Monday, May 22, 2017

Transcription

1 World Champions 1983, 1970, 1966 American League Champions 1983, 1979, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1966 American League East Division Champions 2014, 1997, 1983, 1979, 1974, 1973, 1971, 1970, 1969 American League Wild Card 2016, 2012, 1996 Game Stories: Monday, May 22, 2017 Orioles strike out 12 times against Marco Estrada in 3-1 loss to Blue Jays in series finale The Sun 5/21 Orioles can t complete sweep of Jays (with quotes) MASNsports.com 5/21 Estrada fans 12 as Blue Jays beat Orioles 3-1 to avoid sweep Associated Press 5/21 Columns: Orioles notebook: Machado to have precautionary X-rays on left hand after being hit by pitch The Sun 5/21 Orioles' Adam Jones hits his 124th Camden Yards home run, tying him for most in ballpark history The Sun 5/21 Orioles add Paul Janish as Ryan Flaherty heads to disabled list with shoulder tendinitis The Sun 5/21 Orioles on deck: What to watch Sunday vs. Blue Jays The Sun 5/21 Brach leans on support system to straighten out problems MASNsports.com 5/22 Orioles option Miguel Castro MASNsports.com 5/21 Showalter on Flaherty, roster move, Castillo & more (O s down 3-1) MASNsports.com 5/21 Flaherty goes on DL, Janish starting at shortstop MASNsports.com 5/21 While waiting for the lineup... MASNsports.com 5/21 After rocky road trip, O s steady the ship against Toronto MASNsports.com 5/22 Wade Miley, Caleb Joseph and Trey Mancini after O s loss to Jays MASNsports.com 5/21 Marco Estrada fans 12 as Blue Jays get series finale MASNsports.com 5/21 O s game blog: Looking for a sweep over Toronto MASNsports.com 5/21 Wade Miley Makes One Mistake And Orioles Suffer Hard-Luck Loss PressboxOnline.com 5/21 Orioles' Ryan Flaherty Goes To Disabled List With Sore Shoulder PressboxOnline.com 5/21 Tap-In Question: Nine solid starts into 2017, are you now a Wade Miley believer? BaltimoreBaseball.com 5/21

2 Orioles strike out 12 times against Marco Estrada in 3-1 loss to Blue Jays in series finale By Peter Schmuck / The Baltimore Sun The Orioles had a chance to complete a three-game sweep of the last-place Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, but Jays right-hander Marco Estrada clearly had other ideas. Estrada pitched a very strong 7 2/3 innings and tied a career high with 12 strikeouts on the way to a 3-1 victory before an announced 36,632 at Oriole Park. The O s managed just five hits off Estrada and scored their only run in the fourth inning on a solo home run by Adam Jones, who had three of those hits. They had seven hits in all, including two each by Trey Mancini and Mark Trumbo. He was on today, Jones said. A lot of guys had some good at-bats. He was tough. You tip your cap to him and go on to the next day. He s a good pitcher. He s not making a lot of money for no reason. Estrada has pitched 20 2/3 innings against the Orioles in three starts this year and allowed just three runs. He s 5-1 lifetime against the O s. Manager Buck Showalter said that the thing that makes him so tough is his terrific changeup, which he throws with a motion indistinguishable from his fastball and arrives a lot later. I think it s 22 or 23 of his first 45 pitches were changeups and it s not like nobody looks for it or sits on it, Showalter said. But he s got such good command of the fastball. Probably threw four or five curveballs. About six cutter-sliders. And he s got great command. He has great presentation on the changeup. You talk to hitters and they re thinking about it, they re sitting on it. You ve got to box one out because you can t hit both of them. Not that the Jays did much against Orioles starter Wade Miley, who suffered one of the hardest of hard-luck losses. He pitched seven innings and did not allow an earned run, but an error by Jonathan Schoop with two outs in the first inning kept the door open long enough for the Jays to score three times on a home run by second baseman Devon Travis. Manny Machado was hit on the hand by reliever Joe Smith in the bottom of the eighth but remained in the game. The defense rests: The Orioles made three errors in their previous five games, but they matched that number in the first five innings on Sunday and one of those was very costly. Schoop had trouble corralling a routine grounder that would have ended the first inning and the misplay led to three runs. Kendrys Morales was safe at first on the play and Justin Smoak followed with a soft single to right before Travis launched the first pitch he saw from Miley into the left-field bleachers for only his second home run of the year. The Orioles entered the game ranked sixth in the majors in fewest errors, but they fell to 11th at least temporarily when Machado made a fielding error in the fifth. Jones ties Palmeiro: When Jones homered off Estrada in the fourth inning, it was his 124th home run at Oriole Park, tying him with Rafael Palmeiro for the most by any player in the history of the ballpark. It also was Jones seventh of the season and the 232nd of his career.

