to make a strong throw to Suzuki, who tagged Davis to deny the Orioles the tying run. It also preserved Andrew Bailey’s 15th save after he gave up three hits in the ninth.

DeJesus held his breath as he watched the play unfold.

“I’m just hoping that he was out, ‘cuz that would have been ridiculous,” he said. “I came in for defense and was able to make the last out, even though it was crazy.”

Home plate umpire Dan Bellino asked Suzuki to “show him the ball,” and the catcher obliged. And the out call finally came.

“In my mind it took about an hour for the ball to get to home plate. He bobbled the ball, but you have to keep your wits about you,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin, who has been preaching staying poised after a defensive blunder. “He made a heck of a throw. We’ll take it.”

The Orioles were trying for their first road series win since mid-May and a winning season series with Oakland for the first time since going 8-3 in their 1998 matchups. The A’s won this year’s meetings 5-4.

Suzuki also hit two home runs on June 3, 2010, at Boston. Seven of Oakland’s nine hits went for extra bases.

Baltimore wanted to force extra innings. Davis got the go signal from third-base coach Willie Randolph and charged toward home.

“He had a good throw, the ball beat me,” Davis said. “I tried to go around the tag and he blocked the plate pretty good. You can do that or you can just try and run him over. … Looking back, it probably would have been a better idea to just probably go right into him, especially being the tying run.”

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Big 7th Lifts Orioles to 6-2 Win Over Oakland

spacer August 16th, 2011 spacer Matt Loede spacer Posted in Game Stories

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Robert Andino hit the go-ahead two-run double in a four-run seventh inning as Baltimore downed Oakland, 6-2, in the first edition of a three-game series. Josh Bell added a two-run hit in the deciding frame and Mark Reynolds homered for the Orioles, who have won two in a row following a three-game slide.

Tommy Hunter (2-2) allowed 10 hits and two runs over 6 2/3 innings for the win.

“I like throwing here. There’s a lot of foul ground. It’s a big factor,” Hunter said. “It’s a big ballpark at night, too. It just works well with me.”

Cliff Pennington and David DeJesus drove in a run apiece for the Athletics, who have dropped four straight.

Gio Gonzalez (9-11) was tagged in the loss for four hits and four runs with three walks in six-plus frames.

Down by a run with nine outs to go, Baltimore rallied off Gonzalez. Adam Jones and Vladimir Guerrero hit consecutive singles to start the frame, then Matt Wieters walked to load the bases.

Fautino De Los Santos came on to fan Reynolds, but Andino doubled off the wall in center to plate the tying and lead runs. Bell followed by lacing a hit to center which scored two more and the O’s suddenly led 5-2.

“He’s been our best guy and our best right-hander, and he’s pitched well to this point,” A’s interim manager Bob Melvin said of De Los Santos. “Just threw one down the middle; the guy was first-pitch hacking. You want to throw strikes there, you’re in a position where you have to. Andino put a good swing on it, and that was the key to the game.”

Hunter’s outing was over after he allowed a two-out walk to Coco Crisp in the home seventh, but Mike Gonzalez induced an inning-ending fly out from Hideki Matsui.

Gonzalez then set the A’s down in order in the eighth, and Kevin Gregg turned in a scoreless ninth.

Wieters hit his 11th homer of the season, a two-out solo shot to right, in the second to give the visitors an early edge.

Oakland countered in the second. Josh Willingham’s leadoff single turned into a run when DeJesus followed with a double, and two batters later a Pennington single brought in DeJesus.

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Markakis Lifts Orioles over Tigers 8-5 to Avoid Sweep

spacer August 14th, 2011 spacer Matt Loede spacer Posted in Game Stories

Nick Markakis went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI to power the Orioles past the Tigers, 8-5, and avoid a three-game sweep.

Nolan Reimold doubled twice and scored three runs, and Vladimir Guerrero knocked in a pair of runs for Baltimore, which picked up just its second win in eight tries.

Jo-Jo Reyes (6-9) earned the win after holding the Tigers to one run on four hits in six innings. It was his first victory in two appearances since the Orioles claimed him off waivers from Toronto on August 2.

“It was good to see him pitch well,” said Orioles manager Buck Showalter.

Ramon Santiago had a solo homer and two runs batted in, and Austin Jackson had three hits and an RBI for Detroit, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Doug Fister (4-13) was pegged with the loss after giving up eight runs — six earned — on 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He fell to 1-1 since being acquired from Seattle in a trade last month.

“I go out there expecting to put up zeros every inning and battle every pitch,” Fister said. “It’s the same mind set.”

Baltimore jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first. Reimold hit a leadoff single and Markakis followed with a homer to right.

The Orioles added one more in the second. Chris Davis singled, moved to second on Craig Tatum’s single and scored when Robert Andino punched a base hit through the hole at short.

The Tigers came back with a run of their own in the third when Santiago led off the frame by blasting a 3-2 offering over the wall in left.

The O’s added three more in the fifth and two in the sixth. In the fifth, Reimold doubled and scored two batters later when Markakis singled to left. Markakis then beat a throw to third on an Adam Jones base hit. Jones took second on the throw before both Markakis and Jones scored on Guerrero’s single.

A pair of run-scoring singles from Markakis and Jones in the sixth made it 8-1.

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Tigers Edge Orioles 6-5

spacer August 13th, 2011 spacer Matt Loede spacer Posted in Game Stories

Ryan Raburn capped a five-run sixth inning with a two-run single to send the Tigers to a 6-5 victory over the Orioles in the middle tilt of a three game series.

