Showalter on Mullins, Rogers and more (O's lead 9-4)

The Orioles are withholding Cedric Mullins from tonight's lineup as a precaution after the rookie complained of soreness in his hip that led to his benching Sunday night.

Manager Buck Showalter said Mullins is available tonight. John Andreoli gets the start in center field, his first since joining the Orioles.

"He's OK, he's available," Showalter said of Mullins. "Just, we want to get a look at John in center field and just trying to be a little careful with (Mullins') leg. I'd really like for him to get these reps as we go forward in September.

"He was OK last night, a little sore today, but nothing he probably couldn't play with. But I just want to get ahead of it. I'm hoping he can continue to make improvements needed to hit from both sides of the plate."

Josh Rogers was an early arrival at Camden Yards today as he awaited his major league debut against the Blue Jays.

Rogers had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk and becomes the 53rd player used by the Orioles.

Showalter said he's curious to see how Rogers handles the "emotion."

"Let's face it, like last night, it's 93-94 degrees at game time, it's sticky," Showalter said. "We just get through with a weekend series with the Yankees and now there's not quite as many people in the seats and it's a Monday night. There's a certain ambush that goes in there, so when you're evaluating things you try to keep that in mind.

"You kind of like that a guy has a lot of emotion tonight about it. I was talking to him last night and making sure he knew what time the game was and he said, 'I'll be here early.' You don't need to be, but it's what he's comfortable with.

"If you watch his tape and you watch his outings, like I have, he's that type of pitcher even without the added debut stuff today. He's an energy ... and you'll see there's a certain tempo to his delivery. He says, 'Here I am, let's go, let's compete.' Like most guys that don't throw 97, he's going to have to have multiple pitches working to compete."

Showalter has checked off four right-handed hitters in Toronto's lineup who are reverse-splits, which obviously favors the left-handed starter.

"From that standpoint, it should, hopefully, do well for him," Showalter said.

The Orioles optioned reliever Cody Carroll to Norfolk last night to create room for Rogers on the 25-man roster. Carroll was 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA and 1.889 WHIP in nine innings with the Orioles. He allowed seven runs and eight hits and walked nine batters.

"They've still got a shot at the playoffs there. It's kind of like with Evan (Phillips)," Showalter said. "Just to get him back with some positive things going on. There are a couple things with his delivery he needs to get back to.

"I think when he was giving up some stolen bases he all of a sudden went a lot quicker to the plate up here because guys run better and he kind of got collapsing a little bit on his back side. Roger (McDowell) was trying to get him to stay tall and post up, and it's just something you can't experiment with here.

"I'll tell you, I'm impressed, he'll be back. And each time those guys come back they should be better, and they usually do. He's got the stuff to pitch up here.

"It's like Phillips, he was having trouble throwing the ball anywhere close to the strike zone here, and he went down and his first outing were all strikes. So, understand what drives a lot of this. A lot of it is emotional, a lot of it is anxiety. He's obviously got the arm. He'll be back."

Performance ultimately will dictate it. Carroll wasn't promised a return.

"Like I told him, 'Unless you go down there and stink the place up,'" Showalter said. "This isn't a two-way ticket. Right now, it's one-way.

"They control it. He'll do well down there. I'd be surprised (if he didn't)."

Showalter said there isn't anyone in the current rotation beyond Rogers who is reaching an innings limit and has to be shut down.

The Orioles placed catcher Andrew Susac on the restricted list earlier today in order to create a 40-man spot for Rogers. Susac suffered a season-ending injury with Norfolk, but he chose to pack up his belongings and leave the team.

Because Susac decided to go home, the Orioles could put him on the restricted list instead of transferring him to the 60-day disabled list. He won't be staying in the organization.

For the Blue Jays
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. SS
Devon Travis 2B
Justin Smoak 1B
Randal Grichuk RF
Kevin Pillar CF
Teoscar Hernández DH
Danny Jansen C
Aledmys Díaz 3B
Billy McKinney LF

Thomas Pannone LHP

Update: Rogers retired the side in order in the top of the first and the Orioles gave him a 1-0 lead in the bottom half on Chris Davis' single with two outs that scored Trey Mancini.

Update II: Mancini tripled in the third and scored on Adam Jones' single for a 2-0 lead. Tim Beckham hit a three-run homer later in the inning for a 5-0 lead.

Update III: Rogers allowed three hits and walked a batter in the fourth and the Jays scored a run on Kevin Pillar's RBI single.

Update IV: Craig Gentry hit his first home run, a two-run shot in the fourth, to give the Orioles a 7-1 lead.

Update V: Justin Smoak hit a two-run homer off Rogers in the top of the fifth, but Jonathan Villar and Gentry had RBI singles off Joe Biagini in the bottom half for a 9-3 lead.

Update VI: Mike Wright Jr. served up Randal Grinchuk's solo home run in the seveth to reduce the lead to 9-4.