Registration is now open for Youth Baseball Day, presented by Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT), to be held Sunday, March 23 at Ed Smith Stadium. All youth baseball teams that sign up will receive discounted tickets ($10 each) to the Orioles' 1:05 p.m. game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and may participate in a pre-game, on-field parade around the warning track. Players whose teams are not registering may still take part, but players must be in team uniform to participate in the...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Nationals made two more cuts this morning, optioning left-hander Felipe Rivero to Double-A Harrisburg and reassigning right-hander A.J. Cole to minor league camp. Rivero, the 22-year-old acquired with catcher Jose Lobaton from Tampa Bay, made three spring appearances, allowing two runs in four innings for a 4.50 ERA. Rivero struck out none and walked none. General manager Mike Rizzo raved about Rivero's potential after completing the deal with the Rays, and the lanky...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles catcher Matt Wieters stood at his locker today with his right ankle heavily wrapped. "They do it right here," he said. Wieters is in good spirits despite sustaining a mild sprain of his ankle during yesterday's game against the Red Sox. Steve Clevenger is starting behind the plate today. Wieters rolled the ankle while rounding third base and came out after four innings. "Nothing too major," he said. "Regular season, you'd probably tough through it, but I'll...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Ubaldo Jimenez makes his second start for the Orioles today in a 1:05 game against the Phillies. Matt Wieters is out of the lineup after rolling his right ankle yesterday at third base and coming out of the game. Nolan Reimold is serving as the designated hitter. He will go to the minor league complex Thursday while the Orioles are in Tampa. A.J. Burnett returns to Ed Smith Stadium, where he allowed six runs and seven hits over three innings Friday afternoon. For the...

VIERA, Fla. - In a couple of hours, I'll be making the trip over to Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, spring home of the Astros. It was in that stadium last year when the Astros' mascot walked right up to the front of the press box, stood directly in front of me, tapped on the glass and creepily started waving at me. Talk about nightmare city. That's the type of image that will haunt your dreams, right there. Fourteen games into spring training, the Nationals finally will get their...

SARASOTA, Fla. - A.J. Burnett returns to Ed Smith Stadium today, where the Orioles battered him for six runs and seven hits in three innings on Friday. It's like Michael Spinks asking for a rematch with Mike Tyson. Of course, it's only an exhibition game. And the Orioles have moved on from their failed negotiations with Burnett over the winter. Not that they're done trying to sign another starter. They still have that one-year offer on the table for Ervin Santana that's in the $13...

The Orioles have the toughest schedule in the major leagues this season. That is according to this story from FanGraphs, which made this list looking at each team's opponents and going by team-by-team WAR projections. The O's MASN partners, the Washington Nationals, were rated to have the easiest schedule for 2014. No doubt the AL East remains tough with the Orioles' schedule ranked No. 1 along with Toronto No. 3, New York No. 6, Tampa Bay No. 7 and Boston No. 8 in the American League. On...

VIERA, Fla. - It was a quiet 3-2 ballgame this afternoon, with just nine total hits put up by the Nationals and Yankees. Jordan Zimmermann had a good bit to do with the limited number of baserunners, at least when it came to the Yankees' offensive attack. Zimmermann worked four perfect innings today, going 12-up, 12-down. He struck out four and threw 54 pitches on the afternoon, 37 for strikes. "It went pretty well," Zimmermann said. "First couple innings, I didn't get ahead of the guys...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles catcher Matt Wieters came out of today's game in the top of the fifth inning after rolling his ankle at third base. The removal was done as a precaution, according to manager Buck Showalter. The club hasn't scheduled an X-ray. Wieters, who earlier had drawn a bases-loaded walk and advanced on a wild pitch, was running to third base on Ryan Flaherty's ground ball with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Wieters is icing the ankle to prevent swelling. He...

VIERA, Fla. - After sitting out the last week and a half with inflammation in his right elbow, Nationals right-hander Doug Fister played catch today off flat ground, and came through the session OK, according to manager Matt Williams. This was the first time Fister had thrown since feeling discomfort in his elbow after his spring debut on March 2. An MRI revealed that Fister was dealing with inflammation in the elbow, and the Nats have been treating the issue with anti-inflammatories, ice...