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Kevin Brown, the lead play-by-play broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles on MASN, says reports have “mischaracterized” the reason he has been off the air since July 26.

“Unfortunately, recent media reports have mischaracterized my relationship with my adopted hometown Orioles,” Brown wrote in his first public statement since leaving the air. “The fact is that I have a wonderful relationship with the organization.”

Brown’s full statement can be read below:

Brown has not been part of an MASN TV broadcast since July 23. He shifted to radio for three games before becoming absent from broadcasts entirely after July 26, according to Awful Announcing.

The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli reported Monday that Brown had been removed from broadcasts after “ownership took exception” to Brown’s description of the Orioles’ past record against the Tampa Bay Rays prior to a July 23 game in Tampa Bay.

During that pregame broadcast, Brown noted that the Orioles had lost 15 straight series on the road at Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field prior to a 1-1 series split in June.

The O’s have “already gone 3-2 at the Trop this year after winning three of 18 the previous three years combined,” Brown said.

The statistics comparing the Orioles’ record at Tropicana Field in 2023 versus their success in 2020-22 was listed in the game notes, which are compiled by the Orioles PR staff, Ghiroli reported.

Ghiroli added that Baltimore broadcasters have “been reprimanded previously for mentioning past Orioles players who are no longer with the team.”

According to Andrew Bucholtz, Sean Keeley, and Ben Koo for Awful Announcing, Brown was “taken off the air for the above comments… after the Rays series” and “only wound up on the radio for the Phillies’ series thanks to another controversy about a different announcer’s apparel.”

Michael Kay, play-by-play broadcaster for the New York Yankees, told Awful Announcing Brown’s statement did not mean that story is not true.

“That was a statement that was obviously vetted by the Orioles… he didn’t deny what happened. He said, ‘Don’t listen to the noise.’ The noise is true,” Kay said. “There’s not a second that anybody who reported that or talked about it believes it wasn’t true.”

The Orioles have denied Brown faced an official suspension, per Awful Announcing. Ghiroli reported Brown will return to the air during the Orioles’ Friday night road game against the Seattle Mariners.