SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles manager Buck Showalter wasn't thrilled with his club's performance in the second game of a split-squad exhibition doubleheader, but he wasn't terribly concerned about anything that happened in the 10-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Brian Matusz gave up six hits and three runs in his spring debut at Ed Smith Stadium, but only two of the hits were solid and he also struck out three batters over his two innings of work.
"It was a start,'' Showalter said. "He's only going to get better. He's just going to keep working. He'll be fine. It's the first outing of spring. He did some good things, too. It's the cup half-full. He's done a lot of good things just like a lot of our guys in the offseason and if it's meant to happen it will happen. He has given himself a chance to have some success this year."
Orioles pitchers surrendered 10 runs on 18 hits and gave up runs in each of the first five innings, leaving Showalter to look for most of his positives from the afternoon game against the Tampa Bay Rays in which the O's gave up just a run on three hits.
"We threw a lot of strikes, especially in that first game,'' he said. "We pitched real well over there and it was against a good lineup. We just played the game right."
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