Tremendous outing by Jason Berken, who shut out the Twins on two hits over four innings in the Orioles' 4-3 loss. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three. Berken lowered his ERA to 2.84 on a night that Chris Tillman labored. David Hernadez starts tomorrow against the Red Sox. Is the competition for the fifth starter's job really over or is there still time for Berken or Hernandez to force the issue? Manager Dave Trembley praised Berken and the way Nolan Reimold ran the bases and...

Robert Andino dropped a fly ball in left field in the eighth inning. He looked like a shortstop trying to play the outfield. Hard to pile too much blame on him. Chris Tillman found some positive aspects about tonight's start, but he didn't have many kind things to say about his 27-pitch third inning. He kept going back to how long that inning lasted, though he threw five more pitches in the second. "I thought it went well overall, but that third inning, those kinds of innings are...

Nolan Reimold homered with the count full in the seventh inning, his first of the spring. He singled earlier and scored from first base on a double. A good night for the left fielder. Twins 4, Orioles 3. Brian Roberts struck out in all three at-bats tonight before leaving the game. "It felt good just to put a uniform on and go play. Certainly it's different than BP," he said. "My body felt pretty good. Just a matter of getting in the box and seeing live pitching. But my body, it felt...

Craig Tatum drove in his first two runs of the spring with a double into left-center field, scoring Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold with two outs in the fifth inning. Twins 4, Orioles 2. Jones singled with one out to break up Scott Baker's no-hitter. Reimold singled with two outs and scored all the way from first base on the double. Nothing wrong with the way he circled the bases. Brian Roberts stood on deck when Cesar Izturis flied out to end the inning. He's taking the field for the top of...

Chris Tillman threw 88 pitches tonight, 51 for strikes. He's leaving the game with one out in the top of the fifth and a runner on second base. The Twins continue to lead, 1-0, but the runner is his responsibility after Denard Span drew a leadoff walk. Tillman walked four and struck out four. It was quite a struggle tonight. The best thing you can say about Tillman is he's been the master of damage control. He could teach a class at the local community college. Cla Meredith has entered the...

How are the Twins only leading by one run? Chris Tillman threw 27 pitches in the third inning, 16 for strikes. His count is up to 72. The Twins have four hits and three walks. They're working Tillman hard. But they're only ahead, 1-0. Tillman will come back out for the fourth, but he's not going deep in this game. The Orioles don't have a baserunner through three innings. Scott Baker has struck out four. Update: Now that's more like it. Tillman threw seven strikes among his eight...

I won't track all nine innings separately, but the first one is noteworthy because it includes the beginning of Chris Tillman's latest start and the first at-bat for Brian Roberts. Tillman retired all three batters he faced. Denard Span struck out looking, Alexi Casilla bounced to first and Michael Cuddyer grounded to short. Pretty routine. Tillman threw 13 pitches, seven for strikes. Roberts led off the bottom of the first immediately after his video tribute and heartfelt speech. OK, I'm...

Brian Roberts will get three at-bats tonight. He's not expected to play tomorrow. Manager Dave Trembley referred to Brandon Snyder as "the most improved guy in camp from one year to the next." "I think Snyder is close to being ready to play at the major league level," Trembley said. "I sure think Snyder's happy I had the conversation with him last year about, let's put third base to bed and concentrate on first. You saw the game in Jupiter the other day. He played as well at first...

Koji Uehara threw off flat ground again today, but he couldn't complete his running progression and had to cut short his workout. A team physician is going to examine Uehara, who's dealing with a sore left hamstring. The Orioles don't have any futher updates. Manager Dave Trembley is hoping to know more about Uehara's condition tomorrow. Also, Trembley said he might announce his starting rotation on Monday, adding that it won't include any surprises.

The Orioles optioned infielders Josh Bell, Rhyne Hughes, Brandon Snyder and Michael Aubrey to Triple-A Norfolk. Infielder Pedro Florimon was optioned to Double-A Bowie. Pitchers Frank Mata, Josh Perrault and Dennis Sarfate, and outfielder Jonathan Tucker were assigned to minor league camp because they're not on the 40-man roster. The moves leave the Orioles with 37 players in camp: PITCHERS (18) Albers, Matt - RHP Bergesen, Brad - RHP Berken, Jason - RHP Castillo, Alberto -...