SARASOTA, Fla. - Well, that was fun.
The Orioles totaled 12 runs in their last five games before today. They scored 11 today.
The finishing touches on an 11-2 win were applied by Ryan Adams, who homered, and left-hander Alberto Castillo, who easily retired the three batters he faced in the ninth.
I failed to mention earlier that Adam Jones' long home run came against former Orioles reliever Jim Hoey. Jones was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Adams had two hits after...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Vladimir Guerrero wasn't trying to hit the Twins' bus. It only looked that way.
Guerrero launched his second spring home run, easily clearing the fence in left-center field against Twins reliever Alex Burnett to increase the Orioles' lead to 7-1 in the fifth.
Luke Scott scalded a ball to first, but it turned into an out.
Nolan Reimold beat out a chopper to the left side. That Achilles issue is a thing of the past. He was motoring to first.
Kevin Gregg, David Riske and...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles scored six runs off Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano in 1 2/3 innings. Making his first official spring start, Liriano departed with his team trailing, 6-1.
Adam Jones doubled with two outs in the second to score Nick Markakis, who walked after J.J. Hardy grounded into a double play. A misplayed fly ball off Vladimir Guerrero's bat allowed Jones to score.
Jake Arrieta has given up one run and two hits in two innings. He's thrown 22 pitches, 13 for...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Sounds scandalous, but I'm referring to today's game.
Shame on you.
The Orioles scored four runs off Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead.
J.J Hardy walked, Adam Jones singled with one out, Vladimir Guerrero walked and Mark Reynolds drilled a 94 mph fastball into left-center field for a 2-0 lead.
Luke Scott bounced to first, making him 0-for-13 this spring, but Guerrero scored on the play. Nolan Reimold followed with a single, giving...
Orioles manager Buck Showalter told reporters that Justin Duchscherer's hip is fine today and he'll pitch again Sunday in an intrasquad game. Duchscherer is scheduled to throw three innings if his pitch count allows it.
Showalter doesn't want Brian Matusz to pitch in relief again and he needs to separate the left-hander from Duchscherer, which explains the intrasquad game.
"That will allow us to control the environment a little bit," Showalter said.
Also, Derrek Lee's MRI is scheduled...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The good news for Luke Scott is he's fully aware of the glitch that's caused him to go hitless with five strikeouts in 12 spring training at-bats.
The bad news is he's been unable to correct it.
"I don't feel good at the plate. My timing's off," Scott said.
"Batting practice, I feel great. My swing is fine. Mechanically, I'm sound. But getting my timing, getting comfortable, I just haven't found a good rhythm. It's early. I've only got 12 at-bats. It's coming...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Overheard this morning at breakfast: "Oh, it's going to be chilly Friday. Sixty-eight degrees."
Yeah, chilly.
Brian Roberts said his back feels a little better, but he won't play in today's game against the Twins in Sarasota. And there's no way he's traveling to Fort Myers tonight for the other split-squad game.
"It's not too bad," he said.
Roberts said he woke up with back spasms a few days ago. He said they weren't caused by him diving into first base during...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Derrek Lee will have a precautionary MRI on his wrist tomorrow.
According to the team, Dr. John Wilckens feels confident that there is no damage to the wrist and that the discomfort is the result of tendinitis due to a lack of baseball activity while he was recovering from surgery.
However, just to be safe, Lee will have an MRI in Sarasota tomorrow.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Rule 5 pick Adrian Rosario walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth while protecting a 3-2 lead. The next batter, Michael Martinez reached on a bunt single, with Rosario falling backward after fielding the ball. Carlos Rivero followed with a single into center field, scoring two runs and giving the Phillies a 4-3 victory over the Orioles before a sell-out crowd of 9,039.
Your lesson for today: Don't walk the first two batters you face while...
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Orioles are taking a 3-2 lead into the eighth after scoreless innings from Michael Gonzalez and Jim Johnson.
Gonzalez issued a two-out walk and gave up a hit in the sixth. Johnson gave up back-to-back hits with two outs in the seventh, though shortstop Pedro Florimon easily could have been charged with an error on the second one.
Both relievers struck out one batter.
Here are some quotes from left-hander Brian Matusz, who was charged with two runs in relief:
"It was...
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Brian Matusz pitched 2 1/3 innings today before manager Buck Showalter sprinted out of the dugout and removed him from the game.