3 New thunder: Over the course of this past week, the Orioles have allowed eight home runs to players who entered the week with two or fewer home runs this season. That s not to say that some of those players were not home run hitters. Five of those homers came from Tigers slugger Victor Martinez and injured outfielder J.D. Martinez, who came off a long stint on the disabled list to begin his season just four days before hitting three homers in the series against the Orioles. The O s also got four home runs from players who started the week with two or fewer homers three from Welington Castillo and one from J.J. Hardy. Orioles can t complete sweep of Jays (with quotes) By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com Left-hander Wade Miley will never know what might have transpired today if he retired the side in order in the first inning. If there weren t a two-out error, a soft single and some hard luck. Miley shut out the Blue Jays over the next six innings, didn t give up an earned run all day and couldn t prevent the Orioles from losing to the Blue Jays 3-1 before an announced crowd of 36,632 at Camden Yards. Three unearned runs in the first inning were the difference, along with the Orioles inability to mount much of a threat against Jays right-hander Marco Estrada, who struck out 12 batters in 7 2/3 innings to tie his career high. The Orioles failed to complete the sweep and fell to Their last 12 games have been decided by two runs or fewer. Adam Jones led off the fourth inning with his seventh home run of the season to reduce the lead to 3-1. He s now tied with Rafael Palmeiro for the most home runs at Camden Yards with 124. Here s a partial list of the leaders: Adam Jones: 124 Rafael Palmeiro: 124 Chris Davis: 114 Brady Anderson: 96 Melvin Mora: 89 Cal Ripken Jr.: 85 Nick Markakis: 82 Miguel Tejada: 73 Chris Hoiles: 71 Jay Gibbons: 64 Manny Machado: 64 Miley began the game by retiring Kevin Pillar on a pop up and Jose Bautista on a bouncer to the mound. Kendrys Morales grounded to Jonathan Schoop, who was shifted to the left side and failed to backhand the ball for an error. Two-out walks are killers. Same goes for errors. Justin Smoak looped a single into right field and Devon Travis belted a three-run homer to left for a 3-0 lead. Miley hadn t gone more than five innings in his last four starts, including the May 5 game when the White Sox twice hit him with line drives. He allowed six hits over seven innings today, with one walk and three strikeouts. He was replaced by Alec Asher after 107 pitches, 61 for strikes. Asher started a nifty double play and logged two scoreless innings.

4 Miley s ERA is down to 2.59 in 48 2/3 innings. It s clichéd to say he deserved better today, but no earned runs in seven innings usually gets you a win or a no-decision. The Orioles committed three errors in the first five innings. Miley had an errant pickoff throw and Machado misplayed a ground ball. Estrada was superb, retiring the first six batters before Trey Mancini s leadoff double in the third inning and eight in a row before Jones singled with two outs in the eighth. Joe Smith entered the game and promptly drilled Machado on the left hand, bringing head athletic trainer Richie Bancells onto the field. Machado stayed in the game and Davis struck out looking again to end the rally. Davis struck out nine times in the three-game series. The Orioles wasted Mark Trumbo s two-out single in the fourth, Mancini s leadoff walk in the fifth, Jones leadoff single in the sixth and Trumbo s leadoff single in the ninth. Mancini reached on an infield hit with two outs after a double play, but pinch-hitter Seth Smith popped up. Roberto Osuna picked up the save and the Orioles fell to 3-4 on Sundays, 0-1 with Ryan Flaherty on the disabled list. Today marked only their fourth home loss of the season, and their first since April 25 versus the Rays. The homestand continues with the Twins coming to town for three games. Here s a sampling from manager Buck Showalter: On Miley: Seven shutout innings, really. He was really good. The way they ve been in the past, they re so right-handed that in the past they ve seen so much right-handed pitching that I noticed later in the year... I think he had good outing against them. But that was solid. He gave us a great chance to win today. We just couldn t do anything against Estrada. On Miley as hard-luck loser: Today, yeah, but you get matched up against that guy, he s been solid against us. I think it s 22 or 23 of his first 45 pitches were changeups and it s not like nobody looks for it or sits on it. But he s got such good command of the fastball. Probably threw four or five curveballs. About six cutter/sliders. And he s got great command. He has great presentation on the changeup. You talk to hitters and they re thinking about it, they re sitting on it. You ve got to box one out because you can t hit both of them. On trusting Schoop defensively with the shifts: Jon is as good as it gets and he does things that a lot of second basemen can t do. He came back and made a couple plays later on. He s solid. Tough play. You know what happens sometimes? When guys are in shifts, it s why you have to practice it a lot, especially in spring training, with different angles, different hops, different sight lines. It s just a different look for guys and you ve got to practice it, which he does. That s why he s good at it. On Miley s control: It s a fine line, like the borderline pitches were strikes today. If you have a situation where the umpire is hunting strikes instead of hunting balls, sometimes that can change the... We knew coming in today that (Ron) Kulpa is a strike hunter, which fit well for him. A lot of those balls that were a tick down or a tick up, he got the benefit of a call. He s not going to give in. He was good. On Machado s hand: We re going to take a precautionary X-ray, but it seems to be OK. It s always scary for any player. There s no fake drama after that like you get sometimes and some places. It was what it was. You re not trying to hit him. On Jones with 124 home runs at Camden Yards: It s impressive. Think about all the people who have played here in the last 26 years. He s going to be hard to catch. He s such a post-up guy. He comes in here and very quietly has three hits. He had jammed the ankle the other night on the bag and it bit him before his last single up the middle. But he s got really great recuperative power and he loves to play.

