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 2012, 1996

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Game Stories:

Wei-Yin Chen's gem, J.J. Hardy's late homer lead Orioles to 4-2 win over Rangers The

Sun 7/1

2-run blast from Hardy lifts O's vs. Rangers MLB.com 7/2

Dan Duquette talks about today's roster move (O's win 4-2) MASNsports.com 7/1

J.J. Hardy's tiebreaking homer in seventh lifts O's past Texas MASNsports.com 7/1

Orioles hit 2 HRs to back Chen in 4-2 victory over Rangers AP 7/1

Hardy's two-run home run makes Chen a winner CSN Baltimore 7/1

Columns:

Buck Showalter, Orioles teammates react to Delmon Young DFA The Sun 7/2

Another roster move is coming for Orioles The Sun 7/1

Dan Duquette confident he can trade Delmon Young The Sun 7/1

Orioles designate outfielder Delmon Young for assignment The Sun 7/1

Orioles add Tyler Wilson to bullpen, corresponding move coming before game The Sun

7/1

Orioles first-round pick DJ Stewart to make pro debut Thursday for Aberdeen The Sun

7/1

Mychal Givens, Mike Yastrzemski among four Baysox named to Eastern League All-Star

Game The Sun 7/1

What they're saying about the Orioles The Sun 7/1

Machado wows at 'shortstop' with O's in shift MLB.com 7/1

O's add Wilson to bullpen, designate Young MLB.com 7/1

Efficient Chen is arguably O's top starter MLB.com 7/1

Gausman faces tough lineup in return to O's MLB.com 7/1

Reimold to go on paternity leave next week MLB.com 7/1

Gausman back from Minors for 2nd start MLB.com 7/1

Pending free agents and tonight's game MASNsports.com 7/2

Buck Showalter on bullpen and 4-2 win MASNsports.com 7/1

Delmon Young designated for assignment MASNsports.com 7/1

Buck Showalter on pending roster move and more MASNsports.com 7/1

Tyler Wilson will be recalled tonight MASNsports.com 7/1

Orioles and Rangers lineups MASNsports.com 7/1

Is Tyler Wilson headed to Baltimore? MASNsports.com 7/1

Darren O'Day on being in first place right now, plus other O's notes MASNsports.com

7/2

Chen on his outing, plus Hardy on his homer, Machado's defense and Young being

DFA'd MASNsports.com 7/1

O's game blog: A look at tonight's game, Bowie's All-Stars, Stewart's debut and more

MASNsports.com 7/1

Kevin Gausman on challenges this year and making the start Thursday MASNsports.com

7/1

A look at the homer barrage at the Yard, plus Aberdeen's draft picks and other notes

MASNsports.com 7/1

Rangers-Orioles Preview SI.com 7/2

Orioles designate OF Delmon Young for assignment AP 7/1

Gausman tries to prove he belongs in rotation CSN Baltimore 7/2

Orioles designate Delmon Young for assignment, add pitcher CSN Baltimore 7/1

Gausman getting ready for Thursday start CSN Baltimore 7/1

O's OF scheduled for paternity list next week CSN Baltimore 7/1

June Wrap-Up: Who Were The Orioles' Biggest Stars And Disappointments?

PressBoxOnline.com 7/2

Harold Reynolds: Orioles Will Repeat As American League East Division Champions

PressBoxOnline.com 7/1

Video: Manny Machado dives then chucks fadeaway throw to first to nab Shin-Soo Choo

NBCSports.com 7/1

Orioles DFA Delmon Young, exploring trade NBCSports.com 7/1

First pitch at Baltimore Orioles game delivers another smile for Landyn Grove YDR.com

7/1

Baltimore Orioles – PlayerWatch Reuters 7/1

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-weiyin-chens-gem-jj-hardys-late-homer-lead-

orioles-to-42-win-over-rangers-20150701-story.html

Wei-Yin Chen's gem, J.J. Hardy's late homer lead Orioles to

4-2 win over Rangers

By Dan Connolly / The Baltimore Sun

July 1, 2015

The last time Orioles lefty Wei-Yin Chen went eight innings and dominated an opponent – like

he did Wednesday night in a 4-2 win over the Texas Rangers – he was promptly sent to High-A

Frederick as part of the club’s constant roster juggling.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter intimated that that won’t be happening again, explaining his

thinking as to why Chen didn’t go back out in the ninth Wednesday with only 87 pitches thrown.

“Hopefully he doesn’t have any more missed starts [the] rest of the year, so every chance we get

to give him a little blow here or there [we’ll take],” Showalter said. “Because he’s gonna be

pitching on normal rest next time.”

That statement was gladly received by Chen, who took to Twitter after his June 16 demotion to

show his frustration with the decision.

“Of course I’m happy to hear [Showalter’s comments],” Chen said through interpreter Louis

Chao. “Because we talked about it and I’m happy that Buck trusts me. Also, I just wanted to do

my job well and keep pitching well until the end of the season.”

Heading into the game, Chen had been dominant in his career against the Rangers, a club that

had blasted eight homers and scored 16 runs in their previous two games at Camden Yards this

week.

Something had to give, and fortunately for the Orioles, it was Chen’s mastery that continued

before an announced 23,019.

Chen entered the evening 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four starts against the Rangers. And he

mystified them again, allowing just four hits and two runs in eight impressive innings. He

walked one, struck out two and was exceptionally efficient, throwing just 87 pitches, including

60 strikes.

He now has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last five starts and has a 2.84 ERA in 95

innings this season.

“He was very efficient, solid,” Showalter said. “He was the difference tonight."

The Orioles (42-36) halted their modest two-game losing streak and now have a chance to

salvage a split in the four-game series with a win Thursday in the finale against the Rangers (40-

39).

Wednesday’s crisp contest – which lasted a breezy 2 hours, 18 minutes – featured some

outstanding defense, including two more highlight-reel plays in the seventh inning by third

baseman Manny Machado.

"I love watching him play," shortstop J.J. Hardy said of Machado. "He does things every night

that amaze me, and he does a lot of things that other third baseman can’t do.”

Said Chen: “With him behind me playing the defense, I feel very comfortable pitching out

there.”

But because this was Rangers-Orioles, there had to be some homers hit, of course. No matter

how well Chen (4-4) pitched.

Texas outfielder Shin-Soo Choo started the scoring with a solo homer to right to lead off the

third. It was the third consecutive game in which Choo hit a solo homer versus Orioles pitching.

In the fourth, Ryan Rua slammed a Chen fastball onto the top of the grounds crew’s shed in right

for his second homer of the season and the Rangers’ 10th in 22 innings at Camden Yards this

series. They had homered four times each in their previous two wins this week.

The Orioles closed to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth on Jimmy Paredes’ 10th homer of the

season, a solo shot to right-center on a 90-mph fastball from right-hander Nick Martinez. It was

the club’s second hit against Martinez, who entered the game with a 3.39 ERA in 15 previous

starts this year.

Paredes helped tie the game in the sixth on an RBI groundout that he just beat to first to avoid a

double play.

The Orioles then took their first lead against Martinez in the seventh and their second of the

entire series on – what else? – a homer: A two-run blast to left by Hardy, his fourth of the year.

Hardy’s longball scored Chris Davis, who had led off the inning with a single to extend his

hitting streak to 11 games, tying a career high set in 2012.

“J.J.'s had a lot of big knocks for us,” Showalter said. “His 1-for-3 or whatever is usually pretty

productive.”

Martinez (5-5) pitched well, but left with two on and two outs in the seventh. He allowed four

runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk, losing his third straight decision.

Closer Zach Britton entered in the ninth and fanned the side – Prince Fielder, Adrian

Beltre and Mitch Moreland, who went hitless Wednesday after homering four times in the first

two contests of the series. It was Britton’s 23rd save in 24 chances.

It also guaranteed Chen’s third straight victorious decision, and the Taiwanese lefty seemed so

pleased with his situation now that he actually answered a question in English. When asked why

he has been so good against the Rangers, Chen waited for the translation but didn’t focus his

answer on the opponent.

He then bellowed three times with a big smile, “Just pitch, just pitch, just pitch.”

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/134107570/jj-hardy-hits-home-run-to-lift-orioles

2-run blast from Hardy lifts O's vs. Rangers

By Brittany Ghiroli and Connor Smolensky / MLB.com

July 2, 2015

BALTIMORE -- J.J. Hardy broke a tie with his fourth homer of the season to lift the Orioles to a

4-2 win over the Rangers on Wednesday night.

Hardy hit a two-run shot off Rangers starter Nick Martinez in the seventh inning, with Jimmy

Paredes also going deep for the O's in the fourth. Chris Davis, who extended his hitting streak to

a career-high-tying 11 games, singled and scored on Hardy's blast.

"Yeah, I mean, I just felt like I saw it pretty well out of his hand," Hardy said of the homer. "I

was able to put a good swing on it."

A Rangers club that hit eight home runs in the first two games of the series went deep twice, with

solo shots from Ryan Rua and Shin-Soo Choo. But that was all Texas could muster off Orioles

lefty Wei-Yin Chen, who cruised through eight innings.

"Most of them are looking for fastballs," Chen said through his interpreter, "and they know I'm a

fastball pitcher and they didn't want to fall behind. So, most of them were swinging early in the

count."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Chen breezes through eight: Despite the pair of homers, Chen breezed through most of the

evening, needing just 87 pitches. He retired 13 of his final 14 batters and lowered his ERA to

2.84 with the win.

"Early in the game I didn't feel that great, but my teammates made great plays behind me," Chen

said. "That's why I keep going out there and was able to make an adjustment and be better and

better."

Choo rides the homer train: Choo hit a solo home run to right-center in the third inning,

marking his third consecutive game with a home run. It was the second time Choo has homered

in three straight games, with the last coming on April 4-6 in 2013 while with Cincinnati. The last

Ranger to homer in three consecutive games was Adrian Beltre on Sept. 1-3 in 2012.

"The ballpark is a little bit of help," Choo said. "I hit good, but probably they're not home runs in

Arlington."

Martinez runs into trouble in 7th: Martinez did not face more than four batters in an inning

until the seventh, when he ran into some trouble. After giving up a leadoff single to Chris Davis

and getting Chris Parmelee to fly out to center, Martinez gave up a two-run home run to Hardy.

The right-hander went 6 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits, four runs (three earned), a walk and

two home runs while striking out five.

"I think it is a really good step in the right direction," Martinez said. "My last couple of outings, I

lost my feel for the zone a little. Today I felt a whole lot better getting ahead of guys and getting

some early contact. Even though it didn't turn out my way, I feel good."

Machado's ridiculous plays: Despite getting off to a rocky start defensively this season, Manny

Machado's glove is as strong as ever. The young infielder put on a clinic at third base on

Wednesday, making a barehanded play on Rua's ball for the first out of the seventh and diving

into the shift to snag Choo's ball and throw him out at first.

"I love watching him play," Hardy said of Machado. "He does things every night that amaze me,

and he does a lot of things that other third basemen can't do."

REPLAY REVIEW

There was a crew chief review on Rua's homer in the fourth inning, which hit the top of the

ground-crew shed in right-center field. The call was confirmed.

WHAT'S NEXT

Rangers: The Rangers will send Yovani Gallardo (7-6, 2.72 ERA) to the mound for the series

finale on Thursday at 6:05 p.m CT. The right-hander is coming off an 8 1/3-inning scoreless

outing against the Blue Jays, which was his longest performance in more than four years.

Gallardo heads into the game boasting a scoreless streak of 23 1/3 innings.

Orioles: Baltimore will send Kevin Gausman to the mound on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET for the

spot start, which is due to Sunday's doubleheader. Gausman has made just one start for the O's

this season, and he last pitched three innings on Sunday in Triple-A.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/07/dan-duquette-talks-about-todays-roster-

move.html

Dan Duquette talks about today's roster move (O's win 4-2)

By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette expressed confidence tonight that the club will be

able to trade outfielder Delmon Young, who was designated for assignment to create room for

pitcher Tyler Wilson on the 25-man roster.

Duquette doesn't expect a deal to be completed tonight, but the Orioles have 10 days.

"Delmon is a qualified major league hitter," Duquette said, "and hopefully we will be able to find

a spot for him in a few days."

Manager Buck Showalter met with Young after batting practice. Duquette didn't get a chance to

speak with the veteran outfielder.

"They're all difficult," Duquette said. "We wrestle with these decisions and hash them out and go

back and forth, and we try to develop more options for the team to keep all the players in the

organization, but we couldn't come up with a solution to this roster move because we don't have

the flexibility on our roster that we've had in the past.

"Buck likes to go with the extra pitcher and there's a lot of good reasons to have an extra pitcher

on your roster, particularly if you have stress on your starting pitching, you get in an extra-inning

game, so you have a fresh bullpen every night. And we do have some other options on the bench.

Delmon Young did a nice job for the team. He had a really good year last year and he's

contributed to this year's ballclub.

"In a similar situation last year, I think we asked outright (waivers) on Nolan (Reimold) and he

got picked up by Toronto. And in the past, Steve Pearce has been on the waiver wire, so these are

always tough. We do think we have a little more depth at that position. Christian Walker had a

really good month at Triple-A. Dariel Alvarez continues to develop. So those are two young

right-handed hitters that give us additional depth at that slot that we have at Triple-A. And

Walker is on the roster and Alvarez is having a good year. He looked good in the spring and he's

continued to do well.

"It's always very difficult. We looked for as many solutions as we could find to keep everyone,

but we weren't able to do that in this case."

Young has been on playoff teams the past six seasons and the Orioles value his experience in

October.

"That's a good point," Duquette said. "We wrestled with that. Delmon got a big hit for us in the

playoffs last year. Who knows? Maybe we'll get him back.

"I like having the extra bats on the bench, there's value to that, but it's a constant balancing act

with the roster. We do the best we can every day to have the most competitive team we can have

out there every day. We look at it every day and night and sometimes long into the night. If you

have depth you can keep things going and hopefully we keep things going."

Duquette feels fortunate that he hasn't often been forced to make this type of decision due to

having more roster flexibility.

