masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla. – Overheard this morning at breakfast: “Oh, it’s going to be chilly Friday. Sixty-eight degrees.”

Yeah, chilly.

Brian Roberts said his back feels a little better, but he won’t play in today’s game against the Twins in Sarasota. And there’s no way he’s traveling to Fort Myers tonight for the other split-squad game.

“It’s not too bad,” he said.

Roberts said he woke up with back spasms a few days ago. He said they weren’t caused by him diving into first base during…SARASOTA, Fla. – Overheard this morning at breakfast: “Oh, it’s going to be chilly Friday. Sixty-eight degrees.”

Yeah, chilly.

Brian Roberts said his back feels a little better, but he won’t play in today’s game against the Twins in Sarasota. And there’s no way he’s traveling to Fort Myers tonight for the other split-squad game.

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“It’s not too bad,” he said.

Roberts said he woke up with back spasms a few days ago. He said they weren’t caused by him diving into first base during Monday night’s game against the Yankees.

“I never really said anything because I wanted to keep playing,” he said. “When I get them, they usually come on and then they go away on their own after a couple days. I probably didn’t help things by sliding when I already had back spasms, but that wasn’t the cause of them.”

Roberts used to get spasms before he was diagnosed last winter with a herniated disk.

“I used to get them every now and then,” he said. “I try to play every day. I’ll just wake up and see how it is. If it was the regular season, I’d probably play, but I doubt that we’ll push it now.”

Cesar Izturis said his left ankle feels a lot better today. He rolled it during Monday’s split-squad game in Fort Myers and couldn’t make yesterday’s trip to Clearwater. The swelling has gone down and he could return to the lineup by the end of the week.

Izturis will hit and run today to test the ankle. He received treatment on it three times yesterday and iced it after he left the ballpark.

“There’s no pain,” he said. “It’s good.”

Here’s the Orioles lineup vs. the Twins:

J.J. Hardy SS
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Mark Reynolds 3B
Luke Scott 1B
Nolan Reimold LF
Matt Wieters C
Nick Green 2B

Jake Arrieta RHP