VIERA, Fla. - Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth injured his right shoulder seven months ago when he crashed into the right field wall at Nats Park while making a catch. He missed a handful of games, had a couple of cortisone shots and was in the lineup for the remainder of the season and the playoffs. When the shoulder wouldn't heal, the 35-year-old finally opted for surgery in January. The original timetable for his full recovery was 60 to 90 days. But Werth will see his first action in a...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Matt Wieters remains hopeful that he can return to catching on Wednesday after an X-ray on his elbow yesterday didn't reveal any structural damage. Wieters is letting the elbow "rest" after being diagnosed with tendinitis following his Grapefruit League debut behind the plate on Tuesday. Asked whether he's concerned, Wieters replied, "No. It's a matter of we put in a lot of work in the nine months of rehab and the body was just telling me, 'OK, we've put in a lot of...

SARASOTA, Fla. - When the 2015 season begins, Orioles starting pitchers have a goal in mind - to pitch more innings than last year, get deeper in games more often and pursue the goal of a 200-inning season. Last season, while O's starting pitchers ranked fifth in the American League with an ERA of 3.61, the Orioles were 10th in starter innings at 953 2/3. Detroit led the AL with 1,007 starter innings. Chris Tillman has reached the 200 mark each of the last two years, pitching 206 1/3 innings...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Left-hander Brian Matusz is making another start today for the Orioles after throwing three scoreless innings with no walks on March 14 against the Rays. Matusz hasn't issued a walk in 6 1/3 innings this spring. He's allowed one run and five hits and struck out eight batters. Whether he stays in the organization is another matter. The trade rumors continue to swirl. I'll be at Twin Lakes Park today, where Kevin Gausman and Wei-Yin Chen are pitching in separate Single-A...

VIERA, Fla. - Pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark both turned out their best performances of the spring in today's unique 10-inning 0-0 tie between the Nationals and Tigers. Gonzalez worked the count in his favor throughout his four innings, striking out five while allowing only two hits and one walk. "I think the most I was happy with was how my arm feels," said Gonzalez. "It feels fantastic. I'm so excited about it. Just talking about it from my last start to now, I was just trying to...

SARASOTA, Fla. - A strong spring training continued this afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium for Orioles outfielder Henry Urrutia. He entered today's game in the top of the sixth, taking over in right field for Travis Snider. Two innings later, he did something he's never done in 58 regular-season major league at-bats or in 204 at-bats at Triple-A Norfolk last year. He homered. And it was a blast. He hit it out to center field, driving an 0-1 pitch from Stolmy Pimentel over the wall to break a 4-4...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The X-rays on Matt Wieters' right elbow came back clean today, according to manager Buck Showalter, who added that no further tests were scheduled. Wieters caught his first Grapefruit League game on Tuesday and was diagnosed with tendinitis in the elbow the following day. Head athletic trainer Richie Bancells arranged the X-rays today as a precaution. "There's no reason to have any other tests," Showalter said after a 6-4 win over the Pirates. "I talked to him when he got...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Tillman's steady progress toward what will likey be another opening day start for the Orioles continued today at Ed Smith Stadium. In was his third start of the spring and his third good one, as he went four innings against the Pirates. The right-hander allowed four hits and one run with no walks and five strikeouts. He threw 65 pitches, 43 for strikes. "Thought it was really good, actually," Tillman said outside the O's clubhouse. "Fastball command was really good....

ORIOLES QUICK WRAP Score: Orioles 6, Pirates 4 Recap: Henry Urrutia homered on the first pitch from Stolmy Pimentel leading off the bottom of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie and Ryan Lavarnway added an RBI double later in the inning. Chris Tillman allowed one run and four hits in four innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. Ryan Flaherty and Adam Jones homered off Pirates reliever Arquimedes Caminero in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie. Jones gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the first with...

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 0, Tigers 0 (10 innings) Recap: The Nationals and Tigers combined for 12 hits in this scoreless extra-inning affair. Gio Gonzalez was impressive, striking out five while allowing only two hits and one walk in four innings. Tanner Roark had his best outing of the spring, scattering three hits with three strikeouts in two frames. Nats relievers Matt Thornton and Aaron Barrett also shut out in the Tigers in an inning of work each. Need to know: Tough day at...