Buck Showalter and Ubaldo Jimenez following 9-2 win

BRADENTON, Fla. - Logan Verrett had another impressive outing today, retiring the Pirates in order in the ninth inning with a strikeout to seal the Orioles' 9-2 victory at McKechnie Field.

Verrett, a Rule 5 pick from the Mets, has allowed two runs in 11 innings, with one walk and nine strikeouts.

"Yeah, he's thrown the ball good," manager Buck Showalter said. "Dave (Wallace) was talking about him pitching, waiting one more day and him pitching two innings. I'm not sure how he's going to do that yet. We're going to talk about it when we get back. I was pleased with it."

Showalter noted how Ubaldo Jimenez threw the ball "nice and crisp" while shutting out the Pirates over five innings.

"Had a lot of counts in his favor and a really good tempo," Showalter said.

Jimenez has walked one batter in his last 13 innings. The stats in spring training don't count, but that one is huge for the Orioles.

"When you have so many hitter-friendly environments, there's nothing ever bad about having good command and working ahead in the count," Showalter said. "I was impressed with his times to the plate. He gave (Ryan) Lavarnway a chance to throw two guys out. In the past, that wouldn't have probably been able to happen.

"He's always been athletic. Made a couple of good fielding plays off the mound. You could tell he felt good about himself today."

Jimenez was so efficient, he had to throw more pitches in the bullpen after leaving the game.

"He was supposed to get to 85 or 90 today and he ended up with 70-something," Showalter said. "He had to go down and throw some more. That's always a good sign."

Jimenez said he wasn't thinking about his mechanics on the mound, a major step in his improvement. He's been working closely with special assignment pitching instructor Ramon Martinez.

"Ramon's been great, too. They've got a great rapport," Showalter said. "Not that Dave and Dom (Chiti) don't. That's kind of Dave in a nutshell. He doesn't care.

"The time we brought Ramon on before we sent him out, we thought he might be a good sounding board for Ubaldo. Nobody wants it more than Ubaldo. He wants to be a consistent contributor."

Showalter still must build a rotation out of six candidates.

"We've got a lot of time left and we'll use it all," he said. "I'm real happy we are where we are. We've got six guys pitching well and I'm happy where all six are."

Zach Britton allowed two unearned runs in the sixth and was victimized by four infield hits.

"Zach may have had his best outing of the spring," Showalter said. "Just Zach. And what did they end up with, five hits? I couldn't have drawn it up any better. Have good stuff and make good pitches and get stretched out to, what, around 25? That was good."

The Orioles have scored 65 runs in their last eight games.

"I think guys are starting to get into a little bit of a groove offensively that they're hitting the balls they should be hitting," Showalter said. "They're still going to have trouble with the good pitches, but we're not making the mistakes that we've made. We had a lot of good at-bats today. I really liked the walks and the patience that we had today.

"Chris (Davis) got a bunt down. I asked everybody in the dugout, 'What are they going to do when he comes up next time in the same situation? What do you think they'll do in the same situation?' If you get involved in what's going on behind him, I think you're missing the essence of what's going on there. I'm sure there were a lot of pens wagging in the scouts section. It's one more thing to think about."

Jimenez met with reporters in the clubhouse after leaving the game. Here's a sampling before I make the drive back to Sarasota:

On his performance: "I feel really good. I've been able to do what I'm supposed to do in the last two games, and that's command the fastball. I'm ahead in the count and I stay ahead. That's what I did today."

On now repeating his delivery: "When I'm on the mound right now, I don't even think of the mechanics or anything. I'm just trying to get people out and everything is getting a little bit easier right now because of the mechanics. Everything is where it's supposed to be."

On not issuing as many walks: "It feels like you're controlling the game instead of letting the game control you, because every time you start walking people, it's frustrating - not only for me, but for everyone, even the guys. The teammates on the field are probably going to get tired of you throwing balls. Once you start throwing strikes, you're controlling the game because you're going to make the hitters swing early in the count. You want to be able to throw more innings and less pitches."

On falling behind Andrew McCutchen 3-0 and striking him out: "He's one of the greatest hitters in the game right now. I think I made good pitches. He probably wasn't expecting that (slider) 3-2. We're in spring training. He battled. It was one of those things that one time it goes your way, one time it doesn't."

On going back out after long fourth inning: "I made sure I stretched in the dugout a lot. I even did some jogging in place so I could stay warm, because it was a long inning. You have to find a way to get yourself loose and don't get cold when you go out there."

On his pitching line: "Of course it feels good. You can't be lying and say it doesn't feel good. It feels really good, because it makes you comfortable and more confident for your next outing, knowing that you had a good game and you're controlling the game and throwing strikes. That's what you have to take into the next game."