During his year away from the field recovering from colon cancer, Orioles slugger Trey Mancini dearly missed baseball. It appears the feeling was mutual. That much was evident by the warm welcome Mancini received before and during his successful spring debut Sunday, when the O’s opened their Grapefruit League schedule with a 6-4 loss to the Pirates.

Mancini was given a partial ovation after warmups and then a standing ovation from both dugouts and the 25-percent capacity crowd at Ed Smith Stadium prior to his first at-bat, pausing to acknowledge the applause with a tip of the cap. He then singled to center off Chad Kuhl in his first competitive at-bat since last March.