SARASOTA, Fla. - I apologize for the lateness of this intrasquad update, but I'm having more laptop issues - and this one is brand new - and I'm unable to tweet on my iPhone inside the stadium. A Twitter glitch, I suppose. Anyway, here are a few highlights and lowlights. I'll try to file quotes later. Dylan Bundy was outstanding in his debut, striking out Adam Jones and Mark Reynolds looking and retiring Matt Wieters on a lazy fly ball to right field. He threw Jones fastballs away for the...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Nationals trail the Astros 2-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth inning. Successive doubles by Roger Bernadina and Jesus Flores off Brett Myers in the top of the fifth plated the Nats' first run of the Grapefruit League campaign. The Astros took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a two-run homer by Chris Johnson off Ross Detwiler. With one out, Detwiler walked Jack Cust and Johnson followed with a blast to center. Fly balls have been tricky today at Osceola County Stadium,...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - New Nationals right-hander Edwin Jackson will be on a pitch count of 40-45 for today's Grapefruit League opener against the Astros. Houston will send very few "names" against Jackson today, unless Jack Cust and Jed Lowrie are your idea of stud big leaguers. Manager Davey Johnson wrote up a lineup dominated by left-handed hitters today, largely because the Nats will face right-hander Livan Hernandez, but also because Johnson wants to get a look at some of the lefties who...

SARASOTA, Fla. - For the visiting Orioles: Xavier Avery CF Matt Antonelli 2B Nick Johnson DH Taylor Teagarden C Joe Mahoney 1B Jai Miller LF Josh Bell 3B Scott Beerer RF Steve Tolleson SS Armando Galarraga RHP For the home Orioles: Endy Chavez RF J.J. Hardy SS Wilson Betemit DH Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 3B Chris Davis 1B Nolan Reimold LF Robert Andino 2B Wei-Yin Chen LHP Position players summoned from the minor league camp include Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Buck...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Jayson Werth's back spasms are a problem no more, and he'll start in center field Sunday when the Nationals open their home Grapefruit League season against the Astros at Space Coast Stadium on Sunday, according to the lineup posted Saturday morning. But questions about Werth's recovery and his ability to move from right field to center were met with some resistance by manager Davey Johnson before today's first game of the spring at Osceola County Stadium. Johnson...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Most of the regulars had left the Ed Smith Stadium complex by the time yesterday's intrasquad game ended and the clubhouse reopened to the media, so there wasn't a chance to speak with third baseman Mark Reynolds until this morning. Reynolds made two sparkling plays at third yesterday, charging a ball and throwing out speedy Xavier Avery, and diving to his left to rob Taylor Teagarden of a hit. It's fair to point out that those gems occurred in a "meaningless" intrasquad...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles will try to run their winning streak to two games today with another 1:05 p.m. intrasquad game against the Orioles at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Luis Ayala and Armando Galarraga are scheduled to start today, though manager Buck Showalter indicated a few days ago that Wei-Yin Chen could get one of the assignments. Either way, they're all scheduled to throw. So are Chris Tillman, Pat Neshek, Oliver Drake, Jon Link, Dylan Bundy and Steve Johnson. Chen and Bundy...

VIERA, Fla. - How many blog entries can one reporter write about one specific player in one spring training? Get ready to find out. I've been here two days and somehow I already feel like I've typed Bryce Harper's name a thousand times. It's certainly no secret that Harper is the story of this year's Nationals spring training. I wrote about the 19-year-old phenom following his 0-for-2 effort (which included a four-pitch walk) in yesterday's exhibition opener, I'm writing about him...

So Major League Baseball will have 10 teams in the playoffs in October after adding a second wild card team in each league. I like this move for a variety of reasons. It puts a real premium on winning the division championship and no longer will a late-season game, say between the top two teams in the American League East, not mean much because both squads will be in the playoffs anyway. Now a division that is so tough like the AL East can get a third team into the postseason. A division...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Double-A Bowie outfielder LJ Hoes tripled off Greg Burke in the top of the eighth inning to score the tie-breaking run and give the visiting Orioles a 2-1 victory over the home Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium. "I knew we were going to win today. That's for sure," manager Buck Showalter said. Cover the lockers in plastic and pop those champagne corks. "It was very fun, just to get the jitters out and get out there and get active and get acclimated to playing baseball again,"...