ARLINGTON, Texas - Orioles reliever Tommy Hunter just completed his simulated game at Globe Life Park, as the club determines whether he's ready to go on an injury rehab assignment or perhaps be activated from the disabled list.
David Lough and Ryan Flaherty took their swings against Hunter, who's on the DL with a strained left groin. Coaches Wayne Kirby, Bobby Dickerson and Einar Diaz also took turns.
No stats will be kept on this game, of course.
Manager Buck Showalter stood on the field...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Let me make sure I've got it all straight.
Miguel Gonzalez underwent an MRI on his right side yesterday and is a strong candidate for the disabled list. Chris Tillman is starting in Gonzalez's place tonight in the series finale against the Rangers, and Kevin Gausman may be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk and start Saturday night against the Athletics at Camden Yards.
Bud Norris left last night's game after five innings with a right forearm contusion and will be re-evaluated...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Bud Norris said his right forearm is "pretty sore" tonight after he was nailed by a Mitch Moreland comebacker in the fifth inning. Whether he can make his next start is up in the air.
"You never want to get smoked by a comebacker, but the trainers will look at it the next couple days and get rid of the swelling as best I can," Norris said following the Orioles' 6-5 win over the Rangers.
"I don't know. I've really got to see how it is tomorrow. The swelling is...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Orioles manager Buck Showalter said the club is leaning toward placing pitcher Miguel Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list.
Gonzalez underwent an MRI this afternoon after complaining of pain on his right side. The results were more favorable than anticipated, but he's still expected to go on the DL. A decision will be made by Friday.
Left-hander T.J. McFarland and Kevin Gausman are the other candidates to start Saturday.
"MRI was better than we thought it might be, so...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Orioles starter Bud Norris stayed in tonight's game after taking a shot off his right forearm from Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The next batter, Adrian Beltre, hit his second home run of the night and his third of the series to tie the game 5-5.
Norris threw three pitches to test the arm before sending head athletic trainer Richie Bancells and manager Buck Showalter back to the dugout. Beltre dug in and drove a 93 mph fastball an...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Johan Santana is scheduled to throw five innings or 75 pitches Friday at extended spring training in Sarasota.
The rest of Santana's schedule must be determined, but he could report to Triple-A Norfolk to begin a rehab assignment.
Kevin Gausman worked one inning and threw 26 pitches tonight for Norfolk, allowing three runs and two hits, walking one, striking out two and serving up a home run. He was removed from the game in case the Orioles need him to start Saturday night...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Chris Tillman took his normal work day yesterday and is ready to pitch on regular rest Thursday night in the series finale against the Rangers.
Tillman is taking Miguel Gonzalez's turn, leaving Saturday's starter a mystery.
"This is normal rest and everything," Tillman said. "I was throwing as much in between if I was starting that day anyway."
The Orioles are waiting on the results of Gonzalez's MRI, braced for the possibility that he's headed to the disabled list...
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Orioles rotation for their upcoming series with the Athletics still has not been set.
Wei-Yin Chen is set to start on Friday and Ubaldo Jimenez on Sunday, but the starter for Saturday's game is still unknown.
Chris Tillman was originally supposed to start Saturday, but his spot is now listed as TBA. Tillman's health is fine, but he has been moved to start Thursday on normal rest because Miguel Gonzalez woke up yesterday with pain in his right side.
Gonzalez is...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Nelson Cruz is serving as the Orioles' designated hitter again tonight against the Rangers. David Lough is in left field.
Caleb Joseph gets another start behind the plate after going 2-for-4 with a tie-breaking double.
For the Orioles
Nick Markakis RF
Manny Machado 3B
Nelson Cruz DH
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
J.J. Hardy SS
Jonathan Schoop 2B
David Lough LF
Caleb Joseph C
Bud Norris RHP
For the Rangers
Shin-Soo Choo LF
Luis Sardinas SS
Mitch Moreland 1B
Adrian Beltre...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Bud Norris has faced the Rangers once in his major league career. Nick Martinez has never pitched against the Orioles.
Not a lot of history in tonight's matchup at Globe Life Park.
Norris is 1-4 with a 4.71 ERA in six road starts this season. In his only outing against the Rangers on March 31, 2013, he picked up the win in Houston after allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Norris hasn't pitched since May 28 because manager Buck Showalter decided to tweak his rotation...
