Norris won't start Saturday and wrapping up a 3-1 loss

Bud Norris has been scratched from Saturday's game due to an illness, and Ubaldo Jimenez will start in his place.

The Orioles believe that Norris has bronchitis. He's currently on medication and remains an option for Sunday's series finale against the Angels.

Norris is 1-4 with a 9.88 ERA in six starts. However, he's 4-0 with a 0.43 ERA in six career starts against the Angels.

"Bud came in after everyone was on the field and found out whether he was contagious. We'll see where he fits on Sunday or not, but definitely not tomorrow," manager Buck Showalter said following a 3-1 loss to the Angels before 35,470 at Camden Yards.

Asked whether it's a tough decision given Norris' success against Los Angeles, Showalter replied, "It's not tough when you know how he's feeling. He can't pitch. He's sick."

Norris could close out the series "if he's good and it's not an issue," Showalter said.

"We feel like it's something that's not contagious. They feel like it's bronchitis. Strep throat I'm pretty sure is contagious. They think it's bronchitis and they started him on some stuff and we'll see how it manages the next day or so."

Chris Tillman could be moved up to Sunday and pitch on normal rest, or Mike Wright could make his major league debut.

"I've considered it," Showalter said of using Wright. "It had some bearing on the game tonight. We did some things not being sure what the next two days will bring. It's also Tillman's regular day, too, with the off day, so we've got options with regular rest. We actually pushed Tillman's side day up today to make sure he's available for Sunday."

Wei-Yin Chen turned in his fourth quality start in a row by holding the Angels to two runs over seven-plus innings and tying his season high with seven strikeouts. He's allowed two earned runs or fewer in his last six outings.

"That was a tough lineup for a left-handed pitcher," Showalter said. "Wei-Yin was really good. Tommy (Hunter) got us back in the dugout there in the eighth. I thougth the tack-on run made it a lot tougher. Of course, (Huston) Street's been doing what he's doing for a long time.

"(Chen) has been solid. He's gone through some pretty good periods for us when he's been pretty consistent. He's in a pretty good place. I've said many times left-handed starters at this level are going to have to get quality right-handed hitters out to be a good starter. And you see him locate a ball on both sides of the plate and carrying a pretty good slider, that tells you... He made very few mistakes tonight."

Showalter didn't say much to Chen when he took the ball from him in the eighth and the crowd rose to its feet for a prolonged ovation.

"I think the fans said it for us," Showalter said. "He knows he pitched well and he gave us a chance to win. Those are things that's done the next day. There are a lot of unspoken things. He knows how proud we are of how he's pitching and hope he continues. It would mean a lot to us. But he's been solid for us. There's not a lot of time there for lip service, but he knows what's going on and so do our fans."

Jered Weaver was just too good tonight, allowing one run on J.J. Hardy's homer over 7 1/3 innings. Hardy had two of the three hits.

"We just never mounted much offensively. We never really got into any rhythm. He never allowed us to get into any rhythm offensively," Showalter said.

"He had three pitches that he could command. He was coming off a complete-game shutout. Quality pitchers who have a track record like he does and have a little struggle early on and come off a really good outing, you know they're going to get it going. He had command of all his pitches. No real pattern. You see a lot of weak fly ball outs, he's usually on top of his game."

Asked whether Chen could be labeled a hard-luck loser, Showalter replied, "What was hard luck was drawing Weaver on top of his game."

"Wei-Yin, I thought he had a good breaking ball tonight," Showalter added. "Slider had some late life and bite to it. Commanded the inner half of the plate, which you're going to have to do with that many quality right-handed hitters in the lineup. The way they've been handling left-handed pitching this year, that was a challenge. That was pretty impressive. I'd bet that was the best game a left-handed starter's had against them."

The game was completed in two hours and 23 minutes, a pace that didn't bring any enjoyment to Showalter since the end result was a loss.

"The people who think it's a good game are just trying to get out of here before three hours," he said. "We're trying to win here. Anything that ends with an 'L' on our side isn't enjoyable."