The Orioles and Rays did some sister kissing today in a 3-3 game that was called after ten innings. The big news items on the day revolve around Nolan Reimold and Jake Arrieta. Reimold was hit in the face by a pitch in the first inning. He was on the ground for awhile and was taken to the hospital, and word from the Orioles is that he hasn't broken any bones, he's just bruised with a loose tooth. No word on when he'll be good to play again, but that's as good of news as we could expect. I really hope this doesn't keep him out too long.
As for the rest of the game, Jake Arrieta made the start and was very impressive. He pitched two innings and other than a walk to Carlos Pena in the first he was perfect. He threw 24 pitches, 17 of which were strikes. So other than the four balls that he threw to Pena, he threw just three more to the other nine batters. He struck out one and induced five ground balls with a fastball that hit 97 mph multiple times. I really try hard not to read anything into spring starts, especially this early, but I'm very encouraged by today's game from Arrieta.
After a perfect third inning, Brad Bergesen had his troubles in the fourth. He gave up two runs on three hits and an HBP. He was followed by a band of other relief pitchers, none of whom are likely make the Opening Day roster. Oliver Drake gave up the third Rays run on a homer to Brad Coon.
The O's offense scored single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings. Their first came when some poor sap named Alexander Torres hit Ryan Flaherty and then walked three batters to force in a run. He was saved from more damage when Robert Andino GIDP'd to end the inning.
In the sixth inning Josh Bell lead things of with a double and then scored on a Xavier Avery single, and in the seventh Scott Beerer, in for the injured Reimold, singled, stole second, move to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch.
Of note: maybe it was the Ray's pitching, but the Orioles showed some patience today and drew eight walks. Three of those walks went to Nick Johnson, which is hardly surprising given his lifetime .401 OBP. This discussion came up in the open thread today, but I have to say that despite the fact that Nick Johnson is on a minor-league deal and Wilson Betemit is signed for two years, if Johnson stays healthy it would be criminal not to play him over Betemit.
The Orioles will be back at 1 p.m. tomorrow to take on the Philadelphia Phillies. You can listen to the game on WBAL1090. If you have MLB.tv you can watch the broadcast live, or if you're really desperate, MLBN is showing the game at 6 a.m. Sunday morning.