Hearing from Buck Showalter before tonight's game

The Orioles did more than check on catcher Matt Wieters' right hamstring following last night's game. They also made sure his right knee wasn't creating a health issue.

Wieters took a foul tip off his knee, which brought head athletic trainer Richie Bancells out of the dugout. Wieters stayed in the game and collected two hits.

"He feels good today," said manager Buck Showalter. "I'm going to talk to him out on the field a little bit and see. Hoping he gets through tomorrow and he'll be an option to do a lot of the things he was doing before he had this problem.

"There was the little spot in the hinge of a shin guard that when the ball gets in that spot, all catchers know about it. As soon as it happened, John (Russell) in the dugout said, 'The spot.' That one hurt. That hurt. But I think he's OK."

Wieters has caught on back-to-back days only once this season, but it remains a possibility despite the recent hamstring injury.

"I'd be surprised if that didn't happen sometime between now and the end of the season," Showalter said.

Caleb Joseph, who's behind the plate tonight, is batting .294/.356/.504 in 37 home games and .218/.292/.411 in 39 road games. Six of his 11 home runs, however, have come on the road.

The Orioles are hoping that outfielder Steve Pearce is nearing an injury rehab assignment with one of their minor league affiliates. They're also hoping that the Chris Perez pitch that nailed him in the back today during live batting practice doesn't delay those plans.

"His third at-bat he got hit in the back, so it stopped there," Showalter said.

"I'm going to call him before the game and see how he feels. If he can get through a couple days of that, that could come pretty quick. We'll see how he recovers from the HBP. But I don't know. Richie just brought me up to speed on it."

Reliever Chaz Roe is eligible to come off the disabled list on Aug. 25 while the Orioles are in Kansas City, and Showalter said it's going to be "close."

"Chaz threw on flat ground today and it went well," Showalter said. "He'll do that one or two more times before he gets on the rubber. The flat ground thing he might do every day. That's progressing well.

"He felt good today and that's the first time he had the ball in his hand. He had the (cortisone) injection and he's past that. He got up to the five-pound weight that you want him to get to before they get on the mound, so today was the progression he should take to get there.

"It will be close if we don't have any setbacks. We probably want him to get a couple outings. Until he gets on the rubber, it's hard to project what time frame."

As I wrote earlier, there aren't any updates on outfielder David Lough except that the Orioles haven't found a trade partner.

"It's kind of a win-win for him," Showalter said. "We're hoping he clears and is playing at Norfolk shortly."