Orioles Bullpen

In their unexpected run to the playoffs last season, the Orioles were historically good in one-run games, winning more than 76 percent of them. Their bullpen was among the best in the majors -- and among the best in franchise history -- as relievers went 32-11 with 55 saves and a 3.00 ERA as the Orioles won 93 games. The Orioles ranked fifth in ERA and also finished fifth in WHIP with 1.21 walks and hits per inning. They somehow did it without striking out a lot of batters, as they ranked 28th with 7.49 strikeouts per nine innings.

Orioles closer Jim Johnson can be depended on to always be at his locker to answer questions anytime he becomes a focal point of a game following a blown save. Those times have been rare, until recently, as Johnson has blown three consecutive ninth-inning leads that all ended in losses.Following the Orioles' 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees in the 10th inning on Monday at Camden Yards, Johnson put the team's season-high six-game losing streak in perspective. “Well, three of them are my fault,” Johnson said.

BOSTON - The clock crept on midnight at Fenway Park - and most of the announced sellout crowd of 37,223 - was likely dozing off. But it was the Orioles bullpen that put the Red Sox bats to sleep Friday night, throwing eight shutout innings - running its scoreless-inning streak to 19 innings - propelling the Orioles to a 6-4 13-inning win over the Red Sox. It was the Orioles' fourth win in their last five games here at...

The Orioles were not a perfect team in 2012, though it's easy to get nostalgic about their first truly competitive season of this century. They were plugging holes in the starting rotation throughout the summer. They needed several months to assemble an adequate defense. And clutch hitting was always an issue. The only component of the club that was never cause for serious concern was the bullpen, which was pretty much airtight and was the main reason the Orioles put up otherworldly numbers in one-run and extra-inning games.

It wasn't that long ago when we looked at the Orioles bullpen and didn't know what to make of it. Yes, there were plenty of quality arms - and several that entered the season with some track record of late-inning success - but the lack of defined roles prompted considerable caution. But over the past three nights, the Orioles' pen might have had its finest moments of this young season. Without closer Jim Johnson, who spent the past three nights hospitalized with flu-like symptoms and a bacterial infection, the other relievers sparkled in his absence.

CHICAGO - Nolan Reimold admitted his uneasyness in stepping into the leadoff spot in the Orioles batting order - unsure how he'd be able to adapt in an unfamiliar role -- but over the past few games, he certainly seems more than comfortable there. Over his past four games, the 28-year-old Reimold has sparked the Orioles offense -- hitting home runs in each of those games -- his latest a two-run shot that broke a scoreless tie in the sixth and helped the Orioles to a 3-2 win over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Orioles bullpen had a - pardon the pun - bird's-eye view of center fielder Adam Jones' two-run homer on Wednesday night. When Jones smoked a line drive to left-center field that hit off the a metal railing over the fence and bounced back in, the Orioles relievers were just feet away from where the ball landed. “There are very few people who could have seen it besides us,” said rookie reliever T.J. McFarland, who had crouched down preparing to field the ball as it reached the fence.”We saw it right there, because the railing is slightly lower than the fence.

The Orioles' much-maligned bullpen has rarely been singled out for praise this season, but that was the case Monday after the team's 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. That the Orioles even had a chance to win the game was because the bullpen came in after Jake Arrieta lasted just 21/3 innings and pitched 52/3 scoreless frames. Making his third appearance since being activated from major league baseball's restricted list, right-hander Alfredo Simon inherited Arrieta's bases-loaded-and-one-out jam in the third and struck out Carlos Peguero and Chone Figgins . Simon allowed just two hits, walked one and struck out four over 32/3 innings.

The last time the Orioles met the Red Sox, they played baseball's version of the Boston Marathon - a 17-inning game at Fenway Park that completed Baltimore's first sweep of Boston since 1994. And the last time the Red Sox came to Camden Yards, they left with their season shattered, sending them prematurely into an offseason of upheaval. Its pretty clear that the Orioles have had the Red Sox's number of late, beating Boston in seven of their last eight entering Monday. But these Red Sox arrived at Camden Yards surging, winners of eight of their last 10 games as they try to work their way out of the early-season American League East cellar.

It was another one of those Fenway nights that start with such promise and end up with the visiting team wondering how, where and why it all went wrong. The Orioles ran up a six-run lead and seemed to be cruising back to .500 when the bullpen blew up again and the Boston Red Sox staged another one of their miracle comebacks. The resulting 8-7 defeat might not sting as much as the fabled Mother's Day Meltdown of 2007, but maybe it should. Right-hander Chris Tillman pitched five scoreless innings and the Orioles squeezed struggling Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka for seven walks and several opportunities to break the game open, but Tillman didn't get deep enough into the game to keep Buck Showalter from going too deep into his bullpen.

Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez, who has not pitched since developing a deep blister on his right thumb May 3 in Anaheim, is getting closer to appearing in a big league game. Gonzalez threw 35 pitches in a bullpen session Wednesday, the last few without a bandage covering the thumb (he won't be able to use a covering in a game). He said he came out feeling “really good.” “The ball was coming out good,” Gonzalez said. “The breaking pitches were fine. I was pretty happy about my performance.” Gonzalez is next scheduled to pitch in a simulated game Friday afternoon at Camden Yards so that the team can best control the environment.

SEATTLE - Before Tuesday night's game against the Seattle Mariners, the Orioles demoted their previous night's starter, Zach Britton, and called up another arm for their bullpen. Cycling in fresh relievers has become a necessity for a club that continues to rely on a superb relief corps to keep them going. In a 7-2 win over the Mariners on Tuesday night, the Orioles posted four runs in the first, had a 13-hit attack and were in control all game. And yet manager Buck Showalter again had to ask his bullpen to pitch four full innings - using four relievers  - to secure the victory, which snapped the club's modest two-game losing streak.

The Orioles have called up left-hander Zach Britton before tonight's series opener against the A's to add an extra arm to a taxed bullpen. Britton was scratched from his scheduled start for Triple-A Norfolk tonight. After optioning right-hander Josh Stinson following Wednesday's game, the Orioles said they would make a corresponding move today. Britton, who is 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA in three starts at Norfolk, is coming off a six-inning, one-run outing in his last start a week ago. He could provide long relief in the Orioles bullpen for the next four games in Oakland and, if available, could fill the void for a starting pitcher Monday in Seattle.

The last time the Orioles faced knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, they were mystified by pitches with so little spin that you could nearly make out Bud Selig's signature on the baseball. But Tuesday, the Orioles figured out the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner at Camden Yards in their first meeting against him as a member of the bolstered Toronto Blue Jays. The Orioles batted around in a four-run second inning against Dickey, slapping his fluttering knuckleball around the holes in Toronto's infield, and then held on for a 4-3 win. Almost as impressive was how the Orioles bullpen closed out another late-inning, one-run lead for the team's 100th consecutive regular season win when leading after the completion of the seventh inning, a run that began Aug. 8, 2011 and correlates with the team's transformation into a winning ballclub.

The Orioles bullpen had a - pardon the pun - bird's-eye view of center fielder Adam Jones' two-run homer on Wednesday night. When Jones smoked a line drive to left-center field that hit off the a metal railing over the fence and bounced back in, the Orioles relievers were just feet away from where the ball landed. “There are very few people who could have seen it besides us,” said rookie reliever T.J. McFarland, who had crouched down preparing to field the ball as it reached the fence.”We saw it right there, because the railing is slightly lower than the fence.

BOSTON - Over the past two nights, the Orioles recaptured those late-inning heroics of last season at Fenway Park. One night after a five-run ninth-inning rally led them to victory, the Orioles came from behind against the Red Sox again Thursday, winning 3-2 in a game that played out much like so many of last year's close wins. This victory sealed the Orioles' fifth straight series win at Fenway Park, a streak that dates back to July 7-10, 2011. “It means a lot,” said Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, who drove in two runs, including the game-winner in the seventh.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - One of the major reasons the Orioles were able to outlast the Tampa Bay Rays - a team built on a foundation of strong pitching - for a postseason berth last season was because of the strength of their bullpen. The first two games of the season opening series between these two teams at Tropicana Field have had a playoff feel to them - with dramatic swings of momentum throughout every inning. On Wednesday night, that was evident as the Orioles silently walked off the field as the Rays celebrated an 8-7 walk-off victory on Matt Joyce's solo homer off reliever Tommy Hunter.

Orioles closer Jim Johnson can be depended on to always be at his locker to answer questions anytime he becomes a focal point of a game following a blown save. Those times have been rare, until recently, as Johnson has blown three consecutive ninth-inning leads that all ended in losses.Following the Orioles' 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees in the 10th inning on Monday at Camden Yards, Johnson put the team's season-high six-game losing streak in perspective. “Well, three of them are my fault,” Johnson said.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - One of the major reasons the Orioles were able to outlast the Tampa Bay Rays - a team built on a foundation of strong pitching - for a postseason berth last season was because of the strength of their bullpen. The first two games of the season opening series between these two teams at Tropicana Field have had a playoff feel to them - with dramatic swings of momentum throughout every inning. On Wednesday night, that was evident as the Orioles silently walked off the field as the Rays celebrated an 8-7 walk-off victory on Matt Joyce's solo homer off reliever Tommy Hunter.

The losing became so persistent that Martha Macgill pulled herself from the rotation of Episcopal clergy who regularly attended ball games at Camden Yards. She remembers one defeat in particular; it was Mother's Day 2007 and Jeremy Guthrie pitched eight sparkling innings only for the Orioles bullpen to squander a five-run cushion in the ninth against the Boston Red Sox. Her son Jack Kelleher fell to the floor in despair. "It just got so depressing," says Macgill, the rector at Memorial Episcopal Church in Bolton Hill.