"Well, that's always the first choice and we work hard to keep as many players active in the

organization that can capably help the team. We're not successful all the time, but we work

towards that end," he said.

The Orioles will need to make another roster move on Thursday for starter Kevin Gausman, and

second baseman Jonathan Schoop's rehab assignment runs through Friday, though he could agree

to add up to five more days. The Orioles could choose to option Schoop.

"Jon's going to go play some games on rehab, so he'll get a little more time on rehab so we can

decide on that," Duquette said.

Duquette expects to stay busy as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches on July 31.

"We're working on a number of different conversations," Duquette said. "We'll see how that

develops. I'm glad we're back in the race and we've got a good roster at Triple-A and we've got a

good roster in the big leagues. We're going to try to keep it going.

"We'll be active on the trade front. We've had active discussions with a number of teams

already."

Update: Shin-Soo Choo homered off Wei-Yin Chen in the third inning to give Texas a 1-0 lead -

the Rangers' ninth homer in three games.

The Rangers put runners on second and third with one out, but Chen escaped the jam.

Update II: Ryan Rua homered off Chen in the fourth to expand the lead to 2-0.

The Rangers have hit 10 home runs in 22 innings in this series.

Update III: Jimmy Paredes homered to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Rangers 2,

Orioles 1

All 10 of Paredes' home runs have been hit from the left side of the plate.

Update IV: The Orioles tied the game in the sixth on Ryan Flaherty's leadoff double, Adrian

Beltre's error and Paredes' fielder's choice grounder.

Chen has thrown 65 pitches in six innings.

Update IV: Chris Davis extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a leadoff single in the

bottom of the seventh and J.J. Hardy homered with one out to break the 2-2 tie.

Chen has thrown 74 pitches in seven innings.

Update V: The Orioles defeat the Rangers 4-2 before 23,019 at Camden Yards.

Chen allowed two runs and four hits in eight innings, with one walk, two strikeouts and two

home runs. He threw 87 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Chen retired 13 of the last 14 batters and lowered his ERA to 2.84 in 95 innings.

Zach Britton struck out the side and recorded his 23rd save in 24 opportunities.

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2015/07/jj-hardys-tiebreaking-homer-in-the-

seventh-lifts-os-past-texas.html

J.J. Hardy's tiebreaking homer in seventh lifts O's past

Texas

By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

Did the Orioles beat the Texas Rangers at their own game tonight?

Tied 2-2 in the last of the seventh, shortstop J.J. Hardy hit a two-run shot to left to break the tie

and send the Orioles to a 4-2 win over the Rangers at Camden Yards. While Texas has hit 10

homers in this series, the Orioles have five, and No. 5 by Hardy was big.

Chris Davis singled to start that inning against right-hander Nick Martinez, the losing pitcher.

The single extended Davis' hitting streak to 11 games to tie his career high. One out later,

Hardy's blast on at 1-1 fastball provided a 4-2 lead. It was his fourth homer of the season and

second in six games.

Wei-Yin Chen overcame two early homers to pitch a very strong game for the Orioles. Over

eight innings, he allowed four hits and the two runs on one walk and two strikeouts. Chen was

very pitch efficient, throwing 87 pitches to get 24 outs as he improved to 4-4 with an ERA of

2.84.

In five starts since June 1, Chen is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.16 and has allowed two earned runs or

less all five times. Tonight, he went eight innings for the second time in three starts.

Zach Britton closed it out, striking out the side in the ninth, for his 23rd save in 24 chances and

his 19th consecutive, which is a new career-best for Britton.

The Rangers' homer barrage continued when Shin-Soo Choo led off the third inning, hitting No.

11 on a 1-2 fastball from Chen for the 1-0 lead. An inning later, Ryan Rua hit his second for the

2-0 lead. Video replay confirmed the ball hit the top of the wall over the grounds crew's shed for

the homer. At that point, the Rangers had hit nine homers in 14 innings off O's starting pitching

in the series.

The Orioles got one back on Jimmy Paredes' solo shot in the last of the fourth to trail 2-1.

Paredes hit No. 10 on a 1-2 pitch. It was his fourth homer over his past 12 games. They tied it 2-

2 in the sixth on a Paredes fielder's choice that scored Ryan Flaherty, who had doubled.

The Orioles improve to 42-36 and win for the eighth time in 11 games and 19th in 26. They are

26-15 at home and winners of 11 of the last 14 at the Yard. They've also won 12 of the last 15

meetings against the Rangers.

In the series and homestand finale on Thursday night, Kevin Gausman (1-0, 4.24 ERA) faces

right-hander Yovani Gallardo (7-6, 2.72 ERA).

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/07/01/ap-bba-rangers-orioles-1st-ld-writethru

Orioles hit 2 HRs to back Chen in 4-2 victory over Rangers

Associated Press / SI.com

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE (AP) J.J. Hardy hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning to back an

effective pitching performance by Wei-Yin Chen and carry the Baltimore Orioles past the

Texas Rangers 4-2 on Wednesday night.

Jimmy Paredes homered and had two RBIs for the Orioles, who yielded eight home runs in

losing the first two games of the series.

The Rangers went deep twice more - solo shots by Shin-Soo Choo and Ryan Rua- but that was

the extent of their offensive output.

Chen (4-4) allowed two runs, four hits and a walk over eight innings to win his third straight

decision. The Taiwanese left-hander is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA lifetime against the Rangers.

Zach Britton struck out the side in the ninth for his 23rd save.

Nick Martinez (5-5) gave up four runs, three earned, and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He has lost

three straight starts.

With the score tied at 2, Chris Davis led off the Baltimore seventh with a single and with one out

Hardy hit a 1-1 pitch into the seats in left field.

Although Baltimore leadoff hitter Manny Machado went 0 for 4 to end his 12-game hitting

streak, he contributed in the field with several exceptional plays at third base. In the seventh, he

dived to his left to snare a grounder by Choo, made the throw while on his back and got the

runner by a step.

Choo put the Rangers up 1-0 in the third inning by homering in a third straight game. He pulled

off that feat once before - in April 2013 with Cincinnati. He is the first Texas player to do it

since Adrian Beltre in September 2012.

Rau made it 2-0 with a drive to right in the fourth.

Paredes countered with his 10th homer in the Baltimore half. A double by Ryan Flaherty, an

error by Beltre at third base and a run-scoring grounder by Paredes tied it in the sixth.

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton was given the night off after returning from a hamstring strain

Tuesday and playing in his first game since May 31.

''We had scheduled that this was going to be a down day for him,'' manager Jeff Banister said,

adding that the plan is for Hamilton to return to the starting lineup in the series finale Thursday

night.

ROSTER MOVE

OF Delmon Young was designated for assignment by the Orioles, who needed the roster spot to

fortify their 6-man bullpen. RHP Tyler Wilson was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

TRAINERS ROOM

Rangers: OF Delino DeShields (hamstring) played in the field at Triple-A Round Rock for the

first time on Tuesday. He was DH for two straight games before taking Monday off.

Orioles: 2B Jonathan Schoop (left knee) will continue his rehab assignment with Class A

Frederick. He could join the Orioles on Sunday, when OF Nolan Reimold is expected to go on

paternity leave.

ON DECK

Rangers: RHP Yovani Gallardo (7-6, 2.72 ERA) brings a scoreless streak of 23 1/3 innings into

Thursday night's game. He was 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA in June.

Orioles: Kevin Gausman (1-0, 4.24) will be recalled from Norfolk for his second start of the

season.

http://www.csnbaltimore.com/blog/orioles-talk/hardys-two-run-home-run-makes-chen-winner

Hardy's two-run home run makes Chen a winner

By Rich Dubroff / CSN Baltimore

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE – Buck Showalter slipped in an important message to Wei-Yin Chen in his

postgame news conference. Fifteen days ago, Chen was optioned to Frederick to avoid pitching

in Toronto and to give him more rest.

It was a move that Chen objected to on Twitter, and in his second start back, the Taiwanese left-

hander breezed through eight innings in 87 pitches.

Chen could have gone for his first major league complete game, but Showalter has a terrific

closer in Zach Britton, and he wants to keep his starter fresh.

“Hopefully, he doesn’t have any more missed starts the rest of the year,” Showalter said.

Chen got his third straight win as the Orioles beat the Texas Rangers 4-2 before 23,019 at Oriole

Park on Wednesday night.

He was relieved to hear that his manager has confidence in him.

“Of course I’m happy to hear that. Because we talked about it and I’m happy that Buck trusts

me. Also I just wanted to do my job well and keep pitching well until the end of the season,”

Chen said through a translator.

Chen allowed two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out two. Both of the Texas runs

came on home runs. Shin-Soo Choo hit his third in as many games here, his 11th in the third, and

Ryan Rua had his second in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.

That gave the Rangers (40-39) 10 home runs in three games.

“These guys can hit. That’s what I’m thinking,” J.J. Hardy said. “These guys, they’re driving the

ball pretty good. Chen shut them down after that. It was big for him to do that. These guys, that’s

a good lineup over there.”

Hardy’s two-run home run in the seventh off Nick Martinez (5-5) gave the Orioles the 4-2 lead.

Chen (4-4) has beaten Texas five straight times with a 1.80 ERA.

“I just pitched there and pitch, that’s all,” Chen said through the interpreter.

Then he added in English: “Just pitch. Just pitch. Just pitch.”

Britton struck out the side in the ninth for his 23rd save. It was his 19th consecutive successful

conversion.

Jimmy Paredes slammed his 10th to lead off the fourth.

The Orioles (42-36) tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when Ryan Flaherty led off with a

double. Manny Machado grounded through the legs of third baseman Adrian Beltre for an error.

Flaherty scored on Paredes’ fielder’s choice.

Machado made two outstanding plays in the seventh inning, including one where on a shift, he

was essentially playing shortstop. He dove and fired to first in time to get Choo.

“He's really playing a lot of shortstop these last two years with the shifts. He's playing about as

much shortstop as J.J.,” Showalter joked.

About an hour before gametime, the Orioles announced they had designated Delmon Young for

assignment.

The Orioles had seven outfielders, and one had to go.

“It's very tough. There's not a right decision there. Nobody is trying to present it as such. We've

got good quality people and you reach a point where you can't keep them all. Unfortunately,

we're probably not done,” Showalter said.

“But we exhausted every possibility and as we go forward there's not a good decision to make.

Anybody we do is going to end up in the big leagues with somebody else. It's where we've

graduated to, I hope. Baseball has a way to make paths cross again. He's done some good things

for us and been a good teammate and a contributor.”

Young’s biggest hit was a three-run double in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.

“It’s a reminder of how clutch he was all last year. The guy just got hit after hit after hit for us

last year,” Caleb Joseph said. “It’s a rude awakening that this is a business at the end of the day.

He’ll be missed. He’s a great guy. A great, great player, great teammate off the field.”

Showalter wanted a seven-man bullpen and he had Tyler Wilson available for the game, but he

wasn’t needed. Wilson is likely to head back to Norfolk since the Orioles need to activate Kevin

Gausman to start on Thursday night.

Bud Norris may be available in an emergency in back of Gausman.

NOTES: Chris Davis extended his hitting streak to 11 games, equaling a career high. … Paredes

has 21 multi-hit games. … Machado’s 12-game hitting streak ended. …Yovani Gallardo (7-6,

2.72) faces Kevin Gausman (1-0, 4.24 on Thursday night.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-buck-showalter-orioles-teammates-react-

to-delmon-young-dfa-20150701-story.html

Buck Showalter, Orioles teammates react to Delmon Young

DFA

By Jon Meoli / The Baltimore Sun

July 2, 2015

Any postgame cheer while discussing the Orioles’ 4-2 win over the Texas Rangers disappeared

from the faces of manager Buck Showalter and some of his charges when asked about outfielder

Delmon Young, who found out after another of his prolific batting practice displays Wednesday

that he was designated for assignment.

“There's not a right decision there,” said Showalter, who delivered the news to Young. “Nobody

is trying to present it as such. We've got good quality people, and you reach a point where you

can't keep them all. Unfortunately, we're probably not done.

“It tugs at your chest. When you're around people as much as we are for this period of time, go

though some of the things that we go through ... make[s] it a real difficult conversation, not one

that you can present as why you're right. I don't preclude to say that. But we exhausted every

possibility and as we go forward, there's not a good decision to make.”

The Orioles designated Young for assignment after the pregame media availability, so the

postgame session was the first chance to get the players’ and manager’s thoughts on the move.

Young was batting .270/.289/.339 with a pair of home runs and 16 RBIs in 52 games this year.

He had 10 hits in 20 pinch-hit appearances in 2014, when he hit .302/.337/.442 and excelled off

the bench.

Ultimately, he was the victim of a roster crunch that loomed for weeks in the Orioles clubhouse.

The addition of outfielders Nolan Reimold and Chris Parmelee sapped Young’s playing time in

the field, and Jimmy Paredes’ hot bat kept him from serving as designated hitter.

The rare lack of flexibility meant that the Orioles were forced to look to their pool of reserve

outfielders for a player to clear from the roster in order to add right-hander Tyler Wilson to an

undermanned bullpen.

Wilson didn’t pitch Wednesday, and Showalter said after the game that he wouldn’t have a

seven-man bullpen Thursday, meaning Wilson may be the necessary countermove when the

Orioles add right-hander Kevin Gausman to start the game.

Given his lack of versatility in a time when the Orioles need that from their roster, Young's time

may have been coming to an end in Baltimore regardless. But the team expects to find a trade

partner and Showalter said seeing Young end up on another major league roster is the cost of

operating at the level the Orioles are. The Orioles have 10 days to trade, release, or place Young

on waivers.

“Obviously there's been some good things we've [done] for Delmon's career,” Showalter said.

“It's tough for both of us. I remember the first conversation I had with him when he came down

to minicamp. He didn't have a whole lot of people knocking on his door. Everything I asked of

him, he did. So that's what makes it tough. There's nothing he did wrong.”

Young's loss was still fresh in the winning clubhouse Wednesday night.

“Delmon had my back — he’s a great friend and great teammate, but there’s nothing I can do,”

second baseman Jonathan Schoop said. The two had lockers next to each other at Camden Yards,

and Young served as a mentor for Schoop in his first two major league seasons.

