Jurrjens goes two innings (Patton struggles)

DUNEDIN, Fla. - So much for the Orioles starters working one inning in their first appearances. Jair Jurrjens lasted two innings today against the Toronto Blue Jays, retiring the first five batters before allowing a run on two hits and a walk. He threw 31 pitches, 19 for strikes. Jurrjens retired the Blue Jays in order in the bottom of the first inning. Jose Reyes and Maicer Izturis grounded to second base and Jose Bautista flied to right field. Jurrjens threw 12 pitches, seven for strikes. His fastball was mostly 89-90 mph, but he topped out at 93 on Bautista's fly ball. In the second, Edwin Encarnacion popped up and Adam Lind flied out, as Jurrjens threw all five pitches for strikes. But J.P. Arencibia singled, Colby Rasmus walked and Mark DeRosa followed with an RBI single. Rajai Davis grounded out on Jurrjens' 19th pitch of the inning. You may recall that Jurrjens loaded the bases in his intrasquad start and reached his pitch count before recording three outs. Each appearance will be closely scrutinized as Jurrjens tries to prove that he's healthy after undergoing surgery on his right knee in 2011 and losing velocity on his fastball last season. Steve Pearce hit a two-run homer off Jays left-hander Mark Buehrle in the second inning after Lew Ford singled. Danny Valencia and Taylor Teagarden followed with singles, and Blue Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale removed Buehrle from the game. Hale, the former Orioles' third base coach, is managing the Jays here because they're playing split-squad games today. Ryan Flaherty walked to load the bases with one out, but Alexi Casilla struck out for the second time and Nolan Reimold popped up. Reimold, who didn't play after April last season, is 0-for-2. He also grounded out. Troy Patton will pitch the third inning for the Orioles. Update: Bautista hit a long two-run homer off Patton in the third. Jose Reyes singled before Bautista unloaded. Patton also gave up a single to Lind and double to Arencibia before striking out Rasmus. Matt Wieters homered off Patton in an intrasquad game, but the left-hander had retired the first three batters and stayed in the game to increase his pitch count. He also was instructed to pitch from the stretch.