Saturday night Orioles spring training game thread: vs. Yankees

Thanks to the peculiar magic of spring training, one half of the Orioles has already played a game today. Thanks to that same magic, you could not see that game, or listen to it on the radio; it was only available through an online stream. Tonight’s contest against the Yankees gets the rare spring training MASN and Orioles Radio Network double feature.

That earlier game was a nutty one. The Orioles ended up winning over the Rays, 17-15, in a game where the teams combined to commit nine errors. As you can imagine, there was a lot to be exciting in a game where the O’s scored so many runs. Ryan Mountcastle had a three-hit day including a homer. Austin Hays and Rio Ruiz also homered. So did catcher Martin Cervenka, who was also responsible for three of the errors.

Less good was the pitching. Starter Dylan Bundy gave up six runs in less than two innings, proving unable to complete three innings as scheduled. He surrendered both bloops and blasts. Tanner Scott was touched up for three runs, in his case unable to get through one inning, and five runs crossed against Dillon Tate - though four were unearned. Tate likewise could not finish one inning.

Spring training is just spring training. You never know if a player was tinkering with certain pitches, throwing a sub-optimal arsenal on purpose and not really attempting to succeed. But Opening Day is 19 days away and it would be nice if more of the players who we hope can keep the next couple of seasons from being miserable affairs can start to get better results as we get closer to when things actually count.

Tonight’s lineup:

1. Cedric Mullins - CF
2. Trey Mancini - LF
3. Chance Sisco - DH
4. Renato Núñez - 3B
5. Jace Peterson - 1B
6. Hanser Alberto - 2B
7. Anthony Santander - RF
8. Richie Martin - SS
9. Carlos Perez - C

David Hess is starting the game for the Orioles. Expected to pitch behind him, in alphabetical order by last name: Pedro Araujo, Richard Bleier, Mychal Givens, and Jimmy Yacabonis.