“It’s sad, but I know for sure he will figure out something and I wish him really good [success],”

Schoop said.

“He’s a great teammate,” shortstop J.J. Hardy said. “Everyone likes him. He’s fun to be around.

He’s funny, a great player, pinch hitter off the bench, playing great in the field this year, too.

He’s a guy everyone likes in here, and he’s definitely going to be missed.”

For Caleb Joseph, Young’s assignment was a moment to reflect on all the positive he has done.

He says the photo on the clubhouse hallway wall of Young’s iconic three-run, pinch-hit double

in last year’s American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers was “a reminder of

how clutch he was all last year.” But it also reminded him that baseball is a business.

“Delmon was incredible for me coming up,” he said. “A guy that is the same age as me but has

almost 10 years [in the majors] — he let me know that. A lot. But awesome teammate. He really

found a home here, he really enjoyed it and the team really embraced him.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-another-roster-move-is-coming-20150701-

story.html

Another roster move is coming for Orioles

By Dan Connolly / The Baltimore Sun

July 1, 2015

After making a significant move Wednesday – designating 2014 playoff hero Delmon Young for

assignment – the Orioles are expected to make another roster alteration Thursday.

This one won’t be as surprising.

The club has to promote Thursday’s starter, Kevin Gausman, from Triple-A Norfolk, and likely

will send right-hander Tyler Wilson back to the minors.

Wilson was brought up Wednesday because Orioles manager Buck Showalter didn’t want to be

caught with just six relievers in the bullpen. Wilson didn’t pitch, so he’ll go back to the Tides

while Gausman starts for the Orioles.

That will leave the club with six relievers again. But wait – there’s always a twist. Bud Norris,

who pitched Monday, would normally take his work day on Thursday, so he’ll be in the bullpen

for at least a day in case of emergency.

So they won’t have seven relievers Thursday, but they will. Got that?

“Figure that one out,” Showalter joked. “Obviously, gotta make room for Gaus. Bud's work day

is [Thursday], he may be available to us in the bullpen.”

The roster carousel isn’t stopping soon, of course.

The Orioles need to make room for second baseman Jonathan Schoop. Technically, his 15-day

injury rehabilitation assignment that he agreed to ends after Friday, but the team could option

him to the minors or extend the assignment for five more days with his permission.

The most likely scenario is Schoop comes back around Monday, when Nolan Reimold goes on

paternity leave through Wednesday. Even though Thursday is a day off, the Orioles will have to

put Reimold back on the roster – so another move will have to be made.

It’s possible then that someone with options – maybe a starter like Miguel Gonzalez – could go

to the minors, stay down for 10 days and pitch during the All-Star Break and then rejoin the club

when it heads to New York.

That’s really speculating, though. We all know a lot can happen with this team in a week.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-duquette-confident-he-can-trade-young-

20150701-story.html

Dan Duquette confident he can trade Delmon Young

By Dan Connolly / The Baltimore Sun

July 1, 2015

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said he has confidence that he will be able to

trade Delmon Young, who the club designated for assignment Wednesday evening.

“Delmon is a qualified major league hitter,” Duquette said. “And hopefully we will be able to

find a spot for him in a few days.”

The team now has 10 days to trade, release or ask waivers on Young, who hit .270 with two

homers in 52 games for the Orioles this year.

Duquette said current trade talk is not limited to Young, and that it will continue throughout the

month to help the Orioles improve their roster.

“We’re working on a number of different conversations. We’ll see how that develops,” Duquette

said. “I’m glad we’re back in the race, and we’ve got a good roster at Triple-A, and we’ve got a

good roster in the big leagues. We’re going to try to keep it going. We’ll be active on the trade

front. We’ve had active discussions with a number of teams already.”

Young, who is owed roughly $1.2 million on his current deal, became the odd man out recently

because of the emergence of Chris Parmelee at first base and the resurgence of Jimmy Paredes’

bat at designated hitter. That created a logjam of at least seven corner outfielders – too many

considering the Orioles had just six relievers.

“I like having the extra bats on the bench, there’s value to that. But it’s a constant balancing act

with the roster. We do the best we can every day to have the most competitive team we can have

out there every day,” Duquette said. “We look at it every day and night and sometimes long into

the night. If you have depth, you can keep things going and hopefully we keep things going.”

Duquette said the Orioles have other players at Triple-A who can help later this year, including

outfielder Dariel Alvarez and first baseman Christian Walker. But they won’t be able to replace

Young’s postseason experience. He has played in the playoffs for six consecutive years and

delivered the Orioles’ biggest blow of last postseason with a three-run double in Game 2 of the

American League Division Series.

“We wrestled with that. Delmon got a big hit for us in the playoffs last year,” Duquette said.

“Who knows? Maybe we’ll get him back.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-orioles-designate-outfielder-delmon-

young-for-assignment-20150701-story.html

Orioles designate outfielder Delmon Young for assignment

By Dan Connolly and Jon Meoli / The Baltimore Sun

July 1, 2015

Faced with a glut of outfielders that forced them to carry more outfielders than relievers for

nearly a week, the Orioles designated outfielder Delmon Young for assignment Wednesday to

make room for reliever Tyler Wilson.

“They’re all difficult,” executive vice president Dan Duquette said of the move. “We wrestle

with these decisions and hash them out and go back and forth and try to develop more options for

the team to keep all the players in the organization, but we couldn’t come up with a solution to

this roster move because we don’t have the flexibility in our roster that we’ve had in the past.”

In the end, the need to add a relief pitcher to a shorthanded bullpen won out. The Orioles

typically cycle through fresh relievers by utilizing all young pitchers with minor league options.

Most of those pieces are already in the minors.

In their stead, the Orioles have added outfielders. Both Nolan Reimold and Chris Parmelee

joined the outfield equation in June, joining Young, David Lough, Travis Snider, Steve Pearce

and Jimmy Paredes in a rotation on either side of center fielder Adam Jones.

“Buck likes to go with the extra pitcher, and there’s a lot of good reasons to have an extra pitcher

on the roster — particularly if you have stress on your starting pitching or you get into an extra-

inning game, you have a fresh bullpen every night,” Duquette said.

“We do have some other options on the bench. Delmon Young did a nice job for the team. He

had a good year last year, a really good year last year, and has contributed to this year’s

ballclub.”

Young, a 2014 playoff hero, has seen his playing time diminish over the last few weeks with the

emergence of Parmelee, who can play first base and corner outfield, along with the resurgence of

designated hitter Paredes.

For the season, Young, 29, is hitting .270 with a .289 on-base percentage, .339 slugging

percentage, two homers and 16 RBIs in 174 at-bats. He signed a one-year deal with the Orioles

in January worth $2.25 million plus incentives – he’s due roughly the last $1.2 million of that

this season.

In 2014, Young signed a one-year, $1 million deal and was tremendous in spurts for the Orioles,

hitting .302 with seven homers, and was 10-for-20 as a pinch hitter. His biggest moment came in

the eighth inning of Game 2 of the American League Division Series, when he hit a pinch-hit

three-run double to give the Orioles the lead and eventual win over the Detroit Tigers. Camden

Yards arguably has never been louder.

“There's not a right decision there,” Showalter said. “Nobody is trying to present it as such.

We've got good quality people and you reach a point where you can't keep them all.

Unfortunately, we're probably not done. It tugs at your chest. ... But we exhausted every

possibility and as we go forward there's not a good decision to make.”

By designating Young for assignment, the club has 10 days to trade, release or put him through

waivers. As a veteran, he could then become a free agent if no one claims him.

He will surely generate interest from clubs looking for a solid right-handed bat with playoff

experience. He is a .262 hitter with nine home runs in 37 career postseason games. He has been

in the playoffs each of the past six seasons – currently the longest streak for an active major

leaguer.

Before the game, manager Buck Showalter said the move they'd need to make to add Wilson

would see a player get a chance elsewhere in the majors.

“We’ve got a lot of good players,” Showalter said. “I take solace, not satisfaction, but feel good

that someone’s going to end up in the big leagues that’s in the big leagues with us. That’s why

the system’s there to protect those guys, and it should be, to keep certain teams from hoarding

players.”

The move gives the Orioles an added bullpen arm for Wednesday's game against the Texas

Rangers. Showalter had been operating with a six-man bullpen since left-hander T.J. McFarland

was optioned after the second game of Sunday's doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Indians.

Moves ‘challenging’ for Gausman

Summoned again from Triple-A Norfolk to start for the Orioles in Thursday’s series finale

against the Texas Rangers, right-hander Kevin Gausman has the experience to know how to

prepare for a start on atypical rest.

“It’s been challenging, but I’ve done it enough now, pitched on less days rest or more days rest

to know what I need and what I don’t need,” he said.

Gausman struck out three, allowed a single and walked two in a brief three-inning outing for the

Tides on Sunday. He threw a “touch-and-feel” bullpen session Tuesday that was a little shorter

than normal.

His start Thursday will be his second major league start and 10th big league appearance this

year. He appeared eight times in relief in the first month of the season before going on the

disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis May 8.

He returned to start on June 20, throwing five innings and allowing two runs in a no-decision

against the Blue Jays before he was again optioned to Norfolk.

“It’s all part of the process and I’m just trying to get my innings up,” Gausman said.

Around the horn

Four Bowie Baysox — pitchers Mychal Givens and Terry Doyle, outfielder Mike Yastrzemski

and catcher Rossmel Perez — were named Wednesday to the Western Division roster for the

Eastern League All-Star Game. … Doyle, who went 4-0 with a 1.54 ERA in five June starts, was

named Orioles Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June. First baseman Trey Mancini, who

hit .365 with five home runs in June between High-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie, was the

Minor League Player of the Month. … Derwood resident Ren Devereux, 8, will represent the

Orioles as one of 24 national finalists in the MLB Pitch, Hit & Run contest during the MLB All-

Star festivities in Cincinnati, Ohio. ... Showalter said Reimold will go on paternity leave after

Sunday’s game, and be off the roster from Monday until Wednesday, giving the team an extra

roster spot to use. Showalter said it could be used on second baseman Jonathan Schoop, or a

reliever. Reimold must be added back to the roster on Thursday even though the Orioles have a

day off.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-orioles-add-tyler-wilson-to-bullpen-

corresponding-move-coming-before-game-20150701-story.html

Orioles add Tyler Wilson to bullpen, corresponding move

coming before game

By Jon Meoli / The Baltimore Sun

July 1, 2015

After their shorthanded bullpen was taxed by brief starts in the first half of the Texas Rangers

series, the Orioles scratched right-hander Tyler Wilson from his scheduled start at Triple-A

Norfolk and summoned him to the major league bullpen Wednesday.

Manager Buck Showalter said in announcing the addition of Wilson that a corresponding roster

move was pending, and would be announced before the game. Showlater said executive vice

president Dan Duquette was working on “a lot of things” in relation to the roster move.

However, he indicated in his pregame comments that in their moment of roster inflexibility —

none of the six relievers other than Wilson have options, nor do any of the team’s glut of

outfielders — the Orioles may be designating a player for assignment.

“We’ve got a lot of good players,” Showalter said. “I take solace, not satisfaction, but feel

good that someone’s going to end up in the big leagues that’s in the big leagues with us. That’s

why the system’s there to protect those guys, and it should be, to keep certain teams from

hoarding players.”

Outfielders Delmon Young, David Lough, Steve Pearce and Nolan Reimold are not in the lineup

Wednesday. All four were seen in the clubhouse before the game and were taking batting

practice on the field.

Duquette said that sometimes roster decisions work themselves out and others require a difficult

decision, with Wednesday’s situation in the latter category.

Showalter didn’t say how long Wilson’s stay would be, though he noted Wilson could be useful

in a long-relief role today if necessary.

“You’ve got a left-handed pitcher today [starter Wei-Yin Chen], so the right-hander would figure

in a little bit more in the length with Tyler,” Showalter said. “Tomorrow, Brian Matusz comes

into play a little bit more. We know that we’ve got some other things wired about the way it goes

after tomorrow, so we’re going to take it day-to-day.”

In his last stint in the majors, Wilson relieved fellow rookie Mike Wright in the second inning of

the Orioles’ 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on June 19. He gave the team 5 2/3 innings of one-

run relief, saving the bullpen in the first game of a grueling three-game set with the Blue Jays.

In five appearances (one start) with the Orioles, Wilson is 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA. Wilson threw

seven scoreless innings on June 24, his last appearance for Norfolk.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s 7:05 p.m. game with the Texas Rangers:

Orioles

Manny Machado 3B

Jimmy Paredes DH

Adam Jones CF

Chris Davis RF

Chris Parmelee 1B

J.J. Hardy SS

Travis Snider LF

Caleb Joseph C

Ryan Flaherty 2B

Wei-Yin Chen LHP

Texas

Hanser Alberto 2B

Elvis Andrus SS

Prince Fielder DH

Adrian Beltre 3B

Mitch Moreland 1B

Ryan Rua LF

Shin-Soo Choo RF

Robinson Chirinos C

Leonys Martin CF

Nick Martinez RHP

Baltimore Sun reporter Dan Connolly contributed to this story.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-orioles-firstround-pick-dj-stewart-to-make-

pro-debut-thursday-for-aberdeen-20150701-story.html

Orioles first-round pick DJ Stewart to make pro debut

Thursday for Aberdeen

By Dan Connolly / The Baltimore Sun

July 1, 2015

Orioles first-round draft pick DJ Stewart will make his professional debut Thursday for short-

season Single-A Aberdeen against Staten Island.

Stewart, a 6-foot, 225-pound outfielder selected 25th overall out of Florida State last month,

signed with the Orioles on Sunday.

The 21-year-old batted .318 with a .500 on-base percentage and a .593 slugging percentage in 64

games as a junior with the Seminoles. He hit 15 home runs with 59 RBIs and 62 runs scored.

