BRADENTON, Fla. - I've taken my obstructed-view seat in the second row of the McKechnie Field press box. My colleague, Steve Melewski, is in Sarasota for the B game against the Pirates, who are starting left-hander Francisco Liriano. Steve Clevenger is playing third base in the B game and J.P. Arencibia is at first base. Matt Wieters is making another start behind the plate. Manager Buck Showalter is trying to get his catchers some extra at-bats The Orioles are using two designated hitters,...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles third baseman Manny Machado is making the trip to Bradenton for today's game against the Pirates. This is the Orioles' shortest trip of the spring. Chris Davis is starting in right field. Caleb Joseph is behind the plate. For the Orioles Alejandro De Aza LF Steve Pearce 1B Chris Davis RF Adam Jones CF Travis Snider DH Manny Machado 3B Ryan Flaherty SS Caleb Joseph C Jonathan Schoop 2B Wei-Yin Chen LHP Relievers include Mark Hendrickson, Brad Brach, Steve Johnson, Mike...

VIERA, Fla. - Nationals manager Matt Williams made his usual wholesale substitutions before the seventh inning of Tuesday's road game against the Mets. The Tradition Field public address announcer began reading them off so fans could recognize the changes. "At shortstop, Difo for Espinosa," he said while continuing down the line with every player's name and position until he got to the last. "At first base, 18 for 33 ...18 for 33." No. 18 is Kila Ka'aihue. That's pronounced Kee-la...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles have two more games scheduled for today, with only the one in Bradenton counting in the Grapefruit League standings and stats. Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen is making his third start. He's tossed five scoreless innings with only two hits allowed, one walk and three strikeouts. Chen will attempt to join Ubaldo Jimenez as the only Orioles' starters to complete four innings. Logan Verrett threw two scoreless innings yesterday and said he'll probably pitch again on...

SARASOTA, Fla. - His time in major league camp may soon be coming to an end, but Orioles 20-year-old pitching prospect Hunter Harvey has made a very nice impression over the last few weeks while hanging out with the major league players that he someday wants to join. When asked about how Harvey has done in this camp, manager Buck Showalter said just three words at one point yesterday as a big smile came across his face. "Good, pretty good," he said simply. But then he had a few more words to...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The opponent was not close to being on the level of a major league team and it was on a back field, but Matt Wieters got behind the plate and caught six innings today as the Orioles played the Puerto Rico Development Team. Puerto Rico agreed to not steal bases, even though they had very few baserunners to even try anyway. Wieters' time to try and throw out runners is coming. But today he had to settle for a toss to second base before the top of the first when Tillman was...

VIERA, Fla. - Nationals manager Matt Williams has seen enough of injuries lately, so there was some immediate cause for concern in the third inning of today's game at Space Coast Stadium when starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez landed awkwardly after jumping and attempting to reach a hard hit ball by the Marlins' Marcell Ozuna. Williams and Nats pitching coach Steve McCatty immediately came out of the dugout to check on Gonzalez. "I tried to do the jump man logo and catch the ball in the end zone...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles aren't expected to make any cuts until Sunday. Manager Buck Showalter hustled into the prep room to meet with reporters following today's 3-2 loss to the Rays. He wanted to get over to Field 4 to catch the remainder of the game against the Puerto Rico Development Program. Speaking of catching, Matt Wieters was behind the plate for six innings against Puerto Rico. More on that later. Left-hander Brian Matusz shut out the Rays for three innings, allowing two hits,...

NATIONALS QUICK WRAPS Score: Marlins 4, Nationals (ss) 0 Recap: It was a quiet day for the Nationals offense, which managed just three hits against Marlins pitching. In fact, the Nats didn't have a runner reach second base until Michael A. Taylor's leadoff triple in the sixth inning. Gio Gonzalez allowed four runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings. Need to know: There were some encouraging signs from the Nats bullpen, which didn't allow a Marlins run or hit...

ORIOLES QUICK WRAP Score: Rays 3, Orioles 2Recap: The Orioles offense was stagnant again, with the first 14 batters being retired before Manny Machado reached on an error and Delmon Young walked in the fifth inning. Rey Navarro bounced a single up the middle off Steve Geltz leading off the sixth, and he scored on J.J.Hardy's one-out double. Steve Pearce hit his first home run leading off the seventh. Brian Matusz allowed two hits in three scoreless innings, with no walks and three strikeouts....