SARASOTA, Fla. - Brian Roberts is 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles today against the New York Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium. Roberts' second double was an opposite-field shot off the fence in left. He scored on Nick Markakis' single to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Roberts was 0-for-2 in Saturday's opener against the Minnesota Twins. Tommy Hunter gave up a single and a bunt hit in the third, but he escaped the jam with a strikeout and ground ball. Hunter...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Brian Matusz escaped a jam in the first inning today and breezed through the second to shut out the New York Yankees in his first exhibition start of 2013. Matusz threw 19 pitches in the first inning, 13 for strikes. He threw 11 pitches, seven for strikes while retiring the side in order in the second. His fastball mostly ranged from 91-93 mph. Brett Gardner began the game by reaching on an infield hit despite first baseman Chris Davis making a diving stop. Jayson Nix...

VIERA, Fla. - A few years ago, Brandon Mann was living in the Washington D.C., area, watching Stephen Strasburg dominate in his first season in the majors while Mann tried to scrap together a career on the diamond himself. A former 27th-round pick of the Rays, Mann's baseball journey took him from Double-A ball in 2009 to Independent League ball in 2010 to Japan in 2011. The left-hander played two the last two years for the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan, working his way up from the minors to...

If you are one of the lucky people today, you are either off work, off work during the day or maybe have access to a television at the workplace and you are among the MASN viewers getting their first look at the 2013 Orioles today. The game doesn't count of course, but it's still exciting to get that first look from spring training and the Orioles are sending out a mostly A-team lineup. During the game, feel free to leave some comments and/or questions here and I'll answer any that are...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Pitching coach Rick Adair confirmed that Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez, Darren O'Day and Jim Johnson each will throw 20-25 pitches Tuesday morning in a simulated game on one of the back fields at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Position players won't be used, since it's more of a glorified bullpen session, minus the protective screen. "Just getting those guys acclimated to seeing hitters," Adair said. Spring training is longer this year with the World...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Tsuyoshi Wada will throw off a regular mound today at 11:15 a.m. Wada threw off a half-mound three times last week. He hasn't stood on a regular mound since pitching for Triple-A Norfolk on April 19, 2012, when he lasted 2 2/3 innings and allowed six runs and six hits, walked four and struck out one. The Orioles shut him down after that rehab start, and he underwent ligament-reconstructive surgery on his left elbow the following month. "I asked him, 'When's the last...

VIERA, Fla. - Just two days after taking on the Mets down in Port St. Lucie, the Nationals will head back down Interstate 95 today for yet another game at Tradition Field. Today's contest has a 6:10 p.m. first pitch and will be aired on MLB Network for those of you in the D.C. and Baltimore markets. The Nats players who won't suit up tonight have a 10 a.m. workout scheduled for this morning, and I'll be making my way over to the facility to provide some notes a little later this...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Nolan Reimold is starting in left field and batting leadoff today against the New York Yankees. Reimold also played yesterday in Dunedin, going 0-for-3. Brian Roberts moves down to second in the order. Nick Markakis will be the designated hitter again, with Conor Jackson getting the start in right field. Manager Buck Showalter has plenty of outfield candidates, and he's using these early games to critique them. For the Orioles: Nolan Reimold LF Brian Roberts 2B Nick...

The Nationals' accelerated development roster confirmed the club's confidence in positional changes for Justin Miller and Kevin Keyes. Miller and Keyes worked at new positions during October's instructional league workouts. Miller switched from the infield to catcher and Keyes from the outfield to first base. Miller is listed as a catcher and Keyes as first baseman on the roster released last week for accelerated development camp in Viera, Fla. With the unfortunate news that Spencer...

Hitting on some Monday topics, as we now have some actual boxscores to look at and we all look forward to today's first MASN telecast, when the Orioles play the Yankees at 1 p.m with a rebroadcast set for 7 p.m. tonight. The slim wins: There is no truth to the rumor that the Orioles were answering some of their critics by winning their first one-run game of the exhibition season yesterday. Yes, they won again by one run. We all know, barring something that would be historic, the Orioles...