Notes off today's intrasquad games

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Davis hit an opposite-field home run off Tommy Hunter in today's Orioles intrasquad game on the Camden Yards field. Davis lined a fastball that was low and away over the left-field fence. "Actually, it wasn't a bad pitch," Davis said. In his next at-bat, Davis squared to bunt twice against Adam Russell, taking the first pitch and fouling off the second. He struck out swinging, with catcher Taylor Teagarden squeezing the foul tip. "I wanted to see how it felt," Davis said. "As I expected, it felt awful." Davis actually was serious about bunting. He may try it against certain infield shifts this season - the Rays have been known to do it - and he decided to work on his technique down here. Russell retired J.J. Hardy on a ground ball and walked Nate McLouth before reaching his pitch limit. Brian Roberts lined an RBI single to left field off Zach Britton in the second inning after McLouth doubled off the left-center field fence on the first pitch thrown and Jason Pridie grounded out to first. Matt Wieters bounced into a double play, and Britton was instructed to stay on the mound to raise his pitch count. Adam Jones grounded out and Wilson Betemit - batting from the right side - struck out. WietersByBenchTall.jpgJake Arrieta retired Alexi Casilla, Ryan Flaherty and Lew Ford without allowing a ball out of the infield. Ford struck out looking. Hunter struck out Jones looking in the bottom of the first and Ford made a nice running catch in left-center field to rob Betemit before Davis' home run. Brian Matusz had a 1-2-3 second inning, though Manny Machado sent Pridie to the right-field fence to haul in his fly ball. Matusz struck out Trayvon Robinson. Jair Jurrjens gave up a leadoff double to Teagarden, struck out minor leaguer Glynn Davis looking, walked Casilla and gave up a single to Flaherty that loaded the bases with one out. Jurrjens reached his pitch count, and the inning was halted with Ford on deck. First baseman Steve Pearce flipped over the short fence while chasing Hardy's foul pop up. Nice hustle. Flaherty joked later about Wieters calling for a curveball with a 1-1 count on him. So unfair this early in spring training. On Field 3, Steve Johnson was allowed to face four batters - retiring them all - to increase his pitch count. Dylan Bundy gave up a single to Chris Dickerson, who was picked off first base by catcher Luis Exposito. LJ Hoes threw out a runner at the plate on a Russ Canzler single to help out Rule 5 pick T.J. McFarland, who looked like he was getting hit around a little bit during the times that I glanced over my shoulder while mostly focusing on Field 4. Nolan Reimold also won't play in Thursday's intrasquad game because manager Buck Showalter wants to take it slow with him. "It's just so early that there's plenty of time to get ready," said Reimold, who didn't play after April last year and underwent surgery to remove a herniated disc in his neck and fuse two vertebrae. "We're giving it a little bit more time. I'm feeling better and better and it's going to keep getting stronger."



Showalter talks about Markakis and intrasquad game...
A few morning notes (Markakis update)
 

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