Showalter on Jones' health, Urrutia's chances of returning next month (O's lose 4-1)

ARLINGTON, Texas - Adam Jones remained in the Orioles' lineup tonight following batting practice, passing his final test that cleared him to play.

Jones struck out to end the first inning. Manny Machado also struck out, as Rangers starter Cole Hamels retired the side in order on 13 pitches.

Kevin Gausman retired the Rangers in order on 12 pitches in the bottom of the first, getting a pop-up and two groundballs.

Jones had blurred vision yesterday after slamming into the fence at Kauffman Stadium. He underwent X-rays on his wrists and neck and experienced symptoms similar to whiplash.

The Rangers' team physician examined him this afternoon.

"Adam saw Dr. (Keith) Meister here," said manager Buck Showalter. "Just following procedure with it. He went through the other test where you heat him up on the bike and bring him out there after that and get the heart rate up and run around and see if there's any ... But he's fine. Ready to go. We hoped he would be, but we wanted to go through all the proper channels to get there."

Jones was injured after hitting a portion of the fence that isn't padded. His wrists seemed to absorb most of the punishment.

"Still don't understand some of the things with the structures," Showalter said. "Our biggest asset is our players. I know the signage is important to pay everybody's salary, but that fence with the plexiglass behind it and some of the places that still have metal and brick walls, I don't understand how that happens in our industry. I really don't."

Showalter wrote out two lineups today in case Jones was a late scratch.

"Knowing Adam, I thougth it was 50-50," Showalter said. "He's been real frank and honest with us. I appreciate him telling us yesterday. The whiplash gives you a little fuzz there, but he feels good today. If he has a problem during the game, we'll make the adjustment."

The Orioles continued to adjust their roster by selecting outfielder Dariel Alvarez's contract from Triple-A Norfolk and optioning outfielder Henry Urrutia.

"We got Dariel some money," Showalter said. "I had my son (Nathan) and one of our scouts, because they spoke Spanish, pick him up at the airport last night in Dallas, and he told them he spent his last penny buying some clothes in the mall in Gwinnet. They asked him if he needed anything and he said, 'Yeah, I don't have any money.' So he got some meal money today, so he's OK. He spent every piece of cash he had.

"He seems pretty excited, huh?"

The Orioles are facing three left-handers in the Rangers series, plus Rays southpaw Drew Smyly on Tuesday at Camden Yards. Alvarez's right-handed swing seemed a better fit.

"That's part of it. And he's doing well down there," Showalter said.

"We knew we were going to do it at some point. I know it's probably a year early and people look at it roster-wise, but at his age (26) and his experience level, you're going to know something about that very quickly. It's not like it's a 21-year-old that you're trying to save a year and all that stuff. And again, the roster never really figured in. Kind of how we have to do it and who we try to be. There was a need and he served it, so we took him. We had plenty of room on the roster."

There are no guarantees that Urrutia will return next month when rosters expand.

"We're going to take that day by day," Showalter said. "In September, we'll call some people up. (Norfolk) is only two games up now. I was hoping Henry would get there quicker. His wife and child are in Baltimore. He's going to fly back there. It looks like he's going to meet the club Monday back there."

The Tides' lineup tonight includes outfielders Nolan Reimold and David Lough. The roster is full.

"When Henry gets there they're going to have to make a move," Showalter said.

We'll see whether Urrutia creates an opening by returning to Baltimore.

"I wouldn't commit to that," Showalter said. "We'll see if that's a fit for us. We're not going to just call bodies up. They're going to have to be somebody we think can contribute."

Showalter saw improvements in Urrutia compared to his brief stint in the majors in 2013.

"He's getting there, he's getting there," Showalter said. "He had a good year down there. He did some good things for us here and he'll go down there again with even a better (idea) of what the differences are. It's still the biggest jump in sports going from the minor leagues to the big leagues in baseball. It's the biggest jump in the level of play."

Catcher Jonah Heim, playing in his first injury rehab game in the Gulf Coast League, went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, a walk and two runs scored. Heim served as the designated hitter.

Double-A Bowie outfielder Quincy Latimore, 26, has been named to the 2015 Eastern League season-ending All-Star team. He currently leads the Baysox with 16 home runs and 66 runs scored and ranks second with 52 RBIs.

Update: Alvarez showed off his arm in the second inning, catching Elvis Andrus' liner and throwing out Adrian Beltre at the plate with room to spare. The Orioles lead the majors with 38 outfield assists.

Alvarez led off the third inning and grounded out to third base on Hamels' first pitch.

Paul Janish doubled, making him 4-for-7 with the Orioles. Manny Machado and Steve Pearce walked to load the bases with one out, Jones struck out again and Chris Davis walked to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

Update II: Shin-Soo Choo homered to lead off the bottom of the fourth and tie the game 1-1.

Prince Fielder singled to deep center field, but Jones threw him out at second for the Orioles' 39th outfield assist. Jones has 13.

Update III: Chris Gimenez hit his career-high fourth home run to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead in the fifth.

All four home runs have come in the last 11 games.

The Rangers tacked on another run in the ffith on singles by Hanser Alberto and Delino DeShields and a fielder's choice grounder by Choo.

Update IV: Gausman is done after allowing four runs in 6 2/3 innings, the last coming on Delino DeShields' RBI triple with two outs in the seventh. He surrendered nine hits, walked one, struck out three, threw a wild pitch and served up two home runs. He threw 102 pitches, 66 for strikes.

Hamels has retired the last 13 Orioles since Davis' bases-loaded walk in the third.

Update V: The Orioles are two games below .500 for the first time since July 25 following tonight's 4-1 loss to the Rangers.

The Orioles have lose nine of their last 11 games. They've scored three runs or fewer in eight of nine.

Cole Hamels held the Orioles to two hits over eight innings, none after Janish's double with one out in the second. He retired 14 in a row before walking Machado with one out in the eighth.

The Orioles trail the Rangers by 3 1/2 games for the second wild card.