Joe Saunders and Kelly Johnson talk about joining the Orioles

He was an Oriole for several weeks late in the 2012 season and he pitched the Orioles to a Wild Card playoff win over the Texas Rangers. Now 34-year-old left-hander Joe Saunders is back with the Orioles and will be added to the team as rosters can expand to as many as 40 players starting today. After being released this season by Texas and Kansas City, the Orioles signed him to a minor league deal Aug. 5 and sent him to Triple-A Norfolk to pitch out of the bullpen. "It's awesome," Saunders said of being back. "It's been a winding road this year for sure. Good to be back and contributing again. "Can't wait to get out there. This is one of my favorite places to play, probably the favorite place to play. I was in the visiting locker room and I left and now I'm back in the home clubhouse. I'm excited for sure." In eight starts earlier this season with Texas, Saunders went 0-5 with a 6.13 ERA. But in 10 games with Triple-A Norfolk he went 0-1 with a 1.50 ERA, allowing 11 hits in 12 innings. So what about his adjustment to pitching out of the bullpen? "It's been fun," Saunders said. "Been kind of a, how would you call it, a breath of fresh air, if you will. Coming to the park knowing you can play every day almost, rather than every fifth day. "Does that say my starting days are over? In my opinion probably not. I don't feel like I was quite 100 percent after I got banged in the foot. Maybe tried to come back early, but I think there is plenty more in the tank for sure." Saunders said pitching out of the 'pen has been challenging and quite different than starting. "You don't get a chance to kind of get into the rhythm of the game," Saunders said. "That has been a little bit of a challenge, but I think I did a pretty good job with that at Triple-A. "(In the) Bullpen you can come in and let it eat, let it rip, because you are not worrying about the sixth, seventh, eighth inning. You can come in, best stuff and then you're done. It's interesting." When Saunders takes the mound it will be his first game as an Oriole since that night in Texas in October of 2012 when he pitched the Orioles to their first playoff win since 1997. "It's (that memory) up there for sure. I think it's one of the top couple of starts of my career so far," he said. "Hopefully there is more to come but that was a special game for sure." If Saunders is happy to be back, Kelly Johnson is thrilled to be a first-time Oriole. He arrived in the clubhouse this morning. The 32-year-old Johnson began this year with the Yankees, was traded to Boston on July 31, and then on Saturday night, was traded to the Orioles. "It is a shock," Johnson said of his whirlwind year. "But about the best shock you can get. I'm so excited. I'm easily the happiest guy in this room right now for sure. Happy to be able to come into a situation like this and want to help them win more games." Johnson is batting .212 with six homers, 23 RBIs and a .644 OPS in 87 games with New York and Boston. Last season with Tampa Bay he hit .235 with 16 homers, 52 RBIs and a .715 OPS. He has now become the first player to ever play for all five American League East teams. "I think everything happens for a reason," Johnson said. "I got to play this year in New York and Boston, two of the oldest, proudest franchises in the game and to come here, we're in first place. Baltimore has some of the best talent in the game. Leading a pretty good division by a lot of games says a lot. It's kind of cool, but hopefully this next month and the next two months will be cool." Johnson has seen the Orioles from the opposite dugout the past couple of seasons and he was impressed with what he saw. "For the past three or four years I've been coming here, these guys play extremely hard with talent all over the field. That is why they're in first place," Johnson said.