Highlights and lowlights from the Orioles' 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach, Fla.
DOWN --Doug Johns: Was due for a poor outing. This is it.
UP -- Brady Anderson: Takes over the club lead in RBIs with 10 after hitting a two-run homer in the fifth.
DOWN -- Willis Otanez: Commits his team-leading fourth error, a wild throw that allowed a run in the first. Also goes 0-for-3 in the cleanup spot.
UP -- Mike Timlin: Breezes through the fifth, not allowing the ball out of the infield.
DOWN -- Tommy Davis: Had a runner caught off first but made bad throw, letting in two runs in the seventh.
UP -- Jeff Reboulet: Three walks keep that average at .350.
DOWN -- Weather: A spring training rain delay.
The bats
They were being sawed in half by Kevin Brown through two innings, but he didn't return for the third because of the delay. Brown struck out five of the nine batters he faced. He also walked two and allowed a leadoff single to B. J. Surhoff in the second. The Orioles didn't score until the fifth, when Anderson took left-hander Jeff Williams deep. Charles Johnson and Chris Hoiles singled in the seventh for the Orioles' other hits. Dodgers pitchers struck out 11.
The arms
Mike Mussina was limited to 1 1/3 innings because of the rain. He allowed two runs in the first, including a leadoff homer to Eric Young. A two-out throwing error by Otanez made it 2-0. Mussina also allowed a single and walk in the first. Johns took over with one out in the second and needed only three pitches to get through the inning, but he permitted his first runs of the spring in the third when the Dodgers scored three times on three hits and a walk. He also gave up two hits in the fourth, but the Dodgers didn't score. Timlin retired the side in the fifth. Left-hander Arthur Rhodes walked one during a scoreless sixth. Two runs scored off Mike Fetters in the seventh after a double, single and error.
The rest
Because of a shortage of pitchers, the game was stopped after the seventh. Mussina threw about 100 pitches on one of the back fields to compensate for his shortened outing. The Dodgers' Todd Hundley caught his first game of the spring. Coming back from "Tommy John" surgery on his right elbow, Hundley played two innings and allowed Surhoff's club-leading third stolen base. Surhoff was ejected by plate umpire Jerry Meals for arguing a called third strike in the fourth inning. Esteban Beltre, starting at shortstop, made a diving stop up the middle of a grounder by Devon White and flipped to second.
Quote of the day
"That wasn't really fair to Doug Johns because he was supposed to pitch late in the game, and then I've got to tell him, 'You have to warm up in five minutes.' " -- Miller.
Pub Date: 3/27/99