Stewart was the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and a 2014 All-ACC First

Team selection.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-mychal-givens-mike-yastrzemski-among-

four-baysox-named-to-eastern-league-allstar-game-20150701-story.html

Mychal Givens, Mike Yastrzemski among four Baysox

named to Eastern League All-Star Game

By Jon Meoli / The Baltimore Sun

July 1, 2015

Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and reliever Mychal Givens highlight a list of four Bowie Baysox

players named Wednesday to the Eastern League All-Star Game.

Givens, the Orioles' 2009 second-round draft pick who converted from shortstop to pitcher in

2013, has been the top reliever in the organization through the first half of the season.

The right-hander has struck out 59 batters with a 0.946 WHIP in 43 1/3 innings of relief (25

appearances), and made his major league debut last Wednesday with a scoreless inning against

the Boston Red Sox.

Yastrzemski, grandson of Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, has hit .247/.316/.365 with

team highs of 35 runs scored, 30 RBIs and 20 doubles.

Catcher Rossmel Perez and right-hander Terry Doyle round out the Baysox contingent for the

game, which will be played July 15 in Portland, Maine.

Doyle has been a reliable arm both as a starter and long reliever for a Baysox pitching staff

that has been hit by injuries and inconsistency in the rotation. He’s 7-1 with a 2.37 ERA in 13

games (eight starts), with his ERA the lowest on the team among starters.

Perez, signed as a minor league free agent this offseason, has hit .292 with five doubles and 17

RBIs in 41 games for the Baysox.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baltimore-sports-blog/bal-what-theyre-saying-about-the-

orioles-20150701-story.html

What they're saying about the Orioles

By Jon Meoli / The Baltimore Sun

July 1, 2015

With the calendar officially turned to July, what better time than to look around the vast

expanses of the Internet to find out what they're saying about the Orioles. This week's edition

features notes on the American League East's tight race entering the season's fourth month, a

note on how the Orioles shelled one of the game's most promising young pitchers, and a whole

lot of love for Manny Machado.

-- FoxSports.com’s Jon Morosi wrote about the “historic parity” in the American League East,

with four teams within a game of first place this late in the season for the first time since July 4,

2006. His prediction of who pulls away with the decision won’t be popular north of, well, Tampa

Bay.

“The Rays probably have the best chance of any AL East team to separate itself from the pack.

They have the best rotation ERA in the division by a wide margin, and former All-Star Matt

Moore is expected to make his season debut Thursday after recovering from Tommy John

surgery. Even with an inconsistent offense, the Rays' starters give them the chance to enjoy a

prolonged winning streak.”

-- Over at Grantland, Ben Lindbergh posed the age-old question “Who ya got?” between

Machado and Colorado Rockies star Nolan Arenado. Read the full thing for an illuminating

assessment of the Orioles’ star third baseman, including this on his pitch selection improvements

this year.

“Only four players who’ve met those pitch minimums — Victor Martinez from 2008 to 2009,

Nick Swisher and Jonny Gomes from 2010 to 2011, and Brian Dozier from 2012 to 2013 — have

sustained a decrease [in chasing pitches] that large over a full season for which we have

PITCHf/x data. Machado has stopped swinging at bad pitches, and the quality of his contact has

increased accordingly.”

-- Elsewhere at ESPN, Tony Blengino touts Machado as a player entering his prime at the ripe

age of 22.

“Although Machado has shown plus defensive ability since arriving in the major leagues and his

offensive upside has been long heralded, he has "only" a 104 career OPS+ entering this season,

and on the morning of May 31, 2015, he was hitting .261/.327/.433, not exactly the stuff of which

stars are made, even 22-year-old ones. … A .375/.420/.644 tear since May 31 can [change that].

Has Machado reached the next level, and what is his ultimate true talent upside as this

wunderkind becomes a man?”

-- Dave Cameron of Fangraphs picked his American League All-Stars on Tuesday, and just two

Orioles made the 34-man team — Machado and closer Zach Britton. Machado plays behind

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson. Here’s an explanation of the outfield situation,

which does not include Adam Jones but does feature Mike Trout, Lorenzo Cain, Jose Bautista,

Brett Gardner, Alex Gordon, and Kevin Kiermaier.

“Mike Trout is still Mike Trout, and then flanking him, we find a number of elite defenders

having strong offensive seasons. Cain continues to improve at the plate while playing ridiculous

defense in center field, and is establishing himself as a true star at this point. Gardner,

interestingly enough, has a higher wRC+ than Bautista, and has developed into a legitimate

offensive threat even while his defense has regressed as he’s gotten older. Gordon is having his

typical Alex Gordon season, while Kiermaier is doing a pretty good Lorenzo Cain

impersonation. If there aren’t enough home runs in this group for your liking, you could easily

argue for Yoenis Cespedes, George Springer, or J.D. Martinez, but I’ll take the more well-

rounded guys.”

-- If you spent last Thursday’s matinee in Boston wondering how the Orioles were able to hit

former prospect Eduardo Rodriguez so well after he’s been so good all season, including against

them, we have a reason now. The young left-hander tips his pitches with a head tilt when he’s

about to throw his slider from the stretch. The Providence Journal’s Brian MacPherson has the

news.

"It was borderline obvious," said [Carl] Willis, the Red Sox pitching coach. "He'd been so good

out of the windup. Going back and looking at the pitches he executed from the stretch, they were

still quality pitches. It's safe to say that there's a good likelihood that could have had something

to do with it."

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/134153088/manny-machado-shows-range-up-the-middle

Machado wows at 'shortstop' with O's in shift Orioles third baseman makes two great plays in seventh inning

By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE -- Manny Machado is pretty comfortable in the middle of the diamond, and he

showed it again on Wednesday night as the young third baseman used his ridiculous range and

arm to put on a defensive clinic in the Orioles' 4-2 win over the Rangers.

"I don't know which one was [better]," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said after watching a

pair of jaw-dropping plays from Machado to start the seventh. "He's really playing a lot of

shortstop these last two years with the shifts. He's playing about as much shortstop as J.J.

[Hardy]. Much like [Adrian] Beltre, you get that type of third baseman, you can do so many

different things. He makes all the plays and makes them with a lot of efficiency."

Machado started things off by making a barehanded grab on Ryan Rua's softly hit ball and firing

to first base. He followed that up by diving into the shift to snag Shin-Soo Choo's ball and throw

him out at first, all while off balance.

"I feel really happy back there because you see Manny make those two great plays, and with

Choo running -- he's a good runner -- so it's not easy to make those plays," O's starter Wei-Yin

Chen, who pointed at Machado from the mound, said through his interpreter. "So with him

behind me playing the defense I feel very comfortable pitching out there."

Added Hardy: "I love watching him play. He does things every night that amaze me, and he does

a lot of things that other third basemen can't do."

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/134075246/os-add-tyler-wilson-designate-delmon-young

O's add Wilson to bullpen, designate Young

By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE -- Working with a six-man bullpen, the Orioles added reliever Tyler Wilson from

Triple-A Norfolk prior to Wednesday's game against the Rangers. The move came with a tough

corresponding decision as Baltimore designated Delmon Young for assignment, making him the

odd man out among a wealth of outfielders.

Young, best remembered for coming through as a pinch-hitter with a bases-clearing double in

Game 2 of the 2014 American League Division Series against the Tigers, was a fantastic bat off

the bench for Baltimore last season. He ended with a .302/.337/.442 slash line and signed a one-

year, $2.25 million deal with the Orioles in the offseason.

"They're all difficult," executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said of the

move. "We wrestle with these decisions and hash them out and go back and forth. And we try to

develop more options for the team to keep all the players in the organization. But we couldn't

come up with a solution to this roster move because we don't have the flexibility on our roster

that we've had in the past.

"[Manager] Buck [Showalter] likes to go with the extra pitcher, and there's a lot of good reasons

to have an extra pitcher on your roster. … And we do have some other options on the bench.

Delmon Young did a nice job for the team. He had a really good year last year and he's

contributed to this year's ballclub. … It's always very difficult. We looked for as many solutions

as we could find to keep everyone, but we weren't able to do that in this case."

The O's have explored trades for Young and can still do that while he's in limbo. By designating

a player for assignment, the team has 10 days to trade, release or put the player on waivers, and

Duquette is optimistic the club will work out a deal.

"Delmon is a qualified Major League hitter," Duquette said. "And hopefully we will be able to

find a spot for him in a few days."

Expected to be more of a contributor this season -- particularly in the outfield -- Young got off to

a poor start and found playing time hard to come by as the year progressed and Jimmy

Paredes hit his way into a regular designated-hitter role. Young hit .270 (47-for-174) in 52

games, with two homers and 16 RBIs, and his playing time became even more scarce when the

club recently purchased the contract of outfielder/first baseman Chris Parmelee.

To withstand the loss of Young's bat, Duquette referenced the organization's depth, using names

like prospect Christian Walker and Dariel Alvarez. Still, Young is a seasoned hitter and had been

to the postseason the last six consecutive years.

"That's a good point. We wrestled with that," Duquette said. "Delmon got a big hit for us in the

playoffs last year. Who knows? Maybe we'll get him back."

Showalter broke the news to Young following batting practice.

"It's very tough," Showalter said. "There's not a right decision there. Nobody is trying to present

it as such. We've got good quality people and you reach a point where you can't keep them all.

Unfortunately, we're probably not done. It tugs at your chest."

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/134140998/wei-yin-chen-is-arguably-orioles-best-starter

Efficient Chen is arguably O's top starter Lefty needs just 87 pitches to complete eight innings vs. Rangers

By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE -- Wei-Yin Chen is having quite a first half.

The Orioles lefty has become arguably the team's best starter, and he showed why Wednesday

night, cruising through eight innings against a potent Rangers lineup to help Baltimore take a 4-2

win.

Chen held the Rangers to two runs, both solo homers, and went on to retire 13 of the final 14

batters he faced in a dominant 87-pitch outing. Chen needed just 65 pitches to get through the

first six innings and used a pair of standout defensive plays from Manny Machado to get through

a nine-pitch seventh. When he exited after a perfect eighth, it was to a rousing cheer at Camden

Yards, with many fans getting to their feet to show their appreciation.

"He was very efficient, solid," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Like I said two or three

times, it's usually not the solos that get you. I think he started mixing in some offspeed pitches --

that helped him after the first time around the batting order. He was solid."

Showalter contemplated sending Chen out to finish the game because of his low pitch count, but

with closer Zach Britton -- who struck out the side in the ninth -- in the 'pen waiting and after a

pair of long innings by the O's offense, he decided against it.

"I was going to try to keep him around 90-95 [pitches] tonight anyway and he was in the mid-to-

late 80s," Showalter said. "Would rather let Zach start clean. Those long innings, he had a long

one before the eighth and would have had another 20. But he was the difference tonight."

Chen has allowed two or fewer runs in his past five starts, and he has posted quality outings in

five of his last six games. He's pitched to a 2.84 ERA in 95 innings this season, and Showalter

said -- after Chen got a breather last month and was optioned to the Minors -- the team hopes to

keep him on a regular schedule the rest of the way.

"Of course I'm happy to hear that," Chen said through his interpreter. "Because we talked about

it and I'm happy that Buck trusts me. Also I just wanted to do my job well and keep pitching well

until the end of the season."

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/134134434/gausman-faces-tough-lineup-in-return-to-os

Gausman faces tough lineup in return to O's

By Connor Smolensky / MLB.com

July 1, 2015

The Orioles and Rangers will conclude their four-game series on Thursday before Baltimore

travels to Chicago to take on the White Sox and Texas returns home to play the Angels.

Kevin Gausman returns to the Orioles' rotation to make his second start of the year. It's been an

odd season for the young right-hander, who started the year in the Baltimore bullpen before

being placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 8 with right shoulder tendinitis. He returned to

the Orioles on June 20 to make his first start of 2015 against the Blue Jays. Gausman went five

innings while giving up four hits, two runs and a walk in a no-decision. He was then optioned to

Triple-A Norfolk the next day.

Gausman will be up against a tough test in a Rangers offense that hit a combined eight home

runs in the first two games, then added two more on Wednesday. Yovani Gallardo will take the

mound for Texas. He carries in a 23 1/3 scoreless-innings streak, the longest active streak in the

Major Leagues. The righty finished June with a 2-0 record and a 0.54 ERA over five starts.

Things to know about this game

• The Orioles will need to make a roster move in order to call up Gausman from Norfolk. On

Wednesday, the team called up right-handed pitcher Tyler Wilson from Norfolk and designated

Delmon Young for assignment.

• Gallardo is coming off his longest outing in more than four years after he went 8 1/3 innings

against Toronto, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out four. He has also not given

up a home run in his last 45 1/3 innings of work.

• Shin-Soo Choo homered on Wednesday for the third straight game, marking the second time in

his career that he's hit a home run in three straight games. The other came on April 4-6 while

with the Reds in 2013.

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/134087252/nolan-reimold-to-go-on-paternity-leave

Reimold to go on paternity leave next week O's outfielder will miss series against Twins in Minnesota

By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE -- Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold will go on paternity leave on Monday and

miss the three-game series against the Twins in Minnesota.

The O's can add any player during the time he is away, not just a position player. Orioles

manager Buck Showalter said one option is second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who will continue

his rehab on Thursday with Class A Advanced Frederick. Schoop's rehab assignment ends after

Friday's game, but he could be optioned or agree to extend it another five days. He's been

working his way back from a right knee injury suffered in mid-April.

Reimold entered Wednesday's game hitting .257 with a .366 on-base percentage in 15 games.

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/134089976/kevin-gausman-prepares-for-second-start

Gausman back from Minors for 2nd start Right-hander opened season in big league bullpen

By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE -- Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman was back in the Major League clubhouse on

Wednesday afternoon, preparing for Thursday's start in what has been an unusual few weeks.

"It's been kind of challenging, but it's all part of the process and trying to get my innings up,"

said Gausman, who came up to make his first start on June 20 in Toronto, only to be optioned

back to Triple-A Norflok once again.

Gausman, who made the Opening Day roster out of the bullpen, has been on a shuttle all season,

though the Orioles have said the plan is to keep him as a starter. Baltimore, which is second in

the Majors in roster moves made, needed a spot starter Thursday after Saturday's postponement

pushed Chris Tillman back a day.

