Quick injury updates

Quick injury updates
Reliever Jim Johnson threw in the bullpen today and pronounced himself ready to pitch. "Everything went fine," he said."My arm feels good. I'll be in there." Johnson had some swelling in his right elbow caused by a slight muscle strain. "It's something I haven't really had before," he said. "It's just muscular, nothing with a ligament. The meds and ice worked. Pretty much Advil and ice. So we're good." Outfielder Felix Pie will attempt to throw today and is available to...
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Orioles lineup

Orioles lineup
Brian Roberts 2B Adam Jones CF Nick Markakis RF Miguel Tejada 3B Luke Scott LF Matt Wieters C Nolan Reimold DH Garrett Atkins 1B Julio Lugo SS Brian Matusz LHP
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My to-do list

My to-do list
While prepping for tonight's MASN broadcast, I'll also need to check on left fielder Felix Pie and find out whether he's close to getting back in the lineup. We haven't seen one posted up here in the press box, so I'll have to wait until the clubhouse opens to the media at 3:40 p.m. If Pie isn't in left tonight, and it would be a shocker if his shoulder allowed it, Nolan Reimold or Luke Scott figure to take his place. Reimold couldn't get to two balls in the gap last night, but I...
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Kubatko the reliever

Kubatko the reliever
It isn't often that I get the chance to replace a Hall of Famer, but Jim Palmer got the hook today and I'm coming in from the bullpen. And there isn't much time to warm up. Let me explain. Palmer is dealing with a bad chest cold and won't be joining play-by-play man Jim Hunter tonight in the MASN broadcast booth. Somebody has to fill his seat, if not his shoes. That would be me. All I ask is that you go easy on me. I don't know how many innings I'm working and I don't know exactly...
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Matusz the stopper

Matusz the stopper
Brian Matusz retained his rookie status this season. Now he needs to become the stopper in the opening series of 2010. Is there anything else he can do for us? Is he taking lunch orders, too? Matusz will try to block the Rays' attempts to post a three-game sweep, which would make that early-morning arrival into BWI tomorrow seem even more cruel. He's pitched once at Tropicana Field and won, though he allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and didn't issue...
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Your morning bowl of Wieters

Your morning bowl of Wieters
The pitching staff belongs to Matt Wieters. That's what we were told while given the explanation for Chad Moeller losing his job as the Orioles' backup catcher. Moeller wasn't needed to mentor the staff. Wieters is in control. He owns it. And he has the receipt in his wallet if you don't believe him. With these words still swimming in my head, I watched Wieters go to the mound twice last night in the fourth inning, as the Rays mounted a rally that produced one run, but could have busted...
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More post-game chatter

More post-game chatter
Orioles manager Dave Trembley was encouraged by Jeremy Guthrie's outing tonight. Very encouraged. "The story for us is the way Guthrie pitched," Trembley said. "That's Guthrie of 2008 right there. He pitched a great game. Located, pitched down, was aggressive with his pitches. You liked the way he pitched and he'll win a lot of games if he continues to go out there like that. "If you see his arm angle, his arm angle is back to the way it was in 2008. If you saw him last year, he was...
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Reimold talks about the Longoria double

Reimold talks about the Longoria double
Nolan Reimold said he didn't have a chance to catch Evan Longoria's fly ball that fell in left-center field for a crucial two-run double in the fifth. "It was placed pretty well," he said. "It was like 10 feet out of my reach or so, five or 10 feet, somewhere in there. It was just hit in one of those spots. Tough to get to." Reimold said he felt fine running on the turf. "Nothing unexpected," he said. He did concede that he lacks that initial burst since undergoing surgery on his...
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No J.J.

No J.J.
Reliever Jim Johnson wasn't available tonight because of some tightness in his right arm. "He told me before the game," manager Dave Trembley said. Cla Meredith replaced Will Ohman in the bottom of the eighth and gave up Evan Longoria's home run on his second pitch. Johnson retired the side in order last night, plowing through the heart of the Rays' order and handing a one-run lead to closer Mike Gonzalez. I'll check on his availability tomorrow. He was missed tonight.
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Tampa Bay 4, Orioles 3

Tampa Bay 4, Orioles 3
You can't complain about manager Dave Trembley not using his bench tonight. Felix Pie pinch-ran for Garrett Atkins, whose double with one out in the ninth scored Matt Wieters to reduce Tampa Bay's lead to 4-3. Ty Wigginton pinch-hit for the next batter, Cesar Izturis, and grounded to short. Brian Roberts flied out on the first pitch he saw from closer Rafael Soriano. Another tough loss, though not quite as big a kick in the gut as last night's ending. Here are the RSS links that a few...
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What's Guthrie's line? (updated)

