Joey Rickard back in lineup after hit by pitch

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Orioles seemed convinced after yesterday's game that outfielder Joey Rickard was going to be fine and it turns out that is exactly the case.

Rickard was hit on the batting helmet by a Troy Scribner pitch in the top of the sixth Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim. He came out of the game as Craig Gentry pinch-ran for him during the Orioles' 5-1 loss in Anaheim.

But Rickard is starting tonight in Oakland, batting ninth in right field.

"I'm good to go," he said this afternoon. "Yesterday was just kind of more of a shock and just a weird experience. It was more of a precautionary thing that they did that. Today I'm fine.

"It was pretty much immediate (that I felt fine). After a minute or two, I felt the same. Like I said, it was just a precautionary thing and I feel good."

But it was a bit stunning initially to take a pitch in the head.

"A little bit," Rickard said. "It is kind of a scary thing. Just a loud ringing and that is kind of what made Richie (Bancells, head athletic trainer) pull the trigger to pull me out and make sure everything was fine. Took some time and they've been checking on me, last night and this morning, and everything is good. They wanted me to go out there and break a sweat and everything check out fine. Good to go."

Rickard is batting .255/.289/.370 in 88 games with 13 doubles, four homers and 18 RBIs. He had four hits in Sunday's win over Detroit, including a homer and he scored three runs.

When batting ninth this year, as he is tonight, Rickard is batting .356/.383/.600 with 16 hits in 45 at-bats, including five doubles, two homers and six RBIs.