"I originally thought I might have pitched one of the games of the doubleheader [Sunday],

especially when I got scratched [in Triple-A] on Friday," said Gausman, who instead pitched

three innings for Norfolk on Sunday. "After that, I didn't really know. We have a lot of guys

pitching well down there, that's the luxury we do have. We have multiple guys that are options

for a spot starter. You are just hoping they pick your name."

Because he's going on one fewer day of rest, Gausman said he threw a light bullpen on Tuesday,

which was more of a "touch and feel" session. This will be his second start for the O's this season

and there's a chance Gausman gets optioned back after the game, though manager Buck

Showalter said that will depend on what else happens over the next day or two.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/07/pending-free-agents-and-tonights-

game.html

Pending free agents and tonight's game

By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com

July 2, 2015

With Delmon Young designated for assignment yesterday, the Orioles are down to eight pending

free agents on their roster. They began the season with 11.

Young, reliever Ryan Webb and outfielder Alejandro De Aza have been subtracted. The list still

includes pitchers Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, Darren O'Day, Tommy Hunter and Wesley Wright,

catcher Matt Wieters, first baseman Chris Davis and outfielder Steve Pearce.

I'm listing Davis as a first baseman, but he's made five starts in right field.

Wright tends to be forgotten because he made two April appearances for the Orioles and flew

down to Sarasota with a strained left trapezius muscle. (And boy, were his arms tired.) He won't

be re-signed over the winter, but he's close to beginning an injury rehab assignment and might

contribute in 2015.

Chen lowered his ERA last night to 2.84 in 95 innings. I've heard from fans suggesting that the

Orioles trade him at the non-waiver deadline since he's not expected to re-sign with the club.

May as well get something back for him and start preparing for 2016.

I'll repeat that it makes no sense for a first-place club to deal its top pitcher and other important

pieces based on contract status. The Orioles are going for it again. They're not going to

compromise their 2015 season because guys like Chen, catcher Matt Wieters and first baseman

Chris Davis could be wearing different uniforms next spring.

I asked manager Buck Showalter how he would address that argument.

"Short conversation," he replied. "He can help us win a championship and he'll be here. There

aren't many left-handed starters who are in the top 10 in ERA floating around and we couldn't

trade him for someone better.

"We're trying to win today, tomorrow, the next day, and we've got some depth there and he's part

of it. Last thing you ever want to do is trade starting pitching depth. That is a recipe for failure."

Speaking of starting pitching depth, another roster move is coming today with the Orioles

recalling Kevin Gausman from Triple-A Norfolk. He was in the clubhouse yesterday.

Tyler Wilson is expected to be optioned back down to Triple-A Norfolk. He came up yesterday

as a long reliever behind Chen, but he wasn't needed.

Gausman is making his second start of the season after surrendering two runs and four hits over

five innings on June 20 in Toronto. He's faced the Rangers once in his career, working 1 2/3

innings in relief and allowing two runs and two hits. Prince Fielder is 1-for-2 with a home run.

Left-handers are batting .360 (9-for-25) with three doubles and a home run against Gausman.

Right-handers are batting .154 (6-for-39) with a double and home run.

The Orioles will have their hands full with Rangers right-hander Yovani Gallardo, who got my

vote for American League Pitcher of the Month for June. He didn't allow a run in four of his five

starts last month. He surrendered two runs and 20 hits in 33 1/3 innings, with nine walks and 25

strikeouts.

Gallardo has registered 10 quality starts out of 16 outings this year. His only career start against

the Orioles came on May 28, 2014 while pitching for the Brewers, when he allowed three runs

and four hits in 6 2/3 innings. Nelson Cruz homered twice off him.

Too soon?

The current Orioles are 7-for-44 versus Gallardo. Young is 0-for-11, but we no longer count him.

Pearce is 2-for-14 with a home run and five strikeouts, and Travis Snider is 3-for-14. Ubaldo

Jimenez is 1-for-3 with an RBI, but I don't anticipate him swinging a bat in this series.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/07/buck-showalter-on-bullpen-and-4-2-

win.html

Buck Showalter on bullpen and 4-2 win

By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

Orioles manager Buck Showalter indicated tonight that he won't have a seven-man bullpen for

Thursday's series finale against the Rangers. However, starter Bud Norris will be available in

relief in an emergency.

It appears that Tyler Wilson, recalled today, will be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to make room

for starter Kevin Gausman.

Wei-Yin Chen allowed two solo home runs over eight innings, throwing only 87 pitches, in the

Orioles' 4-2 win before 23,019. Zach Britton struck out the side in the ninth for his 23rd save.

Showalter said he's hoping that Chen doesn't miss any more starts the rest of the season.

Here's a sampling of Showalter:

On Chen's efficiency and if he considered letting the left-hander pitch the ninth:

"He was very efficient, solid. Like I said two or three times, it's usually not the solos that get you.

I think he started mixing in some off-speed pitches that helped him after the first time around the

batting order. He was solid. He had two 20-minute long innings where he made a lot of pitching

changes, too. And let's face it, we've got Zach out there. I was going to try to keep him around

90-95 tonight anyway and he was in the mid-to-late 80s. Would rather let Zach start clean. Those

long innings, he had a long one before the eighth and would have had another 20. But he was the

difference tonight."

On whether he might have let Chen pitch the ninth if the Orioles scored in eighth: "I would have contemplated it, which I already had, but I was really hoping with the 106 pitches

last time out, I really wanted to try to see if I could shorten him up a little bit tonight. He

wouldn't let us. But innings are always good for him."

On Manny Machado's two outstanding plays in the seventh: "I don't know which one was ... He's really playing a lot of shortstop these last two years with the

shifts. He's playing about as much shortstop as J.J. (Hardy). Much like (Adrian) Beltre, you get

that type of third baseman, you can do so many different things. He makes all the plays and

makes them with a lot of efficiency."

On Britton: "The good thing last night was he only threw like nine or 10 pitches when he needed to pitch an

inning. The other part I didn't like was the people that he faced last night. I was hoping he would

face a different part of their order. So when you face basically the same people tonight, that was

the one. ... There were many things I didn't like about last night, but that was something I was

hoping to stay away from. When you're pitching like Zach did tonight, it doesn't really matter if

you've seen them."

On Hardy's clutch tie-breaking two-run homer: "J.J.'s had a lot of big knocks for us. His 1-for-3 or whatever is usually pretty productive. The

ability that he and Manny have, it's one thing to get to the ball and glove it, it's another thing to

finish off plays. That's been fun to watch. J.J., having him and Matt (Wieters) back defensively,

it's really put us back at a good level that we need to be at."

On decision to designate Delmon Young for assignment: "It's very tough. There's not a right decision there. Nobody is trying to present it as such. We've

got good quality people and you reach a point where you can't keep them all. Unfortunately,

we're probably not done. It tugs at your chest. When you're around people as much as we are for

this period of time, go though some of the things that we go through and not make it a real

difficult conversation, not one that you can present as why you're right. We exhausted every

possibility and as we go forward there's not a good decision to make. Anybody we do is going to

end up in the big leagues with somebody else. It's where we've graduated to, I hope. Baseball has

a way to make paths cross again. He's done some good things for us and been a good teammate

and a contributor. That's what makes it tough for everybody, including Dan."

More on Young:

"Obviously, there's been some good things we've gone for Delmon's career. It's tough for both of

us. I remember the first conversation I had with him when he came down to minicamp. He didn't

have a whole lot of people knocking on his door. Everything I asked of him, he did. So that's

what makes it tough. There's nothing he did wrong."

On Norris being available Thursday in relief: "Bud's work day tomorrow, he may be available to us in the bullpen. Bud came in today and told

me was available after six innings and 100-plus pitches. That was a 'no' from me, but I appreciate

him offering."

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/07/delmon-young-designated-for-

assignment.html

Delmon Young designated for assignment

By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

The Orioles designated outfielder Delmon Young for assignment today to make room for

pitcher Tyler Wilson on the 25-man roster. The move was announced after the club took batting

practice.

Young was batting .270/.289/.339 with six doubles, two home runs and 16 RBIs in 52 games in

his second season with the team. He was 2-for-19 in his last eight games.

Manager Buck Showalter wanted to keep "all the pieces," as he says, but the Orioles have a glut

of outfielders with no minor league options. Young doesn't bring the same versatility as Steve

Pearce or Chris Parmelee. David Lough and Nolan Reimold have speed and can play all three

outfielder positions.

Young leads the Orioles and is tied for third in the majors with eight outfield assists.

Young always will be remembered in Baltimore for his three-run double last year in the eighth

inning of Game 2 of the American League Division Series that induced arguably the loudest

crowd response in the history of Camden Yards.

Young was 10-for-20 as a pinch-hitter last season before coming off the bench and striking the

big blow against the Tigers. He's 3-for-9 with a double and two RBIs as a pinch-hitter this

season.

The Orioles re-signed Young in January to a one-year contract worth $2.25 million. Executive

vice president Dan Duquette has been gauging trade interest in him and will attempt to strike a

deal within the next 10 days.

Duquette has talked to executives from teams in both leagues.

Young has made the postseason in six consecutive years with four clubs. Anyone looking for a

good luck charm?

Wilson was recalled today from Triple-A Norfolk to give the Orioles a seventh reliever and a

long man to back up left-hander Wei-Yin Chen.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/07/showalter-on-pending-roster-move-and-

more.html

Buck Showalter on pending roster move and more

By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

We're still waiting for the Orioles to announce the corresponding roster move for pitcher Tyler

Wilson.

"Dan's still working some things, so give him the opportunity to continue down that path until

we need to do something. I know he's been working a lot of things," said manager Buck

Showalter.

"We've got a lot of good players and somebody that will end up in the big leagues. So I take

some solace, good feel, that someone's going to end up in the big leagues who is in the big

leagues with us. That's why the system's there to protect those guys and it should be. To keep

certain teams from hording players."

Showalter wouldn't confirm whether the Orioles are sticking with a seven-man bullpen beyond

tonight.

"You've got a left-handed pitcher (Wei-Yin Chen) today, so the right-hander would figure in a

little bit more in the length, which is Tyler," Showalter said. "And tomorrow, Brian Matusz

comes into play a little bit more. We've got some other things kind of wired about the way it

goes after tomorrow, so we're going to take it day to day."

We have no idea how long Wilson will stay with the Orioles.

"The plan is for him to be available to us in long relief tonight in case there's a need," Showalter

said. "Every day before Wally (Dave Wallace)and I walk out, guy gets hit with a line drive

second pitch of the game, what are we doing? And we've been able to answer that question every

night and will continue to.

"We're not going to put something that has to be a strength of every club in harm's way. We're

right on the cusp now. We've had to have some extended outings from Tommy (Hunter) and

Brad (Brach) and we were fortunate last night that Zach (Britton) needed to pitch."

Nolan Reimold will miss three games while on paternity leave, returning to the roster on July 9.

Second baseman Jonathan Schoop could be activated from the 60-day disabled list.

"That could be a lot of guys, including Jonathan or an arm," Showalter said. "And then nearing

the All-Star break, there's some things you can do there that really doesn't count a starter as

missing a start because of all the off-days. It's kind of funny how they do it. It seems like the off-

days come in bunches. You've got one before the All-Star break and one right after the All-Star

break. Boy, we'd love to spread those out.

"We've got an idea as long as everybody stays healthy about how we're going to go between now

and next Thursday. I know Jon's playing in Frederick, and if that goes well, either go to Bowie or

join us on Monday."

The starter for Sunday in Chicago hasn't been announced. Kevin Gausman apparently is in play.

"We're going to wait and see how things go with Gaus and some other things that are kind of up

in the air," Showalter said. "We'll probably have a better idea about that after tomorrow night."

Chris Davis and Mitch Moreland each hit two home runs last night. According to Elias, it

marked the second time this season that opposing players each hit multiple home runs in the

same game. The Tigers' J.D. Martinez belted three and the Yankees' Stephen Drew hit two on

June 21.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/07/tyler-wilson-will-be-recalled-tonight.html

Tyler Wilson will be recalled tonight

By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

Orioles manager Buck Showalter confirmed that right-hander Tyler Wilson will be in the bullpen

for tonight's game against the Rangers at Camden Yards. He arrived at the ballpark this

afternoon.

A corresponding move will be announced before first pitch and all signs point to an outfielder

coming off the 25-man roster.

Nolan Reimold appears to be safe. Showalter said Reimold is going on paternity leave following

Sunday's game in Chicago and must return to the roster on Thursday, though the Orioles are off.

The Orioles are gauging trade interest in several players, including Delmon Young, who is out of

the lineup again tonight. It's possible that Young turns out to be the corresponding move for

Wilson.

Showalter said second basemanJonathan Schoop, who worked out at Camden Yards today and is

headed to Single-A Frederick, could replace Reimold on the 25-man roster.

Showalter wouldn't confirm whether the Orioles will stay with a seven-man bullpen after

tonight's game. Another move must be made Thursday to create a spot for starter Kevin

Gausman.

I wrote earlier that Sunday's starter is listed as TBD. Showalter said he's waiting to see how

Gausman fares Thursday "and some other things."

The Orioles named Double-A Bowie's Terry Doyle as the organization's minor league Pitcher of

the Month for June and first baseman Trey Mancini as Player of the Month.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/07/orioles-and-rangers-lineups-7.html

Orioles and Rangers lineups

By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

Tyler Wilson isn't listed among the Orioles relievers today, but the lineup board could change

before first pitch.

Manny Machado, riding a 12-game hitting streak, led qualifying American League batters in

June with 42 hits, ranked second with a .365 average, was fourth with 22 RBIs, was tied for fifth

with a .411 on-base percentage and ranked fifth with a .635 slugging percentage.

