Wednesday Orioles roundup: No more combined MASN booth for Nats games, Schoop homers in intrasquad

The best news for Orioles fans on Wednesday had nothing at all to do with anything that happened in the spring training complex. MASN announced that there would be no more combined broadcast booth for Orioles-Nationals games. Hallelujah! No more shall we suffer innings under the thumb of Bob Carpenter.

It's a small thing, especially since it's now only four games a year where the Orioles and Nationals meet up. Still, that's four more games than any of us should have to put up with non-Orioles broadcasters clogging up the airwaves with insight and anecdotes about players we don't care about on a team that we, at best, are deeply ambivalent about, and more likely we hate. OK, I hate them. I don't want to speak for any of you.

Bandwagoners can also get their fill of news about the upstarts, as will interest them greatly until such time as the Nationals start losing.

In Sarasota, the team played an intrasquad game that lasted 6.5 innings. The Orioles won and they also lost, so it all cancels out. Individual O's had some good moments and some others had bad moments. None of it matters, because it doesn't count even in a Grapefruit League kind of way. It's good for Jonathan Schoop, who hit a two-run home run, and it's bad for Steve Johnson, who served up the home run. Well, hitters are ahead of pitchers at this point anyway, right? Or is it the other way around? I can never remember.

The lineup featured Chris Davis leading off for one of the team. They were batting in alphabetical order. He led off the game by striking out on four pitches against Brian Matusz, but it's okay because he later hit a home run off Edgmer Escalona. Delmon Young also homered off Escalona. Not a good way to make a first impression, Edgmer.

A number of O's prospects tossed an inning apiece in the game. Mike Wright retired the side in order, while Eduardo Rodriguez allowed two hits and a walk, though he kept the runners from scoring.

In the usual realm of news dumps, there was some information about when the newest Orioles players will be making their spring debuts. Nelson Cruz will get into action on Saturday. Ubaldo Jimenez debuts on March 7, which is a week from Friday. Suk-min Yoon was originally supposed to pitch on the 7th as well, but the team says he will be going to Canada on the 4th to get his visa processed, so it's not clear that he'll be back in Sarasota on the 7th.

There will be another intrasquad game on Thursday, so we can again look forward to the Orioles winning and also losing. Unless the game ends in a tie. February baseball is weird.