Casilla with the Twins, via Wikipedia.

The Orioles are having a fairly busy off-season already. First they picked up Ayala’s option whilst declining Reynolds’s, and now they’ve claimed Alexi Casilla off waivers from the Twins.

Casilla is 28 years old and primarily a second baseman, but he’s played some shortstop and third, as well, and is a good boost to the Orioles’ infield. He’ll probably compete for second base with Robert Andino and Ryan Flaherty, as well as the returning Brian Roberts. Should make for an interesting Spring Training, that’s for sure!

The Orioles made some other announcements today, as well, via Dan Connolly:

On Saturday, players who have filed for free agency can begin to talk with other teams. The Orioles have some interest in retaining pitcher Joe Saunders, outfielder Nate McLouth and designated hitter Jim Thome, but no agreement was reached during the exclusive negotiating period, meaning the three will be able to discuss contracts with all interested parties starting Saturday.

Also Friday, the Orioles announced they have outrighted outfielder Lew Ford, infielder Steve Tolleson and lefty Zach Phillips to Triple-A Norfolk and reinstated right-handers Oliver Drake and Stu Pomeranz, lefty Tsuyoshi Wada, infielder Brian Roberts and outfielder Nolan Reimold from the 60-day disabled list.

So there you have it – busy off-season already, huh?

So here we go. It all comes down to this for now.

LET’S DO IT.

I’ll be live-blogging the game inning by inning, so stay tuned for my ridiculous commentary here!

Top 1st: The Orioles manufactured a quick run – Nate McLouth got on base, stole second, and was driven in by J.J. Hardy. (In the meantime, I’m finding it very hard to root against Yu Darvish since he’s a pitcher that I’ve been watching since 2007.) Orioles 1, Rangers 0.

Bottom 1st: Joe Saunders can’t throw strikes. It led to Ian Kinsler walking, getting to third on an Elvis Andrus single, and scoring on a double play. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.

Top 2nd: Mark Reynolds was hit on the hand by a pitch with one out. He ended up stealing second base. Machado grounded out to end things, though, so no score. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.

Bottom 2nd: Despite his inability to throw strikes, Joe Saunders recorded two strikeouts in this inning. No, I don’t know either. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.

Top 3rd: Yu Darvish threw a 1-2-3 inning. I’d complain, but I find that I have an irrational inability to complain about Yu Darvish being on my television. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.

Bottom 3rd: A double play helped Saunders escape this inning relatively quickly. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.

Top 4th: Jim Thome singled down the left field line, but that’s about it. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.

Bottom 4th: Men on first and third with only one out. Saunders struck out Napoli and then induced a force out to second to escape. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.

Top 5th: Yeah, we’ve got nothing at this point. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.

Bottom 5th: Kinsler led the inning off with a single. However, Andrus hit into a double play with one out, which cleared things up. Saunders is pitching disturbingly well so far for someone who hasn’t been hitting the strike zone too consistently.

Top 6th: J.J. Hardy led the inning off with a single like Kinsler did last half-inning. However, Chris Davis decided to vary from what the Rangers did and singled into right field, advancing Hardy to third with no outs. And then magic happened – Adam Jones came through with a long sacrifice fly to score Hardy! Orioles 2, Rangers 1.

Bottom 6th: Did you realize Joe Saunders only walked one person tonight? After two outs, he handed the ball to former Ranger Darren O’Day. O’Day got the out. Phew! Orioles 2, Rangers 1.

Top 7th: Ryan Flaherty singled with one out. He immediately left the game for Robert Andino, Postseason Hero at least if you’re a Rays fan, who came on as a pinch runner. Machado sacrificed Andino over to second and Yu Darvish left the game. This made my eyes very sad. Andino then stole third on a wild pitch to McLouth, the first pitch by Derek Holland, appearing in a relief role. McLouth proceeded to single to left, bringing in Andino! Holland, evidently stressed, tried a snap throw to first, but the ball got away and McLouth ended up on second. J.J. Hardy struck out, though, and the inning ended there. Orioles 3, Rangers 1.

Bottom 7th: Darren O’Day recorded three easy outs. Nothing spectacular to report here. Orioles 3, Rangers 1.

