KISSIMMMEE, Fla. - The Nationals will see an old friend in today's exhibition game against the Astros. Right-hander Doug Fister, who signed a one-year, $8 million deal with Houston in the offseason, will make the start for the home team. Washington counters with righty Max Scherzer, who will be making his second start of the spring. Once again, not a lot of regulars on the trip. The Nationals are excited to play the Astros, who are only an hour away and the closest opponent on the Grapefruit...

In a recent entry here, I wrote that the Orioles could field a lineup this year with five players that have hit 30 or more homers in one season in the major leaguers. Change that number to six. The Orioles agreed to terms with Pedro Alvarez last night on a one-year deal, pending a physical. Here are career-high homers totals for six Orioles, adding Alvarez: 53 - Chris Davis 36 - Pedro Alvarez 35 - Manny Machado 34 - Mark Trumbo 33 - Adam Jones 30 - J.J. Hardy Alvarez, who turned 29 on Feb. 6,...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Failing to secure a new right fielder in spring training, the Orioles decided to go after another home run bat. The club has agreed to terms with Pedro Alvarez on a one-year deal, multiple sources confirmed tonight. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune was first with the news. Alvarez will receive $5.75 million, plus another $1.25 million in incentives, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The deal is contingent on Alvarez passing a physical. Always an important...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Don Werner is celebrating his 63rd birthday today and it's unfortunate if the name brings little or no recognition to fans. He's a valued behind-the-scenes member of the Orioles organization, a roving catching instructor also known for his skills at throwing batting practice. He's a former major leaguer who's highly respected in the industry. But he's something much more important. Don Werner is a cancer survivor. I'm hanging the label on him despite his diagnosis coming...

Nationals catchers are making good progress in early camp, according to Single-A Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson. Raudy Read has been working in major league camp while Wilson Ramos recovered from LASIK eye surgery. Jakson Reetz has battled through a wrist injury from last year and got hit in the jaw with a ball during instructional league in October. Matt Reistetter and Jorge Tillero have worked a lot in early camp. Tillero has done a nice job calling pitches, while Reistetter is a lefty...

VIERA, Fla. - We're going to learn a lot about Dusty Baker during the course of spring training - how he uses his starting pitchers, which situations he thinks call for bunts, how long a leash he'll give a reliever who's struggling with his control. Answering those questions are all part of a manger's genesis into a particular job. But yesterday's postgame media session with Baker shed some light on how he approaches players young and old, as well as hitters and fielders, during this time...

VIERA, Fla. - Every pitch has a pedigree, and the lineage of the splitter Joe Ross unveiled in game for the first time Monday afternoon is a doozy. It was born in a conversation with a teammate, probably somewhere along State Road 528, the route affectionately known as the Beachline, when a group of the Nationals were heading out to bond over a Golden State Warriors-Orlando Magic basketball game last month shortly after spring training started. That pitcher learned it from a former teammate who...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles put two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth inning today on singles by Ryan Flaherty and Dariel Alvarez, but Paul Janish grounded into a double play to give the Twins a 3-0 victory at Ed Smith Stadium. The winless streak has reached eight games. Flaherty, who entered as a pinch-runner and played third base and second base, is 7-for-12 this spring. Ubaldo Jimenez tossed three scoreless innings to lower his ERA from 162.00 to 16.20. "Ubaldo was good, crisp,"...

ORIOLES QUICK WRAP Score: Twins 3, Orioles 0 Recap: Nice recovery for Ubaldo Jimenez, who followed a poor debut with three scoreless innings. He allowed one hit, walked one and struck out three. Hunter Harvey allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out one. Andrew Triggs had a walk and strikeout in two-thirds of an inning. Mychal Givens allowed a run on two hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning. Cesar Cabral retired all four batters he faced, but Juan Centeno had an RBI...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles are waiting for the results of X-rays taken on reliever T.J. McFarland's left elbow. They're hopeful that he's dealing with a minor muscle issue instead of anything related to a ligament. Reliever Brian Matusz played catch yesterday and didn't report any discomfort in his lower back. "He's coming along," said manager Buck Showalter. "I think he's going to be sooner than later. I think he'll rejoin us here before long. They were talking today about how good...