The Maryland Sports Blog

The Baltimore Orioles have called up Tommy Hunter from Bowie to pitch out of the bullpen.  Hunter will probably be used in long relief, even though the Orioles have rarely needed a long-man lately.

The Orioles have also purchases the contract of Zach Phillips, a left-handed pitcher who will be used out of the bullpen.  With Troy Patton out the Orioles have needed more lefties in the pen.  Brian Matusz and Randy Wolf have been overused after the series against the New York Yankees.

Jason Berken has been designated for assignment by the Orioles, he has been up and down in his career with the Orioles.  Berken has been used has a reliever and starter in his career with the Orioles.

The Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays today, 4-0.  Joe Saunders had an outstanding start going 6 and 1/3rd scoreless innings.  The Yankees are currently losing to the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, if the Yankees lose the Orioles will only be a game back from first place in the AL East.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES ARE IN FIRST PLACE!  I know what you all must be thinking; this happened last year, and years prior.  Let’s not get too excited just yet.  Yes we played the lowly Minnesota Twins, who no one expects to do much this year.  With all that said, there are some positives.  Our starting pitching looked excellent through this first series.  Jake Arrieta set the tone on Friday afternoon, followed by Tommy Hunter, and a no-hit bid by new acquisition, Jason Hammel.

Jim Johnson is also throwing the ball well, notching two saves in the season-opening series.  I think what surprised most of us is the hot start of outfielder, Nick Markakis.  While Nick is known as a good and steady player, most think he will never be a 20-25 HR guy, and that we just have to accept it. This may be the year he proves people wrong.  Markakis has two HR’s so far this year to lead the team.  A good sign is that one of those HR’s was to the opposite field.   Other Orioles to homer so far this year include Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, and J.J. Hardy.  Not to be forgotten, backup catcher, Ronny Paulino had a 4 for 4 game in his first start of the year.

Next up for the O’s, a clash with a division giant!  Monday begins a three game series with the Bronx Bombers from New York; who are surely hungry, after failing to win one game in the series with Tampa Bay.  The Yankees send Ivan Nova to the hill, to be opposed by Brian Matusz.  Matusz had a forgettable year by every aspect last year, and will be looking to regain the confidence and execution that made him one of the best young prospects in the game.   Whenever the Yanks come to town, Camden Yards gets amped up for the AL East showdown.  Although early on in the season, this will be a true test to see whether the Orioles can hang with the big boys in the division.  Should be a great series to watch!  Hope this hot start to the 2012 season continues for our Orioles!

Until next time, keep it here for more updates and keep rooting for those Orioles!

One of the bright spots for the Baltimore Orioles was Mark Reynolds. Sure his play at third base was terrible but I loved watching his giant home runs. Some awesome Orioles fan put this video together with all Reynolds monster blast. My favorite one was the one he hit in the upper deck at Camden Yards.

Luke Scott swinging

Baltimore Orioles outfielder/DH Luke Scott got into a verbal dispute with Interim Manager Jaun Samuel Thursday while playing the New York Yankees. Scott just hit a triple of the right field wall that some believe could have been an inside the ballpark home run, if Scott did not throw his bat down and jog down the first base line. Everyone in the ballpark new that the exchange between Scott and Samuel was about him jogging down the first base line, because he thought he hit a pop up. Samuel was staring him down as soon as Scott stopped at third.

Scott later tried to deny any wrong doing in an interview saying that the words between Samuel was an inside joke. He also said that he was running hard and would have never got to third if he was not running. The funny thing is that Scott’s voice was breaking up more than a small 5 year old trying to stand up to a bully.

I call bull on everything that Scott said. The funny thing is, Scott was running a lot harder down the first base line on Saturday .

I know Scott is a fan favorite.  However, I will let everyone in on a media secret.  A lot of people in the media do not like him. They all think he is a selfish player that only cares about his stats, and if you watch how he swings you can see that it is true. He swings to hit the warehouse on every play and on every situation.

Scott learned his lesson.  He is now running.  He said no one could have made it an inside the park homerun on the ball he hit. I think I would have, could you?