Wright ready for delayed debut (plus leftovers for breakfast)

BOSTON - Mike Wright finally gets a turn.

The Orioles pushed back Wright's debut from Friday to Saturday in order to accommodate Chris Tillman, who lasted only two innings and 22 pitches on opening day due to the weather. Wright warmed up and was ready to go Saturday, but a wintry mix and freezing temperatures caused a postponement before he took the mound.

So let's try this again.

Wright starts tonight against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, where rain is included in the forecast. Because it's the Orioles and crappy weather follows them everywhere.

"I'm very excited," Wright said yesterday morning. "I had a good spring training. I'm ready to get the season rolling because this is when it really matters. I put a lot of hard work in this offseason, and I'm ready to put it to work.

"It's fun in the dugout. We're what, 5-0? Undefeated is good. I haven't gotten to pitch, but we're winning and that's good."

Make it 6-0 after yesterday's win, the best start in team history. The pressure now falls upon Wright to keep alive the dream of an undefeated season.

Only 156 more to go.

Wright would like to actually leave the bullpen tonight, walk to the mound and throw a pitch. No tarps and delays and false hopes that they might actually play.

No flashbacks to Saturday night.

"They told me it was going to start at 7:40," he said. "It was cold, but I threw. I was ready to go. I was warm, I felt great. Right when the game was supposed to start, they pulled the tarp, so I was not happy. What can you do? That's what God wanted to happen, so that's kind of what happened.

"When I was ready to take the field, they were pulling the tarp, and I think that's the first me and Buck (Showalter) knew about it. When I looked at him and he wasn't happy, I kind of knew I was going to be done because I had already done all of my warmup and I was ready to go out to the field. So it had to really be a short delay if I was going to go back out there."

It wasn't and he didn't, producing a false start that moved back Wright's debut three more nights.

The Orioles' much-maligned rotation ranked second in the majors with a 2.28 ERA in 23 2/3 innings before Yovani Gallardo allowed five runs yesterday in five innings.

"We have a job and our job is to go out there and get outs," Wright said. "And regardless if we're in the bullpen or the rotation, that's our job, that's what we're going out there to do. And hey, we're 5-0. You can't argue with that."

Make it 6-0.

Wright made one start against the Red Sox as a rookie, allowing six runs and six hits in three innings on Sept. 16 at Camden Yards. He didn't receive another start, making two relief appearances later in the month.

David Ortiz is 2-for-2 with a home run off Wright. Dustin Pedroia is 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs.

Clay Buchholz made his first start on April 6 against the Indians and allowed five runs and six hits in four innings. He also walked three batters.

Buchholz is 10-5 with a 3.65 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) versus the Orioles. Ryan Flaherty is 7-for-18 against him. Does Showalter find a way to get Flaherty into the lineup, also taking into account that the Maine native rakes at Fenway Park?

Chris Davis is 8-for-24 with a double and two home runs against Buchholz and J.J. Hardy is 7-for-22 with two home runs. Adam Jones is 9-for-32 with three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBIs, but he may not play again today because of discomfort in his rib area.

Rib area, oblique, intercostal. Just pick one and run with it. But don't swing too hard.

Here are some leftovers from yesterday. Hope you saved room:

The Orioles are 46-29 against the Red Sox since the start of the 2012 season.

Davis leads the majors with seven games of five-plus RBIs since 2012.

Joey Rickard is the first Oriole to begin his career with a six-game hitting streak since Howie Clark in 2002.

Caleb Joseph's single in the third inning broke an 0-for-24 skid dating back to Sept. 20, 2015.

Jonathan Schoop has an 11-game hitting streak dating back to Sept. 26, 2015, the longest active streak in the American League.

Meeting with reporters and assorted media types after yesterday's game, Showalter talked about the challenges that hitters face as the Orioles try to set up big innings.

"It's not easy going up there at 97 mph," he said. "I wish everybody who critiques us sometimes could stand in the box and see how hard that is when the ball's coming out of the sunlight through shadows and back in the sun again. It's hard. Forget spin."

The Orioles' win yesterday was especially sweet considering how they scored a combined eight runs off David Price and Craig Kimbrel, two big-time acquisitions over the winter.

"There's no doubt," Davis said. "We knew we were going to have our work cut out. First road trip, opening day for those guys, they were going to be jacked up. When you've got a guy like David Price on the mound, you know you've got a battle. Any win on the road is good, especially early in the season."

Mark Trumbo also was asked about the satisfaction of beating up on Price and Kimbrel.

"No more than anyone else," he said. "They're obviously extremely talented ... You know, it is nice. Obviously, they are extremely talented, I don't want to discredit them. But we had to scratch and claw a little bit in order to get some stuff done."

Gallardo allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings.

"Overall I felt good," he said. "I limited the base hits they got. The only one that was hit pretty good was Ortiz. Other than that, I was getting ground balls. There were a couple that were up, out of the reach of Schoopy at second. If it's a little closer to him, it's a double play. Two-strike Pedroia blooper in the first inning and the double (Jackie) Bradley hit. Seems like it was so far foul, that's the kind of day it was. It brought it back right inside the line.

"Had a pretty good slider, was commanding my curveball as well. Keeping the ball down was important."

Gallardo appreciates an offense that can back him with enough runs to make yesterday's outing a harmless no-decision, beyond how much the bullpen was used again.

"I've said it since Day 1, guys are going to hit," he said. "Seeing it on the other side of the dugout and now in this clubhouse, on this team, they hit you with everything. Produce runs and then CD going up there behind against Kimbrel. That's the kind of things that I was looking forward to."