Top 8th: My boy Koji Uehara came in to pitch the 8th! I MISS YOU, KOJI. His first batter was the man he was traded for, Chris Davis, whom he promptly struck out. Actually, he struck out the entire side. I REALLY MISS YOU, KOJI. Orioles 3, Rangers 1.

Bottom 8th: Mark Reynolds started the inning off with a nice play to stab a ball at first. Kinsler ended up getting on with a bloop of a ball that got stuck in the grass and made it very difficult for J.J. Hardy to pick up. And then Darren O’Day decided it would be a great idea to throw the ball over to first, which he missed. Kinsler ended up on second. Amazingly, O’Day recovered and induced a groundout to short from Andrus, then was replaced by Brian Matusz. Matusz struck out Josh Hamilton on three pitches – THREE – to end the inning. Orioles 3, Rangers 1.

Top 9th: Joe Nathan came in to pitch the 9th for the Rangers. He walked Jim Thome to start things off, then struck Mark Reynolds out in an epic battle that lasted several pitches. Andino then just missed a home run, doubling off the left field wall and moving Thome to third. Lew Ford came in as a pinch runner for Thome. Manny Machado then slapped a blooper past short to drive Ford in (I swear that wasn’t a bad car joke) and move Andino to third. Chris Davis hit a sac fly to center to bring in Andino. The inning ended with J.J. Hardy grounding out to second. Orioles 5, Rangers 1.

Bottom 9th: One pitch, one out for Jim Johnson. Nelson Cruz then singled to left. Michael Young grounded out to second to advance Cruz, bringing up Mike Napoli with two outs. Johnson walked Napoli. A 19-year-old whose name didn’t even appear on the TV screen promptly singled, but David Murphy popped up to McLouth for the final out. Orioles 5, Rangers 1. FINAL.

Bring those Yankees on, baby!

(Unrelated footnote: I am now 2-for-2 so far in the postseason bracket I filled out for the annual competition at the school where my mom teaches. TAKE THAT, MOM’S CO-WORKERS.)

There’s really not much to say about this game. Yeah. We’re not a good team when our offense doesn’t work.

The only way we were able to score is because Flaherty was hit by a pitch and was doubled in. That’s a true story. We can’t score unless we get hit by pitches, apparently. Right.

Also, Tommy Hunter gave up a home run again, which makes this the most unoriginal game recap ever because he pretty much always does that.

Here is my cat facepalming to improve this game recap.

Well, look at us go! It turns out that split of the Twins series might have been what the Orioles needed, because they came out swinging tonight and ended up completely obliterating the Indians. Here’s a couple of interesting little tidbits from tonight:

Seriously, how did we pull this off?

So how did we pull off such an amazingly overwhelming victory if that happened? Let’s take a look at that third inning, where most of the magic happened tonight:

• With the score tied 1-1 after the first inning, Jim Thome scored from third after Matt Wieters reached on a fielders’ choice. 2-1 Orioles.
• Wilson Betemit doubled, putting Wieters on third, and Chris Davis was intentionally walked. Mark Reynolds then doubled, scoring Wieters and Betemit. 4-1 Orioles.
• Ryan Flaherty hit a three-run homer, bringing everyone else in. 7-1 Orioles.

After that, other runs crossed the plate – two came in the fourth, one on a Jim Thome homer and the other one after three consecutive batters walked and Chris Davis forced the Indians to make him the out on a fielders’ choice as Adam Jones skipped across home plate. A final run scored in the sixth, with Adam Jones again crossing the plate.

By the way, that Thome homer was pretty important:

Congrats, JI
JIM THOME!

So there we are. Also worth noting tonight: Miguel Gonzalez. He went seven innings and only gave up two runs, which normally looks pretty good for a starter but looks even better when your team scores eight more runs than that. Give the man some credit, though, because he pitched awfully well tonight.

Oh, and today the Orioles acquired Omar Quintanilla from the Mets. I watched him play for the Mets this year because I see the Mets pretty much every day, so I can assure you that he’s a pretty good pickup. All we had to do was give the Mets money which I think should be used to help pay off the team’s debts, but whatever.

I think today was a pretty good day.