5 He knows how much we depend on him. He doesn t shirk that responsibility. I don t think it surprises anybody, but it s a reminder of how good he s been for a long period of time here. Estrada fans 12 as Blue Jays beat Orioles 3-1 to avoid sweep Associated Press BALTIMORE -- An error, a three-run homer and Marco Estrada provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a feel-good victory against the Baltimore Orioles. Estrada matched his career high with 12 strikeouts, Devon Travis took care of the offense and Toronto averted a three-game sweep with a 3-1 win on Sunday. Travis connected in the first inning off Wade Miley (1-2) following a two-out error and a single. Those three unearned runs turned out to be enough to provide last-place Toronto with its second victory in nine games against the Orioles this season. "I think it's huge, especially where we're at," manager John Gibbons said. "It's been a tough go." Estrada (3-2) allowed one run, five hits and a walk over 7 2/3 innings. His only other 12- strikeout game came against Cincinnati on June 26, "Great lineup," the right-hander said. "You have to make pitches because any one of them can hit it out, especially in this ballpark." Estrada is 5-1 against Baltimore, including 1-0 with a 1.33 ERA in three starts this year. "He's always pitched so well against this team," Gibbons said. "This is maybe the toughest ballpark to pitch in especially a day game when it's warm. The ball flies." Baltimore's Adam Jones hit a solo shot in the fourth inning, but that was the extent of the damage against Estrada. Joe Smith struck out Chris Davis with two on in the eighth, and Roberto Osuna got three outs for his sixth save in nine chances. Toronto has been trying for weeks to recover from a 2-11 start. The Jays were starting to gather a bit of momentum before dropping a pair of two-run games -- the first in extra innings -- to start this series. "When you lose the first two games obviously you want to stop that," Estrada said. "You don't want to get swept anywhere. Just to win a ballgame, is all." Jones went 3 for 4, but the Orioles fell to 15-4 at home. Miley gave up three runs, none of them earned, and six hits over seven innings. The left-hander hasn't won since April 14. "He gave us a great chance to win today," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "We just couldn't do anything against Estrada." Baltimore committed a season-high three errors. The most costly miscue was the first-inning grounder up the middle botched by second baseman Jonathan Schoop, which set up Travis' drive into the left-field seats. "Tough play," Showalter said. "You know what happens sometimes? When guys are in shifts... it's just a different look. Different angles, different hops, different sight lines."

6 Travis went 2 for 4, his sixth multihit game in seven starts. He is 15 for 28 during that span, lifting his batting average 72 points to.239. "I'm just trying to stick with the approach and trusting the process," Travis said. RECORD-TYING SHOT Jones' home run was his 124th home run at Camden Yards, tying Rafael Palmeiro for the most in the history of the ballpark. "It's impressive," Showalter said. "Think about all the people who have played here in the last 26 years." TOUGH LOSS Miley was as sharp as he's been all season, but it wasn't good enough. "Made one mistake early on and Travis did a good job, put a pretty good swing on that ball," he said. It was the second time in his career he took a loss without allowing an earned run. It also happened in 2012, when he was with Arizona against Pittsburgh. ROSTER MOVE The Orioles optioned RHP Miguel Castro to Double-A Bowie after the game. CAN'T SIT NOW Orioles catcher Welington Castillo received his fourth career start as a designated hitter after delivering three homers with seven RBI in his previous two games. Showalter said: "It's hard to keep him out of the lineup right now." Perhaps he should have: Castillo went 0 for 4. TRAINER'S ROOM Orioles: Placed INF Ryan Flaherty on the 10-day DL with right shoulder inflammation. "It could very possibly be longer than that," Showalter said. Baltimore recalled INF Paul Janish from Triple-A Norfolk. UP NEXT Blue Jays: After taking Monday off, Toronto calls on right-hander Joe Biagini (1-2, 3.41 ERA) in the opener of a two-game series in Milwaukee. Orioles: Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2, 6.52 ERA) gets his eighth start of the season when Baltimore launches a three-game series against the surprising Minnesota Twins.

7 Orioles notebook: Machado to have precautionary X-rays on left hand after being hit by pitch By Eduardo A. Encina and Jon Meoli / The Baltimore Sun Orioles third baseman Manny Machado will have precautionary X-rays taken on his left hand after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning of Sunday s 3-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. During Machado s fourth and final plate appearance of the afternoon, Machado was hit on the underside of his left hand on an 89-mph fastball from Toronto right-hander sidearmer Joe Smith. Machado was examined briefly by head athletic trainer Richie Bancells, but he remained in the game and finished it. We're going to take a precautionary X-ray, but it seems to be OK, manager Buck Showalter said. It's always scary for any player. There's no fake drama after that like you get sometimes and some places. It was what it was. You're not trying to hit him. Machado played in each of the first 38 games of the season before sitting Thursday s series finale in Detroit. Showalter said Machado was getting rest for a sore finger, but Machado said the following day that he could have played. Around the horn: The Orioles optioned right-hander Miguel Castro to Double-A Bowie after Sunday s game. Castro threw three scoreless innings in two appearances with the Orioles, allowing no hits, walking three and striking out one. With just-recalled Paul Janish starting Sunday, shortstop J.J. Hardy received his second Sunday off in a row. Hardy has started 38 of the team s first 41 games, but that doesn t signal a need for new time off, Showalter said. J.J. is fine either way, he said. I just think that I want to get Paul in the mix a little bit. We ve got a pretty long stretch coming up where we re going to need everybody. After hitting a double in his first at-bat on Sunday, rookie outfielder Trey Mancini has reached safely in 11 of 14 games in May and is hitting.388 (19-for-49) this month. Outfielder Mark Trumbo had his 16th multihit game of the season. He entered the day tied for fifth in the AL in multihit games.

