Intrasquad Game

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The fly balls that crashed down on the other side of the outfield fence yesterday were a pretty good indication that the Orioles' Albert Belle had found his rhythm in the batting cage. But a more daunting task awaits him with today's start in right field in the club's first intrasquad game. Though his movements remain restricted because of a degenerative hip condition, Belle had his most productive morning of hitting since arriving at camp. He teed off on third base coach Tom Trebelhorn, who was throwing batting practice, before signing autographs beside the Orioles' dugout and heading into the clubhouse.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- As planned, Mike Mussina's first exhibition start ended after three innings. That's about all that went right. The Florida Marlins roughed up Mussina for five runs yesterday, three coming on a home run by Mike Lowell in the third inning. Four of their six hits went for extra bases in a game the Orioles rallied to win, 7-5. Mussina gave up doubles to David Berg and Preston Wilson in the first inning to fall behind 1-0. The Orioles tied it in the second, but Florida erupted in the third.

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. -- Cal Ripken took another step yesterday toward validating a full recovery from September back surgery. It went off without a hitch or a twinge. Playing for the first time since having his season end prematurely, Ripken lasted four pain-free innings in the Orioles' first intrasquad game. He was robbed of a hit in his only at-bat, with shortstop Mike Bordick making a diving stop up the middle. He was mostly idle in the field, and mainly encouraged by how he felt in a game that ended in a 1-1 tie. "Intrasquad games have always been kind of fun," Ripken said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Will Clark knew nothing about the young pitchers he was facing in yesterday's intrasquad game. Dave Evans? Carlos Medina? Richard Bauer? You've got to be kidding.Evans won his battle with Clark, getting a called third strike on a pitch that appeared well off the plate. Clark just grinned as he walked to the dugout, then unloaded on the innocent arms that followed.Appearing in his second intrasquad game, Clark lined a two-run single off Medina and drilled a two-run homer off Bauer that crashed into the empty bleachers in right field during the A team's 12-7 victory.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Heavy rain forced a premature end to yesterday's second intrasquad game, but not before Scott Erickson and Doug Johns each had gotten in two innings. With different results.Though he didn't throw poorly, Erickson allowed three runs to a B team composed mostly of players from the minor-league camp. Two runs came in the first inning, when a strikeout pitch skipped past young catcher Chip Alley, whose throw hit 6-foot-6 Frank Figueroa as he raced up the line."It felt like I was facing hitters for the first time since September," Erickson said.

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.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Sherman Obando had another good day at the plate in yesterday's intrasquad game, but he knows that isn't likely to improve his chances of making the major-league roster.Everyone knows he can hit. He has to show he can do more than that."Hitting is my best part," said Obando, who doubled off the center-field wall and had a home run snatched off the top of the fence by left fielder Mike Devereaux. "I'm trying to do the rest of it."The rest of it used to be catching.

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.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Several of the Orioles' top minor-league prospects, Scott Klingenbeck, Joe Borowski and Jimmy Haynes among them, have expressed concern that the strike is hurting their chances of making the team.Manager Phil Regan agrees.In a normal year, Regan said, a young pitcher gets plenty of opportunity to show his stuff. Live batting practice, bullpen work, exhibition games.But this is not a normal year."They may not get those chances," Regan said, "because there won't be any time.