Last night down in Sarasota, the Orioles defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-7 in exhibition action. For the most part, the offense carried the team as Felix Pie homered and drove in four; as well, Mark Reynolds hit his first homer of the spring.
J.J. Hardy and Vladmir Guerrero each drove in two runs as well.
On the mound, Jake Arrieta had an up and down night. He gave up four runs in five innings, gave up three homers and walked three; however, he did strike out four and did his job well after a shaky first inning. Overall, his performance was so-so and he’ll need to be far more consistent in his outings in order to help the Orioles improve.
With a week until the Orioles play their first game of the regular season, manager Buck Showalter named Jeremy Guthrie the Opening Day starter.
Also, the Orioles made some cuts yesterday to their squad with the most notable name on the list Josh Bell being sent down to Triple-A.
He came into camp in shape, lost weight and looked improved. He’ll back sooner rather than later – I hope – but let’s see if he can be more consistent at the plate.
I’d love to see Zach Britton come with the team for Opening Day; however, it’s looking more and more likely that he’ll be kept in the minors to take advantage of his arbitration clock.
As I’ve said, it make perfect business sense for the Orioles; however, as a fan, I just want the best team possible at times to compete and win.
If a guy like Britton who has given up one run in 14 innings of exhibition work, put him on the team since he’s obviously earned it.
Of course, the Orioles open up at home on Monday, April 4th against the Detroit Tigers at Camden Yards.
Finally, the website Stadium Journey has quite an extensive and positive review of Ed Smith Stadium – the Spring Training home of the Orioles. It’s very much worth a read.
