masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla. – Catcher Matt Wieters still expects to be back in the Orioles lineup Monday night at Ed Smith Stadium.

Wieters is being held out of today’s game against the Yankees while continuing to receive treatment on his sprained right ankle. He wouldn’t have made the trip to Dunedin on Sunday regardless of his health situation.

“In spring training, you don’t want to hurt anything else or make it worse, so a couple more days, try to completely knock it out, then be good to go,” he…SARASOTA, Fla. – Catcher Matt Wieters still expects to be back in the Orioles lineup Monday night at Ed Smith Stadium.

Wieters is being held out of today’s game against the Yankees while continuing to receive treatment on his sprained right ankle. He wouldn’t have made the trip to Dunedin on Sunday regardless of his health situation.

“In spring training, you don’t want to hurt anything else or make it worse, so a couple more days, try to completely knock it out, then be good to go,” he said.

“If it was the regular season, I’d be good to go, but you don’t want to make it worse or hurt anything else. I’d probably just tape it up. More worried about trying to compensate with something else and miss more time than you need to.”

Wieters swung a bat yesterday while easing back into baseball activity.

“It felt good,” he said. “It was a little stiff, so that’s more the reason than anything else. Just want to get all that stiffness out, have more mobility in it.”

Infielder Alexi Casilla expects to play Sunday against the Blue Jays after being scratched from the lineup yesterday with a hyperextended left knee.

“My knee was swollen, but I told the trainers that I could have played with it,” he said. “They didn’t let me today. Same thing. They just wanted the swelling to go down. I said, ‘I can play.’

“It happened the first game I played. I was turning a double play and the runner hit me in my knee.”

Casilla played in two more games before the knee swelled up yesterday.

“In the morning, it was swelling, but the first day I played, that’s when it happened,” he said. “And the next two days I was feeling OK to play. But yesterday was the worst.”

Casilla, trying to make the roster in a utility role, is aware that he’s fallen behind.

“I already missed a lot of games and we don’t have many games left, so I have a short period to prove myself,” he said.

“It’s obvious. I missed a lot of games already. From the first day I came here, I was ready to play, I was feeling very good, even if I was 0-for-5. But it’s been a while since the last time I played. But tomorrow I’ll be in there. I’ll be ready to play.

“I don’t have the opportunity to play a couple games in a row and it’s frustrating. I came back from my hamstring injury, and now my knee. It’s very frustrating, missing a lot of games, especially when you are competing for a spot.”

Casilla will rest today and hope to get rid of the lingering soreness.

“It’s a little sore, but I can play through it,” he said.

David Lough wasn’t at his locker this morning, so it’s up to manager Buck Showalter to provide an injury update. Lough was scratched yesterday with stiffness in his neck.

Nelson Cruz is starting in center field today, where he totaled three major league innings in 2006 with Showalter managing him in Texas. That’s it.

For the Yankees
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Brian Roberts 2B
Kelly Johnson 3B
Austin Romine C
Ramon Flores LF
Mason Williams CF
Kyle Roller DH
Carmen Angelini SS
Francisco Arcia 1B

Vidal Nuno LHP