SARASOTA, Fla. - Ryan Drese is trying to force his way into the Orioles' rotation. He kept pushing tonight in Fort Myers. I checked the game tracker, and Drese allowed one run, on a J.D. Drew homer, and three hits over three innings. He walked one and struck out one. Drese retired the side in order in the first inning, but Drew led off the second with a homer. The inning also included Jason Varitek's double and a walk to Daniel Nava. Marco Scutaro singled with one out in the third. In...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The MRI taken earlier today on Derrek Lee's right wrist didn't reveal any structural damage, matching the results of yesterday's X-rays. Lee is dealing with some soreness that he believes is due to the atrophy that developed while his hand was in a cast following surgery in November to repair a torn ligament in his thumb. "The MRI came back normal. Nothing really unexpected," said president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail. Lee will wait a few days to reduce the...

Many Nationals fans managed to save some hard earned-cash by skipping the box office premiere of "How Do You Know" last fall. The the motion picture flop featured Owen Wilson as a Nationals pitcher along Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson. For those of you who missed it in theatres, the romantic comedy is set to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 22. If you're still not inclined to spend money on this one, at least rent it from Netflix or Blockbuster. Despite the poor...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Well, that was fun. The Orioles totaled 12 runs in their last five games before today. They scored 11 today. The finishing touches on an 11-2 win were applied by Ryan Adams, who homered, and left-hander Alberto Castillo, who easily retired the three batters he faced in the ninth. I failed to mention earlier that Adam Jones' long home run came against former Orioles reliever Jim Hoey. Jones was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Adams had two hits after...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Vladimir Guerrero wasn't trying to hit the Twins' bus. It only looked that way. Guerrero launched his second spring home run, easily clearing the fence in left-center field against Twins reliever Alex Burnett to increase the Orioles' lead to 7-1 in the fifth. Luke Scott scalded a ball to first, but it turned into an out. Nolan Reimold beat out a chopper to the left side. That Achilles issue is a thing of the past. He was motoring to first. Kevin Gregg, David Riske and...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles scored six runs off Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano in 1 2/3 innings. Making his first official spring start, Liriano departed with his team trailing, 6-1. Adam Jones doubled with two outs in the second to score Nick Markakis, who walked after J.J. Hardy grounded into a double play. A misplayed fly ball off Vladimir Guerrero's bat allowed Jones to score. Jake Arrieta has given up one run and two hits in two innings. He's thrown 22 pitches, 13 for...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Sounds scandalous, but I'm referring to today's game. Shame on you. The Orioles scored four runs off Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. J.J Hardy walked, Adam Jones singled with one out, Vladimir Guerrero walked and Mark Reynolds drilled a 94 mph fastball into left-center field for a 2-0 lead. Luke Scott bounced to first, making him 0-for-13 this spring, but Guerrero scored on the play. Nolan Reimold followed with a single, giving...

A quick update for our Nats Buzz readers. I landed in Melbourne, Fla., this afternoon along with nearly a dozen Nationals fans (including this guy) just in time to hear Shuttle Discovery's final sonic boom. Starting tomorrow, I'll be at Space Coast Stadium all week to bring you Nats Buzz, off-the-field type updates as often as I can. If you have any questions or topics you'd like me to explore, leave your suggestions in the comments. If you're down in Viera this week or for the Yankees...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter told reporters that Justin Duchscherer's hip is fine today and he'll pitch again Sunday in an intrasquad game. Duchscherer is scheduled to throw three innings if his pitch count allows it. Showalter doesn't want Brian Matusz to pitch in relief again and he needs to separate the left-hander from Duchscherer, which explains the intrasquad game. "That will allow us to control the environment a little bit," Showalter said. Also, Derrek Lee's MRI is scheduled...

When we all got to see Zach Britton pitch so well on the MASN telecast Monday night, many O's fans may have been thinking the same thing: I hope this is a glimpse at a future when young pitcher after young Orioles pitcher takes the mound and shuts down another American League East opponent. Despite the fact it was just an exhibition game, you probably got excited also watching Britton buzz through Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira on just 13 pitches in that first inning. Whenever...