No comeback magic in this one. Actually, no scoring in this one, because Verlander was pitching for the Tigers.

I know I’ve been getting on the offense’s back lately about being inconsistent, which they most certainly are. Today, though, I’m going to cut them a little slack since Verlander does this to pretty much everybody. He limited the Orioles to three hits, two of which came off the bat of Jim Thome, who hits Verlander well and therefore must be a robot, and he also went eight full innings before Valverde came in to close things out in the ninth.

Miguel Gonzalez did fairly well in his second Major League start considering that he was going up against the Tigers, although he did allow a home run on the second pitch he threw this afternoon. Two more runs came in later, one in the second inning and one in the sixth inning, so he did keep the Orioles fairly close. Too bad the opposing pitcher was Verlander.

In terms of pitching, though, today was a very special day:

Steve Johnson pitches in the 8th. Screencap by me.

Steve Johnson made his Major League debut today! Pitching in front of his hometown crowd and his father, former Orioles pitcher Dave Johnson, he seemed nervous at first, walking his first two batters. After a bunt moved those batters to second and third (although an out was recorded), Johnson settled down and struck out the next two batters to escape the inning unscathed. He did give up the fourth run of the game in the top of the ninth, however, a homer to Miguel Cabrera, but it’s good to get those things out of the way early.

If you were watching the broadcast, you probably saw the immense pride on his father’s face. That’s what makes moments like these so special, even though we lost this one.

Also, check out the video from this game if you missed it. Hardy’s defense was absolutely off the chain today.

Oh! And one more thing: injury report.

• Jason Hammel’s knee injury is going to require surgery, which he’ll undergo tomorrow. He’ll be out for 3-4 weeks, which basically means he’s missing August and we’re missing one of the few competent starters we have. Oh, joy.
• Robert Andino injured his shoulder in the sixth inning and left the game. No word on that one yet, but Ryan Flaherty took his place and covered for him after that.

At least this wasn’t a sweep.

I really don’t know how to describe this one. It was one of those seesaw sorts of games and I was unable to watch tonight, so I was therefore unable to write my recap as the game went on.

Here is what happened.

Seriously, it was just one of those nights. There were some positives, certainly: the Orioles scored more than three runs for the first time since June 16th. That’s a huge monkey off the team’s back. They’re also only four games behind the Yankees now (because the Yankees were kind and lost), so that makes me feel a little better, too. Oh, and Jake Arrieta only gave up five runs in less than four innings this time.

Thankfully, we had Matt Wieters to hit a home run and Rule 5 Flaherty to save the day and single in a run in the eighth inning, with Xavier Avery sealing the deal with an insurance homer later in the inning. It’s nice to have a savior or two in your lineup.

This game can’t be a Morris Marina game since the Orioles won it, but both teams didn’t exactly do a good job with damage control tonight (fifteen runs total is quite a bit, after all). Therefore, I will leave you all with this beautiful error from my hometown’s Stop and Shop since the game was about as coherent as this grammar is.

The Orioles are renown for being inept most of the time.

Brady - er, Brian - got the win today. (Screencap is mine.)

Hooray, we won a baseball game! That’s a nice feeling, especially since winning this particular baseball game got us back into first place. Well, we’re tied with the Rays for that honor, but we’re in first place in June. Did you think we’d be in first place in June? Me neither.

This was one of those games I was seriously hoping we’d manage to squeak out, especially since Brady Anderson Brian Matusz pitched so nicely today. He went into the 8th, adding one last out to his record on the day before leaving with two men on base. The team got him out of it, and he got his 5th win of the season. Matusz is now 5-5 with a 4.41 ERA, a far cry from what was going on last year. It’s actually quite a relief.

Besides, then I get to keep using him as the site mascot.

The Orioles scored exactly twice in this game – Endy Chavez hit a solo homer to give the Orioles the lead in the 3rd, and the team pushed one more run across in the 7th (Mark Reynolds scored, but the runner behind him, Flaherty, was thrown out at the plate by Zobrist). The Rays scored once on two hits and three walks (Matusz could stand to work on his command a tad more to get rid of those walks, but a two-hitter is quite impressive and he did strike out seven).

