Intrasquad Game

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Dwight Evans had two hits for the second straight game yesterday, as the Black Jerseys beat the Orange Jerseys, 4-3, in last intrasquad game. Evans, who doubled and scored the first run on a single by Luis Mercedes, was the only player with two hits.Rick Dempsey was the other old-timer who was prominent in both games. After hitting a home run off Gregg Olson in the first game, Dempsey delivered a game-tying single in the sixth inning that set up Joe Orsulak's game-winning double.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles played on the Ed Smith Stadium main field for the first time this spring on Thursday afternoon, making it the site for their second straight day of intrasquad games. Much like the back-to-back intrasquad games on Wednesday, Thursday's game was played within a controlled environment. Pitchers were limited to 15 pitches, but they faced extra hitters if they retired three batters without meeting the pitch count. The game lasted 4 ½ innings. One example of the controlled environment: When catcher Matt Wieters launched a solo homer to left field off Troy Patton, Wieters didn't run around the bases.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Pitching was the dominant theme of yesterday's intrasquad game, and it started with Mike Mussina, who threw two shutout innings before giving way to the first of four relievers. Mussina allowed two opposite-field singles, walked one and struck out three, including Kelly Gruber on a 3-2 changeup to lead off the second inning.Gruber hasn't played since the 1993 season because of a herniated disk in his neck. "His first at-bat and Mussina gives him a 3-2 changeup. He's thinking, 'Man, I've forgotten a lot about this game,' " said manager Davey Johnson.

No matter how pleasant it is to spend a few weeks in Florida this time of year, you can only watch so many pitchers cover first base or throw off the half-mound before you start pining for some actual competition. The players and coaches feel the same way, so everybody was happy to be out on the back fields for Wednesday's two concurrent intrasquad games at the Ed Smith Stadium spring training complex. Nobody kept score, but there were some highlights, starting with Chris Davis' opposite-field homer off teammate Tommy Hunter on the field that is built to the exact same dimensions as Camden Yards.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was a particularly unpleasant day for the Orioles to begin live competition, but yesterday's first spring intrasquad game produced a string of pleasant developments.The wind was gusting at about 30 mph, making the game a blowout in more ways than one, but there were answers blowing in that wind, answers to questions that have been buffetting the Orioles all winter.* Catcher Chris Hoiles, who underwent wrist surgery soon after the end of the 1992 season, hit a 460-foot home run in his first competitive at-bat since the operation.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Pitching dominated again in the Orioles' second intrasquad game yesterday, beginning with Mike Mussina, who tossed two scoreless innings and fielded the usual questions. How did he feel? Did he accomplish what he wanted? Good, and yes. Not that he's looking for much this time of year. "I think we're all just trying to get ourselves reacclimated to what we're doing. Whether it's pitching, catching, hitting, whatever. I did as much as I wanted to do," he said. "I got it over the plate most of the time."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The loose infield dirt on the main field claimed an Oriole yesterday when first baseman David Segui had to be scratched from the intrasquad game with a strained right hamstring. Segui's foot apparently slipped in a hole while doing a cutoff-relay drill and he didn't play as a precaution. He'll be evaluated again today, when the Orioles will conduct an abbreviated workout before tomorrow's exhibition opener against the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla. "The dirt gave and he strained the hamstring a little bit. We don't think it's anything bad. We just decided to keep him out the rest of the day and see where he's at [today]

Until yesterday, I hadn't missed an intrasquad game in nearly a year, so I'm feeling like I let everyone down by taking a half day off to play golf. OK, you just caught me in my first lie. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ schmuckblog)

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Lineups in the American League always differ from National League lineups because they include the designated hitter, which eliminates the need for having the pitcher hit. But Orioles manager Dave Trembley was a pioneer of sorts yesterday. What he did for the second intrasquad game was unique, to say the least. Trembley didn't include a designated hitter on Gary Allenson's club, and he omitted a left fielder for Brad Komminsk's team. But he had his reasons. Trembley explained that outfielder Jay Payton left camp earlier with flulike symptoms, and that he wanted to rest the veterans who played in Tuesday's intrasquad game.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Non-roster invitee Rick Dempsey has fired the first real shot in the battle for the No. 2 catching job.Dempsey hammered a bases-empty home run off relief stopper Gregg Olson yesterday in the seventh inning of the Orioles' first intrasquad game of spring training.It wasn't exactly the shot heard 'round the world, but it was the kind of first impression that Dempsey, 42, needs to make if he is to beat out Triple-A prospect Jeff Tackett and stick with the major-league club.

