masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla. – Chris Davis had a pretty good idea what was coming tonight when he launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the third inning to break a scoreless tie.
Manny Machado and Adam Jones singled. Davis stepped to the plate against Blue Jays right-hander Chad Jenkins with two outs. He worked the count to 2-0 and let it rip.
“It was a fastball, I was looking for a fastball and the other two pitches were fastballs, so pretty consistent,” he said after the Orioles’ 5-0 win over the…

SARASOTA, Fla. – Chris Davis had a pretty good idea what was coming tonight when he launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the third inning to break a scoreless tie.

Manny Machado and Adam Jones singled. Davis stepped to the plate against Blue Jays right-hander Chad Jenkins with two outs. He worked the count to 2-0 and let it rip.

“It was a fastball, I was looking for a fastball and the other two pitches were fastballs, so pretty consistent,” he said after the Orioles’ 5-0 win over the Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium.

davis-jones-handshake-white-sidebar.jpgDavis got all of it, the ball landing in a shrub far beyond the fence in right-center field.

“It being this early, you want good results, but at the same time, you’ve got to understand that I haven’t picked up a bat against live pitching in several months, so you just try to take away as much away from every plate appearance as you can,” Davis said.

“I thought the first guy they threw (Daniel Norris) looked pretty good. He threw me a couple good pitches to hit that I took. You get back out there, you get used to seeing the shift and seeing the defense, guys going through pitch sequence and really just swinging at game-time speed.”

It’s just an exhbition game, but Davis had to love sending a ball deep into the night, the sound of the impact so loud that it echoed throughout the ballpark and into Bradenton.

“There were a couple of pitches in my other two at-bats that I would have liked to have back, but it being this early, the biggest thing for me is just getting my timing down,” he said.

“I feel like I’m seeing the ball well, but it’s a timing thing, missing pitches you should drive because you’re late and then taking pitches you should drive because you’re too early. You’re just a tick off,” he said.

“There’s an importance for everybody. We all have things that we need to work on. The big thing for me is to continue what I’ve done in the past that’s made me successful and really stay healthy.

“It’s funny because in spring training, the first couple games you play you only play five or six innings and you almost kind of want to play nine once you get out there and start moving around, but you have to pace yourself. Buck (Showalter) knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s been around the game long enough to know what guys need and when to give them a blow.”