Orioles Bullpen

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.

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.

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.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Even though left-hander Brian Matusz will open the season pitching out of the Orioles' bullpen, where he flourished in the final five weeks of the season, manager Buck Showalter said he still sees Matusz as an option to start. "He's still considered a guy who can do both," Showalter said Saturday. "I still feel like he's got a chance to be a quality starting pitcher for us. This is right move right now for this club. Obviously if we get a long way away from where he is innings-wise, then he'd probably need to make a start or two [at Triple-A Norfolk]

Each Wednesday, blogger Matt Vensel will highlight five statistics that really mean something for the Orioles. 178 -- Roster moves made by Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette during the 2012 season. Perhaps the most impressive thing about last season's magical run to the playoffs was that the Orioles did it with a revolving door to their clubhouse. According to ESPN, the Orioles made 178 roster moves, used 52 different players and trotted out 122 different lineups in 162 games.

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.

Since the start, these Orioles have been wildly unpredictable -- and I mean that in a good way -- which is why they will go down as one of the most lovable teams in Baltimore sports lore. But there have been a few constants for a team that probably had to play name games once a week to stay familiar with an endless parade of new faces. There was Buck Showalter, the manager who has mostly made all the right moves. There was Adam Jones, who brings toughness and swagger every night.

There's been little rest for the Orioles recently, and fresh off a three-city, nine-game road trip, even manager Buck Showalter said that his team hoped to grind through the three days before their final off-day of the regular season on Thursday. “It feels like we've been going for a month,” Showalter said. But with 10 games to go in the regular season - and every one pivotal in a playoff race - adrenaline replaces any wear and tear. Center fielder Adam Jones went 4-for-4 with a homer and Baltimore native Steve Johnson threw five scorless innings as the Orioles took the first game of Monday's single-admission doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-1. Jones' homer was his his 32nd of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth inning that gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead.

Here's what tonight's bullpen probably looks like after the Orioles' 18-inning game and the call-up of top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy: Long relief Bundy Zach Phillips (L) Middle relief Luis Ayala Brian Matusz (L) Closer Jim Johnson Against the Mariners on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning after starter Wei-Yin Chen was only able to go 5 1/3 innings, Jake Arrieta went 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Matusz faced just two batters and threw 12 pitches, Darren O'Day went 1 2/3, Pedro Strop pitched an inning, Steve Johnson threw three innings, Tommy Hunter threw two and Johnson closed out the win, facing three batters and throwing 13 pitches.

SEATTLE - Orioles top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy was asleep in his hotel room in Sarasota, Fla., at 3:45 a.m. Wednesday when his roommate told him that Brian Graham, the Orioles' minor league instruction coordinator, was on the phone. "[Graham] told me I was on a plane at 7 a.m. and I was going to pitch here in Seattle," said the 19-year-old Bundy, the fourth overall pick in 2011. "So I said, 'Are you messing with me?' And he said, 'No, I'm not going to mess with you at 4 in the morning.' So next thing I know I'm at the airport and on my way to Seattle.