Jones on Ripken; Johnson and Drake on rejoining Orioles

Tonight, the Orioles will celebrate the 20th anniversary of when Cal Ripken Jr. played his 2,131st consecutive game, passing New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig at Camden Yards. The Orioles will be on the road Sunday for the actual anniversary date of Sept. 6, 1995.

Before tonight's game against Tampa Bay, Ripken will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. From approximately 5:30-6:30 p.m., the Orioles will show the video "2131: Cal's Moment in Time," originally released in 1995, on the main center field video board.

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, who once played in more than 300 consecutive games, was asked today about Ripken's streak.

"It's not easy, whether you are an infielder or an outfielder," he said. "Mentally, it's not easy. Physically, you might be able to do it and some days might not look as pretty as others. But the mental part is the remarkable part. There are days you do need a mental break.

"For him to do what he did is nothing short of amazing. That is a record that 100 percent will not be broken. The hitting streak is something I've said will never be touched. Cal's streak, I think that can't be touched in today's game."

By the way, the Orioles' Manny Machado is MLB's active leader with 131 consecutive games played. That puts him exactly 2,000 behind the record-breaker and 2,501 behind Ripken's final total.

MLB's five longest consecutive games played streaks:
* 2,632 - Cal Ripken, Jr. from 5-30-82 to 9-19-98
* 2,130 - Lou Gehrig from 6-1-25 to 4-30-39
* 1,307 - Everett Scott from 6-20-16 to 5-5-25
* 1,207 - Steve Garvey from 9-3-75 to 7-29-83
* 1,152 - Miguel Tejada from 6-2-00 to 6-21-07

As of 5 p.m. today, online bids for the 2130 and the 2131 numbered Orioles-themed Maryland license plates in honor of the 20th anniversary of the record-breaking streak are at $1760 (2131) and $612 (2130). Maryland residents who plan on using the winning license plate on a Maryland registered car can visit www.orioles.com/2131 to bid. The auction for the two plates will last until the evening of Sunday, September 6, the actual date of Ripken's record-breaking game.

Proceeds from the auctions will benefit the Orioles Charitable Foundation, which has raised nearly $110,000 since the debut of the club's license plate program in 2012.

Meanwhile, two Orioles were officially added to the roster today with the additions of pitchers Steve Johnson and Oliver Drake.

Johnson has had to persevere to get back to the majors. Last Sept. 24, he underwent surgery to shave a bone spur behind his right shoulder. Then, he went out and had a strong year at Norfolk, going 4-1 with a 2.30 ERA.

What about officially being an Oriole again?

"It's awesome," Johnson said. "To come back and be able to put on this uniform again is pretty special for me. When you get taken off the roster, you really don't know if you'll ever get that chance again."

Across the clubhouse, reliever Drake talked about rejoining the Orioles as well after his strong year with the Tides.

"It was one of things I felt I put myself in position for it. When RJ (Norfolk manager Ron Johnson) gave me the call last night and told me I was coming up, I was real excited," Drake said. "I've just been consistent throwing strikes and been consistent with my splitter. Being able to throw it for strikes and expanding the zone with it as well."

Drake went 1-2 with an 0.82 ERA, was 23-for-23 in save chances for the Tides and was named to the International League postseason All-Star team today. For the Orioles, he made his MLB debut on May 23 at Miami and pitched to a 3.52 ERA in five games and 7 2/3 innings earlier this year.

He said the earlier big league time is a boost for him now.

"It definitely helps, seeing that I could have success here," Drake said. "Then, when I went back down, I knew there were some things I needed to work on. I just realized I need to be consistent with the quality of my strikes. I need to be better with my fastball command and that will help improve my splitter up here. I'm just going to try and keep doing what I did all season at Triple-A and try to take the confidence I got from there and carry it over here."