Wednesday will mark the first of two consecutive days of Orioles intrasquad games leading up to Saturday's Grapefruit League opener against the Minnesota Twins at Ed Smith Stadium. The Orioles will play a pair of three-inning intrasquad games Wednesday starting at 10:15 a.m. Each pitcher is scheduled to throw one inning. The games are open to the public. On Field 3 at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, Steve Johnson, Zach Clark and Mike Wright will pitch in the top half of innings, and Todd Redmond, Dylan Bundy and T.J. McFarland will throw the bottom half of innings.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy made his first competitive appearance in Saturday's intrasquad game, and it could be summed up in three words: Short and sweet. Bundy struck out Adam Jones and Mark Reynolds looking and got Matt Wieters on a soft fly ball to right. Nobody got a long look at him, but he made a great first impression just the same. "That guy is going to be as good as he wants," said Jones, who got a small but steady diet of fastballs from the 19-year-old right-hander.

After a dozen days of being limited to the back fields of the Ed Smith Stadium complex, sometimes lost in the monotony of pitchers' fielding practice, bullpen sessions and bunting drills, the Orioles finally put on their game faces Friday afternoon. Playing for the first time inside Ed Smith Stadium, the team took part in its first of two nine-inning intrasquad games, and manager Buck Showalter played organizer, trying to simulate a normal game day. It was simply an intrasquad game, an outing that likely will have been forgotten by most by the time the Orioles return to Baltimore next month.

A day after being shut down with recurring hip soreness, Orioles starter Justin Duchscherer acknowledged this morning that he was concerned and described his frustration level as a "10 out of 10. " But a painless flat-ground throwing session later in the day left him a little more optimistic even though he won't make his originally scheduled exhibition start Wednesday. "We'll treat it symptomatically," he said. "Hopefully, it's just inflammation. " Duchscherer, who said he felt "awesome" after a bullpen session Thursday, reported to Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday complaining of soreness.

Kevin Millwood threw 88 pitches (56 strikes) in his five innings of work against minor league hitters in today's intrasquad game. He struck out seven, walked two and gave up three runs in his final inning of work, but looked much sharper than in his two exhibition outings. "I liked what I saw," said pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who stayed behind to watch Millwood and Jim Johnson before rushing to Fort Myers for the Grapefruit League game against the Twins. "Every time he goes out there, he closes the gap to where he needs to be. He got a lot out of today.

COLLEGE PARK - - Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen said he wanted to get a good look at his young players in Saturday's first intrasquad scrimmage. And he did that, but he also got an eyeful of his team's defense. "They're way ahead on defense, obviously," Friedgen said after the scrimmage, which ran just over two hours on the team's practice field. "But we held out certain guys because we wanted to get a good look at everybody. ... Now we have to look at the film and make some good decisions about personnel next week."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Injured reliever Chris Ray has expanded his throwing program to include 25 tosses from 60 feet to go along with 25 tosses from 45 feet. He is expected to leave major league camp Sunday to continue his rehabilitation from ligament-reconstruction surgery at the club's minor league facility in Sarasota. "I'm just sticking to the schedule," Ray said yesterday. "I'm not sure when the next jump is, but I'll probably be on this a few more times. I feel really good. I'm pleased how my elbow is feeling right now."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Five batters into his first appearance in any sort of competition since having shoulder surgery, Alan Mills raged. The home plate umpire for the Orioles' first intrasquad game of the spring yesterday had a different interpretation of the strike zone than Mills, and the pitcher stared at him in fury.In other words, Mills felt right at home. Mills, whose comeback is important for the depth of the Orioles' bullpen, allowed two hits and a run in one inning, and felt no pain in his shoulder.

Until yesterday, I hadn't missed an intrasquad game in nearly a year, so I'm feeling like I let everyone down by taking a half day off to play golf. OK, you just caught me in my first lie. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ schmuckblog)

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Lineups in the American League always differ from National League lineups because they include the designated hitter, which eliminates the need for having the pitcher hit. But Orioles manager Dave Trembley was a pioneer of sorts yesterday. What he did for the second intrasquad game was unique, to say the least. Trembley didn't include a designated hitter on Gary Allenson's club, and he omitted a left fielder for Brad Komminsk's team. But he had his reasons. Trembley explained that outfielder Jay Payton left camp earlier with flulike symptoms, and that he wanted to rest the veterans who played in Tuesday's intrasquad game.