Orioles take no-hit bid into eighth inning

Mar 20, 2010 - 3:23 AM CLEARWATER, Fla.(AP) -- Dennis Sarfate gave up a single to John Mayberry Jr. with one out in the eighth inning for the Phillies' first hit, and the Baltimore Orioles beat Philadelphia 2-0 Friday night.

Brian Matusz, Will Ohman, Jim Johnson preceded Sarfate. Ross Wolf pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to preserve the one-hitter.

Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel was thankful he didn't see the Orioles record five more outs.

"You don't ever want to get no-hit, seriously," said Manuel, who had six All-Stars in his starting lineup. "I don't care where it's at, spring training or wherever. You don't ever want someone to get a no-hitter against you."

Mayberry, the son of former major leaguer John Mayberry, stroked a single down the left field line.

"Obviously you don't want that to happen to you but, you try to keep the same approach if you had 10 hits in a game," said Mayberry, who is competing for a bench job. "You don't try to do too much, you just try to put the ball in play hard somewhere and hopefully it will fall."

Matusz set the tone from the start. The 6-foot-5 rookie left-hander carved through a Phillies lineup that included Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth.

Matusz, the fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft, struck out six in 5 1-3 innings. He walked two.

"Doesnt matter who he faces, doesnt matter what lineup hes facing. He doesnt get out of his lane," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said. "Thats Brian Matusz, the way he pitches. He just has a feel for pitching. And he knows what hes doing.

"Hes going to be real special. We saw it last year," Trembley said. "Hes picked up right where he left off in his last start of the year. Hes got great poise."

Philadelphia starter Kyle Kendrick kept his bid alive for the fifth starter's job. The 25-year-old right-hander, saw his Grapefruit League shutout string end at 13 innings when Baltimore scored twice in the fifth. He also gave up his first two walks.

Lou Montanez and Josh Bell hit back to back singles to start the fifth and eventually scored on a fielder's choice and sacrifice fly.

"I was kind of upset with the fifth inning," said Kendrick, who was in a bases-loaded, no-outs jam after walking Chad Moeller. "I fell behind there, guys hit the ball well and I tried to minimize the damage as much as I could. But all in all I was satisfied with (the start). It's something to build off of. If it would have been smooth sailing all the way through spring training, I don't know how good that would have been."

Kendrick struck out four - all on changeups, a pitch he has worked tirelessly on in the last year to improve.

"That's very encouraging," Manuel said.

Kendrick is competing with veteran left-hander Jamie Moyer for the fifth starter's job. Moyer, who has pitched in three 'B' games, is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Sunday, also against the Orioles.

NOTES: Philadelphia 3B Placido Polanco was out of the lineup for the third straight game while recovering from a sprained knee. Polanco is expected to get four or five at-bats in a minor league game before rejoining the major league lineup Sunday when the Phillies host the Orioles. Philadelphia LHP Sergio Escalona was optioned to minor league camp before the game. Escalona, who appeared in 14 games with the Phillies last year, was thought to be in the mix as a left-handed specialist since J.C. Romero is expected to begin the season on the disabled list. But Escalona had an 11.25 ERA in five games. Infielder Brian Bocock was also sent to minor league camp.