O’s, Jones family make contribution
Andreoli relishes homecoming hit; Castro, others still unavailable
As Adam Jones prepares to play what will likely be his last series in an Orioles uniform, the team’s charitable foundation, Jones and his wife, Audie, have jointly donated $150,000 for several Baltimore-area nonprofit organizations, the team announced Thursday.
Over the past six years, the Orioles and Jones’ family have each donated a total of $225,000 to the six causes, combining for $450,000.
Living Classrooms, which serves more than 25,000 children and adults in the Baltimore area each year, specializing in students coming from high-risk environments, will receive $100,000. Out of that donation, $90,000 will be used to create a scholarship fund for underprivileged youth andtheremaining $10,000 will beusedfor school supplies in underserved local schools.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore, an organization Jones has had close ties to for several years, will receive $20,000 to fund this year’s Youth of the Year scholarship awards that Adam and Audie Jones began sponsoring last year. Jones has donated nearly $400,000 to area Boys & Girls Clubs, helping to renovate four different facilities and fund the scholarship that helps five students receive college tuition help.
Also, $10,000 will go to Stocks in the Future as well as Harlem Lacrosse, and $5,000 will go to Sharp Dressed Man as well as the Baltimore Urban Baseball Association.
Stocks in the Future is an organization that serves underperforming or at-risk middle school students with a curriculum that “integrates business concepts and reinforces mathematics and language arts skills.” Harlem Lacrosse is a new boys lacrosse program at the James McHenry School in Baltimore. Sharp Dressed Man provides recycled suits and interview skills training to men actively engaged in workforce development programs in Baltimore. The Baltimore Urban Baseball Association aims to rejuvenate baseball in the Baltimore region. Memorable homecoming for Andreoli: It wasn’t until late in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader in Boston that Orioles rookie outfielder JohnAndreolicollected the hit hesobadly wanted for the dozens of friends and family who came to see him at Fenway Park, solidifying that his first trip as a major leaguer to the park he went to countless times growing up was a good one.
Andreoli hit a two-run double with the bases loaded that bounced over the short right-field wall in the Orioles’ four-run ninth inning, his first hit in his fifth at-bat of the game, erasing the possibility of leaving Boston without a hit.
“I was just happy that they all came out and supported me,” said Andreoli, who is from nearby Shrewsbury, Mass. “A lot of those guys were really close buddies in high school, and they’ve been following me every day, all through every season in the minors. I definitely wanted to get a hit for them, so it was good that I got that last one.” Homegrown helpers: Manager Buck Showalter said there was a common thread between the combined six innings he got from starter Jimmy Yacabonis and reliever Tanner Scott on Wednesday night: Less was more. For each, Showalter said their hardest fastballs often weren’t their best, and that helped them hold Boston to three runs, despite plenty of jams.
“The last four days, he seems to have gotten a real feel for his delivery,” Showalter said of Scott, who has a 2.61 ERA in 101⁄ September innings with13 strikeouts and four walks. “Three of the pitches, when he tried to humpup, threwtheball98[mph], those weretheballs that got awayfrom him. But 96 [mph]... He threw a fastball in to [ Rafael] Devers yesterday, trying to go in and got it in there for a strike, and he had no chance.” Health updates: Right-hander Miguel Castro, who hasn’t pitched since Saturday with a sore right knee, is “improving, but not available” as the season winds down, Showalter said.
“Still not available, but improved,” Showalter said. “The same way with [ Evan] Phillips, samewaywith[ Andrew] Cashner, [Alex] Cobb.”
Phillips was shut downlast weekend, while Cashner has a knee injury and Cobb has a cut on his finger. Showalter also said Luis Ortiz (hamstring) and Josh Rogers, who was also shut down, are in a good place to leave the fall instructional league healthy in the coming weeks. Davis out before rain: First baseman Chris Davis was out of the lineup for the fifth straight gameThursday, but the gamewaspostponedbyrain and will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader Saturday, beginning at 4:05 p.m.