VIERA, Fla. - After breezing through a perfect first inning, Stephen Strasburg labored through 28 pitches in the second before Nationals manager Matt Williams removed him with two outs. Williams had previously said that it was his plan for all starters to pitch either two innings or around 45 pitches. Strasburg had thrown 40 pitches, 26 for strikes, when Williams went to the mound. Strasburg walked Randal Grichuk to start the second. Grichuk scored after back-to-back singles from Scott Moore...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The plan called for Orioles starter Bud Norris to work two innings today, but the Red Sox wouldn't allow it. Norris threw 30 pitches, only 15 for strikes, in the first inning and departed with a 4-0 deficit. Chaz Roe replaced him in the top of the second and turned in two scoreless innings. Norris was down 1-0 just two batters into the game after Milton Bradley Jr. led off with a single and former Oriole Jemile Weeks tripled into right-center field. After a walk, wild pitch...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Catcher Caleb Joseph took wife Brooke to the hospital late last night and manager Buck Showalter is waiting for a baby update. Joseph was in the original lineup today, but Steve Clevenger got the start behind the plate. Joseph called Showalter last night to update him. "He was all excited," Showalter said. "He said, 'At this time tomorrow, I'll be ... ' And I said, 'Don't jinx it. You might have one of those 30-hour labors.'" The Orioles will play a game on March 14...

VIERA, Fla. - Yunel Escobar will miss seven to 10 days with a Grade 1 left oblique strain according to Nationals manager Matt Williams. "It's very light, but we still have to shut him down for a few days to make sure that it gets out of there," Williams said. "We would anticipate him being back and playing in spring training games and ready for opening day ,but he'll just be a little bit delayed on that." "(Escobar) says that he doesn't feel it taking grounders or turning pivots. The...

VIERA, Fla. - Danny Espinosa makes his first start of the exhibition today against the Cardinals at Space Coast Stadium. Today's game will be televised on MASN HD beginning at 1 p.m. He's been a focus of the early part of spring training as he continues to work on hitting exclusively from the right side of the plate. Espinosa has been a switch-hitter since his youth and has very little experience facing right-handed pitching from the right side of the plate. Espinosa has been spending...

SARASOTA, Fla. - There's no sign of catcher Caleb Joseph in camp this morning. Could this mean his son, Walker Everett, is finally reporting today? Walker was due March 1, but there's no fine for being late. Joseph hasn't been able to travel with the team. He's appeared in one game, striking out in both at-bats. The Orioles are home today, but Steve Clevenger is behind the plate. Infielder Paul Janish said he probably won't start throwing until the middle of next week instead of this...

SARASOTA, Fla. - J.J. Hardy is batting second again today for the Orioles in their game against the Red Sox's split-squad team at Ed Smith Stadium. Hardy and Steve Pearce are 2-for-5 this spring. Small sample sizes, but nice starts. Alejandro De Aza, who's leading off again today, is 1-for-9 with a home run. Steve Clevenger is behind the plate. Everth Cabrera is batting ninth. The bullpen includes Wesley Wright, Dylan Bundy, Hunter Harvey, Eddie Gamboa, Pat McCoy, Oliver Drake and Chaz...

VIERA, Fla. - Dan Uggla is very familiar with Champions Stadium, just not the visitors clubhouse. Uggla played for the Braves for four seasons, meaning he was part of several spring trainings at the stadium down the street from Disney World. Coincidentally, his first Grapefruit League game in a Nationals uniform came against his old team. Uggla smoked a line drive single to right field in his first at-bat and scored on a Tyler Moore two-run homer. Most of the Braves fans applauded their former...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Bud Norris makes his spring debut today, as the Orioles return home for a 1:05 p.m. game against the Red Sox. The Orioles will face their second knuckleballer in two days, going from Toronto's R.A. Dickey to Boston's Steven Wright. No, not that Steven Wright. "I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place." "A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me. I'm afraid of widths." "What's another word for Thesaurus?" "It's a small...

Is strength of schedule important in baseball? Even if it is, how do you quantify it? For me, yes, there is some importance to it, but the quantifying part is the difficult part. Strength of schedule can have some significance with an unbalanced schedule as it relates to getting one of the two wild card berths. Since all teams play more than 50 percent of their games within their division, it stands to reason that if you are in a very tough division, you are at a disadvantage against a team...