SARASOTA, Fla. - The sun is shining here and it looks like we'll play. For the Orioles: Brian Roberts 2B Nick Markakis RF Derrek Lee 1B Vladimir Guerrero DH Luke Scott LF Adam Jones CF Mark Reynolds 3B Jake Fox C J.J. Hardy SS Zach Britton LHP I should have added in my last post that Mark Hendrickson has been given 48 hours to find another major league job. He isn't obligated to stay in the organization. Nick Green and Clay Rapada will remain in camp despite being cut. Also, Brad...

MASN, the television home of the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles, will premiere a new baseball-centric program, "The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report" on Thursday, March 31 at 5 p.m. The 90-minute show, which will air Monday through Friday, will feature a panel of four renowned baseball experts who will discuss news from the Nationals, Orioles and Major League Baseball. Panelists will include Tom Davis, Dave Johnson, Phil Wood and Mel Antonen. Davis enters his 40th year as a...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles should have their camp roster down to 27 or 28 by the end of the day, and it won't include two left-handed relief candidates. Mark Hendrickson and Clay Rapada are counted among today's cuts. Hendrickson can seek a major league job and decline an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. Those moves leave Michael Gonzalez as the only left-hander in the bullpen for the April 1 opener against the Rays. Other cuts include David Riske, Ryan Drese, Rick VandenHurk and Nick...

Opening day at Camden Yards is a week away, and preparations at the ballpark continue to get it ready for the Tigers-Orioles game that will be cause for civic celebration, innovative excuses for missing school and work, and early afternoon beers at Pickles Pub. Whatever your opening day traditions are - and feel free to share them in the comments section below, where you can be part of the trial of our new commenting system - I'm sure your time-tested plans are well under way. The MASN...

SARASOTA, Fla. - We had thunderstorms overnight and the fields are soaked. No idea whether the Orioles will play today, since the forecast today calls for more rain. It's clearing right now - I see blue sky - but that could change. Still no lineup posted, but David Riske, Rick VandenHurk and Randy Winn have been eliminated from the camp roster. More cuts are coming, but those three are confirmed. Riske and VandenHurk apparently left last night. VandenHurk is out of options, so he would have...

Nationals hitting coordinator Rick Schu gave me an update on how some of the young hitters are doing in the accelerated camp during spring training. We start with the biggest name in camp in Bryce Harper, who returned to the lineup Sunday and was able to smack a double and score a run early on in the game. Another prospect you may have not heard of is a converted shortstop Michael Taylor. Schu says Taylor has opened some eyes with a good showing throughout camp at his new position in...

I am going to cut to the chase here today. My goal and also prediction for the Orioles for this year is for a season of 82 and 80. That would put to rest the streak of 13 consecutive losing seasons and provide the club with it's most wins since the 1997 group went 98-64, a wire-to-wire first place finish. That would represent a very nice improvement and provide the Orioles with some respectability. It would put them on the road to hopefully a two-year surge upward and perhaps back into a...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Michael Gonzalez breezed through the ninth inning to record the save in the Orioles' 4-3 victory over the Red Sox at sold-out Ed Smith Stadium. Manager Buck Showalter said he contacted Terry Francona before the game, after learning that the Boston manager was aggravated by his comments about general manager Theo Epstein that appear in the April edition of Men's Journal. "I talked to Terry a little bit before the game. I would be, too," Showalter said. "I just felt like...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Kevin Gregg allowed a hit and walk and struck out a batter in one scoreless inning. Matt Wieters' two-run single in the bottom of the eighth tied the game, 3-3, and Ryan Adams followed with a single to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead. Chris Tillman told reporters that he's changed his delivery in the later days of camp, which is interesting timing as he tries to make the team. "I think I felt OK today," he said. "I was talking with Goose (Mark Connor) and Wieters, talking...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Tillman threw 103 pitches in 5 2/3 innings today, leaving with two Boston runners on base after he got ahead of Paul Hoover, 0-2, and walked him. Tillman allowed three runs and six hits, with four walks and three strikeouts. He hit David Ortiz to lead off the sixth. That's a lot of pitches in fewer than six complete innings, and the walks remain a concern. However, Tillman's 3.93 ERA makes him look like a staff ace, not someone trying to earn a spot in the...