8 Orioles' Adam Jones hits his 124th Camden Yards home run, tying him for most in ballpark history By Eduardo A. Encina / The Baltimore Sun Orioles center fielder Adam Jones solo home run in the fourth inning of Sunday s game against the Toronto Blue Jays was his 124th career homer at Camden Yards, which tied him with Rafael Palmeiro atop the 26-year-old ballpark s all-time home run list. He's got a shot at it, Orioles manager Buck Showalter deadpanned about Jones taking sole control of the top spot. It's impressive. Think about all the people who have played here in the last, what, 26 years? He's going to be hard to catch. He's such a post-up guy. He comes in here and very quietly has three hits. Jones took a 3-2 pitch from Toronto right-hander Marco Estrada into the left-field stands an estimated 389 feet for his seventh homer of the season. He is one of three current Orioles on the Camden Yards top 10 list. Chris Davis ranks third with 114 homers, and Manny Machado is tied for 10th with 64 homers at Oriole Park. "Like I've said many times before, as I'm playing it's kind of hard to grasp it, Jones said. I think when I'm done playing it would be a lot easier to sit back and go, 'OK, these are the things I accomplished.' It's pretty cool. You still think about it. It's a great ballpark that has a lot of history. The list of the guys that I've passed, or approached or just even being in the conversation are guys I looked up to and admired as a young fan. It's just humbling and I give all the credit to my teammates for constantly pushing me every day. That's how these things happen." Jones homer gave him 232 in his career, with 229 of them with the Orioles, which places him fifth on the team s all-time list. Brooks Robinson is fourth with 268. Asked whether Jones, who turns 32 in August, could reach the 400-homer mark in his career, Showalter said, I wouldn t deny him anything.

9 Orioles add Paul Janish as Ryan Flaherty heads to disabled list with shoulder tendinitis By Jon Meoli / The Baltimore Sun Veteran infielder Paul Janish is back with the Orioles on Sunday, taking the place of utility infielder Ryan Flaherty, whom the team put on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Friday, with a right shoulder strain. Remember in the spring we shut him down for a few days and got an injection, got a lot better? manager Buck Showalter said. It s kind of come back again. He took an MRI, and we just felt like waiting around he does a lot of preparation every day, taking balls at three or four different positions. There s just no way for it to quiet down. So we re going to back off for the 10 days and see if that alleviates. Flaherty had seven hits in 34 at-bats this season, and had started seven games, but has been battling the shoulder problem throughout the season. He last played on Thursday in Detroit, going 1-for-4 with a run scored. Showalter said the path forward isn t determined yet, and cautioned Flaherty might need more than the 10 days on the disabled list for the injury to fully heal. The doctors that came down here they re trying to come up with the way we re going forward with it, Showalter said. They ve got some ideas, talking to Ryan, whether there s an injection or not an injection, or just rest, or some oral medicine. I don t know. Hopefully it could be 10 days. It could be longer. We want to get it out so it doesn t keep coming back. Showalter said the Orioles had plenty of options to replace him, and that Janish was only barely chosen over Robert Andino. Janish has been with the club in parts of the past two seasons, and was batting.255/.364/.378 with a pair of home runs for Triple-A Norfolk. He was added into one of the open spots on the team s 40-man roster, leaving one remaining. Day off for Hardy: Janish was placed right into the starting lineup, giving starter J.J. Hardy his second Sunday off in a row. Hardy has started 38 of the team s first 41 games, but that doesn t signal a need for new time off, Showalter said. J.J. is fine either way, he said. I just think that I want to get Paul in the mix a little bit. We ve got a pretty long stretch coming up where we re going to need everybody. We re trying to move things around. But I don t have any new plans on anything. I ve always tried to find a place for our guys that play every day.

10 Orioles on deck: What to watch Sunday vs. Blue Jays By Josh Land / The Baltimore Sun Orioles (25-16) vs. Blue Jays (18-26) Where: Camden Yards First pitch: 1:35 p.m. TV/Radio: MASN/105.7 FM Starting pitchers: Orioles LHP Wade Miley (1-1, 3.02 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RHP Marco Estrada (2-2, 3.60 ERA) What to watch: 1. Quality control. The Orioles have started their homestand with back-to-back quality starts after their rotation struggled to a 6.81 ERA during the preceding 1-6 road trip. Chris Tillman allowed three runs in six innings Friday and Kevin Gausman gave up two runs in six innings Saturday. Can Wade Miley get back on track for his first quality start since April 25? 2. Homer happy. With three more long balls Saturday, the Orioles have hit 24 in their past 11 games, giving them 60 on the season. That puts them on pace for 237 this season. Last season, they hit 253. Manny Machado leads the way with 10, but the team now has eight players with at least four home runs. 3. Distance. By starting the series with two wins, the Orioles have a decent margin for error as far as the Blue Jays are concerned. After the Orioles moved back into first place, passing the suddenly reeling New York Yankees, they lead the last-place Blue Jays by 8 1/2 games. The Jays certainly have the capacity to heat up at some point, but that will be a lot of ground to make up on the Orioles. On a somewhat related note, the Tampa Bay Rays might be a team to watch right now in the standings, having won four in a row to get over.500. Orioles lineup: 2B Jonathan Schoop CF Adam Jones 3B Manny Machado 1B Chris Davis RF Mark Trumbo DH Welington Castillo LF Trey Mancini C Caleb Joseph SS Paul Janish

