Hunter Harvey on his start today against Boston (O's win 7-3)

FORT MYERS, Fla. - After facing the Rays and Twins earlier this spring, today right-hander Hunter Harvey got his toughest test of camp. He faced the two-time defending American League East champion Red Sox and most of their regulars were in the lineup.

"It was fun. Been watching this team for a couple of years and it was cool to face them," Harvey said outside the Orioles clubhouse.

He threw 49 pitches, 29 for strikes with a fastball that often touched 93 and 94 mph on the JetBlue Park radar gun. Harvey allowed four hits and two runs (one earned), with one walk, three strikeouts and two wild pitches in a three-inning outing.

On his third pitch of his day, working with a 2-0 lead, he gave up a homer to left to Mookie Betts on a 1-1 fastball at 93 mph.

"It (the pitch) wasn't as bad as I thought it was," Harvey said. "I talked to (catcher Chance) Sisco when I came out and said, 'Did I leave that pitch over the middle?' He said it was outer third. He just jumped on it. I was pretty close to where Sisco set up. He just beat me on it."

But Harvey also pitched out of a first and second, no-out jam and a second and third, one-out situation. He got J.D. Martinez to fly out, Xander Bogaerts to strike out and Rafael Devers to strike out.

"I felt good. Arm felt good. Body felt good. Felt better today," Harvey said. His spring ERA is now 3.86 after three games and seven innings.

The second run was unearned in the Boston third. Harvey issued a leadoff walk to Betts, who then advanced to third on Harvey's error on a pickoff throw. The kid was tough on himself for both the walk and error.

"I feel like I could be better," he said. "Like the second at-bat to Mookie wasn't competitive. Four straight balls. Got to be better with that and attacking the zone. Didn't have many first-pitch strikes today. Have to work on that stuff and attack the zone early. I just let the game speed up a little bit (on the error) and didn't take a second and breath. Stay under control. Couple things got away from me."

Before the game, we found out that Harvey may be with the Orioles for almost the entire spring training. Manager Buck Showalter told reporters that Harvey's next outing will be in a simulated game and then he is scheduled to face the Yankees in Tampa. That would be on March 21 and the club has just four Grapefruit League games after that.

Harvey said he did not expect to be in big league camp this long.

"No, not really," he said before echoing Showalter's pregame comments that he has certainly gained some experience and more under the Florida sun. "Coming into it with not pitching the last couple of years and not having a whole lot of innings. I'm just glad I came in and got a couple of innings. Sticking around even longer is awesome. It gets more competitive. Facing that lineup today was awesome.

"Go from not pitching a couple of years to facing some of the best lineups in the league. Keeps me competitive. It makes me almost get on top of my game a little better and work a little harder."

When the spring workouts began, Harvey seemed an extreme longshot to break north with the Orioles for opening day and that probably still holds true. But in his mind, he's heading north soon as this club's fifth starter.

"That is what I'm going for, yeah," he said simply.

Game update: The Orioles split-squad continues to lead the Red Sox 4-3 in the eighth. Some of the young pitchers have shown well today. Lefty Keegan Akin pitched a scoreless fifth and that was followed by a shutout inning in the sixth from Michael Baumann and the seventh by Brenan Hanifee. Zac Lowther came on to pitch in the eighth.

Update II: The Orioles now hold a 7-3 lead in the ninth after Ryan Mountcastle's three-run homer to right center. It followed singles by Aderlin Rodriguez and Corban Joseph. The O's will take a 7-3 lead to the last of the ninth. Mountcatle connected off lefty Dedgar Jimenez, who pitched to an ERA of 3.02 last season between Single-A and Double-A. It was his second spring homer.

Update III: The Orioles split-squad beat the Red Sox 7-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 9,880 at JetBlue Park. The Orioles are 8-8-1 and the Red Sox are also now 8-8-1 with this result.

Mountcastle went 2-for-2 and hit the only O's homer. He is batting .292. Alex Presley had a two-run single and the Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Colby Rasmus and Sisco. The O's outhit Boston 13-8.

Harvey got the win and Rick Porcello, who gave up four runs in four innings, took the loss. Right-hander Ryan Meisinger got the last four outs, getting two strikeouts, for a save.

Now the O's get set for their second game of the day, at 6 p.m. at Ed Smith Stadium versus the Phillies. That game can be seen live on MASN.