The Orioles today announced that individual tickets for April and May games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards will go on sale Wednesday, March 31, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Due to capacity restrictions, limited seating is available for the purchase of single-game tickets for any of the team's first 24 home games of the season, with the exception of Opening Day, which will be reserved for Birdland Members. Fans interested in receiving greater access to enjoy Orioles baseball this season may consider an...

Luis Avilán has made 454 big league appearances since 2012, plus another 48 in the minors. All have come in relief. He hasn't started a game since he was a 22-year-old Braves prospect at Double-A, nearly a decade ago. So when the veteran left-hander took the mound for the bottom of the first Thursday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., he immediately realized something looked different. "It was just a little weird, just for the fact that, just the first inning, the...

When Juan Soto battled his way through an 11-pitch at-bat with young Marlins flamethrower Sixto Sánchez in the top of the first tonight in Jupiter, Fla., and ultimately trotted to first base having drawn a well-earned walk, it felt like the most encouraging thing the slumping Nationals slugger had done in days. But when the inning ended a few minutes later and his teammates took their positions for the bottom of the first, Soto did not join them. He would later be seen walking back to the...

As the loudest sounds in Orioles camp today came from the maneuvering of veteran pitchers, like furniture dragged across wood floors, young left-hander Keegan Akin had to tune it out and do his job. A smart approach, but hard to execute. Akin made the start tonight and threw 32 pitches in a two-run top of the first inning against the Pirates in Sarasota. He was charged with six runs and eight hits in only 2 1/3, walking two batters and striking out three, and headed to the dugout with head...

The rotation guessing game can't be played without the constant moving of pieces. The Orioles appear to be lining up Dean Kremer behind opening day starter John Means. They appear to want Matt Harvey to pitch the third game, though it hasn't been stated. He could go fourth. My logic came from the idea that the team would want to separate rookies Kremer and Keegan Akin, but the latter has to earn the job and he struggled last night. Would the Orioles stick Bruce Zimmermann in the fifth spot...

With the games dwindling and the rotation competition still apparently very much open, it was not a good time for a rough outing on the mound. But 25-year-old Orioles lefty pitching prospect Keegan Akin had one tonight. He could not make it through the third inning as the Orioles hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium. Making his first appearance in a spring game since March 15 - he certainly had pitched on the back fields on other days - Akin allowed six runs and eight hits over 2...

We don't know what the stats say about a couple of Bruce Zimmermann outings in B games and/or on the back fields, but we do know his stats in three spring training games have been close to perfect. Hard to top a zero ERA over nine innings. The Baltimore native, 2013 Loyola High School grad and former player at Towson University got his feet wet with two games in the majors late last year. He gave up five runs in three innings in a start against Tampa Bay and allowed one run over four innings...

Starlin Castro remains day-to-day during the final week of spring training after an MRI of the veteran infielder revealed a "very mild" hamstring strain, according to Nationals manager Davey Martinez. Castro, who hurt himself running the bases Tuesday against the Cardinals, doesn't appear to be seriously injured. But at this late stage of the spring, each day lost carries more significance. The Nationals, who face the Marlins tonight, have four Grapefruit League games remaining in Florida...

Matt Harvey isn't too old to appreciate a good joke. Especially the kind delivered at his expense and the punchline bringing smiles all around the room. No one was happier than Harvey, who learned with a dash of humor that the Orioles selected his contract and put him on their 40-man roster for opening day. Manager Brandon Hyde and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias decided to have a little fun with it. "I come in pretty much every day and say 'hi' to everyone, been pretty...

Anybody want to get weird on March 25? Well, let's get weird! The Nationals tonight are starting Luis Avilán., a reliever. He will serve as an "opener," pitching the bottom of the first against the Marlins for sure and possibly taking the mound for the bottom of the second as well. He's also batting eighth, and Davey Martinez says if that spot in the lineup comes up before Avilán is done pitching, he'll indeed bat for himself. Erick Fedde, originally named tonight's starter, will...