Leftovers for breakfast (and one more)

The Orioles have another game scheduled tonight as they begin another series, this one against the Boston Red Sox at Camden Yards. Their first day off since May 3 arrives on Thursday, but they won't admit that they're fatigued and could use a physical and mental break from the grind. "I'm not tired," Adam Jones said. "I don't think anybody else is tired. I had a good night's sleep (Saturday) night. I'm not going to make excuses. We all know it's 162, so you have to pace yourself. Late July, little tired, tired can set in, but not yet. Ain't nobody tired. It's the first quarter of the season. If anybody's tired, might need to up your offseason workouts." I don't think you can accuse this bunch of being soft. Jones singled in the ninth inning yesterday to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. What does Jones like about this team? "I like the heart and hustle," he said. "If everybody shows up every day, not everybody's going to feel good. We've got injuries. That's everybody. This group of guys will show up every single day and execute and go out. Sometimes we do good, sometimes we do bad. We go out there and leave it all on the field." Jones is getting used to rookie Xavier Avery covering all that ground in left field. He seemed a little surprised to find Avery in left-center field as he tracked a fly ball during a recent game, and they almost collided. Manager Buck Showalter will spend the next few days deciding whether he's going to take advantage of the off day and tweak his rotation, perhaps giving Jason Hammel or Wei-Yin Chen a little more rest. "It's been a long stretch of 20 games in a row when we get through with Boston, but we have three off days not too far apart, so we can catch our breath," Showalter said. The good news for Showalter is he doesn't have any doubleheaders waiting for his club. Hammel's legs are getting tired because he's not able to do the usual running and conditioning drills between starts. He's trying to avoid having his right knee swell up again. Stu Pomeranz tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings yesterday to record the save for Triple-A Norfolk. He's thrown 27 2/3 scoreless innings between Norfolk, Double-A Bowie and the Orioles. He deserves to pitch in the majors. It's just a matter of making room for him. Remember when Rule 5 pick Ryan Flaherty laid down a bunt in Kansas City with Chris Davis on third base? It appeared to be a suicide squeeze gone horribly wrong, with Davis holding at third and Flaherty stopping after taking a few steps up the line. Flaherty was correct to bunt the ball, since the squeeze was on, but Davis never broke for the plate. Flaherty was startled because the pitch almost hit him. He squared up in self defense. The ball would have nailed him in the midsection. He also was confused that Davis wasn't running and instinctively put on the brakes before being tagged out. The Orioles won the game, so no harm done. Remember when Curtis Granderson hit a home run at Camden Yards and it appeared that a Yankees fan interfered with Avery's attempt to catch the ball, and we wondered why Showalter didn't ask for a review? Well, I was told over the weekend that the crew chief has to request a review. It's not up to the manager. Speaking of Avery, a fan tweeted that the rookie reminds him of former Indians center fielder Kenny Lofton. Interesting call. Tommy Hunter starts tonight for the Orioles. The last time he faced the Red Sox, he allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings at Fenway Park. The Orioles eventually won the game ... in 17 innings. Dustin Pedroia is 5-for-12 with two doubles against Hunter. David Ortiz is 6-for-18 with a double, two home runs and five RBIs. I failed to mention this morning that catcher Matt Wieters is celebrating his 26th birthday today. As a present to himself, Wieters will try to snap an 0-for-18 streak. He's 6-for-15 with two doubles lifetime against Clay Buchholz, who starts tonight for the Red Sox.



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