PHILADELPHIA — At the beginning of spring training, the games are for knocking the cobwebs out. By the end, it’s much more about simply surviving for the regular season.
Sunday’s 5-1, 9½-inning Orioles win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, their first of three exhibition games, was a white-knuckle mix of the two, one in which Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had plenty to like but also lost outfielder Stevie Wilkerson to an apparent wrist injury — and might feel fortunate if that’s the only bad news of the night when a final accounting is taken.
Prized Phillies free-agent pitcher Zack Wheeler spent the day searching for his control, and it was mostly Hyde’s projected Opening Day starters who dealt with the consequences.