For the Orioles Manny Machado 3B

Jimmy Paredes DH

Adam Jones CF

Chris Davis RF

Chris Parmelee 1B

J.J. Hardy SS

Travis Snider LF

Caleb Joseph C

Ryan Flaherty 2B

Wei-Yin Chen LHP

For the Rangers Hanser Alberto 2B

Elvis Andrus SS

Prince Fielder DH

Adrian Beltre 3B

Mitch Moreland 1B

Ryan Rua LF

Shin-Soo Choo RF

Robinson Chirinos C

Leonys Martin CF

Nick Martinez RHP

Here are the listed starters for the series against the White Sox in Chicago:

Friday: Ubaldo Jimenez (7-3, 3.09 ERA) vs. John Danks (3-8, 5.38 ERA)

Saturday: Chris Tillman (6-7, 5.67 ERA) vs. Jeff Samardzija (5-4, 4.65 ERA)

Sunday: TBD vs. Chris Sale (6-4, 2.87 ERA)

Bud Norris' next turn would be Sunday.

Orioles first-round pick DJ Stewart will make his professional debut Thursday night in Aberdeen

against Staten Island.

Double-A Bowie's Mychal Givens, Terry Doyle, Rossmel Perez and Mike Yastrzemski were

chosen to represent the Western Division in the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game on July 15

in Portland, Maine.

Online betting site Bovada has the Orioles 20/1 to win the World Series after listing them as 40/1

on June 2. They're 11/4 to win the American League East and 10/1 to win the AL pennant.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/07/is-tyler-wilson-headed-to-baltimore.html

Is Tyler Wilson headed to Baltimore?

By Roch Kubatko / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

Tyler Wilson is no longer is starting tonight for Triple-A Norfolk, intensifying speculation that

the Orioles will recall him for tonight's game against the Rangers at Camden Yards.

Michael Bowden will start for the Tides, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

I'm told that Wilson is a healthy scratch. His removal isn't related to a physical ailment. He's

expected to be seen at Camden Yards.

Manager Buck Showalter indicated last night that the Orioles could add a seventh reliever after

Brad Brach worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings in an 8-6 loss to the Rangers. They're lacking a long

man to back up left-hander Wei-Yin Chen.

The Orioles optioned Wilson on June 20 and he's been down the minimum 10 days, making him

eligible to return without replacing an injured player. The Orioles would have to clear a spot for

him on the 25-man roster.

Wilson held the Blue Jays to one run over 5 2/3 relief innings on June 19. He's 1 -1 with a 2.12

ERA in five appearances, including one start.

Wilson threw seven scoreless innings in his last start for Norfolk on June 24. The former 10th-

round draft pick is 3-4 with an 2.80 ERA in 11 starts for the Tides.

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2015/07/xx-6.html

Darren O'Day on being in first place right now, plus other

O's notes

By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com

July 2, 2015

The Orioles have moved from fourth place to first place. But with 84 games to go, pitcher Darren

O'Day said it's too soon to focus much on the standings right now.

"I don't think the standings necessarily are a big deal yet," he said. "We are a proud team and we

won the division last year. It's going to be a challenge with everyone coming for us, but we've

been playing better baseball lately. We knew we would, it was just a matter of time."

In his own unique and somewhat tongue-in-cheek way, O'Day said he could see how rough May

was going for the Orioles. They finished the month going 13-16 and ended it with an overall

record of 23-26. But it was no time for too much concern, he said.

"For a while there, we had a bad bullpen, we couldn't catch the ball and our baserunning was

terrible," O'Day said. "Those were all things I heard. We remedied all that and we knew we

would. We have good instructors and guys that play hard and pay attention to detail. We didn't

like losing and we were not OK with it, but we felt we would turn it around."

Once again in 2015, the bullpen is a major factor in the Orioles' success. The Orioles 'pen has

thrived with some players that have been here awhile and they've also gotten key contributions

from newcomers.

"A guy like Chaz Roe has been a revelation," O'Day said. "We talked about it in spring training

looking at the bullpen. Who is going to be a Brad Brach this year? He came out of nowhere last

year and now is a very important part of the bullpen. Chaz has worked his way into that. Guys,

when they get their opportunity, look to seize it."

More notes on the Orioles:

* After getting the win last night, lefty Wei-Yin Chen is now 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in five career

starts (all quality starts) against the Rangers. He tied a career-high by pitching eight innings, the

fifth time in his career and the third time this season he's reached that mark. Over his last five

starts, Chen has gone 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA and four quality starts, allowing two earned runs or

less in each of the five outings. The Orioles are 5-0 in those games.

* The Orioles went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring postion last night. But over their past 12

games, they are batting .354 (35-for-99) with RISP.

* Zach Britton converted his career-high 19th consecutive save opportunity, surpassing his streak

of 18 straight save chances from July 19-Sept. 4, 2014. He recorded his 60th career save, tying

Dick Hall (60 saves, 1961-1971) for eighth place on the Orioles' all-time saves list. Britton has

given up two earned runs over his last 20 outings, dating to May 17, for an ERA of 0.87.

* The Orioles are 12-3 in their last 15 games against Texas and 7-2 in their last nine home games

versus the Rangers.

* Manny Machado went 0-for-4 and that snapped his season-high hitting streak at 12 games. He

hit .412/.455/706, during the second-longest hitting streak of his career, behind only a 14-game

stretch (June 2-16, 2013). His 12-game streak matched Jimmy Paredes (May 1-18) for the

longest hitting streak by an Oriole this year.

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2015/07/chen-on-his-outing-hardy-on-his-key-

homer-machado-and-the-young-dfa.html

Chen on his outing, plus Hardy on his homer, Machado's

defense and Young being DFA'd

By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen was a bit of a stopper tonight for the Orioles. Sure, he did give up

two homers, but they were solo shots and he held down a Texas team that had scored 16 runs and

hit eight homers the past two nights.

But don't call him a stopper though.

"I didn't even think about that," he said through his translator. "All I wanted to do is focus on my

game plan and not anything else."

That he did, not allowing a run after the fourth inning and pitching eight strong innings on four

hits in the Orioles' 4-2 win over Texas. The Rangers hitters are aggressive and Chen tried to use

that to his advantage.

"Most of them were looking for fastballs and they know I'm a fastball pitcher," he said. "They

didn't want to fall behind in the count, so mostly they swung early in the count. Early in the

game, I didn't feel all that great, but my teammates, they made great plays behind me. So I kept

making adjustments during the game, and later in the game, I felt better and better."

He was so pitch-efficient that he completed eight innings on just 87 pitches. Manager Buck

Showalter went to Zach Britton in the ninth rather than give Chen a chance for the O's first

complete game since Miguel Gonazlez against Cincinnati on Sept. 3, 2014.

"Of course, if given the chance, I would love to go out there and pitch (the ninth)," Chen said.

"But I know with a two-run lead, we have a great bullpen. And I feel pretty comfortable giving

the game to Zach. He's a great closer."

After his brief time with the Single-A Frederick Keys, Chen may not be optioned out again this

year. Showalter said after the game he is not expected to miss any more starts.

"Of course I am happy to hear that and that Buck trusts me. I just want to do my job well for the

rest of the season," Chen said as he improved to 4-4 with an ERA of 2.84. He is 3-0 with an ERA

of 2.16 over his last five starts.

Chen is now 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in five career starts against Texas.

The O's broke a 2-2 tie tonight on J.J. Hardy's two-run homer to left in the last of the seventh off

Nick Martinez.

"I felt like I saw it pretty well out of his hand and was able to put a good swing on it," Hardy

said.

"He was throwing the ball pretty good, keeping the ball down. Sinker was good, throwing a

slider to keep us off-balance. Well pitched game from both starters. We love playing behind

Chen when he is working with such a quick pace."

What was Hardy thinking when the Rangers added two homers over the first four innings tonight

to reach 10 homers in this series?

"These guys can hit, that is what I'm thinking," he said. "They are driving the ball pretty good,

but Chen shut them down after that. It was a big win tonight. Come back tomorrow and try to

even the series."

Hardy had a nice view in the top of the seventh tonight when third basman Manny Machado

made two great plays, one charging in with a barehand pickup and the other diving to his left.

"I love watching him play. He does things every night that amaze me and he does things other

third baseman can't do," Hardy said.

Hardy was also asked about Delmon Young, who was designated for assingment before tonight's

game.

"It's tough. He was a great teammate. Fun to be around and great player," Hardy said. "Pinch-

hitter off the bench and playing great in the field this year, too. A guy everyone likes in here, and

he's definitely going to be missed."

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2015/07/os-game-blog-a-look-at-tonights-game-

bowies-all-stars-and-more.html

O's game blog: A look at tonight's game, Bowie's All-Stars,

Stewart's debut and more

By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

After winning 18 of 23 games, the Orioles have now lost the first two games of this series with

Texas. The Orioles have not lost a series since they dropped three of four at Houston from June

1-4. They need to win the next two nights to avoid losing this series.

The Orioles are 8-0-1 in nine series since those four games at Houston. They have not lost more

than two in a row since losing five straight from May 30-June 3.

With the top four teams in the American League East losing the last two nights, the Orioles, who

moved into a first-place tie with Tampa Bay on Sunday night, remain tied for the spot in the

East. But the Orioles and Rays lead the Yankees and Blue Jays by just 1/2 game each after

Toronto's 11-2 win over Boston this afternoon.

Tonight Wei-Yin Chen (3-4, 2.90 ERA) pitches against Texas right-hander Nick Martinez (5-4,

3.39 ERA). Chen will try to slow a Texas team that has hit eight homers with 26 hits and 16 runs

in the first two games of this series. O's starters have allowed seven homers in 10 1/2 innings the

last two games.

Chen is pitching well. He's given up two earned runs or less four straight starts, going 2-0 with a

2.13 ERA. In 25 1/3 innings, he has walked six and fanned 25. Opponent batters are hitting just

.098 against Chen with runners in scoring position, with 22 strikeouts in 61 at-bats.

Martinez had a major-league low 0.35 ERA in four April starts, giving up one earned run in 26

innings. But he has allowed seven or more runs twice in five June starts and had an ERA of 6.35

during the month.

In two career starts versus the Orioles, he is 0-2 with a 8.71 ERA. One year ago today, on July 1,

2014, he gave up a career-high three homers at Camden Yards.

During the month of June, third baseman Manny Machado led American League qualifying

hitters with 42 hits, finished second with a .365 batting average, ranked fourth in RBIs (22), tied

for fifth in OBP (.411) and ranked fifth in slugging percentage (.635). Machado batted .412 (21-

for-51) with six doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs during that streak.

Bowie's All-Stars: The Double-A Bowie Baysox announced today the selection of four players to

the Western Division team for the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game Wednesday, July 15 in

Portland, Maine.

Catcher Rossmel Perez, outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, right-hander Terry Doyle and right-hander

Mychal Givens were selected for the game.

In his first season in the O's organization, Perez, a Venezuelan native, is batting .292 with five

doubles, 17 RBIs and just 14 strikeouts in 154 at-bats. Through 71 games, Yastrzemski is batting

.247 with a team-leading 35 runs and 30 RBIs. Yastrzemski is tied for second in the league with

20 doubles and leads the Baysox with three triples.

A native of Concord, Mass., and a former Boston College Eagle, Doyle has been one of the

Baysox most impressive starting pitchers this season. He is 7-1 with a 2.37 ERA and one save in

13 games. His ERA leads the team and is the fifth-lowest in the Eastern League.

Givens has been one of the best relievers in the Eastern League this season. The sidearmer is

fifth with 13 saves and has the second-best strikeouts/9IP ratio among relievers at 12.25. He is 4-

1 with a 1.45 ERA in 25 games. He was called up to the Orioles and made his big league debut

June 24, throwing a scoreless inning against the Boston Red Sox.

June award winners: The Orioles player development department today named Doyle as their

minor league Pitcher of the Month for June, and Bowie first basmen Trey Mancini their Player of

the Month for June. Doyle went 4-0 with an ERA of 1.54 in five starts during the month.

Mancini was promoted from Single-A Frederick to Bowie on June 5. In 19 games in the month

for the Baysox, he batted .362 with four homers, 14 RBIs and an OPS of 1.067.

O's top draft pick, Florida State outfielder DJ Stewart, is expected to begin his pro career and

play for the first time as an Oriole tomorrow night at home for short-season, Single-A Aberdeen.

Before today's game the Orioles recalled pitcher Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk and

outfielder/DH Delmon Young was designated for assignment. The roster crunch finally reached

the point were the O's had to remove an outfielder, and it was Young. O's executive vice-

president Dan Duquette just told reporters that he is confident the team will be able to trade

Young during the DFA time period as they did with Alejandro De Aza.

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2015/07/kevin-gausman-on-the-challenges-this-

year-and-making-the-start-on-thursday.html

Kevin Gausman on challenges this year and making the start

Thursday

By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

It has been an interesting season for Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman. He has has been on

the disabled list for nearly six weeks with right shoulder tendinitis and has pitched at three minor

league affiliates in addition to pitching in nine games for the Orioles.

Of his nine major league appearances this year, just one has been as a starter (June 20 at

Toronto), but he's about to make his second start and pitch against Texas at home tomorrow

night.

In June, he pitched twice at Single-A Frederick (throwing a total of five innings), made one start

of 3 1/3 innings for Double-A Bowie and made a planned shorter outing of three innings on

Sunday for Triple-A Norfolk to line him up to pitch here tomorrow. That came after he was

scratched from a start last Friday at Norfolk in case the Orioles needed him in Sunday's

doubleheader, which, it turned out, they did not.

So this year he's pitched 28 1/3 innings for four different teams.

"It's been kind of challenging, but it's all part of the process," he said this afternoon. "Just trying

to get my innings up right now. I originally thought I may have pitched one of the games in the

doubleheader (Sunday) especially after I got scratched on Friday. After that, I didn't really know.

We have a lot of guys pitching well down there. That is a luxury we do have with multiple guys

that are options for any spot starter. You just hope they pick your name, I guess."

Gausman said he is no longer throwing his slider and that his curveball has become his main

breaking ball right now to go along with his fastball and changeup. He is 1-0 with a 4.24 ERA in

his 17 major league innings, allowing 15 hits with six walks and 14 strikeouts.

Has getting into a routine been tough with the all that has gone on for him this year?

"Yeah, it's been challenging. But I've done it enough now and pitched on less days' rest and more

days' rest to know what I need and what I don't need," he said. "Normally I might have had a

longer 'pen yesterday, but knowing I'm pitching tomorrow, I had to limit that a little bit."

