By Eduardo A. Encina The Baltimore Sun Baltimore Sun

1:55 p.m. AKST, February 26, 2013

The Orioles’ Grapefruit League game Tuesday against the Pirates in Bradenton was rained out, as a strong band of storms pummeled Florida’s Gulf Coast throughout the day.

The tarp was out on McKechnie Field hours before the scheduled 1:05 p.m. start time, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter inspected the field before the game was called.

The entire Tampa Bay region was under a tornado watch throughout the morning and early afternoon.

Chris Tillman was scheduled to start that game for the Orioles. He will instead start Wednesday night’s split-squad home game against the Boston Red Sox at 7:05 p.m. Zach Britton, who was supposed to start against the Red Sox, will follow Tillman.

The travel team heads to Tampa to play the Yankees at 1:05 p.m.