Britton: "I feel like I'm ready to go" (Orioles lead 5-0)

BOSTON - Orioles closer Zach Britton will be activated before Tuesday night's game, necessitating another roster move to clear a spot for him. The Orioles want to keep their five-man bench and probably will send out a reliever.

Britton made two rehab appearances at Double-A Bowie and was much sharper yesterday, throwing 11 pitches in one inning.

"I feel like I'm ready to go," he said today while standing outside the visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park. "Yesterday was good, a lot better than the first one. I think the first day I had a little hesitation. Everything was kind of up. I told Buck (Showalter) I felt a little rusty.

"Yesterday, I felt good, kind of felt where I should be in order to be activated. Looking forward to getting back on the field with the team."

Britton went on the disabled list April 16 with a left forearm strain. He's back to where he needs to be physically to warrant a return to the active roster.

"It's tough because you're going on a rehab and you're kind of just trying to make sure everything feels good and then get comfortable on the mound," he said. "I think with pitch quality-wise, I think if you look at the quality of the pitches and not really the results, I feel like where I needed to be in order to be activated."

Britton had to watch on television as the Orioles failed to hold 9-1 and 11-4 leads Friday night at Yankee Stadium and were again forced into extra innings yesterday after taking a 4-2 lead into the ninth.

"It hasn't been fun," he said. "Watching the game from the dugout is not really a view I'm used to. Seeing the guys in the bullpen doing a great job, you want to be out there with them. You feed off that with one another.

"Obviously, being away from the team and watching the games in New York, I've been there with those guys. I kind of want to be there to pick them up. I'm looking forward to being back on the field."

Britton's absence has forced Showalter to change the way he'd normally use his bullpen, with guys like Mychal Givens and Donnie Hart getting more reps in the later innings. It actually could benefit them down the road, if anyone is searching for silver linings.

"I think it's big because we're going to need them to throw those innings at some point in the season," Britton said. "Mychal's done a great job. I was able to watch a little bit of it. It just seemed like he was on the TV when I was there, and he looked really good. Same thing with Donnie. They've come into some big situations and done a great job.

"The same thing with Brad (Brach). Darren (O'Day) looks like he's throwing the ball well now. It's good to get those guys going, and hopefully I can come back and kind of pick up where we're kind of leaving off right now, just do my part to help the bullpen."

Britton joined the chorus of Orioles who want to move on from the tension that enveloped the last series between these teams at Camden Yards.

"I think at this point, that series is over with and we're looking forward to this series and having a good series against these guys," he said. "As far as anything that happened in Baltimore, it's over with and we're just looking forward to playing this series. There's really not a lot I think that's going to carry over."

The visiting dugout was packed with written and electronic media for Showalter's daily scrum, and the Red Sox were sufficiently represented. Naturally, Showalter also was asked about the last series and the hostilities that began with Manny Machado's slide into Dustin Pedroia and continued with Matt Barnes' pitch behind Machado's head that led to a four-game suspension.

Showalter said he doesn't expect any sort of carryover into this week's series.

"No, I don't," he said. "I know our guys and I know the respect that our guys have for their club, and I think if you really took a poll, people are looking forward to playing baseball against a really good team. I know they have that same respect.

"The people involved in the arena may look at it a little differently. Maybe I'm naïve about it. But I know how our guys feel.

"Is that the obligatory question you had to ask?"

Dylan Bundy should have an extensive scouting report on the Red Sox after facing them twice in the first 23 games, but it works both ways.

Who has the advantage?

"I don't know. Talk to me about 10 o'clock tonight," Showalter replied.

"In our division and the way things go, there are no secrets. The way video tape is. Heck, we watch guys' rehab starts in Potomac. I walked in the other day and Roger (McDowell) was watching Chris Tillman pitch live in Potomac, OK? In the Carolina League. So, at this level everybody knows what (Rick) Porcello's going to do, they know what (CC) Sabathia's going to do and they continue to do it. If they get it in the right place and the right sequence, they'll have some success. If they don't, they'll pay the price.

"I can't really say anybody does, but we'll find out."

Update: Caleb Joseph had an RBI double off Rick Porcello in the fifth to break a scoreless tie and Manny Machado homered over the Green Monster in the sixth to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead.

Dylan Bundy has allowed two hits in six scoreless innings. He's walked four batters and struck out one.

Update II: The Orioles used a walk and back-to-back errors to score again in the eighth and increase their lead to 2-0. Machado was credited with another RBI after third baseman Marco Hernandez botched his ground ball with runners on the corners.

Mark Trumbo followed with an RBI single, and the runners moved up on an error by left fielder Andrew Benintendi. Chris Davis' sacrifice fly to right off Fernando Abad gave the Orioles a 5-0 lead.