SARASOTA, Fla. - Dylan Bundy was scheduled to pitch today, but he was held out of the game because of "groin spasms," according to manager Buck Showalter. It's nothing serious. Showalter said it wasn't anything that Bundy couldn't have pitched with if the club needed him on the mound, but again, it's spring training and there's no reason to push anyone. Bundy probably won't pitch again before Wednesday, and he could be held back until Thursday. The Orioles are off Monday and Bundy...

VIERA, Fla. - We've got a 5-5 game here in Viera, as the Cardinals responded to Chad Tracy's two-run homer in the sixth with three runs of their own off Brandon Mann in the top of the seventh. Tracy's longball was his first of spring and gave the Nationals four home runs in their last two games. Wilson Ramos just stepped in for his first at-bat since tearing his ACL and meniscus last May 12, and after looking at fastball for strike one, Ramos bounced out to third base. He got a nice hand...

SARASOTA, Fla. - No wonder today had a special feel for Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez. He reminded reporters that he hadn't thrown in a major league exhibition game since 2007, when the Angels summoned him from minor league camp. Gonzalez didn't make it to the Ed Smith Stadium complex last spring, and he didn't join an affiliate when the minor league season began in April. He was in limbo long before he joined the Orioles' rotation. Gonzalez struck out two batters in two scoreless...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Making his first appearance of the spring today, Miguel Gonzalez tossed two scoreless innings while facing only six batters. Gonzalez struck out the first two batters on a total of six pitches. Cesar Hernandez walked with two outs, but he was thrown out trying to steal. Gonzalez made short work of the Phillies in the fifth inning, getting a bouncer in front of the mound, a ground ball to first and a fly ball to right. Pretty routine. Chris Tillman told reporters that he felt...

VIERA, Fla. - Battling a stiff wind and cool conditions, Ross Detwiler pitched two innings of one-run ball in his final appearance for the Nationals before leaving to join Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Detwiler allowed back-to-back singles to open the game, then struck out the side, with Matt Carpenter, Ty Wigginton and Matt Adams all going down swinging. In the second, Detwiler again allowed two straight singles to start the frame. The Cardinals plated a run when Justin Christian...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts followed his 3-for-3 game on Friday with a single today in the bottom of the first inning. That's four straight hits for Roberts, the latest being a line drive into right field off Philadelphia's Kyle Kendrick. Chris Davis also singled, and Matt Wieters launched an opposite-field three-run homer to left, the wind definitely providing an assist as the ball continued to carry. The Orioles weren't done. Conor Jackson followed with a long...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis woke up this morning with spasms in his neck, causing manager Buck Showalter to adjust his lineup for today's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Markakis apparently "slept wrong," according to Showalter, and had difficulty turning his head. The Orioles examined Markakis this morning to make sure there was nothing structurally wrong. "We checked him out and it's just a spasm type of thing," Showalter said, adding that Markakis...

VIERA, Fla. - A few minutes before I went over to Wilson Ramos' locker to have a brief chat with the Nationals catcher this morning, he met with manager Davey Johnson. In that meeting, Johnson told Ramos that the team's medical staff had cleared the 25-year-old to begin playing in Grapefruit League games. That in itself was great news. But Johnson then told Ramos that he would get one at-bat as the DH in this afternoon's game against the Cardinals, marking his first appearance in a game...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Outfielder Nolan Reimiold, who left Friday's game in the second inning with a sore right shoulder after hitting a home run, is scheduled to serve as the Orioles' designated hitter Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin. Reimold said the soreness only surfaces when he attempts to throw - mostly on his follow-through - and he hasn't been doing any upper-body exercises. He's taking a cautious approach, which is encouraged by the club. Catcher Taylor Teagarden has...

VIERA, Fla. - It's a brisk 48 degrees with a stiff breeze here at Space Coast Stadium this morning, weather that led Nationals players to snatch up beanies and ear sleeves in the clubhouse and toss on their windbreakers before taking the field for delayed warm-ups. A few of the Nats' veteran position players sent 11-year-old Drake LaRoche into manager Davey Johnson's office to ask if they could hit in the cages instead of taking a full batting practice on the field, both because of the...