*standard disclaimer: spring games don't mean jack.
The Orioles won their second game of the spring today, improving their first-place Grapefruit League record to 2-0. The pitching star of the game was Mike Belfiore, while the hitting stars were Lew Ford and Steve Pearce. Ah, spring.
The Orioles got on the board first in the top of the second inning. After Ford singled, Pearced homered to give the O's a 2-0 lead. Danny Valencia and Taylor Teagarden singled following, knocking Mark Buehrle out of the game. Take that, Mark Buehrle! Ryan Flaherty walked against the new pitcher to load the bases, but neither Alexi Casilla nor Nolan Reimold could knock them in.
Jair Jurrjens made the start for the Orioles and pitched two innings. His final line didn't look too great, but he did retire the first five batters he faced. With two outs in the second inning Jurrjens gave up two singles and a walk that led to a run. Troy Patton followed with a terrible inning, giving up two runs on four hits, one of which was a home run to Jose Bautista. Oh well, that's what Bautista does.
The only pitcher other than Jurrjens to throw more than an inning today was Mike Belfiore, and he was excellent. He faced six batters and retired each of them. In another game filled with walks, Belfiore was a breath of fresh air (spring performances blah blah).
Kevin Gausman made his spring debut today and despite lighting up the radar gun, had a sloppy outing. Two walks and a hit led to a run, but he did strike out two in 1 2/3 innings. It was disappointing, but it's just spring! That's what I love about Spring Training. Every good performance is a star in the making, every bad performance is just spring!
Just as they did yesterday, the late-inning replacements scored a few runs to put the game in the books. Trayvon Robinson and Jason Pridie hit back-to-back doubles to score one run, then with two outs Yamaico Navarro singled in Pridie for the O's fifth run of the day.
Game Notes:
- There is a guy playing for the Blue Jays with the last name Schimpf. Ryan Schimpf. Fred Manfra had a tough time with that one.
- In addition to Pearce and Ford, Valencia also had two hits on the day.
- Alexi Casilla had an embarrassing spring debut, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.
- Tomorrow the Orioles make their spring television debut, taking on the Yankees at home. The game will be broadcast on MASN and and MLB.tv at 1:05. But if you're one of the worker bees, MASN will rebroadcast at 7 p.m.