SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles aren't concerned about Koji Uehara, and neither is their reliever. Uehara received a cortisone injection in his right elbow today because of some soreness. He'll be shut down for several days. Uehara thinks he'll be ready to pitch again in a week. "It's not even serious. I'm not concerned about it," he said through interpreter Jiwon Bang. "I'm just being on the safe side. I'm not really worried." Uehara described his condition as "arm fatigue." I...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Reliever Koji Uehara, who was scheduled to pitch today, has come down with a sore right elbow and will receive a cortisone shot this afternoon. Uehara will be shut down for the next few days and re-evaluated. The Orioles don't believe it's anything serious, but it counts as another health issue in spring training. Uehara has been sidelined with sore hamstrings the last two years. Here's the Twins lineup: Denard Span CF Tsuyoshi Nishioka SS Luke Hughes 3B Joe Benson...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Justin Duchscherer played catch again this morning and threw from the half mound. He's now moved over to a regular mound. Duchscherer is making significant progress from the hip soreness that kept him off the field Saturday. Also, Derrek Lee is penciled into Saturday's lineup. Josh Bell still projects as the third baseman at Triple-A Norfolk if he doesn't make the club out of spring training.

The New York Mets' offseason was littered with news about the financial troubles of owner Fred Wilpon and his dealings with disgraced financier Bernie Madoff. The bad news off the field continues to plague the Mets well into spring training. Steve Popper, who covers the Mets for The (Bergen) Record, says it is hard to ignore the ownership issues and how that might affect the on field product for the Mets. He says the Mets players have taken notice. "I think the players are trying to ignore...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Josh Bell played first base in the ninth inning of Tuesday's home exhibition opener. Today, Bell will make his first start there. For the Orioles: Brian Roberts 2B Nick Markakis RF Luke Scott LF Vladimir Guerrero DH Mark Reynolds 3B Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C J.J. Hardy SS Josh Bell 1B Brian Matusz LHP

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Minnesota Twins are coming here from Fort Myers. Better that they make the trip than me. The lineup hasn't been posted, and the Orioles closed the clubhouse to the media at 8:30 a.m. for a players association meeting. Bobby Bonilla and Phil Bradley are in the house. Left-hander Brian Matusz is starting for the Orioles today. Adrian Rosario, Kevin Gregg, Koji Uehara, Jeremy Accardo, Clay Rapada and Josh Rupe also are slated to pitch. The Twins are sending pitchers Carl...

If you were under the impression, as I was, that O's pitching prospect Dan Klein would be used as a starting pitcher this year, that is not the case. The decision has been made to use Klein, the O's third-round pick in the draft last June, out of the bullpen this season in the minor leagues. The biggest factor seems to be the fact that Klein pitched just 58 1/3 innings last year. The O's don't feel he can or should be asked to handle the number of innings needed for a starting pitcher...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Phillies homered twice off left-hander Nick Bierbrodt in the bottom of the ninth, and another run scored on Chris Jakubauskas' wild pitch, but the tying run was stranded on second base. Orioles 6, Phillies 5. Manager Buck Showalter must have really wanted this win. He removed Bierbrodt with one out and a runner on third, and his last two relievers were warming up in the bullpen. He didn't need Mike Ballard or Chris George. Jakubauskas retired Harold Garcia and...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Brian Bass pitched the eighth inning for the Phillies, and his former team loaded the bases with no outs on singles by Robert Andino, Brandon Snyder and Pedro Florimon. Matt Angle's bouncer to first scored Andino for a 6-1 lead. Michael Gonzalez and Jim Johnson each threw a scoreless inning. Pedro Viola is pitching the bottom of the eighth, and he just gave up a run on Delwyn Young's single. Orioles 6, Phillies 2. Chris Tillman said he was a little too "jumpy" on the...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Matt Wieters has three singles and two RBIs today. Felix Pie contributed a run-scoring double in the seventh, and Wieters delivered pinch-runner Nick Green for a 5-1 lead, though an interference call on the third baseman took away the RBI. Zach Britton walked into the hallway outside the visiting clubhouse, saw the five reporters waiting for him and brought up the elephant in the room. "Could you tell how nervous I was?" he asked with a grin. "I have no idea what...