The Maryland Sports Blog

I will not be able to blog every lineup the Baltimore Orioles, or even watch every game. For now I will when I can.

Here is Britt Ghiroli’s tweet with the lineup.

#orioles lineup: McLouth 7, Machado 5, Markakis 9, Jones 8, Davis 3, Wieters 2, Hardy 6, Reimold DH, Roberts 4, Chen SP

— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) April 3, 2013

Notice Nate McLouth is leading off for the first time this season. I expect McLouth to lead off against right-handed pitchers. Nick Markakis is batting third and Adam Jones is cleaning up.

Nolan Reimold is still in the lineup as the DH.  The Orioles will have different lineups to attack different pitchers.

Welcome to the 2013 MLB season!!! The Baltimore Orioles play the Tampa Bay Rays at 3:10 and I will be live blogging the game and also tweeting throughout. First off check out all the other Orioles post including the opening day lineup post. Enjoy I will be keeping anyone who can not watch the game updated.

Sorry for the delay guys, our hosting service GoDaddy was down.

First Update: The Orioles currently have a 2-1 lead over the Rays.

First inning Adam Jones hit a double and Matt Wieters followed up with a two-run home run. The Orioles have worked David Price hard but have not put any more runs on the board. Price’s already up to 75 pitches going into the fifth inning.

Jason Hammel has been great but gave up a solo homer to Ben Zobrist. Hammel has only thrown 48 pitches and has only allowed two hits.

Second Update: Matt Wieters is owning David Price, he adds to his two-run homer with a double. Wieters also has a 13-pitch at bat that led to a walk. Chris Davis is having a tough day and was just called out on two pitches that were well out of the strike zone. No more runs scored, the Orioles did work up David Price’s pitch count up and he is out of the game. Price went six innings and gave up two runs on 100 pitches

Orioles 2 Rays 1 bottom of the sixth

Third Update:

Hammel loses command and the Rays gain the lead. A walk followed by a double and a sac fly lead to the Rays taking a lead. Orioles going to the seventh down by one run.

Orioles 2 Rays 3

Fourth Update:

Well the Rays lead did not last long. The Orioles came back quickly and loudly with a five-run seventh inning. Adam Jones drove in Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis with a big double. The Chris Davis redeemed himself by hitting a gigantic three-run homer. Hammel out of the game after throwing only 75 pitches.

Orioles 7 Rays 3 bottom seventh

Fifth Update:

Orioles sending out closer Jim Johnson to finish this game out.

Orioles 7 Rays 4

Final Update:

Jim Johnson got the save the Orioles win their first game of the season 7-4.  Chris Davis’s three-run bomb came up huge.

The Baltimore Orioles have announced their opening day lineup. Here is the tweet from Orioles beat reporter Brittany Ghiroli with the lineup.

#Orioles Opening Day lineup Markakis RF, Machado 3B, Jones CF, Wieters CA,Davis 1B, Hardy SS, Reimold LF, Pearce DH, Roberts 2B, Hammel SP

— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) April 1, 2013

No real surprises, Nick Markakis is leading off like he did successfully last season.  Manny Machado is the Orioles young stud and is batting second protected by the Orioles best overall hitter Adam Jones.  Matt Wieters the Orioles catcher is the cleanup batter and Chris Davis who is probably the best pure power hitter for the Orioles is batting fifth.

J.J. hardy who was the Orioles number two hitter most of last season has been moved down to the number sixth spot and Nolan Reimold is in left field batting seventh.  Steve Pearce who was one of the last players to make the team is at the eight spot.  Brian Roberts who has been a lead off hitter almost his entire career is batting ninth, which means he can be a jump-starter at the bottom of the order.

Every player in this lineup has home run power.  Nate McLouth will start the game on the bench and will probably be used in the game as a defensive sub for Reimold late in the game.  McLouth and Reimold are expected to share left field this season.

The Baltimore Orioles have had their opening day roster set for a couple of days now, their season starts tomorrow.  Let’s take a look at some of the players, keep in mind the Orioles will most likely get Chris Tillman back from the DL within the week.  That means one of the players on the 25-man now will have to be sent to AAA Norfolk or designated for assignment.

The players that need to stay healthy:  Every player needs to stay healthy but for Brian Roberts and Nolan Reimold their they could be on their last chances.  Two extremely talented players that have not been healthy much in recent years.  Roberts looks like he is back to form but only time will tell.  Reimold had a minor injury in spring training but he also looks like he is back to his power hitting ways.

I am actually more concerned with Reimold who has a history of injuries well back in his minor league career.  If Reimold can stay healthy and have  a successful season they sky is the limit because he is a five tool player.

The Pitchers that need to stay in the big leagues:  Jake Arrieta, Brian Matusz, and Tommy Hunter were back and forth last season between the majors and minors.  All of them have at once been top prospects and were in the starting rotation last season.  Matusz and Hunter have been moved to the bullpen with success.

Arrieta is in the starting rotation, technically the 4th spot because of the Tillman injury but he is the 5th starter.  Arrieta has shown signs of greatness and had a great spring, he has the stuff to be great.  Control and the mental part of the game have not always been there for Arrieta.  If Matusz, Arrieta, and Hunter pitch up to their standards for a full season and stay in the majors the Orioles will be great.