Nate McLouth, Miguel Gonzalez Lead Orioles; Homer Bailey Goes Six Scoreless for Reds

Players of the Day for Saturday, March 30, 2013

Grapefruit League

Miguel Gonzalez

Wrapping up exhibition season, the Orioles celebrated their Grapefruit League championship by pounding on the Mets in a 7-1, 1-hit victory.

Nate McLouth

Nate McLouth socked a pair of solo homers to supply more than needed runs for starter Miguel Gonzalez, who gave up the only hit by the Mets, a single by Marlon Byrd, who came around to score on Ruben Tejada's sacrifice fly.

Gonzalez worked the first five innings, fanning five while issuing just the one hit and one walk. Five Oriole relievers proceeded to the mound thereafter to finish off the Mets - and Spring training - in hitless fashion.

The Orioles finished up with a 19-9 record, 2 1/2 games better than the Tigers and Braves.

Bailey: 6IP, 1H, OER

Cactus League

Cincinnati didn't have a very successful exhibition season in terms of wins (13-20), but they managed to finish up in good style, with a 7-0 blanking of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Homer Bailey worked six innings for the victory, his second win with one loss, shutting out the D'Backs on one hit while striking out seven

Baily had a modestly successful 2012 with the Reds, going 13-10 in 33 starts. His 3.38 ERA spanned 208 innings. He is expected to have another solid season as the Reds try to win the NL Central again. They won it by nine games over the Cardinals in 2012.

Saturday marked the end of Spring Training for all major league clubs. On Sunday, the Rangers visit Houston to kick off the regular season as the Astros have defected from the NL Central to the AL West, so it's an AL opener.

The Astros haven't been competitive in the NL Central for the better part of two decades, so they were the likely team to be booted from the NL to even up the leagues at 15 teams each, with five teams in each division. Houston, with its record of fantastic failure in the NL, can now begin to set records for mediocrity in the AL West. We wish them luck.

More clubs will be in action on Monday, April 1, with 12 games on what is the official opening day.