Davis Hits Long Homer In Orioles' 5-0 Win Over Blue Jays
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) -- Chris Davis hit a long three-run homer and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 to win the second half of their split-squad doubleheader Thursday night.
Earlier in the day, the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 3-2 at Port Charlotte.
Davis, who will have to sit out the season opener as he serves the final game of his 25-game suspension for amphetamine use, homered to right-center field off Chad Jenkins in the third inning.
"I liked it because it put the Orioles ahead," manager Buck Showalter said. "It sounded good. I'd rather him do that than not."
Davis has been working with new Baltimore hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh this spring.
"He's been working real hard," Showalter said. "Get a little return on it. Nothing wind-aided tonight, thick air. He had to square it up."
Jonathan Schoop added a two-run homer in the seventh for Baltimore.
Dayan Viciedo was 0 for 3 in his first game for the Blue Jays. He was signed to a minor league contract Sunday after the Chicago White Sox released him. In 2014, Viciedo hit .231 for Chicago with 21 home runs and 58 RBIs. He struck out 122 times and walked just 32.
In the sixth inning, Viciedo sent a ball to deep center for a long out.
"He takes his rips," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "He hit that one ball to center field. He's a strong guy. He has a power game. He's versatile enough that he can play some left field, third base, first base if he had to. We'll see what he does with his bat."
STARTING TIME:
Blue Jays: Rookie Daniel Norris gave up a hit in a scoreless 1 2/3 innings.
"It's definitely a measuring (stick), just kind of seeing where I am feeling and if my pitches are doing what they're supposed to," Norris said. "I remember years back in spring training, it was like, you couldn't feel anything, you're not throwing, stuff's not doing what it does mid-season -- not that it was tonight, but it was a better building block, a good start to my progression."
Orioles: Miguel Gonzalez pitched two scoreless innings allowing one hit and struck out two.
"Obviously, you don't want to show every pitch to guys you're going to be facing a lot," Gonzalez said. "So especially early in camp, just go out there and work on your fastball command and, you know, it really worked out tonight."
Baltimore allowed just two runs in 18 innings.
"I thought everybody threw the ball well," Showalter said. "It was a good day for pitching."
YOON RELEASED:
The Orioles released South Korean right-hander Suk-min Yoon. The 28-year-old, who was signed to a three-year, $5.575 million contract in Feb. 2013, has agreed to a four-year, $8.2 million deal with the Kia Tigers in South Korea, the largest contract ever paid to a free agent there.
"The good part of this is that this didn't work, but we were able to correct the mistake, and we have that money to available to invest in other players," Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said.
THERE'S A STRIKE
Hall of Famer Cal Ripken threw out the first pitch. He spent several minutes warming up with Baltimore shortstop J.J. Hardy, and fired a strike to Hardy on the pitch.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: R.A. Dickey is scheduled to start Friday against Baltimore in Dunedin.
Orioles: Rookie right-hander Mike Wright is expected to start Friday against Toronto.
WJZ is at Spring Training. Sports Director Mark Viviano will have more from Sarasota, Fla. tonight on WJZ at 6 p.m.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)