ARLINGTON, Texas - It began as an uneventful homecoming tonight for Nelson Cruz at Glove Life Park. He received a warm ovation before his first at-bat and went hitless in four trips to the plate before getting another chance in the eighth.
The Orioles already had scored three runs to break a 2-2 tie. Cruz tacked on three more with his 21st home run of the season.
He won't soon forget his return to Arlington.
"It feels good. It's just different," he said.
"It was kind of weird. It was...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he almost removed Nelson Cruz from tonight's game due to leg cramps that surfaced around the fourth inning.
Good thing he chose to stick with Cruz, who made a slow trot around the bases after his three-run homer in the eighth contributed mightily to the Orioles' 8-3 victory over the Rangers at Globe Life Park.
Showalter wondered before the game whether Cruz would be amped up facing his former team for the first time.
"It was just the...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Show of hands if you were sitting at home tonight yelling for Orioles manager Buck Showalter to send up a pinch-hitter for Caleb Joseph in the eighth inning.
A bar, your car or a friend's house also count. The point is, you questioned why he was batting with runners on first and second and one out in a tie game.
Now you wonder whether an apology will suffice.
Joseph lined a double into right-center field off Texas reliever Alexi Ogando to score Delmon Young and give the...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Adam Jones produced the first run of tonight's game with a home run to right field, the ball glancing off the foul pole to give the Orioles a brief 1-0 lead.
Doesn't that make it a fair pole?
Don't overthink it.
Leading off the top of the fourth inning, Jones saw four straight fastballs from former teammate Joe Saunders. He lined the last one, clocked at 92 mph, to right field for his first homer since May 18 in Kansas City, when he connected off Aaron Crow in the...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Are the Orioles poised to make another roster move?
Manager Buck Showalter hinted at it during today's pregame session with the media. Apparently, there's a health issue in the bullpen.
"You get to the park and there's one or two things you weren't expecting," he said. "We've got a couple we're kind of looking at that may alter some things. But not tonight. One of them potentially might. We'll sit down with Dave (Wallace) and Dom (Chiti) after we get through with...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Orioles manager Buck Showalter left open the possibility of going with a six-man rotation if Johan Santana is ready to come off the disabled list later this month.
The Orioles had projected Santana to join them on June 18, but it's been pushed back a day after they purchased his contract yesterday from Triple-A Norfolk and placed him on the DL.
Showalter figures that Santana could use the extra rest between starts, and the two-time Cy Young winner isn't a candidate for...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Orioles reliever Tommy Hunter threw 25 pitches in today's bullpen session at Globe Life Park and said he hasn't felt discomfort in his groin in four or five days.
Catcher Matt Wieters made 30 throws from varying distances today, starting at 70 feet and moving past 90 for the last 10 tosses. He remains encouraged by how his elbow is responding.
So far, so good.
Hunter was in his typically playful mood with reporters, joking that he will need one or 10 rehab games before...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Nelson Cruz is back in the Orioles lineup tonight, and will be facing his former team for the first time.
Cruz exited Sunday's game in Houston in the third inning with a bruised and swollen left hand, but he gripped a bat yesterday without discomfort and should play.
Over eight seasons with the Rangers from 2006 to 2013, Cruz batted .268 with 157 homers and 489 RBIs in 796 games and was an All-Star in 2009 and 2013.
Cruz lost out to Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion today for...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Dylan Bundy turned in his best outing today at extended spring training, tossing four perfect innings against the Twins and facing two extra batters to raise his pitch count.
The only hit off Bundy came after the fourth. He struck out six batters and threw 56 pitches before coming out of the game.
Bundy's fastball sat at 91-93 mph and touched 94 mph.
In his previous start on May 29, Bundy threw 50 pitches over three hitless innings in Fort Myers. He walked the leadoff...
ARLINGTON, Texas - Tonight's game between the Orioles and Rangers has a "Throwback Tuesday" feel to it.
The Orioles are facing former teammate Joe Saunders, making only his third start for the Rangers this season after spending time on the disabled list with a bruised foot.
Manager Buck Showalter gave Saunders the start in Texas in the 2012 American League wild card game despite the left-hander's horrific numbers. Saunders is now 4-10 with a 6.39 ERA in 16 career starts against the Rangers...