11 Brach leans on support system to straighten out problems By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com May 22, 2017 We see the dugout celebrations after a home run, with the complicated handshakes and sunflower seed showers. We see what transpires at the plate following a walk-off win, with coolers of water dumped over the hero s head and enough aggressive slaps delivered to the body to leave prints. There also used to be the occasional pies to the face, again in full view of anyone paying attention. But there s also the scene inside the clubhouse, away from the public eye, when a pitcher or player is touching rock bottom and fans are ready to storm the ballpark with pitchforks and torches. (Trust me, you won t get them through security.) Orioles reliever Brad Brach needed a lift after back-to-back blown saves, part of a brutal stretch that saw him allow runs in three consecutive outings. Never good for a pitcher, especially troublesome for a late-inning reliever. Teammates knew that Brach was down. So did a coaching staff that sensed Brach may have become his own worst enemy. And here s where the bond that s formed on this team becomes even stronger. A couple of the coaches came up to me and were like, Hey, what s going on? What s going on in your head? Just reassuring their confidence, which was kind of big, Brach said. I know everybody pays attention, but to have, like Kirb (Wayne Kirby) came up to me and was like, Hey, where s your head at right now? He was like, Why did you lose confidence? We all have confidence in you. Just go back out there and do what you do, stop worrying about what happened because you can t do anything about it. And (Alan) Mills came up to me and said something, Roger (McDowell) came up to me and said something. I think coming from the position player coaches, too, it s kind of big because they watch every outing. It s one of those things where you think they re not really paying attention, but they are. Manager Buck Showalter noticed how everyone was rallying around Brach and had a little fun with it. Buck joked with me after, Brach said. He s like, Hey, did you get enough advice from other people? It was funny. It just kind of broke the ice and I think it just helped me get out of my own head. Brach is back to getting outs, with two scoreless appearances against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. I felt really good, he said. Just kind of got my confidence back a little bit and pounded the zone and stopped trying to nibble and stopped worrying about bad things that can happen. Stuff like that. Just going after the hitters. Brach got away from it and he s not sure why it happened. He didn t allow a run in his first 11 appearances before his first blown save on April 28 in New York. He picked up his eighth save on May 8 against the Nationals at Camden Yards despite allowing one run, and was rocked two nights later in D.C. Called on to protect a 6-4 lead, Brach surrendered three runs and four hits and retired only one batter. Jayson Werth led off the ninth inning with a home run to end an 11-pitch at-bat. The

12 floodgates opened, the comeback was sudden and stunning, and it increased Brach s ERA from 2.41 to Brach didn t pitch again for six days, with Showalter trying to freshen him up. He inherited a bases-loaded mess in the seventh inning in Detroit and served up a grand slam to J.D. Martinez. Brach s frustration showed as he snatched a new baseball out of the air with his bare hand. I think those two blown saves, for whatever reason, just kind of stuck in my head a little bit there, he said. I think I got away from that my second appearance against the Nationals. I kind of fell behind in the count and really had to come into the zone and kind of throw the pitches that the hitters were looking for. For me, the biggest thing was kind of throw a mix back in there and not just throwing fastballs every single pitch, and I think that s got my confidence back up. It also helps when the baseball gods are kinder. Brach was victimized by a few bloop hits during his slump. He retired the side in order Saturday night for his ninth save, but the last hitter, Ezequiel Carrera, sent right fielder Seth Smith to the warning track for the out. I think it just kind of reaffirms that it s 162 games and I m going to have outings in a year and I m not going to be perfect in every single one, said Brach, who made his first All-Star team last summer. Me and Zach (Britton) have kind of talked about it. I talked to him earlier. It s hard to compare to last year because for both of us those were career years to this point and you want to do everything we did last year, but looking back at it, it s kind of crazy the first half I had. I m trying to hold myself to that standard, but it s kind of a hard standard to hold to. I ve just got to go game to game and just get back into a rhythm and forget about what happened. And it s easier said than done for me especially, but it s one of those things where I just really have to concentrate on that game alone and forget about the past. Orioles option Miguel Castro By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com The Orioles made two roster moves today sandwiched around their 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. After placing utility infielder Ryan Flaherty on the disabled list this morning and selecting Paul Janish s contract from Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles announced late this afternoon that they optioned pitcher Miguel Castro to Double-A Bowie. A corresponding move apparently will be announced on Monday afternoon. Castro made back-to-back appearances for the Orioles in Detroit and logged three scoreless innings with three walks and a strikeout. He was called up Wednesday after the Orioles optioned left-hander Donnie Hart to Norfolk. Castro routinely hit 96 mph with is fastball in his debut. I was impressed with Castro, said executive vice president Dan Duquette. We did a couple things to help him. Encouraged him to use his changeup and helped him with some parts of his delivery. I thought he looked pretty good and did a good job for the club. The Orioles acquired Castro, 22, from the Rockies on April 7 for a player to be named later or cash.

