I wasn't able to listen to the game and had to follow along with Gameday and Andy Hellicksonstine's updates, so I don't claim for this to have too much substance. With spring training games, the important thing to look at is scouting information and without being able to watch the game, it's pretty tough to get an idea of how players looked. That said, here are the highlights and lowlights of today's game. Don't read into anything too much; this is just one game and it is the first spring training game, so we're seeing prospects play against veterans and all sorts of weird stuff.
- Sean Rodriguez hit a solo home run in the 7th inning off of O's prospect David Hernandez.
- Bartlett, Upton, Zobrist, and Joyce all went 0-2 before being removed from the game. Dan Johnson was 0-3. Pitchers are normally ahead of hitters early in the spring, so whatever.
- Shoppach and Navarro were both 1-2, although Navarro also grounded into a double play. Some things never change.
- The Rays were pounding the ball into the dirt for the most part, while the Orioles were getting lots of fly balls. Apparently the wind was blowing out quite strongly, so the Orioles swatted 6 home runs. Fun.
- Most of the damage came against Phillips, Cromer, and Thayer. Garza pitched well over 2 innings (1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 4:1 GB/FB ratio) and "Dale" Shields pitched a scoreless inning (1 BB and 1 K).
- Desmond Jennings was pulled from the game in the 9th after being hit by a pitch on the elbow in his only at bat. According to Marc Topkin, "stiffness, swelling in left elbow after being hit by pitch. Rays say he'll be fine."
Next game is tomorrow at 1:05 PM against the Orioles again.