LAKELAND, Fla. - There's a different look to the Nationals' lineup for today's 1:05 p.m. St. Patrick's Day game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. Second baseman Danny Espinosa is leading off, Tyler Moore is playing right field and batting cleanup and the Nats have four first baseman in the lineup - Moore, DH Chad Tracy, first baseman Chris Marrero and left fielder Micah Owings. Bryce Harper also made the 90-minute trip from Viera and will play center field. For the...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Tillman threw 36 pitches in two innings yesterday at Twin Lakes Park and said he "felt great." No more discomfort in his abdomen. "Physically, I felt great. No problems pitching at all. Good to go," he said. The rest of his schedule remains unclear. "I don't know where we're going from here," he said. "I haven't talked to anybody yet." Nolan Reimold is still expected to play left field Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers. He continues with a...

SARASOTA, Fla. - His time at the World Baseball Classic is over and Adam Jones was back in the Orioles' clubhouse in Sarasota this morning for the first time in two weeks. Jones said if he is asked to play in the next WBC, he definitely would and he just finished playing in six games that he said were played with a postseason-like intensity. "Just like it," Jones said. "Every game in Phoenix and in Miami, all six games felt like Game 1 through 5 last year in the playoffs for us. Every game...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Dylan Bundy is sitting at his locker this morning. He's still in camp, but not for long. The Orioles optioned Bundy to Double-A Bowie yesterday, which requires him to report to Twin Lakes Park and prepare to pitch for the Baysox. "Obviously, I didn't break camp, so I need to go down there and get more innings in and hopefully build up a workload to start the season," he said. "I've got a bullpen today, so I'd imagine that I'd start in one or two days. I don't know....

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles are posting two lineups today because they're playing two games. They're home against the Minnesota Twins - a game that will air on MASN - and in Clearwater to take on the Philadelphia Phillies. For the Orioles at home: Brian Roberts 2B Manny Machado 3B Nate McLouth CF Matt Wieters C Chris Davis 1B J.J. Hardy SS Conor Jackson DH Chris Dickerson RF Lew Ford LF Steve Johnson RHP Jair Jurrjens, Jim Johnson, Darren O'Day, Tim Bascom and Pat Egan are also listed as...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Now that Jake Arrieta has thrown 8 2/3 scoreless innings in his last two starts, Steve Johnson gets his chance today to complicate manager Buck Showalter's decision regarding the back end of the rotation. Arrieta most likely has become the favorite for the job, though he's still prone to falling behind in the count. The Orioles need him to throw more strikes. Johnson wasn't happy with his last Grapefruit League outing on March 5, when he allowed two runs and two hits in...

VIERA, Fla. - Judging solely by the numbers, last night was another forgettable outing for right-hander Drew Storen. Storen pitched one inning in a 4-2 loss to the Astros, blowing a save opportunity, absorbing the loss and watching his spring ERA balloon to 6.43 after seven outings. Rough springs are nothing new for Storen. Last year, he was limited to two appearances before surgery to remove a small bone fragment from his right elbow, a procedure that cost him half a season. Two years ago,...

VIERA, Fla. - Stephen Strasburg is itching to get the season started. His internal clock, if not his pitch count Saturday night against the Astros, tells him the season should be starting soon, not be more than two weeks away. So what did he take out of tonight's effort, in which he went deeper into a game than any other Nationals starting pitcher this spring, and recorded eight strikeouts, the most by any Washington hurler in Grapefruit League play? The 93 pitches he threw, 64 of them for...

VIERA, Fla. - Ryan Zimmerman's surgically repaired right shoulder felt so good in recent days that he talked Nationals manager Davey Johnson into pushing up his spring debut at third base by a couple of days. Instead of playing defense for the first time in Grapefruit League play Monday against the Tigers, Zimmerman did so Saturday night versus the Astros. He needed to make only one play, and handled that chance with relative ease, but it was enough to wipe away a few jitters that accompanied...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Dylan Bundy got optioned to the minors on Saturday and that was an inevitable move. The kid used his time in big league camp well. He pitched solidly in games while watching and learning from the veterans. It was a positive experience as the process of grooming Bundy into a big league pitcher - maybe even an ace one day - is well on its way. It may not be long before he is a mainstay in the Orioles rotation. It just won't happen on opening day and that is fine. The...