Blue Jays

The Orioles had a choice on whether to throw offseason acquisition Wei-Yin Chen into his first Grapefruit League road start Monday afternoon or have him stay in Sarasota for a simulated game. Chen, a 26-year-old Taiwanese free agent who pitched in Japan the past four years, has much to get adjusted to this spring, so the Orioles figured this was the time to get him his first road pitching assignment in the U.S. “There are so many different things he's been exposed to,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Orioles designated hitter Chris Davis became the 19th player in club history to hit three home runs in a single game tonight against the Blue Jays. Davis hit a pair of solo homers in the second and fourth innings off Blue Jays starter Carlos Villanueva, the first homer hitting Eutaw Street.  Davis then crushed a two-run homer in the sixth off reliever Steve Delabar to give the Orioles a 5-1 lead, igniting the announced crowd of 25,754 at Camden Yards. Davis, who now has 23 homers on the season, came out for a curtain call after his third homer.

Zach Britton , who is in the mix for the club's fifth starter spot, really struggled Wednesday, lasting just 1 2/3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. The lefty gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks while retiring only four batters. He loaded the bases - on two walks and a single - and then J.P. Arencibia hit a three-run double before Britton could get an out. He allowed a two-run homer to Emilio Bonifacio in the second inning. Britton threw 59 pitches, 36 for strikes in the abbreviated start.

Franklin & Marshall built a 14-point third-quarter lead and held off a late rally to pull off a 14-12 upset over visiting Johns Hopkins on Saturday. The win, Franklin & Marshall's first against Johns Hopkins since 2007, ends the Blue Jays' 22-game regular-season winning streak and their 20-game Centennial Conference winning streak. The Blue Jays (8-1, 7-1) trailed 14-6 late in the fourth quarter before Braden Anderson directed a 14-play, 84-yard drive that Jonathan Rigaud capped with a 7-yard touchdown run with 27 seconds remaining.

There's no question that the Toronto Blue Jays have made the most noise throughout baseball this offseason - and that's pushed them from a fourth-place finish in 2012 to division favorites heading into this season. They've added three strong, veteran starting pitchers in R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle. They've added a perennial all-star and one of my favorite players to watch in shortstop Jose Reyes, as well as outfielder Melky Cabrera and infielder/outfielder Emilio Bonifacio to a lineup that already included Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus.

Tommy Hunter's words carried considerable concern. Following the Orioles right-hander's shortest outing of this young season Monday night against a Blue Jays lineup that used his fastball for batting practice, Hunter had few answers. He entered the spring competing for the team's Opening Day starter spot. Now he might be pitching his way out of the Orioles' starting rotation. When it comes to Hunter's 2012 season, his glaring numbers don't lie. In Monday's series-opening 6-2 loss to Toronto at the Rogers Centre, Hunter reached rock bottom with his shortest start in nearly 22 months, and the shortest by an Orioles starter this season, in front of an announced crowd of 16,575.

The Orioles have lost right-hander Todd Redmond, who was on the team's 40-man roster, on waivers as he was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays, according to an industry source. Redmond allowed five earned runs and eight hits with eight strikeouts and four walks in eight Grapefruit League innings before he was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday. The 27-year-old Redmond was claimed off waivers by the Orioles on Feb. 8 from the Reds. He made his major league debut with Cincinnati last season - making his first and only big league start - on Aug. 18 in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles staked the Toronto Blue Jays to a five-run lead by the second inning Wednesday, but they stormed back with five solo homers and eventually won, 6-5. Left fielder Nolan Reimold, who was playing in the field for the first time since experiencing shoulder tightness on March 1, had two home runs to lead the offensive barrage. J.J. Hardy started the second inning against Toronto's Jeremy Jeffress, who is fighting for a bullpen spot, with his second homer in two games.

As we saw this past season, it doesn't make sense to put too much stock in preseason baseball odds . (Unless you're actually planning on betting on them.) But looking at how those odds shift is one way to see how impactful the pending Jays-Marlins trade could be if approved. As Dan Connolly outlined this morning , the megadeal that would send Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and others to Toronto would make the Blue Jays a true force in the American League. And that's reflected in the Vegas sports books this afternoon.

Orioles third-base coach DeMarlo Hale, one of two coaches the team has yet to resign, has interviewed for the Toronto Blue Jays bench coach job, an industry source has confirmed. Ending a tenuous search for a manager to replace John Farrell, who left to become the Red Sox's new manager, the Blue Jays hired John Gibbons, who managed Toronto from 2004-'08. He was introduced to the media on Tuesday morning.  Orioles manager Buck Showalter had expressed concern that other teams could woo Hale, who also served as the team's infield coach, with the offer of a bench coaching job. Hale was bench coach on new Indians manager Terry Francona's staff in Boston and worked alongside Farrell, formerly the Red Sox pitching coach, under Francona.