SARASOTA, FLA. — Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz got his first chance to start an exhibition game this spring and made the most of it, giving up just two hits over three scoreless innings in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Ed Smith Stadium.
Matusz struck out three and did not walk a batter in his third appearance of the spring. He has now pitched 6 1/2 innings and given up just a run on five hits.
"At the start, command was a little bit erratic," Matusz said afterward. "I think it was the excitement of starting again and getting out there. There were some nerves and some excitement, but I felt like as the game went on, the command got better and the pitches were crisper."
Matusz still figures to be the club's left-handed specialist, but there are good reasons to stretch him out during spring training, including the possibility of having enough left-handed depth in the bullpen to consider dealing him to a team in need of a promising pitcher.
Though he came out of college as a starter and initially established himself in that role at the big league level, Matusz said it was a little strange getting ready to take the mound.
"I think it's just the pregame preparation,'' he said. "That's the only difference. Once you get out there on the mound, it's really the same game. You've still got to make pitches and get hitters out. But for the most part, it was a challenge of finding that pregame preparation."
He didn't get any run support Saturday. The Orioles, who have struggled all spring to score runs, did not get their first hit until the sixth inning. They finally broke through with a run after Rey Navarro opened the sixth with a single and J.J. Hardy lined a long double to left field to bring him all the way around to score. Steve Pearce added the second run in the seventh with his first home run of the spring.