Up and running again

Maybe that last virus scan worked. I'm actually writing this blog entry from my laptop, which apparently has forgiven me for all the nasty things I said about it. It's still a little weird between us. And we said it wouldn't get weird. Chris Tillman, Jim Johnson and Jake Arrieta are slated to pitch one inning in Monday's intrasquad game. Fourteen pitchers will be used - seven on each side - and manager Dave Trembley will reveal his list tomorrow. Tillman was encouraged by the way he threw and felt while facing live hitters. "I felt great," he said. "I rode the bike this morning. It took me a little while to get loose, but once I got loose, I was fine. Out on the mound, I felt great. It took a lot for me to hold back. I wanted to go 100 percent. It took the pitching coaches to kind of say, 'Whoa, settle down a little bit.'" Triple-A pitching coach Mike Griffin stood behind Tillman. Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz, scout Bruce Kison and roving pitching instructor Dave Schmidt stood behind the cage. He had lots of eyes on him. Tillman threw all of his pitches, from the windup and stretch, including two cutters to Garrett Atkins. "One was more like a slider, and one was actually pretty decent, which kind of shocked me," Tillman said. "I've got to sit down and watch the videos and see what's the philosophy on it - learn when to throw it and when not to throw it. That kind of thing." When I asked Trembley about Tillman's session, he grinned and said, "I think his back's OK. I think that's done." Still no firm date for Brian Roberts to take live batting practice. He stood in the cage against Kevin Millwood, but didn't swing the bat.