CLEARWATER, Fla. - Jason Berken finally made it back on a mound today, throwing a scoreless sixth inning in his first spring training game. The hamstring injury is in the past. Now he's waiting to find out what the future holds for him. "I was anxious and excited to get out there," he said. "A leadoff double isn't the way I wanted to start, but fortunately I was able to stay out of it some. As a whole, I felt good, felt healthy. All my pitches were working pretty good, so I'd say first...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Trent Mummey doubled with two outs in the eighth inning to score Steve Tolleson, who singled and stole second base, and Dana Eveland escaped a jam in the ninth in the Orioles' 5-5 tie with the Phillies. Neither team scored in the 10th, and the Orioles head back to Sarasota with a 9-9-5 record. Five ties actually ties a spring training record, though the research only goes back to 1996. The 2006 Dodgers and 2010 White Sox also had five ties, according to STATS LLC. The...

VIERA, Fla. - Not only have the Nationals' bats come alive today, they've finally gotten a strong outing from a starting pitcher. Stephen Strasburg went five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk with one hit-batter and five strikeouts. Strasburg threw 84 pitches, 47 for strikes. Not a dominating effort from the righty, but he made pitches when he needed to. Strasburg stranded two runners in the first, got a 4-6-3 double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, and...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Brian Matusz retired six of the first seven batters he faced before the third inning. That's when his start took a turn for the worse. "Just started leaving the ball out over the plate," Matusz said after allowing three runs and four hits. "Got a couple guys on base, and (Jim) Thome got up there and he's the type of hitter in that lineup who will hurt you and he did. Got a little erratic, but just battled my way through." Thome drove a fastball over center fielder...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Brian Matusz had allowed four runs in four starts this spring before today, but the Phillies almost matched that total in the third inning. Matusz gave up three runs and four hits, and walked former Oriole Lou Montanez, in a 27-pitch inning. Freddy Galvis led off with a single before pitcher Roy Halladay struck out. Jim Rollins and Placido Polanco followed with singles, which delivered the Phillies' first run, and Jim Thome doubled to center field for a 3-2 lead. Xavier...

VIERA, Fla. - The sun has fought its way through the clouds here in Viera, and the Nationals' bats have fought their way out of a lengthy slump. The Nationals batted around in the first inning today, scoring five runs on seven hits. Three of those hits left Space Coast Stadium, with Ian Desmond, Jayson Werth and Roger Bernadina providing the big flies. Werth's homer was absolutely crushed - crushed - out to left, clearing an entire section of bleachers beyond the left field fence and nearly...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Outfielders Endy Chavez and Jai Miller remain out of the lineup for today's game against the Phillies, but they're getting closer to returning from their respective injuries. Chavez hasn't played since Wednesday because of a strained groin, which happened after he laid down a bunt and raced up the line. "Getting better every day," manager Buck Showalter said. "I don't have him going over to Bradenton (Monday night) right now, but that could change. I'm hoping...

VIERA, Fla. - Given the fact that it rained here in Viera this morning, it's only fitting that Stephen Strasburg is taking the mound for the Nationals today. Strasburg always seems to get the ball when the temperature drops or the conditions are poor. "He's a mudder," manager Davey Johnson joked. Here are your latest injury updates, which seem to be getting tweaked every 12 hours: Left fielder Michael Morse (strained lat) is now scheduled to start throwing on Wednesday, and will start...

VIERA, Fla. - Davey Johnson had hoped to write in his opening day lineup for this afternoon's game against the Mets, but that's kind of tough to do when two of your middle-of-the-order hitters are banged up and your center fielder is still recovering from a quad injury. Instead, this is the lineup Johnson will send out today against New York: SS Ian Desmond 2B Danny Espinosa 3B Ryan Zimmerman RF Jayson Werth 1B Mark DeRosa C Jesus Flores CF Roger Bernadina LF Steve Lombardozzi P Stephen...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Dontrelle Willis made his first appearance with the Orioles yesterday and walked the first three batters he faced. He also mixed in a wild pitch. He hadn't pitched in a while, and it showed. "Early on I was a little shaky, but once I got settled in I felt fine," he said this morning. "That's the one thing about baseball - you take a couple days off and it's like a whole different world as far as the speed. But I settled in. I just need more game experience....