SARASOTA, Fla. - Outfielder Nolan Reimold contracted food poisoning last night and was sent back to the hotel. "He was sick during the night. Ate something wrong," said manager Buck Showalter. "He won't be having the skillet breakfast anymore. I can tell you that. "We make them come in. He came by my office and started opening his mouth, and I said, 'Go home.' He looked bad." Showalter indicated that his initial plans don't call for David Lough to play against left-handers, which...

This Thursday, March 6, the Orioles will host the 4th annual All Faiths Food Drive to help people in need in the Sarasota area. All fans attending the 1:05 p.m. game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Ed Smith Stadium are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items and/or monetary donations to benefit the All Faiths Food Bank. Since 2011, 2,400 pounds of food and $3,500 in cash donations have been collected at the yearly food drive to help people in need in the Sarasota area. Last year, All...

There have been some publications that have talked about how the Nationals system is not as strong as others, but Baseball Prospectus has come out with its rankings of the best talent in the major leagues of prospects 25 and under. The Nationals rank second behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Of course, it helps when the top of the list comes from back-to-back years when the Nationals selected first in the amateur draft, grabbing starter Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Bryce Harper. Also at the...

VIERA, Fla. - Left-hander Ross Detwiler will make his Grapefruit League debut against the Yankees in Tampa this afternoon. Denard Span will lead off and play center for the Nationals. For the Nationals: CF Denard Span 2B Danny Espinosa LF Tyler Moore DH Scott Hairston C Jose Lobaton 1B Matt Skole SS Zach Walters 3B Will Rhymes RF Eury Perez LHP Ross Detwiler For the Yankees: CF Brett Gardner SS Derek Jeter C Brian McCann 2B Brian Roberts DH Francisco Cervelli 3B Kelly Johnson...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Delmon Young is back on the bench today after collecting two hits for the Orioles yesterday in Fort Myers. Young could get an at-bat or two later, and he's expected to make the trip to Tampa for Tuesday night's game against the Yankees. He's on a typical spring schedule as he attempts to crack the 40-man roster and break camp with the team. The work day started early for Young, who already was bathed in a heavy sweat before players took the field for batting practice....

SARASOTA, Fla. - Shortstop J.J. Hardy is leading off and left fielder David Lough is batting ninth today for the Orioles' game against the Twins at Ed Smith Stadium. Don't read anything into it. Nelson Cruz is playing right field, with Nick Markakis serving as the designated hitter. This is Cruz's first start in the outfield. For the Orioles J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis DH Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Nelson Cruz RF Matt Wieters C Ryan Flaherty 2B Alex Gonzalez 3B David Lough LF Bud...

VIERA, Fla. - Today marks the one road trip this spring when the Nationals will make the drive across the state to the west coast of Florida. There are some gorgeous spring facilities on that side of the Sunshine State. The Red Sox have a nice new stadium in Fort Myers. The Orioles' facility in Sarasota is snazzy. We made the trip to Clearwater last year when the Nats played the Phillies, and that was a beautiful park in a beautiful location. The problem with all of these road games? The...

SARASOTA, Fla. - We're only three games into the exhibition schedule. Much too early to draw any conclusions. Much too early to ... Oh, who am I kidding? Let's take a look at a few Orioles who have grabbed my attention. Jonathan Schoop came off the bench yesterday and delivered a two-run double in the ninth inning of the Orioles' 8-6 loss to the Red Sox. The ball slammed off the replica Green Monster at JetBlue Park. The kid is swinging the bat like a man. The Orioles want Schoop, their...

Do you remember the 2012 Orioles? Of course you do, and one of the lessons we learned from that 93-win team that made the playoffs is that winning is a team effort. For that club, that specific cliche was maybe never more true. Do you remember that the 2012 Orioles had just one starting pitcher, Wei-Yin Chen, make more than 21 starts or pitch more than 140 innings? Chen was one of 19 players to record a win that year. That list included Chris Davis. Chen was one of 12 pitchers to make a start...

VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals are 3-0 thus far in spring training. Start printing those World Series tickets. The results here in spring mean nothing, but there were plenty of positives for manager Matt Williams to pull from today's 10-3 win over the Marlins, far more positives than he was able to pull from yesterday's ugly 16-15 victory over the Braves. Doug Fister, making his first spring start as a National, allowed one run over two innings today, striking out two. Fister said that his...