Now he joins a team that is currently tied for first place and has won 18 of its last 25 games.

"Been fun to watch these guys since we've been home," he said. "Really in the last month, all

facets of the game have been clicking for us."

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2015/07/a-look-at-the-homer-barrage-at-the-yard-

plus-aberdeens-draft-picks-and-other-notes.html

A look at the homer barrage at the Yard, plus Aberdeen's

draft picks and other notes

By Steve Melewski / MASNsports.com

July 1, 2015

The ball was carrying at Camden Yards last night. There were seven homers hit between the

teams, and Mitch Moreland and Chris Davis hit two each.

But Moreland's second two-run shot, which gave Texas two insurance runs, and an 8-5 lead in

the eighth, surprised a few Orioles. Even on a night when the ball was carrying so well.

"That last one, I don't think even the hitter thought it would go out," Orioles outfielder Travis

Snider said. "But, that is the elements and we understand this park and how it will play as the

weather warms up. That can be an advantage for both sides offensively."

Snider said you can't necessarily go up to bat looking for a home run even knowing one could be

there if you can put a good swing on the ball and get it up in the air on a night like Tuesday

night.

"No, just me personally, I just try to simplify things and try to get a good pitch to hit," he said.

So, after winning 18 of 23 games, was it inevitable that the Orioles would lose a few soon as

they have the last two nights? Snider wasn't buying that theory.

"It's a lot of baseball left. We are going to lose more games and also win more games," he said.

"Hopefully we win more than we lose and we'll be all right. This group is not going to give up

regardless of the inning or score. Came up short tonight. Get ready to go tomorrow and get back

on the winning side of things."

On Sunday, the Orioles pitched shutouts in both games of a doubleheader against Cleveland, but

they've allowed 26 hits and 16 runs - including eight homers - the past two nights as the team

ERA went from 3.67 to 3.79.

Before this series, the Orioles had allowed three homers in a game nine times this year, but never

had given up four in a game. Now they have done so on back-to-back nights.

On the farm: Short-season, Single-A Aberdeen added three more 2015 draft picks to its roster on

Tuesday. Top draft pick DJ Stewart has not yet been activated by the IronBirds, but that should

happen over the next few days.

Here is a rundown of the 12 draft picks from this year's draft currently on the Aberdeen roster

and their draft round:

* RHP Jay Flaa (6)

* LHP Reid Love (10)

* RHP Ryan Meisinger (11)

* LHP Robert Strader (12)

* OF Cedric Mullins (13)

* 2B Drew Turbin (14)

* OF Mike Odenwaelder (16)

* C Jerry McClanahan (19)

* LHP Will Dennis (23)

* 1B Steve Laurino (25)

* C Stuart Levy (27)

* RHP Andrew Elliot (30)

Mullins, from Campbell University, is batting .333 with no homers, four RBIs and three steals in

nine games. Laurino, out of Marist College, is batting .349 with four doubles, a triple, no

homers, six RBIs and an OPS of .897 over 11 games.

Aberdeen beat Batavia 3-2 in 12 innings last night to complete a three-game sweep and improve

to 5-7.

Single-A Delmarva improved to 4-2 in the second half last night with a 4-3 win over Lakewood.

The Shorebirds (37-37 overall) took the lead for good on a go-ahead two-run home run by

Yermin Mercedes in the sixth inning.

Triple-A Norfolk won in dramatic fashion on Tuesday afternoon. Sean Halton hit a two-run

double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Tides a 2-1 win over Charlotte at

Harbor Park.

With its seventh walk-off win of the season, Norfolk improved to 44-33 and moved a half-game

ahead of Charlotte (44-34) for first place in the IL South.

Making his first start since being named to the MLB Futures Game last Thursday, right-hander

Zach Davies worked five scoreless innings for the Tides. Davies lowered his ERA to 2.75

through 15 outings (14 starts).

Earlier Tuesday, Tides broadcaster Pete Michaud was named to the radio broadcast team for the

2015 Triple-A All-Star Game.

Double-A Bowie saw its five-game winning streak come to a halt Tuesday night in a 5-2 defeat

in Akron. Bowie left nine men on base in the series-opening loss. But the Baysox are 44-32 and

leading the Eastern League's Western Division by 2 1/2 games. The Baysox went 18-8 in June,

the best record in the league over the month.

Once again today the Orioles, Norfolk and Bowie are all in first place.

http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/06/29/ap-bba-rangers-orioles-preview-1st-ld-writethru

Rangers-Orioles Preview

Associated Press / SI.com

July 2, 2015

After coming up short on their first attempt, the Texas Rangers should feel confident about

clinching their first series win over the Baltimore Orioles in three years.

Red-hot Yovani Gallardo takes the mound in the finale Thursday night looking to extend the

majors' longest active shutout streak and help the Rangers take three of four at Camden Yards.

Texas (40-39) put up a combined 16 runs and 26 hits in winning the first two games of this series

before Baltimore starter Wei-Yin Chen held the club to two runs and four hits in Wednesday's 4-

2 win.

The Rangers, however, might not need a big effort at the plate to wrap up their first series win

over the AL East-leading Orioles (42-36) since August 2012. They had lost 11 of 12 meetings

prior to this series.

Gallardo has gone 4-0 with an MLB-best 0.99 ERA in seven starts since May 24. He hasn't

surrendered a home run over that span, holding the opposition to five hits or fewer in each of

those outings.

The right-hander carries a career-high 23 1-3-inning scoreless streak into this game after limiting

Toronto - averaging a baseball-best 5.37 runs - to three hits over 8 1-3 innings in Saturday's 4-0

road win. It's the first time he's had three straight scoreless starts since September 2007 while

with Milwaukee.

His streak, which spans over parts of four starts, is the longest run by a Rangers starter since

Martin Perez had a 26-inning run in April 2014.

"Every pitch, he throws where he wants to. It's hard to put a good swing on it when you locate a

pitch like he does," catcher Robinson Chirinos told MLB's official website. "He moves the ball

in when he has to, throws breaking balls when he needs to."

In his only start against the Orioles, Gallardo (7-6, 2.72 ERA) surrendered three runs and four

hits while walking five over 6 2-3 innings in an 8-3 home win May 28, 2014.

Travis Snider is 3 for 14 when facing Gallardo, Steve Pearce is 2 for 14 with a home run and

Chris Davis, Adam Jones and Manny Machado are a combined 0 for 9.

The Orioles have hit .288 with 35 home runs while averaging 6.1 runs over their past 21 games.

Jimmy Paredes and J.J. Hardy both homered and knocked in two runs Wednesday.

Kevin Gausman (1-0, 4.24) is expected to be recalled from Triple-A to make his second start in

10 appearances this season. He allowed two runs and four hits over five innings in a 5-3 win at

Toronto on June 20.

The right-hander gave up two runs, two hits and walked two in 1 2-3 innings of relief the only

time he faced Texas in an 8-4 home loss in July 2013. Prince Fielder has a home run in two at-

bats off Gausman, but he's 2 for 13 in this series after entering with an AL-best .351 average.

Shin-Soo Choo homered for the third straight game Wednesday and is trying to become the first

Rangers player to go deep in four consecutive contests since Mike Napoli in 2012.

Josh Hamilton, hitting .390 with 10 home runs in his last 17 games at Camden, is expected to

play after resting Wednesday. He returned from a 26-game absence due to a strained left

hamstring Tuesday.

Baltimore, seeking a 5-2 homestand, designated outfielder Delmon Young for assignment

Wednesday.

''We've got good quality people and you reach a point where you can't keep them all,'' manager

Buck Showalter said.

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/07/01/ap-bba-orioles-young-cut

Orioles designate OF Delmon Young for assignment

Associated Press / SI.com

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE (AP) The Baltimore Orioles have designated outfielder Delmon Young for

assignment to expand a thin bullpen in dire need of another arm.

Young signed a one-year, $2.25 million deal during the offseason after batting .302 with seven

homers and 30 RBIs in 83 games in 2014. He also delivered a clutch three-run double to give the

Orioles a win over Detroit in the postseason.

Within 10 days, the Orioles must place Young on waivers, trade him, release him or outright him

to the minor leagues.

Young was batting .270 with two homers and 16 RBIs this season after being crowded out of the

outfield by Chris Davis, Chris Parmelee, Travis Snider and Nolan Reimold.

Most of all, the Orioles made the move because they needed an addition to their six-man bullpen.

Right-hander Tyler Wilson was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

http://www.csnbaltimore.com/blog/orioles-talk/gausman-tries-prove-he-belongs-rotation

Gausman tries to prove he belongs in rotation

By Rich Dubroff / CSN Baltimore

July 2, 2015

Tonight’s Game:

Texas Rangers (40-39) vs. Baltimore Orioles (42-36), Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore,

7:05 p.m.

Starting pitchers:

Yovani Gallard (7-6, 2.72) vs. Kevin Gausman (1-0, 4.24)

Keys to the Game:

Can the Orioles get a split of the four-game series? In their last eight series, they've won seven

and split one.

Can Gausman prove he belongs in the Orioles rotation?

News and Notes:

The Orioles' half-game lead in the AL East equals their largest of the season.

Chris Davis has an 11-game hitting streak, equaling the longest of his career.

Davis has 100 strikeouts in 77 games.

Gausman hasn't won in his last eight starts. His last win as a starter came on Aug. 27, 2014.

Gallardo hasn't lost in his last seven starts (four wins, three no-decisions).

http://www.csnbaltimore.com/blog/orioles-talk/orioles-designate-delmon-young-assignment-

add-pitcher

Orioles designate Delmon Young for assignment, add pitcher

By Rich Dubroff / CSN Baltimore

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE --- In order to get a seven-man bullpen, the Orioles decided that they had a

surplus of outfielders, and they’ve designated Delmon Young for assignment.

Young, who was in his second year with the Orioles, is batting .270 with two home runs and 16

RBIs. He’s gone just 2-for-19 in his last eight games.

Ever since the Orioles added Chris Parmelee on June 16, they’ve gone with 11 pitchers.

Young played 82 games in 2015, batting .302 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs. He had a

bases-clearing double in the Orioles win over Detroit in the second game of the American

League Division Series.

He was re-signed to a one-year, $2.25 million contract.

The Orioles have 10 days to trade or release Young, who was the overall No. 1 draft pick of

Tampa Bay in 2003. He’s played for the Rays, Tigers, Twins and Phillies. Each of his last six

teams have reached the postseason.

“Delmon is a qualified Major League hitter. And hopefully we will be able to find a spot for him

in a few days,” executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said.

The Orioles didn’t have a great desire to unload Young. Other players were just more versatile,

and Duquette had a hard choice.

“They're all difficult. We wrestle with these decisions and hash them out and go back and forth.

And we try to develop more options for the team to keep all the players in the organization. But

we couldn't come up with a solution to this roster move because we don't have the flexibility on

our roster that we've had in the past,” Duquette said.

Before the move was announced, manager Buck Showalter hinted that it would be a position

player.

“We’ve got a lot of good players, and somebody will end up in the big leagues,” Showalter said.

“Somebody will end up in the big leagues that’s in the big leagues with us.”

Tyler Wilson was recalled from Norfolk for the fourth time this season to beef up the bullpen.

He’s 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA in five games.

“Buck likes to go with the extra pitcher and there's a lot of good reasons to have an extra pitcher

on your roster, particularly if you have stress on your starting pitching, you get in an extra inning

game, so you have a fresh bullpen every night. And we do have some other options on the bench.

Delmon Young did a nice job for the team. He had a really good year last year and he's

contributed to this year's ballclub,” Duquette said.

“We looked for as many solutions as we could find to keep everyone, but we weren't able to do

that in this case.”

Another move will have to be made on Thursday to make room for their starter, Kevin Gausman,

who’ll be recalled from Norfolk.

The trading deadline is July 31, and Duquette expects the Orioles to be in the mix.

“We’re working on a number of different conversations. We’ll see how that develops. I’m glad

we’re back in the race, and we’ve got a good roster at Triple-A, and we’ve got a good roster in

the big leagues. We’re going to try to keep it going. We’ll be active on the trade front. We’ve

had active discussions with a number of teams already,” Duquette said.

http://www.csnbaltimore.com/blog/orioles-talk/gausman-getting-ready-thursday-start

Gausman getting ready for Thursday start

By Rich Dubroff / CSN Baltimore

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE –- After thinking that he might be called up to pitch one of the games of Sunday’s

doubleheader, Kevin Gausman is on hand to pitch Thursday’s game.

Gausman will be recalled from Norfolk for the start.

He was on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his right shoulder from May 8-June 20.

Gausman pitched five innings in his start the day he was removed from the DL, allowing two

runs on four hits. He’s 1-0 with a 4.24 ERA in nine appearances.

Last month, Gausman pitched for Frederick and Bowie on a rehab assignment as well as a three-

inning start on Sunday. Now, he’s back with the Orioles.

“It’s been kind of challenging, but it’s all part of the process, and I’m just trying to get my

innings up right now,” Gausman said.

Manager Buck Showalter wants Gausman starting, whether it’s in Norfolk or Baltimore. That’s

where his future lies.

“We have a lot of guys pitching well down there. That’s a luxury that we do have. We have

multiple guys that are options for any spot starter and so you hope they pick your name, I guess,”

Gausman said.

http://www.csnbaltimore.com/blog/orioles-talk/os-scheduled-paternity-list-next-week

O's OF scheduled for paternity list next week

By Rich Dubroff / CSN Baltimore

July 1, 2015

BALTIMORE – Nolan Reimold will be placed on the paternity list after Sunday’s game in

Chicago. Reimold would miss the Orioles’ series in Minnesota and after three days would have

to be reinstated to the active roster.

The player who takes Reimold’s place on the active roster could be Jonathan Schoop, who’s

scheduled to play at Frederick for a two or two. Schoop could also play two games at Bowie. The

Baysox are home Saturday and Sunday.

“He’s a potential guy if things go well physically. He’s one of the guys we’d consider to replace

Nolan. It could be a pitcher,” manager Buck Showalter said.

