NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Mets 7, Nationals 5 Recap: Ross Detwiler was solid in his third start of spring, allowing a run over 3 2/3 innings. The Nats took a 2-1 lead into the eighth, but allowed six total runs in the last two frames. Brock Peterson's three-run homer in the eighth wasn't enough to overcome the damage. Need to know: Christian Garcia, Rafael Soriano and Tyler Clippard combined to allow just one baserunner and strike out four over their 3 1/3 collective innings. Impressive...

TAMPA - Orioles pitcher Bud Norris didn't make it out of the second inning today in his worst start of the spring. Norris had tossed five scoreless innings over two starts before today, with three hits, one walk and six strikeouts. However, he gave up three runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings against the Yankees, with two walks and two strikeouts. Norris threw 60 pitches, 35 for strikes. He also committed a throwing error that allowed a run to score. Brad Brach replaced Norris with two outs...

TAMPA - Orioles pitcher Mike Wright has been shut down with tendinitis in his right elbow. Wright, one of the Orioles' top pitching prospects, didn't reveal the discomfort until reporting to the minor league complex at Twin Lakes Park. Wright wasn't sharp this spring, allowing one run and three hits in three innings, with three walks and two strikeouts, before being optioned. Center fielder Adam Jones is the proud father of a baby boy. Manager Buck Showalter exchanged text messages with...

This week, I'm throwin' it back to an early moment from 2013. But describing it as just an "early" moment doesn't do it justice. Yes, it is from very early in the season, but this moment was so much more. In the third series of the season, the Orioles traveled to Boston to face their division foes. The Birds entered the top of the ninth down 5-3. The inning started off with a solo home run from Chris Davis, which cut Boston's lead to one run. With two quick outs following the homer,...

VIERA, Fla. - After throwing off flat ground this morning, the third straight day he'd done so, Doug Fister felt "a little bit tight" in his right arm, according to Nationals manager Matt Williams. As a result of that tightness, the Nationals will evaluate Fister tomorrow morning before clearing him to throw his scheduled Friday bullpen session. Fister has been sidelined since March 2 because of inflammation in his right elbow. He had thrown off flat ground the last two days without any...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Zach Britton can do the math. The Orioles have five spots in their starting rotation and right now he doesn't figure to get one. But he wants to make the team, of course, and if it is as a reliever, that is fine with him. He is out of options, but he certainly doesn't want to be out of a job with the organization that drafted him in the third round in 2006. Britton is having a good camp, showing some mid-90s velocity at times. He pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning at Ed Smith...

TAMPA - Johan Santana, signed to a minor league deal earlier this month, remains encouraged by the condition of his left shoulder and the progress he's making in his throwing program. "Once I get into the routine of baseball and doing everything with the team, but also with the trainers, it's definitely much better," he said. "I'm feeling good so far." Santana is throwing off flat ground from 120 feet, "just to make sure it feels good," he said. "Actually, what we're trying to do...

With the season right around the corner, fans are anxiously anticipating the next 162 games. Over the span of the next six months, we will get to witness tons of home runs, strikeouts and diving catches, but sometimes, it's the little things that remind you why you watch the Nationals day in and day out. This week, I decided to switch it up a little. I'm throwin' it back to a late September game at Nats Park. In the seventh inning, a routine line drive was hit directly to Ian Desmond....

SARASOTA, Fla. - Last season, Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy made his first All-Star game start and won his second Gold Glove. He was one of just four players in the majors to win both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger. Now he is anxious to find out if he'll be slugging for the Orioles beyond this season. This is the last year on his current contract and he'll be a free agent after this season. The O's have indicated they want to sign him to a new long-term deal, but not much is happening on...

VIERA, Fla. - With yesterday's split-squad games in the books, the Nationals made six cuts today, optioning outfielder Michael Taylor and left-hander Matt Purke to Double-A Harrisburg and reassigning right-handers Clay Hensley, Josh Roenicke and Daniel Stange and left-hander Danny Rosenbaum to minor league camp. Taylor, considered the top defensive outfielder in the Nats' organization, went 3-for-16 (.188) with a triple and three RBIs in 13 games played this spring. This will be the...