13 Tyler Wilson was scratched Saturday night from his start with Norfolk and the Orioles kept him available in case they needed to make a roster move today. The Orioles have been operating with Richard Bleier as the only left-hander in their bullpen based on their opponent over the weekend. Mike Wright, Paul Fry, Edwin Jackson and Vidal Nuño pitched today for the Tides in a 5-3 loss to Charlotte. Jackson went 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run, his longest stint since working three innings as a starter in his debut on May 7. Showalter on Flaherty, roster move, Castillo & more (O s down 3-1) By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com The Orioles didn t adjust their bullpen and recall right-hander Tyler Wilson after he was scratched from last night s start with Triple-A Norfolk. They re sticking with the same seven pitchers. They couldn t stand pat in the infield. Ryan Flaherty s shoulder is barking again and he s on the 10-day disabled list. My guess is it s going to take longer than 10 days to get him back on the active roster. The strain is in the area of his lat and rotator cuff, which obviously causes discomfort when he throws. Just felt like instead of waiting around... because he does a lot of preparation every day taking balls at three or four different positions and there s just no way for it to quiet down, so we re going to try to back off for 10 days and see if that alleviates it, said manager Buck Showalter. Dr. Leigh Ann Curl, head orthopedic surgeon for the Ravens, examined Flaherty this morning. The doctors that came down here, I was talking to Ryan, they re trying to come up with a way we re going forward with it, Showalter said. They ve got some ideas, talking with Ryan, about whether there s an injection or just rest. And some oral medicine. I don t know. It could be 10 days, it could be longer. We want to get it out so it doesn t keep coming back. It could very possibly be longer than that. Flaherty won t head down to Sarasota right away. Right now he ll probably stay with us depending on how long we think it s going to be. If it s going to be much longer than that, he might, Showalter said. The Orioles purchased Paul Janish s contract, leaving them with 39 players on their 40-man roster. They considered Robert Andino, who also can play multiple positions in the infield. Johnny Giavotella is batting.305/.379/.442 in 39 games with Norfolk, but he s strictly a second baseman. We re fortunate to have some people to pick from, Showalter said. It was close. I think Robert will be up here at some point, too, this year. He s playing real well down there, especially defensively. They ve been talking about it. Janish is starting at shortstop today, with J.J. Hardy going to the bench. Hardy won t necessarily receive more rest with Janish on the roster.

14 J.J. s fine either way, Showalter said. I just think that I want to get Paul in the mix a little bit. Got a pretty long stretch coming up where we re going to need everybody. Trying to move things around. But I don t have any new plans on anything. I ve always tried to find a place for our guys that play every day. I thought about Adam (Jones) today, but he feels pretty good. Brad Brach has pitched on back-to-back nights, registering two scoreless innings and earning his ninth save last night. He wasn t certain whether he d be available today until he headed outdoors and played catch. Welington Castillo s torrid stretch and Marco Estrada s splits as Blue Jays starter conspired to put the veteran catcher at designated hitter today. He s swinging the bat pretty good right now and this guy s a reverse splits pitcher, Showalter said. He s had some success off him. I almost led him off today, but I didn t really like the feel of having that bat where we were in the bottom of the order. He s got four home runs off this guy. It s hard to keep him out of the lineup right now. I talked to him about it last night. I try to tell these guys the night before. It s a mental thing. I know on the day he doesn t catch, he does a lot more in the weight room, does a lot more work in there. There s a lot of things that happen that you need to let the players know because their work revolves around that. Welington had a whole different workday today compared to what he normally would have had on a Sunday day game. Showalter always will be fond of Matt Wieters and appreciate his contributions to the organization, but he also can be supportive of Castillo without feeling guilty or conflicted. It s the same way with a manager or a coach or a catcher. There are a lot of people capable of doing these jobs. You don t take it personal, Showalter said. It s OK to like the brother-in-law, too. I don t feel like I m cheating on Matt. It s OK to like everybody, which I ve been accused of. He s good. The Dominican Republic had a lot of people to pick from to be the catcher in the WBC, a very important event for them, and they picked Welington. That got my attention. And he wanted to it. That tells you a little something about him, too. I forgot to mention that last night s win was the first for the Orioles in regulation since May 8. They re now 15-3 at home, the best record in the majors. For the Blue Jays: Kevin Pillar CF José Bautista RF Kendrys Morales DH Justin Smoak 1B Devon Travis 2B Russell Martin 3B Darwin Barney SS Anthony Alford LF Luke Maile C Marco Estrada RHP Update: Devon Travis hit a three-run homer with two outs in the first inning to give Toronto a 3-0 lead. All three runs are unearned after Jonathan Schoop s fielding error with two outs and Justin Smoak s single. Update II: Adam Jones led off the fourth inning with his seventh home run to reduce the lead to 3-1. He s hit 124 home runs at Camden Yards to tie Rafael Palmeiro for most in the ballpark s history.

15 Flaherty goes on DL, Janish starting at shortstop By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com The Orioles placed Ryan Flaherty on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to Friday with a strained right shoulder, and they purchased Paul Janish s contract from Triple-A Norfolk. A decision is pending on whether Flaherty receives a platelet-rich plasma injection. He underwent an MRI yesterday. The discomfort in in the lat/rotator cuff area and it s impacting Flaherty s throws. He s been bothered by it since spring training and it keeps coming back. Janish is starting at shortstop today. Jonathan Schoop is leading off again after walking twice Friday night from atop the order. Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada has reverse splits. Left-handers are batting.218 against him this season and.217 in his career. Manager Buck Showalter is countering by starting Trey Mancini in left field and Mark Trumbo in right, with Welington Castillo as his designated hitter. For the Orioles: Jonathan Schoop 2B Adam Jones CF Manny Machado 3B Chris Davis 1B Mark Trumbo RF Welington Castillo DH Trey Mancini LF Caleb Joseph C Paul Janish SS Wade Miley LHP

