SARASOTA, Fla. - Manager Buck Showalter is in mid-season form. Showalter thought a 3-2 loss to the Twins should have been a 3-2 victory. He pointed to two mistakes, though he didn't mention anyone by name. "The two things that cost us the ballgame is we had the throw to third base (Luke Scott) cost us a run, and the bad at-bat (Jake Fox) with a man on second and nobody out," Showalter said. "We can't have that. We should win that game, 3-2, and we lost it, 3-2. We can't have that during...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles first baseman Derrek Lee could make his long-awaited debut tomorrow afternoon. Lee is scheduled to start at first base against the Phillies at Ed Smith Stadium. He'll get two or three at-bats. The only way that the plan doesn't unfold is if Lee shows up tomorrow with more soreness in his right wrist. Lee took live batting practice on the field today after being restricted to soft toss and hitting off a tee.

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Twins took a 3-1 lead against the Orioles in the top of the seventh on Jeff Bailey's two-out, two-run single off Jason Berken. They had two runners in scoring position because Luke Scott fielded Matt Tolbert's single to left and tried to cut down Trevor Plouffe at third base. Tolbert raced to second and scored on Bailey's hit. Scott tried to atone for his mistake by lining an RBI double into left-center field in the bottom of the seventh. Scott was 2-for-32 with one RBI...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Time to take a closer look at Brian Matusz after three innings. The young left-hander has allowed one run to the Twins, on shortstop Matt Tolbert's first spring homer, and four hits. Luke Hughes led off the second with a bunt single and Steve Holm doubled with two outs, but the Twins didn't break through until one out in the third. Matusz has struck out six batters, raising his spring total to 11 in 10 2/3 innings. His changeup has been especially impressive. He's thrown...

SARASOTA, Fla. - First baseman Derrek Lee took batting practice outdoors and said his right wrist felt fine. He isn't sure about tomorrow's schedule, however. He'll see how the wrist responds overnight. He could take live BP again or possibly make his Orioles debut. Also, the Orioles aren't currently interested in second baseman Luis Castillo, released earlier today by the Mets. Here are a few comments from manager Buck Showalter, which were delivered while the Orioles took batting...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles will make another round of roster cuts tomorrow morning. Manager Buck Showalter said the total will be "more than three, less than 10." Justin Duchscherer threw off flat ground from 120-130 feet. Yesterday, he threw from 100 feet. I'm not good at math, but it sounds like he threw from a greater distance today. Derrek Lee and Brian Roberts are taking live batting practice. They haven't been ruled out for tomorrow's game against the Phillies in Sarasota....

SARASOTA, Fla. - A day without injury updates is like a day without sunshine. Justin Duchscherer threw off flat ground from 100 feet yesterday, and he'll do the exact same thing today. That's as much as we know about his schedule. Duchscherer is still confident that he will be ready by the April 1 opener. He isn't worried about logging enough innings. Manager Buck Showalter may feel differently, but we'll see how it all plays out. Duchscherer is being treated for some tightness in his...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Here's the Orioles lineup for tonight's game vs. the Twins: J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Vladimir Guerrero DH Mark Reynolds 3B Luke Scott LF Jake Fox 1B Matt Wieters C Cesar Izturis 2B Brian Matusz LHP

When watching the MLB Network's "30 Clubs in 30 days" show this week on the Orioles, they listed the club's potential starting lineup. 2B - Brian Roberts RF - Nick Markakis 1B - Derrek Lee DH - Vladimir Guerrero LF - Luke Scott CF - Adam Jones 3B - Mark Reynolds C - Matt Wieters SS - J.J. Hardy This lineup makes a lot of sense in that it puts several players in spots where they figure to be quite comfortable and where they have succeeded before. When batting second last year, Markakis...

Minor league camp is in full swing as they get into a daily game schedule similar to what the players will see in early April. The pitchers have focused on fundamentals from day one, but there is a precise term and action the coaching staff wants to see the guys do with every pitch. On the mound, the coaching staff wants the guys to concentrate on keeping the ball down in the zone. They do that by getting their pitchers to focus on the term "hollow of the knee." "All we really care about...