Five Games And Six Days Away

With just five games left to play before the regular season starts, the Orioles are 12-13-2 and near the middle of the pack in the Grapefruit League standings. Here's a quick summary of the past few contests:

Game Twenty-Five (Wednesday, 3/23/11):

• Brian Matusz struggled in a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins...Matusz (0-2) was charged with four runs off five hits and three walks in just 1 1/3 innings.
• The 'pen looked good, but the offense stalled...the O's managed just six hits all game
• Adam Jones and Vladimir Guerrero both went 2-for-4 and accounted for both runs; Jones slapped his fourth homer in the third inning and Vlad followed with his fourth long-ball in the fifth

Game Twenty-Six (Thursday, 3/24/11):

• Jake Arrieta impressed as the Birds teed-off on the Pittsburgh Pirates in an 11-7 victory...Arrieta (3-0) gave up three runs in the first inning but settled down and lasted 5 1/3 frames, giving up four runs on five hits (three homers) and three walks while fanning four
• Every O's starter notched at least one hit, as the Birds scored 11 times on 15 hits
• Mark Reynolds finally slapped his first homer as an Oriole, a mammoth blast in the second inning...he later doubled and went 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout
• Luke Scott went deep for just the second time this season, going 1-for-5 with two strikeouts
• Felix Pie had a monster day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with his first home run of the season and four runs batted in

Game Twenty-Seven (Friday, 3/25/11):

• Brad Bergesen was pulled after just four pitches and the Birds fell to the Minnesota Twins 6-5
• Bergesen was hit by a line drive in the right forearm...X-rays came back negative but Bergy is bruised and sore...we'll see how this affects the look of the starting rotation
• Mike Ballard came on in relief and gave up all six of the Twins' runs on six hits and two walks in just one inning
• The Birds battled back but were unable to overcome the early six-run deficit...Adam Jones (5), Nolan Reimold (3) and Jake Fox (9) all went deep for the O's in the loss

Bird Bites...

• Justin Duchscherer will start the season on the DL; his new target date is April 21 (coincidentally, the first day the O's could bring up Zach Britton and keep him under their control for an extra year)
• It's no surprise, but Jeremy Guthrie will take the hill for the O's on Opening Day
• Buck Showalter had a few comments on the Yankees and Red Sox...it's nice to see a manager stir things up before the season has even started!

On Deck...

The Birds send Ryan Drese to the mound this afternoon as the O's take on the Tampa Bay Rays at 1:05...listen to the game on WBAL AM 1090