Miguel Cabrera belted a two-run homer, Alex Avila had an RBI double and Victor Martinez finished with a pair of hits for the Tigers, who have taken the first two games of this series.

Max Scherzer (12-7) gave up five runs — four earned — on seven hits. He had a season-high 10 strikeouts and did not issue a walk. Jose Valverde worked a scoreless ninth to notch his 35th save of the year.

Vladimir Guerrero and Blake Davis accounted for all five runs with two-run and three-run home runs, respectively, for the Orioles, losers in 12 of their last 15.

Jeremy Guthrie (5-16) went 5 2/3 innings in defeat, giving up six runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out one.

The Tigers roared in front in the sixth, plating five runs to take the decisive 6-5 lead — all with two outs in the inning. Magglio Ordonez began the rally with a double to center and Cabrera cracked his 23rd homer to right to make it a 5-3 game. Martinez and Peralta poked back-to-back singles and Avila smacked a ground-rule double to bring the Tigers within a run. Rayburn capped the inning with a two-run single.

“He made a few mistakes and we were able to capitalize on them,” Rayburn said of his team’s big inning against Guthrie. “A couple of at-bats we were able to get ahead and make him throw pitches over the plate.”

The O’s threatened in the seventh. Chris Davis singled to right and Blake Davis singled to right two batters later to put runners on first and second with two outs. Scherzer remained composed and fanned J.J Hardy to preserve the lead for his team.

Baltimore struck first in the second inning when Adam Jones led off with a sharp single to left and Guererro smashed a two-run homer over the wall in left-center field for his 10th longball of the season. The inning continued for the Orioles when Matt Wieters singled and Chris Davis grounded into a fielder’s choice, but both runners were safe as a result of a throwing error by Rayburn. Following a Josh Bell fly out, Blake Davis made the Tigers pay for their sloppy play by blasting a ball deep to left that appeared to just make it over the wall. The play was reviewed and called a home run, giving Baltimore a comfortable 5-0 lead.

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Reimold’s Two-Run Homer the Difference as O’s Top Sox 6-4

spacer August 10th, 2011 spacer Matt Loede spacer Posted in Game Stories

Nolan Reimold hammered a Jason Frasor offering over the wall in left-center in the bottom of the 10th inning for a two-run homer to send the Orioles past the White Sox, 6-4, in the third meeting of a four-game series.

Chicago rallied from a 4-0 deficit to send the game to extra innings, but wasted a two-out double by A.J. Pierzynski in the top of the 10th.

Chris Davis singled with one out in the bottom half, and Reimold pounded the next pitch from Frasor (2-2) into the bullpen to halt Baltimore’s three-game skid and end the White Sox’s five-game winning streak.

“I was just trying to be relaxed,” Reimold said of his approach. “I jumped on the first pitch. I was happy to come through.”

J.J. Hardy went 4-for-5 with a solo homer and Adam Jones also went deep in a three-hit effort for the Orioles. Michael Gonzalez (2-2) stranded Pierzynski in the 10th to earn the win.

Chicago’s Juan Pierre smacked a two-run single off Jason Berken in the seventh to tie the game. The hit came after Orioles starter Tommy Hunter yielded a double to Brent Morel that hugged the right-field line and scored Alex Rios.

Hunter was charged with four runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, while his counterpart, Philip Humber, yielded four runs on 11 hits over six frames for Chicago.

Hardy homered off Humber in the first inning, and Robert Andino knocked in a run and scored on Nick Markakis’ sacrifice fly in the second for a 3-0 lead.

Jones led off the fifth with his 21st home run of the season.

Pierre sparked the comeback with a leadoff double in the sixth and eventually scored the Sox’s first run on a Paul Konerko groundout.

“We fought pretty well today,” Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. “It was a pretty good ballgame to watch.”

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Hunter Looks to Stop Hot White Sox as O’s Look to Get Back Into Win Column

spacer August 10th, 2011 spacer Matt Loede spacer Posted in News

Philip Humber tries to get himself back into the win column this evening when the Sox continue a four-game series with the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Humber opened the year 7-3, but has since dropped five of his last six starts, including each of the last four, an awful stretch that has seen him pitch to a 7.97 earned run average. His most recent setback came on Thursday against the New York Yankees, who ripped him for four runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings.

“You gotta give those guys a lot of credit, said Humber, whose ERA has jumped to 3.56 over the rough patch. “They played the game better than we did.”

Humber lost to the Orioles earlier in the year in his only other start against them, surrendering two runs and three hits in seven innings of a 6-2 loss back on April 30.

Baltimore, meanwhile, will counter with righty Tommy Hunter, who lost his first start with the O’s on Friday. Hunter, acquired from Texas as part of the Koji Uehara deal, was defeated by Toronto, as he allowed four runs and eight hits in four innings, dropping him to 1-2 on the year, while raising his ERA more than a run to 4.43.

“That wasn’t a very good one,” Hunter said. “That was one where I could not make an adjustment. That’s what we worked on in the bullpen, throwing the fastball down and away, make sure I’m low in the zone. If the ball is up, you are going to get hit. You got to make adjustments when it’s not right.”

Hunter beat the White Sox in his only other start against them, limiting them to a run over seven innings back in 2010.

Hunter will have his hands full with a White Sox team that is red-hot at the moment. Chicago won its fifth straight game on Tuesday, as Brent Morel homered, drove in two runs and made a terrific play in the field in the seventh inning to help the White Sox to a 4-3 triumph.

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