Britton's return and tonight's game

BOSTON - The Orioles are back in first place and ready to activate their closer from the disabled list. A strong bullpen is adding more muscle.

We'll find out how much flexing it does tonight with Alec Asher making his second start for the Orioles.

Zach Britton will be available to the Orioles for the first time since allowing his only run in six appearances on April 14 in Toronto. No more discomfort in his forearm area. No more concerns that it might be a sign of an elbow injury.

Britton has passed all the tests on elbow, forearm and hand. He had two outings on an injury rehab assignment and showed the Orioles on Sunday that he was ready by tossing a scoreless inning on 11 pitches at Double-A Bowie.

Britton's return will allow manager Buck Showalter to slot his relievers in their usual places, though no one is supposed to have a role beyond getting up when the bullpen phone rings and getting outs when summoned into a game.

Darren O'Day and Brad Brach are setup men capable of closing if needed. Brach had five saves in Britton's absence, tying him for the team lead, and could have sat alone atop the list if not for Starlin Castro's game-tying home run Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

Donnie Hart can be used mostly in matchup situations against left-handed hitters, though they're 4-for-12 against him - including Didi Gregorius' game-tying single in the ninth inning on Sunday - after going 5-for-38 last season. Right-handers are 4-for-19.

Hart hasn't been charged with a run in 7 2/3 innings in 12 appearances and he's struck out 12 batters, but he's also sporting a 1.435 WHIP with eight hits allowed and three walks. He's also two hit batters.

Mychal Givens can move closer to the middle innings, though still capable of assisting in the seventh or eighth if needed.

"It's the way that we present ourselves the best," Showalter said. "It doesn't mean that these guys aren't capable of doing the job, which they've done for us. It's hard."

Asher held the Blue Jays to one run over 6 1/3 innings in his Orioles debut on April 15. He's made two relief appearances, both lasting only one inning.

The current Red Sox are 5-for-11 against Asher. Mookie Betts is 2-for-2 with a double and two walks.

In Asher's only start at Fenway Park on Sept. 5, 2015, he allowed seven runs and eight hits over 3 2/3 innings.

The Orioles have won 16 of their first 24 games for the ninth time in club history and the first since 2005. They're 14-7 in the American League East.

Second baseman Jonathan Schoop is 17-for-50 (.340) in 13 road games and is 20-for-55 (.364) against right-handers, but the Red Sox are starting left-hander Chris Sale tonight.

Sale is 1-1 with a 1.19 ERA in five starts this season, with six walks and 52 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings. He's 2-1 with a 3.41 ERA and 1.602 WHIP in 11 career games (five starts) versus the Orioles over 34 1/3 innings.

Mark Trumbo is 5-for-14 with two doubles and a home run. Adam Jones is 4-for-13 with a home run.

Craig Gentry is 2-for-11 and Chris Davis is 1-for-10.

Davis is 2-for-20 in his last seven games. Shortstop J.J. Hardy is 3-for-34 in his last nine games and is batting .185.

The Orioles will make a roster move to accommodate Britton. A reliever likely is coming off the roster in order to maintain a five-man bench.

Mike Wright might be one-and-done after the Orioles recalled him yesterday from Triple-A Norfolk to give them a fresh arm for long relief. Richard Bleier could stay in order to provide a left-hander as a backup to Asher.