WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Max Scherzer wanted to throw 100 pitches Saturday in his final tune-up before his opening day start in Cincinnati. He wound up settling for a pitch count of 93, but seven full innings on the mound, tops among all Nationals starters this spring. Exceptionally efficient early on - he only needed 40 pitches to complete his first four innings - Scherzer wound up not having a real chance to reach triple digits, unless he wanted to try to convince the coaching staff to let him...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles will make two roster cuts Sunday morning and two more following the game against the Phillies in Clearwater. Manager Buck Showalter was satisfied with Chris Tillman's outing tonight despite the six runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. Eleven batters came to the plate in the second, but he retired 11 of the last 12. "Chris got the six ups and pitched well after the one inning," Showalter said following a 12-4 loss to the Twins. "Gave up a swinging bunt in the...

With tonight's crowd of 7,769 for this season's Spring Training finale at Ed Smith Stadium, the Orioles have drawn a total of 103,294 fans for 15 home games in Sarasota. It is the eighth time in nine seasons that the Orioles have welcomed more than 100,000 fans at Ed Smith Stadium. Since moving Major League operations to Sarasota, 988,349 fans have enjoyed Orioles Spring Training baseball at Ed Smith Stadium. The Orioles had six sellouts this spring, including the second-highest single-game...

For Orioles pitching prospect Branden Kline, the long road back from Tommy John surgery was even longer than expected. Kline's last game for an O's affiliate was with Double-A Bowie on May 20, 2015. He left a start at Trenton after just 1 2/3 innings. It later led to surgery on Oct. 8, 2015. When Kline reported to spring training in 2017, he expected to pitch a full and healthy season on the farm. But that didn't happen. He had two setbacks, both very similar. He had two additional...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles optioned outfielder Austin Hays to Double-A Bowie before tonight's game against the Twins, leaving their camp roster at 34 players. Craig Gentry appears to have made the club as a non-roster invitee. Hays, 22, was stalled in camp due to a sore lat that required a cortisone injection and kept him out of the outfield for an extended stretch. He went 9-for-37 (.243) with two doubles, four RBIs and 12 strikeouts in 15 games. One of the top prospects in the system, Hays...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals roster isn't down to 25 players just yet, and it doesn't appear it will be until after the club heads north and plays its final exhibition game Tuesday in D.C. But with a flurry of moves today, the Nats did finally settle a few important matters and codify the final remaining decisions they have to make before Thursday's season opener in Cincinnati. Today's transactions: Austin L. Adams, Pedro Severino and Andrew Stevenson were optioned to Triple-A...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Tim Beckham's groin injury is improving, but he won't play Sunday in Clearwater and most likely will be held out of Monday's game in Norfolk, where the forecast is forcing the Orioles into taking a more cautious approach. Beckham left Thursday's game after two innings, tweaking the groin while stretching in the weight room and again while fielding a ground ball. Manager Buck Showalter thinks Beckham can avoid the disabled list, but he isn't dismissing the...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles' spring tradition of leading a player in one roster direction before throwing him a curve and breaking good news resumed yesterday with catcher Chance Sisco. Sisco found out that he made the club as the backup to starter Caleb Joseph, but only after wondering what he did wrong. It began with third base coach Bobby Dickerson and continued with manager Buck Showalter and bench coach John Russell. And it ended with smiles and a roster spot on opening day. "Bobby...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - If the Nationals needed somebody to step up and rustle them out of their late-spring slumber, who better than Max Scherzer to lead the way? Five days after a shaky outing against the Marlins in which he served up three homers, Scherzer is mowing down the same Miami lineup in his final tune-up before opening day. Scherzer is through four scoreless innings having allowed only one hit while striking out six. And he has managed to keep his pitch count to a minimum, throwing...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Manny Machado is serving as the designated hitter tonight, Luis Sardiñas is the shortstop and Danny Valencia is the third baseman for the Orioles' 6:05 p.m. game against the Twins at Ed Smith Stadium. Anthony Santander is the right fielder and Craig Gentry is in center. Chris Davis continues to accumulate at-bats as the leadoff hitter. Chris Tillman is starting tonight and the bullpen includes Joely Rodriguez, Rule 5 pick Pedro Araujo, Andrew Faulkner, Lucas Long and James...