What's Guthrie's line? (updated)
Jeremy Guthrie was charged with three runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked two, struck out six and threw 59 of his 95 pitches for strikes. The guy who led the American League in home runs allowed kept the ball out of the seats tonight, but Evan Longoria's two-run double with two outs in the fifth gave Tampa Bay the lead. Will Ohman replaced Guthrie with Reid Brignac on first base and one out in the seventh. Plate umpire Kerwin Danley ruled that Carl Crawford didn't check his...
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Most popular question in the press box

Most popular question in the press box
"Would Pie have caught that?" Each time Nolan Reimold fails to run down a fly ball in left-center field, a reporter will turn to the guy next to him and bring up Felix Pie's name. Pie has the speed to catch up to Evan Longoria's ball in the fifth that fell for a two-run double, giving Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead. That doesn't mean he would have made the play. We'll never know. But he certainly has the wheels. It wouldn't matter if they were flat. He'll remain in the garage until his...
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Getting defensive

Getting defensive
Miguel Tejada looks like he's been playing third base his entire baseball life. Tejada made another sliding stop and throw to retire Evan Longoria in the second inning, again displaying quick reflexes while preventing the ball from handcuffing him. And he turned a 5-3 double play to end the inning on Pat Burrell's broken-bat shot to third. Tejada made the right choice in racing to the bag rather than throwing to second base and trying to start a 5-4-3 double play. He's still got a cannon...
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Taking a quick lead (w/note added)

Taking a quick lead (w/note added)
The Orioles scored twice in the top of the first inning, parlaying two singles, a walk and a Tampa Bay error into a 2-0 lead. Miguel Tejada had an RBI single, but most interesting to me was the infield shift against catcher Matt Wieters that almost produced the final out. Second baseman Reid Brignac moves to shallow right field and shortstop Jason Bartlett circles around second base, but third baseman Evan Longoria only takes a few steps toward shortstop. Wieters hit a sharp grounder...
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Revisiting the Atkins play

Revisiting the Atkins play
It was basic baseball, according to manager Dave Trembley. You have runners on the corners and nobody out, you send the lead guy home when the ball's hit on the ground. You can't have him stay at third as a double play's being turned. Garrett Atkins was thrown out at the plate in the top of the ninth inning last night on Brian Roberts' grounder to third baseman Evan Longoria. The Orioles didn't score and...well, you know the rest. Longoria bobbled the ball, which eliminated any chance...
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Turn the page

Turn the page
Manager Dave Trembley suggested that we all "turn the page on spring training" when discussing Jeremy Guthrie. Sounds like a plan. Guthrie was 0-4 with a 7.40 ERA in six starts, with 28 hits, 13 walks, 16 strikeouts and three hit batters in 20 2/3 innings. Turn the page. Maybe we should flip backward, since Guthrie posted a 2.08 ERA in two starts against Tampa Bay last season. He allowed three runs, walked one and struck out six in 13 innings. The Rays didn't homer off him. "I like...
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Feeling left out

Feeling left out
Orioles manager Dave Trembley described Felix Pie's ailment as a "little rotator cuff strain," and he listed the outfielder as day-to-day. No predictions on when Pie will return to the lineup. "Let's hope for the best and get him back in there because he brings energy and excitement to the club and I like him in the lineup," Trembley said while sitting in the visiting dugout before batting practice. Nolan Reimold gets the start in left field tonight. Surprise! "Reimold was going to...
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Rays lineup

Rays lineup
Jason Bartlett SS Carl Crawford LF Ben Zobrist RF Evan Longoria 3B Carlos Pena 1B B.J. Upton CF Pat Burrell DH Kelly Shoppach C Reid Brignac 2B Matt Garza RHP Shameless plug alert: I'm scheduled to do an in-game hit with MASN's Amber Theoharis - inning to be determined. And I'm wearing one of the network's shirts this time.
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Pie hurting again (w/quotes added)

Pie hurting again (w/quotes added)
Felix Pie might not be in the lineup for the rest of this series because of soreness in his left shoulder. Pie felt the discomfort, which first surfaced in spring training, while making a throw to the plate during last night's 4-3 loss. He stayed in the game, but has been told to rest tonight and perhaps play catch tomorrow. "My shoulder's bothering me a little bit, so they're giving me off to see what happens tomorrow and see if I feel much better," he said. "I hope it's not too much...
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Did you know...

Did you know...
...last night's walk-off loss was the first for the Orioles on Opening Day? According to Elias, the St. Louis Browns, who later moved to Baltimore, lost to Detroit in 13 innings in the 1914 opener. Kevin Millwood struck out five Rays in his Orioles debut last night, the highest total by one of the club's starters in the opener since Pat Hentgen totaled six on April 2, 2001 against Boston. Dave McNally holds the record with 13 against Cleveland on April 7, 1970. Brian Roberts was held...
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