Basically, today was a good day. We snapped that six-game losing streak, Matusz is at .500, and this team defended well enough to hold the Rays to one run. Oh, and we’re in first place. IN JUNE.

Wins make Louise the sheepdog happy.

Hooray, another positive game!

Again, it happened when I wasn’t watching – I was out in Manhattan going to an open house for the school I plan to study archiving at. I should just stop watching the Orioles play and then look at what they do after they’re done playing and analyze it.

I can’t give up baseball that easily, though. Unfortunately, that may make the Orioles lose, which is not exactly the best thing ever.

Here’s what happened tonight, which I did not see:

• Sac fly by Ryan Flaherty in the 5th. Orioles up 1-0.
• Eric Thames drives in two for the Blue Jays in the 6th. Orioles down 2-1.
• Adam Jones singles in Nick Markakis in the 6th. Orioles tied 2-2.
• Adam Jones homers in the 8th. Orioles up 3-2.
• Chris Davis homers in the 8th, also bringing home Matt Wieters. Orioles up 5-2, final score.
• Oh, and Darren O’Day gets the win.

I’m actually quite upset that I missed tonight’s game since Brian Matusz finally had a quality start – he allowed only two runs over six innings, and now his ERA is all the way back down to 5.66, which is the lowest it’s been in recent memory. His line tells me that he gave up four hits and two walks, but struck out three, so I’m going to assume that most of the outs he created were by pitching to contact.

Pitching to contact, by the way? Very mature. It’s a great sign for Matusz’s future if this is what happened here.

Tomorrow, I’m going to actually get to watch the game. Expect a loss, everyone.

I remember reading once - when he was with the Rangers - that Tommy Hunter bakes cakes. Here is a picture of cake.

So tonight’s story is called Tommy Hunter. And the offense.

Tommy Hunter was just incredible tonight, pitching into the eighth inning before loading the bases and being removed. He didn’t allow a single run, although he scattered hits here and there throughout his night. As a reward, the fans voted him MASN’s player of the game, an honor he certainly earned tonight.

And then there was the offense. It exploded for an uncharacteristic eight runs tonight. There were people hitting with runners in scoring position, a few homers (Weets, Jonesy and Markakis), and even some adept baserunning from folk hero Robert Andino. His legend grows.

The Twins managed to push two runs across in the eighth when Pedro Strop came on to clean up after Hunter, but after those two – who were credited to Hunter – he closed the door, and Luis Ayala pitched a clean ninth. It’s nice having a bullpen you can depend on, to be honest. I mean, I was fully expecting a blown game here, and the bullpen actually comes in and slams the door shut without catching anybody’s fingers in the door jamb. It was quick and clean and effective.

To be honest, the team looks suspiciously good right now, and it’s unnerving me. Are people going to jump on the bandwagon after two wins? The Twins aren’t exactly the best team in the league. What’s going to happen when the Orioles face tougher opposition? The Yankees are coming into town on Monday. This team looks good now, but let’s see how they hold up when they’re facing a team that they’re overmatched by on paper.

I guess I’ll sit here and be cautiously optimistic for now. I kind of like being optimistic. It’s better than complaining all the time.

(P.S. Ryan Flaherty made his Major League debut tonight! Congratulations, Ryan, you’ve made it!)

So. Ryan Flaherty. We kind of just plucked him from the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft back in December. Yeah.

(Actually, even Baseball America used the word ‘plucked’ in their Prospect Handbook, so obviously I’m not alone in this thinking.)

I guess I should talk about Flaherty now and not how weak our farm system is, because when a Rule 5 guy is your seventh best prospect, you know you’ve got some issues in there with regards to drafting and developing players.

Ryan is good at working the count and he can drive the ball to all fields, which is one of those skills that Camden Yards tends to see most often from people on other teams. Unfortunately, the Cubs had him playing as a middle infielder when he’s far better suited for a position like third base due to his lack of middle infielder range. He’ll need time getting used to third base – BA points out that he’s made 25 errors there in 102 games – but he’s got a strong enough arm and he’ll be able to work on his skills. Besides, it’s the Orioles, so the odds are good that people will get hurt and he’ll get a chance to start. That’s just how things work here in Baltimore.

And hey – he’s a step up from Josh Bell.