Orioles hire Ramon Martinez, game update, Gausman quotes (O's lose 5-4)

ORIOLES QUICK WRAP

Score: Tigers 5, Orioles 4

Recap: J.J. Hardy had both Orioles hits before leaving the game for a pinch-runner in the sixth inning. Ryan Flaherty singled in the seventh. The Orioles scored three runs in the eighth on Dariel Alvarez's RBI single and Nolan Reimold's two-run single. Jayson Nix hit a two-out homer in the ninth, the Orioles' first longball of the spring. Kevin Gausman faced three batters in a scoreless first inning, allowing a leadoff single to Anthony Gose, getting a double play grounder from Jose Iglesias and striking out J.D. Martinez. T.J. McFarland replaced him and tossed two scoreless innings, escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second. Dylan Bundy survived two walks and a wild pitch to register a scoreless fourth, but Chaz Roe allowed four runs in two innings. Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer, the ball appearing to deflect off Alejandro De Aza's glove in left field. Ryan Webb allowed a run and two hits, with a wild pitch, in the seventh. Jon Keller pitched a scoreless eighth and Wesley Wright tossed a 1-2-3 ninth. The Orioles have been outscored 20-6 by the Tigers in two spring games.

Need to know: Adam Jones was momentarily shaken up in the first inning when Tigers first baseman Aaron Westlake ran into him while chasing a popup. Westlake made the catch and Jones took a hard spill, but he stayed in the game. Manny Machado committed a throwing error in the top of the second, but later made a backhanded stop and throw from foul territory for the out. The Orioles let the first run score in the fifth inning while attempting to tag out Dixon Machado in a rundown between first and second base. De Aza started the game in right field, but he switched places with left fielder Delmon Young, confusing just about everyone in the press box.

On deck: Orioles (SS) at Rays in Port Charlotte, 1:05 p.m.; Orioles (SS) vs. Blue Jays in Sarasota, 7:05 p.m. on MASN HD.

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SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles have hired Ramon Martinez as special assignment pitching instructor. Martinez will concentrate on developing Latin American pitchers throughout the organization.

This has been in the works since at least the early days of camp and the Orioles finally made it official today.

Martinez, 46, pitched 14 seasons in the majors, spending time with the Dodgers (1988-98), Red Sox (1999-00) and Pirates (2001). Over 301 games (297 starts), he went 135-88 with a 3.67 ERA.

Martinez won a career-high 20 games with the Dodgers in 1990 and led the majors with 12 complete games, finished second in the National League Cy Young Award voting. He's the older brother of Pedro Martinez, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the fifth off Chaz Roe. Anthony Gose singled with one out, took third on Dixon Machado's single and raced home while Machado got caught in a rundown.

Ryan Flaherty was running Machado back to first base while Gose sprinted to the plate.

Manager Buck Showalter won't be happy with the lack of execution.

Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer off Roe later in the inning to increase the lead to 3-0. Alejandro De Aza, who started the game in right field, moved to left and thought he made a leaping catch at the fence. He checked his glove, but no ball.

T.J. McFarland retired the side in order in the third to give him two scoreless innings, and Dylan Bundy tossed a scoreless fourth, surviving two walks and a wild pitch.

Third baseman Manny Machado made a nice play to retire Hernan Perez for the final out, backhanding the ball along the line and unleashing the long throw from foul territory.

The Orioles' only hit through five innings is J.J. Hardy's infield single in the bottom of the first.

The Orioles intended to use starter Kevin Gausman for only one inning today as they bring him along slowly. They instructed him to wait until camp to start throwing bullpen sessions.

"Normally, I'd throw seven or eight before I come to camp, so this year was a little bit different, but given today and how I felt, I felt pretty good," said Gausman, who allowed a single and had a strikeout while facing only three batters.

"I'm pretty happy with it. Getting the first one out of the way is always good."

Gausman's fastball hit 96 mph on multiple occasions.

"I'll take it for March 4," he said. "Really that was the first time kind of letting it go. Felt good overall. Threw a good amount of strikes. That's all I really want to do right now is pound the strike zone and from there when it gets later in spring, kind of be able to locate a little bit better.

"First time to really get into a pregame routine. Yeah, I felt pretty good. Just good to get out there and compete."

Gausman said he didn't want to change his approach simply because his start was confined to one inning, when he threw 10 of his 16 pitches for strikes.

"I wanted to approach it just as I approach every start during the season," he said. "That was the biggest focus, to get into my pregame routine."

This is Gausman's third spring training, which makes him a veteran of sorts at age 24.

"I think you get used to it," he said. "Every year, you get here and every year is a little bit different. My first year, I really wanted to come into camp and show what I had and possibly be an option for later in the year knowing that I wasn't going to make the team. But pitched well and stayed around. And last year, I came into camp and felt like I had a good chance to make the rotation and then we signed Ubaldo (Jimenez).

"It's just one of those things where every spring is going to be different. This year is a little bit different because they kind of held me back a little bit this year."

Update: Hardy had both Orioles hits until Ryan Flaherty singled with two outs in the seventh inning.

The Tigers scored a run off Ryan Webb in the top of the inning and lead 5-0. Webb allowed two singles and threw a wild pitch.

Today's attendance is 8,367, a sellout and the largest opening day crowd for the Orioles in Sarasota.

Update II: The Orioles scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to reduce the Tigers' lead to 5-3. Dariel Alvarez had an RBI single and Nolan Reimold delivered a two-run single.