SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles wanted to stretch out left-hander Zach Britton to five or six innings today. He didn't make it out of the second. Britton allowed five runs and seven hits, including a homer by Emilio Bonifacio, in 1 2/3 innings. He walked two of the first three batters he faced and struck out one before manager Buck Showalter removed him from the game. Britton threw 59 pitches, 36 for strikes, in his second-shortest outing of the spring. He went one inning in his debut on Feb....

JUPITER, Fla. - Given his druthers, Jayson Werth would probably prefer to have remained back at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, done his work early and called it a day. Instead, he's here at Roger Dean Stadium, plugging along with the rest of what's expected to be the Nationals' regular season lineup. For a guy who didn't relish the 90-minute or so bus trek down Interstate 95 - which manager Davey Johnson is well aware of, but really doesn't care about - Werth is making the most of the...

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young was joined today by the Baltimore Orioles, local elected leaders, public and private school officials and dozens of City high school students to announce the schedule for the 2013 President's Cup - a citywide baseball tournament that brings together private and public high schools. This year's baseball tournament will kick off on Saturday, March 23, with eight of the tournament's 16 teams vying for the chance to play in the championship game...

The Orioles today announced that they have optioned catcher Luis Exposito to Triple-A Norfolk and have reassigned left-hander Daniel Schlereth and right-hander Adam Russell to minor league camp. With the assignment, the Orioles now have 45 players at major league spring training, including 12 non-roster invitees.

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles have optioned catcher Luis Exposito to Triple-A Norfolk and reassigned pitchers Daniel Schlereth and Adam Russell to minor league camp. Exposito is on the 40-man roster, which is why he's been optioned rather than reassigned. Exposito was 8-for-21 in 14 games, with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs. His work behind the plate was shaky, however, and included a catcher's interference call for using his mask to retrieve the ball. The Orioles have plenty of...

The Nationals' group of late-inning specialists, consisting of Tyler Clippard, Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano, could be that 1-2-3 punch at the end of games that manager Davey Johnson envisions. If these three can be like the Atlanta Braves' final three (Eric O'Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel), the Nationals, as Johnson hopes, can shorten games to six innings. Here is my blog about those three from February. And with a starting five of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan...

JUPITER, Fla. - With less than two weeks left in camp, Davey Johnson is still fielding questions about whether he needs a second left-hander in his bullpen. And the Nationals manager continues to insist that he's confident that his hard-throwing right-handers can be effective against even the most dangerous left-handed sticks. One word summed up Johnson's feelings: "Stuff." The Nationals continue to look at left-hander Fernando Abad, a non-roster invitee, as a potential complement to...

JUPITER, Fla. - The Nationals get another look at right-hander Chris Young today against the Miami Marlins, and it could be their last. Signed to a minor league deal Feb. 22 as part of general manager Mike Rizzo's offseason attempt to bolster the Nats' starting pitching depth, Young has an opt-out clause in his contract. He can leave the club March 24 if he doesn't think he'll have a shot at a roster spot - or if he thinks he can find a major league job elsewhere. The Nationals have him...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter may allow infielder Jonathan Schoop to play today instead of waiting until later this week. Showalter talked about giving Schoop the day off, but he could be persuaded to change his mind. Schoop told reporters this morning that he was ready to play after flying back to Florida early this morning from the World Baseball Classic. "If he wants to play today, I'm going to play him," Showalter said. "I'm going to talk to him. We'll see. In that...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Nate McLouth told me this morning that today's plan calls for him to move back and forth from right field to a fifth-infielder position. Me: "Really??" McLouth: "No." Yeah, he got me. McLouth and Trayvon Robinson switched places in left and center field yesterday through the first six innings of the Orioles' 8-7 win over the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers. Manager Buck Showalter came up with the idea as a way for both players to get more comfortable with the replica...