SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles take their 8-2 record, the best in the Grapefruit League, to Bradenton today for a 1:05 p.m. game against the Pirates. It's the shortest trip of the spring. It also means sitting on a bar stool with an obstructed view in the press box, and the Pirates don't feed the media. But it's a short drive and a fair tradeoff. Most of the regulars are staying back today, as manager Buck Showalter indicated following yesterday's 9-2 win over the Pirates. For the...

Are the Orioles as good as they look right now? They are 8-2 in exhibition games, have scored 29 runs the last three games and 79 runs over the 10 games. They have the best record in the Grapefruit League and second-best among all American League teams behind Cleveland at 8-1. Yes, these games means nothing and won't help them even a little bit three weeks from today when the Orioles open the 2014 season. Can you believe that? The opener is now just three weeks away. If the Orioles were 2-8...

SARASOTA, Fla. - As the final minutes ticked away during last month's FanFest in Baltimore, pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti walked across the street to watch a free agent throw at Camden Yards. It was done discreetly. A tryout that didn't draw the attention of reporters preoccupied with the day's events. Later, I heard that the Orioles might sign a player to a minor league deal, the odds placed at 50-50. For a team unable to pull off a big move over the winter, it...

VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals rolled to an 11-1 win over the Cardinals today on a beautiful day in Viera. Here are manager Matt Williams' thoughts after the win: On Stephen Strasburg, who allowed one run over three innings: "I thought he was really around the zone today, although a lot of them were called balls. But I thought he was really around it. So it was good. Sliders were good. Probably threw more today than he did his first time out, but they were good. Curveball was good. Looked...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles will make one or two more cuts this afternoon, with more likely coming in the morning. Manager Buck Showalter was asked again about free agent pitcher Ervin Santana and replied that he spoke with executive vice president Dan Duquette about the right-hander today and nothing was imminent. Showalter confirmed that Mike Wright, reassigned earlier today, will be in Triple-A Norfolk's rotation in 2014. Showalter wanted him in minor league camp now to get more...

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 11, Cardinals 1 Recap: Wilson Ramos had a double and three RBIs, Danny Espinosa went 2-for-3 and the Nats turned a 1-1 tie in the third inning into an 8-1 lead after four en route to a blowout win. Need to know: Four Nats relievers really turned in nice performances. Drew Storen, Craig Stammen, Christian Garcia and Luis Ayala breezed through scoreless frames, with Storen retiring old Nats nemesis Pete Kozma, Stammen setting the Cards down 1-2-3, Garcia...

ORIOLES QUICK WRAP Score: Orioles 9, Pirates 2 Recap: After scoring 20 combined runs in the split-squad games yesterday, the Orioles put three on the board after three batters today and never looked back. Chris Davis came within a triple of the cycle in three at-bats, driving in three runs and scoring three. J.J. Hardy hit a three-run homer and Wei-Yin Chen allowed one hit in three scoreless innings. Need to know: Manager Buck Showalter said he may give Zach Britton a start later this...

VIERA, Fla. - Stephen Strasburg began his outing this afternoon looking pretty out of sorts. The Nationals right-hander walked the first two batters he faced and gave up an RBI single to Allen Craig, making it 1-0 Cardinals seemingly before most fans had even settled in to their seats. Strasburg eventually settled down, however, and ended up allowing just that one run on two hits with the two walks over three solid innings of work. The righty threw 48 pitches, 28 for strikes, in his second...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles have reassigned pitchers Mike Wright and Fabio Castillo and first baseman Chris Marrero to minor league camp. The moves leave the Orioles with 56 players in major league camp, including 16 non-roster invitees. Wright is regarded as one of the better pitching prospects in the organization and could start the year at Triple-A Norfolk. Chris Davis belted an opposite-field two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead over the Pirates...

The Orioles today announced that they have reassigned three players to minor league camp: right-handers Fabio Castillo and Mike Wright, and infielder Chris Marrero. With these assignments, the Orioles now have 56 players at major league spring training, including 16 non-roster invitees.