WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The competiton for the Nationals' No. 5 starter role takes front and center this afternoon, when right-hander Joe Ross faces the Marlins in his second spring start. Ross, who is battling right-handers Austin Voth and Erick Fedde for the last spot in the rotation, worked two perfect innings in his last outing on Wednesday against the Yankees in Tampa. Ross was supposed to follow Max Scherzer in the team's exhibition opener, but rain cost him that opportunity after he'd...

SARASOTA, Fla. - He is still not outhitting Chris Davis, but Orioles third baseman Rio Ruiz had quite a day Sunday in Clearwater. In the 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, he went 3-for-3. Ruiz hit all three balls hard, smacking a booming double to left in the first and a solo homer to left in the fourth. He pulled a line drive single into right in the fifth. He is now 10-for-15, batting .667 and trailing Davis, who is hitting .714 (5-for-7). Ruiz, who has a 1.625 OPS, has two doubles and...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - If spring training is a time to try new things, Wander Suero is a perfect candidate to learn. After two seasons in the Nationals bullpen, the lanky right-hander continues to tantalize with his willingness to take the ball whenever asked and a cutter that can be an effective out pitch. So what does manager Davey Martinez want to see out of the 28-year-old coming off a season in which he pitched in 78 games, went 6-9 with a 4.54 ERA and struck out 81 batters in 71 1/3...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Five non-roster players have been removed from the Orioles spring training camp roster, including infield prospects Rylan Bannon and Mason McCoy and left-handers Zac Lowther and Alexander Wells. Infielder Malquin Canelo, a longshot candidate to win a utility job, also has been reassigned to minor league camp. Bannon, McCoy, Lowther and Wells never were in line to head north with the club. They'll report to Twin Lakes Park and await their assignments, which could lead to a...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Sean Doolittle's primary goal in his first game action of spring training was to focus on his secondary pitches. For a guy who usually makes hay with an array of rising fastballs, challenging hitters to square up a pitch they know is coming at them, that can be a tall order - especially when he hasn't faced hitters in a game yet this spring. "I have some different grips I'm trying," he said after throwing a scoreless inning, fanning a pair and allowing a hit in a 3-1...

SARASOTA, Fla. - José Iglesias has video stored in his phone of three at-bats in the same game that concluded in the same fashion. Three outs that remind him of J.J. Hardy's mastery at shortstop. Grounders in Hardy's vicinity that appear to be infield hits until Iglesias hears the popping sounds from the first baseman's mitt. The ball beats him to the bag by a fraction of a second. So impressive that Iglesias can't get angry about it. The opposing shortstop instead tips his cap to Hardy,...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Left-hander John Means is looking ready for opening day already. He'll have several spring outings yet to go, but today he buzzed through a frontline Phillies lineup, recording nine straight outs in a three-inning outing. Means had one web gem behind him. Bryce Harper hit a hard grounder wide of first in the opening inning. First baseman Stevie Wilkerson made a diving stop to the backhand side and tossed to Means covering the bag. Means needed just 41 pitches and threw 24...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - As they prepare to play the Phillies today at Spectrum Field, the Orioles are closing in on their first round of spring cuts. It will likely happen in the next day or two before the club heads for the east coast of Florida for two games starting Tuesday. "It is starting to get around that time, so we're starting to discuss (that)," manager Brandon Hyde said before the game in the visitor's dugout. "We need to start paring down our numbers a little bit." Hyde said...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The calendar has turned to March and Ryan Zimmerman's line on the stat sheet is not full of zeros. Zimmerman made his spring debut Thursday night and played first base again yesterday. Today, he's back in the lineup for his first back-to-back assignments of spring, a steppingstone that didn't bypass manager Davey Martinez like a car ignoring the speed limit on Interstate 95. "I got Zim four at-bats in February," Martinez deadpanned this morning. "We got to look it...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Alex Cobb was held back in camp this morning and assigned a simulated game on the Ed Smith Stadium field while left-hander John Means traveled to Clearwater. The top two starters in the Orioles rotation got in their work on the same day. Cobb threw a lengthy bullpen session prior to the sim game, with Austin Wynns catching him. The veteran right-hander has gotten over the illness that slowed him in camp and restricted him to one inning in his only exhibition start. Whatever he...