SARASOTA, Fla. - Well, that was fun.
The Orioles totaled 12 runs in their last five games before today. They scored 11 today.
The finishing touches on an 11-2 win were applied by Ryan Adams, who homered, and left-hander Alberto Castillo, who easily retired the three batters he faced in the ninth.
I failed to mention earlier that Adam Jones' long home run came against former Orioles reliever Jim Hoey. Jones was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Adams had two hits after entering the game late.
Clay Rapada celebrated his 30th birthday with another scoreless inning. He's allowed one run, walked none and struck out four in four innings this spring, and his stuff looks nasty. He's got a shot to make this club.
Rapada is supposed to be a left-handed specialist, but he's faced mostly right-handed hitters this spring. That's why manager Buck Showalter wants to organize a left-handed game this weekend on one of the back fields.
"He's shown that he can defend himself against right-handed hitters," Showalter said. "As camp goes on and things start to break down a bit, I think you'll start to see more situations develop for him."
The Orioles committed four errors, the only real blemish on their day. Mark Reynolds, Luke Scott, Pedro Florimon and Nick Green were the guilty parties.
Green has three errors. This one came after he moved to third base.
Scott's error occurred when he couldn't find the bag after taking the throw from the second baseman. He initially went for the ball.
"He focuses so hard on left field," Showalter said. "Luke's a hard worker. If he has to focus on (first base) more, it'll be better.
"It's a pretty bad feeling when you catch the ball and you can't find the bag. It's just a little timing thing there."
Showalter thought Jake Arrieta's breaking ball was a lot better in the last two innings.
Today's attendance: 6.003.
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