16 While waiting for the lineup... By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com The Orioles are prepared to put infielder Ryan Flaherty on the 10-day disabled list. They haven t made an announcement and we re still waiting for the lineup. Infielder Paul Janish has a locker set up in the clubhouse and he met earlier with manager Buck Showalter. Showalter is scheduled to meet with the media in a few minutes. Flaherty is batting.233/.324/.267 in 13 games. He started at third base Thursday afternoon in Detroit. Welington Castillo is expected to be the designated hitter for today s series finale against the Blue Jays. Castillo, Boog Powell (Aug , 1966) and Charles Johnson (April 5-6, 2000) are the only Orioles to hit three lead-changing home runs in the sixth inning or later over a two-game span since the franchise moved to Baltimore in Since May 15, Castillo leads the majors with a.556 average (10-for-18). Here are the starters for series against the Twins at Camden Yards: Monday: Ubaldo Jimenez vs. TBD Tuesday: Dylan Bundy vs. Ervin Santana Wednesday: Chris Tillman vs. José Berríos

17 After rocky road trip, O s steady the ship against Toronto By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com May 22, 2017 Orioles starting pitching had a good weekend, as the team took two of three games from Toronto. Entering the weekend, the O s rotation had produced just one quality start the last seven games. But they got three in three games versus the Blue Jays. Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman and Wade Miley gave up a combined five earned runs over 19 innings for a series ERA of This is the first time the Orioles had three straight quality starts since posting four in a row April Miley gave up the first inning three-run homer to Devon Travis. The runs were unearned after Jonathan Schoop s two-out error. But it was another strong game by Miley, who has allowed two earned runs or less seven times in nine starts. He is 0-2, but with an ERA of 0.92, in four home starts. He did a great job, catcher Caleb Joseph said. I was really impressed with the way he changed speeds on his fastball. That in itself can present different pitches. You can have three or four different pitches with the fastball by adding and subtracting. Real veteran thing. I m just real excited about what he s figured out and found over the past two, three months. It s real encouraging. Veterans, they back off when they get under pressure. They don t hit the gas. They back off, and he did a lot today. He induced a lot of weak contact, so I really wish we could have pushed runs across because he really deserved a win today. But the Orioles, once again, could not get much going against right-hander Marco Estrada. He has already made three starts against the Orioles this season, pitching to an ERA of 1.31 over 20 2/3 innings with 24 strikeouts, adding 12 on Sunday. Trey Mancini reached twice in three plate appearances against Estrada with a double and walk. He lined a ball to right for his double in the third inning and going that way with the pitch, he said, was very much by design. The way he pitches, my approach was stay to right and try to beat them with singles to the right side, Mancini said. I got a hold of a cutter the first at-bat and got it down the line. That is mostly the approach. I talked to Mark Trumbo about him before the game and he said you have to respect all his pitches and think right field. Mancini feels the Orioles got back on track winning the series against Toronto after the recent 1-6 road trip. Absolutely, he said. It was great to come back home and feel comfortable at our park. Our pitchers did a great job this whole series. Now we have another big series against the Twins and hopefully we keep it going and win another one. Asher is good again, talks Phillies: Right-hander Alec Asher pitched two more scoreless innings Sunday, following Miley to the mound. On Friday night, Asher pitched a scoreless eighth inning in a 3-3 tie. He s getting high-leverage innings out of the bullpen in addition to the two starts he s made so far. Over 10 games, he is 1-2 with a 2.33 ERA. He has given up just two runs his last 12 2/3 innings. In 27 innings for the season, he has walked seven with 21 strikeouts and a.237 batting average against. The Orioles acquired Asher on March 28 from the Philadelphia Phillies for a player to be named or cash. Last September, Asher made five Phillies starts, going 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA.

18 Here s a good question: Why did a rebuilding club like the Phillies part with this 25-year-old right-hander after he pitched well for them last season? He certainly looks like a nice addition for the Orioles so far. Over the weekend, I asked Asher if he wondered that, as well. I think I d drive myself crazy if I did try to think about it and read into it, he said. I don t know everything behind the reasoning. I just try not to think about it. And I have no bad things to say about the Phillies. They gave me opportunities. I loved being there and everyone there. But now my goal is to essentially make them pay for giving up on me. I ve always kind of played with a chip on my shoulder. Not saying they did give up on me, but for going to a different organization, I just like to build here and get better. There are not any hard feelings. It is kind of like breaking up with a girlfriend. You want to have a nice relationship with the next one. Wade Miley, Caleb Joseph and Trey Mancini after O s loss to Jays By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com The Orioles came up a win short of their first three-game home sweep of Toronto since September Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada fanned 12 today over 7 2/3 innings to tie his career high in Toronto s 3-1 win. Estrada threw a season-high 115 pitches and held the Orioles to five hits. They have faced him three times this year, and he has an ERA of 1.31 in 20 2/3 innings. This was his sixth career game of 10 or more strikeouts. Toronto is 2-7 against the Orioles on the season, and the two wins have come in Estrada starts. Today, he threw 53 changeups. Just a really good mix of pitches, Trey Mancini said. His changeup is one of the best I ve ever seen, if not the best. It s hard to tell (which pitch it is) right out of his hand. He s got the same body motion. And same delivery. Even if you know it s coming, it s hard to wait back. He was on his game today. O s left-hander Wade Miley almost matched Estrada this afternoon. Miley gave up a Devon Travis three-run homer in the first, but nothing else through seven innings. The Travis homer followed a two-out error by second baseman Jonathan Schoop and a single by Justin Smoak. I made one mistake early on and Travis put a good swing on that ball to put them up early. I tried to keep them right there. Marco Estrada, he had a really good mix of pitches going today, Miley said. In his previous two starts, Miley had thrown 119 pitches in five innings against Washington and 109 in five at Detroit. This was a step forward in pitch efficiency as he threw 107 pitches and gave up six hits over seven frames. I think I just pitched more today, Miley said. Rather than just throw. More of a cat and mouse thing. Went hard fastball, soft fastball, changeup, curveball and had a mix and was able to make a few pitches when I got behind. The BP fastball, was getting some groundballs. That is more or less who I would like to be rather than just go out and throw it as hard as I can. Miley took the loss and is 1-2 with a 2.59 ERA through 10 starts. This was his longest outing since going seven on April 25. It was the second time in his career in which he took a loss but allowed zero earned runs. The two-out error today made all three runs unearned. That also happened with Miley on the mound Aug. 6, 2012 for Arizona at Pittsburgh.