Matusz was charged with one run at the time, on Ryan Howard's homer, but reliever Chris George allowed an inherited runner to score on Shane Victorino's double with one out in the fifth inning.
Josh Bell just doubled with two outs in the sixth to score Nolan Reimold, who was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Orioles 3, Phillies 2.
Matusz...
CLEARWATER, Fla. - I figured you could use some positive news beyond Koji Uehara being scheduled to throw on Thursday. I'm starting to feel like Debbie Downer.
Jake Fox took over the team lead with six RBIs when he doubled in the first inning to score Randy Winn. Josh Bell followed with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead against Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels.
Justin Duchscherer mowed down the Phillies in the bottom of the first, retiring the three batters he faced on 10 pitches. He got...
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Manager Buck Showalter said Derrek Lee's right wrist is "about the same at the very best" before revealing that the first baseman is visiting a hand specialist today.
Nothing is imminent regarding Lee's debut with the Orioles.
On the plus side, his thumb is fine.
"It's nothing to the surgery side. That feels great," Showalter said. "I don't want to say tendinitis until they diagnose it. He's going to see a specialist in Sarasota just to make sure we know what...
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Manager Buck Showalter dropped a few injury nuggets on reporters as batting practice ended. I'll send quotes later.
Derrek Lee is seeing a hand specialist today in Sarasota because of soreness in his right wrist area. Lee was restricted to hitting off a tee and soft toss this morning.
Brian Roberts couldn't work out today because of back spasms. They apparently flared up a few days ago while he stretched, then went away.
Roberts is penciled into tomorrow afternoon's...
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Here's the Orioles' lineup for today's game vs. the Phillies:
Randy Winn CF
Brendan Harris 2B
Nolan Reimold LF
Jake Fox DH
Josh Bell 3B
Brandon Snyder 1B
Nick Green RF
Craig Tatum C
Robert Andino SS
Justin Duchscherer RHP
Brian Matusz, Michael Gonzalez and Jim Johnson also will pitch today.
SARASOTA, Fla.- It feels like I just left the Ed Smith Stadium complex about 45 minutes ago, and I'm already back here. I'll be heading to Clearwater for today's game against the Phillies. I may take a few Sun reporters with me, just for laughs.
The Orioles haven't posted their lineup. Cesar Izturis won't make the trip, which must be causing the delay. He apparently rolled his ankle last night, but it's nothing serious.
Justin Duchscherer and Brian Matusz are pitching today.
Here's...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles and Yankees played to a 0-0 tie in front of 8,471, the largest baseball crowd in Ed Smith Stadium history.
The Orioles pulled their goalie, but still couldn't score.
Manager Buck Showalter approved of Zach Britton's outing, but noted that the left-hander needs to throw more first-pitch strikes.
"That'll come," Showalter said. "Stayed off the sweet part of the bat and got a lot of ground balls. Good start for him."
Showalter won't shield the minor...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Cameron Diaz took her seat beside the Yankees' dugout at exactly 8:25 p.m., but who's counting?
If she looks over at me one more time, I'm going to start getting uncomfortable.
Kevin Gregg tossed a perfect fourth inning, striking out one. He hasn't allowed a run in three innings this spring.
Jeremy Accardo survived a one-out double by Melky Mesa in the fifth and a walk to Mark Teixeira in the sixth.
The Orioles have four hits, courtesy of Brian Roberts, Mark Reynolds,...
SARASOTA, Fla.- Young left-hander Zach Britton looks calm and composed on the mound tonight. It doesn't matter that he's facing the Yankees before a standing-room-only crowd in a game that's airing on MASN.
Britton admitted to a case of the jitters after his first appearance against the Phillies, but he mowed down the Yankees on 13 pitches in the first inning. He retired Derek Jeter on a grounder to short, Robinson Cano on a bouncer to second and Mark Teixeira on a tapper to the mound.
The...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles lost to the Boston Red Sox, 6-5, in Fort Myers. Yamaico Navarro singled off Mark Worrell to score Oscar Tejada with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
Steven Bumbry, the son of former Orioles center fielder Al Bumbry, nearly broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the ninth with a one-out single into left field, but Daniel Nava threw out Matt Angle at the plate. Angle had reached on a bunt single to start the rally.
Angle, Nolan Reimold and Cesar Izturis each had...