SARASOTA, Fla. - Henry Urrutia singled twice and walked today in the visiting team's 4-3 victory over the home team in the Orioles' first intrasquad game.
Urrutia's second hit came off Tim Alderson with two outs in the top of the seventh inning. The game ended after Michael Almanzar flied out.
Julio Borbon had an RBI single off Fabio Castillo in the bottom of the sixth. Alex Gonzalez and Cord Phelps also singled in the inning.
Steve Johnson walked three batters and served up a two-run homer to Jonathan Schoop in the second inning.
"He's fine," said manager Buck Showalter. "Some guys were a little sharper than others."
Schoop can "turn some wind around," Showalter added.
Almanzar had an RBI single today.
"He's impressive," Showalter said. "I can see why we took him."
Almanzar led off for the visiting team, and Showalter joked about how the Rule 5 pick was so excited to get to the plate, and then had to deal with Kevin Gausman's 97 mph fastball.
Gausman gave up a single to Steve Clevenger in a scoreless top of the first inning. Clevenger, competing for the backup catching job, had two hits today.
"It was a little weird pitching against your own team, but other than that, it felt good," Gausman said.
As for his velocity, he said, "It felt pretty good. The weird thing is, it all feels the same, whether I'm throwing 99 or 91 (mph). It really feels the same. It just kind of looks a little different out of your hand sometimes. But I felt good and most importantly, I was hitting my spots pretty well. My stuff was working pretty well and it's always good when you get that feedback with hitters in the box."
Gausman thinks he's scheduled to pitch again on Monday.
The Orioles will hit in the cage on Thursday and attempt to start the intrasquad game at 11 a.m. Showalter wants to "lighten them up" before they start the exhibition schedule on Friday.
Nelson Cruz will make his Grapefruit League debut with the Orioles on Saturday against the Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium. Ubaldo Jimenez is scheduled to pitch on March 7.
Suk-min Yoon was supposed to pitch on the same day as Jimenez, but he's headed to Canada on March 4 to obtain his work visa and may not be available on that date.
Reliever Alfredo Aceves is supposed to return from Mexico on Thursday night and work out the next day.
Third baseman Manny Machado is tentatively scheduled to have his left knee re-examined by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on March 18. Showalter isn't sure whether Machado will need clearance on that date to start playing in exhibition games.
Showalter is hoping that ElAttrache will fly to Sarasota and spare Machado another trip to Los Angeles, but he's not holding his breath on that one.
Update: Nolan Reimold singled and walked as part of a 1-for-2 day.
"I don't get a sense he's uncomfortable," Showalter said. "I just want to see where he gets to that point where he's just playing the game. Making adjustments and doing everything naturally without thinking, 'Is this going hurt? Is this going to be a challenge?' He's already talking about his range of motion with his head is completely different than last year. You call his name and he can turn and look at you."
Here's more from Showalter on Schoop:
"He knows how much we like him and he's a real likable kid. He's got some toughness about him. He's going to be a good player. It's just a matter of when.
"Jon's got a lot of ability. He's kind of got through that baby fat stage. This is a big, strong man. He weighs 230 now. He's carrying it well. He can really turn the double play, too."
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