NOTES: Bowie 1B Trey Mancini was named the organization’s Minor League Player of the

month. Baysox RHP Terry Doyle is the Minor League Pitcher of the Month. Doyle, RHP Mychal

Givens, C Rossmel Perez and OF Mike Yastrzemski have been chosen for the Eastern League

All-Star team. … Ubaldo Jimenez and Chris Tillman are scheduled to start the first two games in

Chicago on Friday and Saturday. The Orioles have not announced their Sunday starter. The

White Sox will start John Danks, Jeff Samardzija and Chris Sale.

http://www.pressboxonline.com/2015/07/02/june-wrap-up-who-were-the-orioles-biggest-stars-

and-disappointments

June Wrap-Up: Who Were The Orioles' Biggest Stars And

Disappointments?

By Paul Folkemer / PressBoxOnline.com

July 2, 2015

The month of June was an outstanding one for the Baltimore Orioles. They went 18-10 overall,

including a 10-3 mark at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and they ended the month tied for first

place in the American League East. Which Birds played the most important -- and least

important -- role in the club's June success?

Position Players

Biggest star: Several Orioles put up excellent hitting numbers in June, as the team scored 148

runs, second-most in the AL behind the Toronto Blue Jays. It was a welcome change of pace

from the Birds' team-wide offensive slump in May. But no Oriole hitter was more impressive

than third baseman Manny Machado. He led the O's in nearly every major offensive category in

June, including batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.411), OPS (1.046), home runs

(eight), RBIs (22), runs (23) and even stolen bases (four). He also won AL Player of the Week

honors for the week of June 8-14 after going 11-for-24 (.458) during the week.

Runners-up: Take your pick of any number of other O's hitters. Including Machado, there were

seven different Orioles with an OPS of .800 or higher during the month. That included three

Orioles who made their season debuts in June: catcher Matt Wieters (who came off the disabled

list and posted an .849 OPS with three homers), outfielder/first baseman Chris Parmelee (who

batted .298/.340/.681/1.021 with four homers after coming up from Triple-A Norfolk) and

outfielder Nolan Reimold (who contributed an .880 OPS during 15 games after a year-long

hiatus from Baltimore).

Biggest Disappointment: Outfielder Delmon Young wasn't able to recapture his offensive

success of 2014, and his numbers crashed to a season low after he batted .200/.196/.218/.415

during 17 games in June. Young's lack of production cost him his job July 1, when the Orioles

designated him for assignment.

Runner-up: Catcher Caleb Joseph started the year hot at the plate, but the opposite was true in

June, when he batted .196 with a .517 OPS during 14 games. Joseph is still starting every other

game behind the plate while Wieters works his way back to full health, but his playing time

could further diminish when Wieters is ready to play back-to-back games consistently.

Pitchers

Biggest Star: Quietly, O's left-hander Zach Britton has emerged as one of the game's best closers,

and he continued to prove his mettle during a dominant June. Britton was a perfect nine- for-nine

in save opportunities, allowing two earned runs in 14.1 innings (1.26 ERA) while racking up 14

strikeouts. Britton is making a strong push for a spot on the AL All-Star team.

Runners-up: Elsewhere in the bullpen, right-handers Darren O'Day and Chaz Roe notched a total

of six wins in relief in June, combining for a 2.22 ERA and 12.58 strikeouts per nine innings (six

earned runs and 34 strikeouts in 24.1 innings). In the rotation, lefty Wei-Yin Chen continued to

be the Orioles' most reliable starter, going 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA despite a mid-month demotion to

Single-A Frederick during a temporary roster crunch.

Biggest Disappointment: In June, right-hander Mike Wright looked nothing like the pitcher

who twirled a gem during his major league debut. He failed to make it through more than five

innings during any of his three starts, working a combined 10.1 innings and allowing 14 earned

runs (12.19 ERA), losing all three games. He's now back at Triple-A Norfolk, and the next time

he sees the majors, it may be as a reliever.

Runners-up: Veteran righties Chris Tillman and Bud Norris continued to be shaky spots in the

Orioles' rotation. Tillman's 4-0 record during June was deceptive -- he pitched to a 5.13 ERA, but

was the beneficiary of tremendous run support. Norris' June ERA was 3.81, but that, too, was

deceptive -- he had a meltdown in Boston June 24, during which he allowed five unearned runs,

brought about by his own fielding error. He also surrendered seven home runs during five starts.

http://www.pressboxonline.com/2015/07/01/harold-reynolds-orioles-will-repeat-as-american-

league-east-division-champions

Harold Reynolds: Orioles Will Repeat As American League

East Division Champions

By Jim Williams / PressBoxOnline.com

July 1, 2015

To say the American League East is open for the taking this season would be an understatement.

With the season about halfway finished and approximately two weeks to go before the MLB All-

Star break, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Toronto and the New York Yankees are all separated for first

place in the division by one game.

But despite what looks like a battle for the AL East that could come down to the final game of

the season, one national broadcaster believes the Orioles will eventually pull away from the

pack.

Fox Sports and MLB Network baseball analyst Harold Reynolds said he believes Baltimore will

come away with its second straight division crown. Reynolds spoke with PressBox about why he

thinks the Orioles have what it takes to repeat as AL East champions and manager Buck

Showalter's adept ability to manipulate the roster.

PressBox: Why do you think the Orioles will repeat as the AL East champions?

Harold Reynolds: I was talking last week to O's manager Buck Showalter, and he said to me,

"You wait till we get healthy, and we will be right there." He was confident that [centerfielder]

Adam Jones, [shortstop] J.J. Hardy, [catcher] Matt Wieters, [second baseman] Jonathan Schoop

and [pitcher] Kevin Gausman would all be returning to the lineup full time. Once they are all

back together and were up to speed ... the Orioles would be fine. All he wanted was for them to

be healthy as they entered the second half of the season and the stretch drive for the division.

PB: What makes Showalter such a good manager?

HR: He is always thinking ahead and working over his roster like a chess master. He told me last

week that he was sending pitcher Wei-Yin Chen down to their Triple-A farm team in Norfolk.

He looked at the schedule and wanted Chen to work on a few things, get a little rest and then

come back to Baltimore refocused. He knows when guys need to be sent down to the minors for

a brief period, and when they need a day off just clear their minds and slow the game down.

Many people think that big league managing is easy, but I tell them to look at how Buck

manages a game. For him, it's about how to get the best of his team, how to fill the gaps with

quality replacements when guys get injured.

PB: Explain what you mean when you say Showalter knows how to work his roster?

HR: Most managers know their 25-man roster very well and have an overall understanding of

their 40-man roster. Buck and [executive vice president of baseball operations] Dan Duquette use

as many as 35 members of their roster, often sending guys back and forth to Norfolk weekly.

That is how the Orioles survive. They have a number of talented role players and pitchers that

understand that if they are sent down to the minors, they will most likely be coming back. That is

not an easy thing for a player to do unless you have total trust in your manager and management.

Clearly, in Baltimore, each player on the Orioles' roster has that kind of trust in both Buck and

Dan. Believe me, I have been sent down to the minors, and it is not fun wondering if you are

coming back to the majors. But the Orioles' players know that Buck if sends you down and he

tells you that you are coming back, he means it.

PB: Is the way Showalter manages the Orioles different from other teams he has been involved

with in the past?

HR: For Buck, a large part of his success is knowing every player on the 40-man roster, so if

there is an injury or they need help somewhere, he understands if there is a player in the

organization that can help out the major league club. If you look back at his career, he managed

for a long time in the Yankees' farm system before being promoted to run the big club in 1990.

So he knew most of the players on the roster, because they played for him on their way up to the

majors.

Then, at his next stop, he was hired as manager of the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks two

years before they played their first game. So he clearly had a hand in building that team. So for

Buck, it is knowing where he can find players when he needs them. It is clearly something he has

been successful at his entire career, and it is serving him well now here in

Baltimore.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/01/video-manny-machado-dives-then-chucks-

fadeaway-throw-to-first-to-nab-shin-soo-choo/

Video: Manny Machado dives then chucks fadeaway throw

to first to nab Shin-Soo Choo

By Drew Silva / NBCSports.com

July 1, 2015

You’re gonna want to see this play that Manny Machado pulled off in Wednesday night’s game

…

Machado was playing in the area of the shortstop because a shift was on for Shin-Soo Choo.

Though he did come up as a shortstop and showed on this play that he’s plenty capable of

moving there eventually.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/01/orioles-designate-delmon-young-for-assignment/

Orioles DFA Delmon Young, exploring trade

By Drew Silva / NBCSports.com

July 1, 2015

From beat writer Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com …

Young was batting just .270/.289/.339 with two home runs in 180 plate appearances this season

for the Orioles. The 29-year-old hit .302/.337/.442 with seven home runs in 255 plate

appearances last season.

MASN’s Roch Kubatko says Orioles general manager Dan Duquette is looking to trade Young

and has spoken with executives from both leagues. Duquette will have the next 10 days to pull

off a move.

http://www.ydr.com/sports/ci_28416099/first-pitch-at-baltimore-orioles-game-delivers-another

First pitch at Baltimore Orioles game delivers another smile

for Landyn Grove Trip to O's game cherished by 7-year-old and her family

By Matt Goul / YDR.com

July 1, 2015

Dave Grove repeatedly checked the weather forecast before Monday's Baltimore Orioles game.

"Oh, that's going to be awesome," he said.

Not too hot. Just right for his 7-year-old daughter, Landyn, to throw out the first pitch and maybe

stay for the whole game. Landyn and her family were invited to Camden Yards for Monday

night's Major League Baseball game by the Casey Cares Foundation, which provides programs

for critically ill children.

Landyn was born prematurely with spina bifida, a brain malformation called Arnold-Chiarai

malformation and other health problems. One of them causes a heat intolerance, which could

have curtailed her second O's game in person. Instead she got to stay for the entirety as the O's

played host to the Texas Rangers.

The experience might have brought a smile to Landyn, but mother Rhonda Grove said her

daughter has one "24-7."

Dave and Rhonda Grove have cared for Landyn since bringing her home from the hospital in

2008. Since then, they have counted 17 surgeries endured by Landyn. She's had as many as five

surgeries during a seven-week stretch two years ago. Since then Landyn had two more

procedures, which her mother said were more serious — including bladder surgery in February

that forced Landyn to miss three months of kindergarten.

"We don't get it. This kid has every reason to hate life, but she loves it," Rhonda Grove said.

"She's a social butterfly."

Just ask The Oriole Bird.

"She just wouldn't let the bird go," Rhonda Grove said. "She wanted to take the bird home. She

couldn't care less about the players."

A day later from the Groves' home in Shiloh, Landyn still hadn't forgotten the fuzzy mascot.

"I like the bird," she said. Her voice perked up. "He was shaking his tail."

Her only disappointment was not seeing Nick Markakis. Now with the Atlanta Braves, Markakis

held a leading role with Casey Cares in previous years and is Landyn's favorite player. The

Grove family stayed in Markakis' suite during a trip last year to Camden Yards thanks to the

organization.

This year O's pitcher Brian Matusz took on Casey Cares duties, which included catching

Landyn's pitch over home plate.

"It was a perfect strike," Dave Grove said. "We practiced it at home. Made me proud."

Dave Grove was adopted when he was 3 years old, which he admitted might have spurred him

and his wife to become foster parents and adopt four children in addition to their own two. A

definite influence was Dave Grove's father taking him to O's games. The enjoyment is shared

with Rhonda Grove and has spread to their children, including Landyn and 6-year-old Ted, who

also has disabilities.

"If it wasn't for Casey Cares, we probably wouldn't be able to go to games," Rhonda Grove said.

The organization originally scheduled the Groves to attend a game after the late April riots in

Baltimore. Considering the circumstances, which included the O's playing one game in an empty

stadium, Landyn's first pitch was postponed to a later date.

It happened to be just right.

A night game, not too hot or muggy. Enough for Landyn and Ted to watch the whole game,

which surprised Dave Grove.

"Usually little kids don't do that," he said.

This trip had a certain magic to it. The day began with Landyn asking when they could leave.

Once they left, questions shifted to who would they see. Once they got there, Landyn asked

when could she throw the first pitch.

Three hours later ...

"She was pretty tired," Rhonda Grove said. "Five minutes in the car, after we left, she was out."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/01/bbo-orioles-playerwatch-

idUSMTZEB72U08Y4120150701

Baltimore Orioles - PlayerWatch

Reuters

July 1, 2015

3B Manny Machado remains hot and powerful. His solo home run in the fifth inning Tuesday

night stretched his hitting streak to a season-best 12 games. The home run was his 16th, already a

career best. He is giving the Orioles a big lift from the leadoff spot.

RHP Brad Brach is emerging as a solid middle reliever. Brach came on for struggling RHP

Miguel Gonzalez in the fifth and threw 2 2/3 shutout innings to help keep the Orioles close in

Tuesday's game against the Rangers.

2B Jonathan Schoop is likely going to Class A Frederick for more rehab work on his sprained

knee, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said before the game Tuesday. It is unclear whether he

will be activated soon or if he will be optioned to the minors.

OF Delmon Young (.270 BA, two HRs, 16 RBI) was designated for assignment by the Orioles

on Wednesday.

RF Chris Davis extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a pair of two-run homers Tuesday.

He has hit safely in 16 of his past 20 games. "I feel good at the plate, just trying to have good at-

bats," Davis said. "I feel like I've been pretty close all season."

RHP Chaz Roe saw his six-game scoreless streak of seven innings end when he gave up a two-

run homer to Texas 1B Mitch Moreland in the eighth. The shutout streak was tied for the second

longest of Roe's career.

RHP Miguel Gonzalez struggled again in his second start since coming off the disabled list after

recovering from a right groin strain. He got the win in his first start but gave up four runs on

eight hits in five innings. On Tuesday night against Texas, Gonzalez allowed six runs on eight

hits in just 4 1/3 innings. He also surrendered three homers and didn't often look sharp. "The first

two innings I felt good and then after that, I just lost it," he said. "Tried to get back to it, but it

wasn't really working. The mechanics weren't there today."