19 He was frustrated in not getting deep in the game in those recent starts. Just tried to get three outs at a time. Get this out, next out and next out and go sit down, he said. You start trying to put pressure on yourself about getting deep in the game and next thing you look up and you re at 75 pitches in the third. Try to not even look at the pitch count. With a walk-rate averaging 5.8 per every nine innings coming into this game, lowering that was also a focus for Miley today, and he walked one batter. I was on a five-run there for a while where I walked five every game. Got back to pitching, he said. Last couple of starts, it was like I would get mad about the walks, overthrow and lose command. Tried to back down and just make pitches today. The Orioles (25-17) dropped back into second place, a 1/2-game behind the Yankees, who beat Tampa Bay. The Orioles still hold the best home record in MLB at 15-4, but an eight-game Oriole Park win streak was snapped this afternoon. Three of their four home losses have come on Sundays. Catcher Caleb Joseph talked about Miley s solid outing, coming on a day in which he got just one run of support. You ve got a guy you could throw a ping-pong ball up there, and he s going to get a hit in Travis. He s seeing it really well. (Miley) threw seven innings of shutout (no earned runs) baseball, Joseph said. I think it was just a matter of what we didn t do before Travis got up than him really getting into bad luck. He deserved a better fate. Great game, pitched well enough to win. Seven innings, no (earned) runs. You can t really ask for more, and again things are magnified when you can t score any runs, either. That guy was real tough. He s been doing it against us for a while now. It s tough when you ve got the real slow changeup and you can zip a fastball up there. It s really only two pitches. It s tough. The Orioles took two of three this weekend after a 1-6 road trip, and now they host Minnesota on Monday night to open a three-game series.

20 Marco Estrada fans 12 as Blue Jays get series finale By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com The Orioles were looking for a three-game sweep of Toronto today. But right-hander Marco Estrada intervened to keep that from happening. For the third time this year, the Blue Jays right-hander threw a quality start at the Orioles as Toronto took the series finale 3-1 this afternoon in front of 36,632 at Oriole Park. Estrada tied his career-high with 12 strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings. He gave up five hits, one run and one walk and threw 115 pitches, about half of which were changeups. Estrada is 3-2 with an ERA of This was his second career 12-strikeout game. He threw one on June 26, 2012 for Milwaukee at Cincinnati. In three starts versus the Orioles in 2017, Estrada has allowed three runs over 20 2/3 innings with 24 strikeouts. That works to an ERA of Chris Davis struck out three times today during an 0-for-4 afternoon. He was called out looking against reliever Joe Smith with two on and two outs in the eighth. The O s had few scoring chances and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, leaving seven on base. The Orioles made three errors today, and the costliest came in the top of the first. Lefty Wade Miley got two quick outs and the Orioles were shifting against Kendrys Morales. He hit a grounder to the third base side of second and second baseman Jonathan Schoop could not come up with it and was charged with an error. That would soon hurt when Justin Smoak singled and Devon Travis followed that with a threerun homer to left. Travis hit No. 2 on a first-pitch curveball. Toronto took a 3-0 lead, and all three runs were unearned. Estrada had silenced the O s bats on one hit through three innings, but then Adam Jones led off the fourth with a solo homer to left. It made it 3-1 and was No. 7 for Jones on a 3-2 fastball. That was a milestone home run. It was the 124th in this ballpark for Jones. That ties him with Rafael Palmeiro for most all-time at Oriole Park. Chris Davis is third on the list with 114. Jones began today 3-for-21 with no homers or RBIs against Estrada, but went 3-for-4, producing three of the club s seven hits. Meanwhile, Miley allowed no more runs after the first but took the loss and is 1-2 with an ERA of Over seven innings, he gave up six hits and three unearned runs with one walk and three strikeouts. This was his longest outing since he went seven on April 25. Orioles staring pitchers worked to an ERA of 2.37 in this series, allowing eight runs (five earned) over 19 innings. The Orioles had an eight-game home win streak snapped and they are now on the year and 15-4 at home. They begin a series with Minnesota on Monday night.