Notes on Karns, Rickard, Smith, Wright and Rodriguez (O's up 4-2)

Orioles reliever Nate Karns is reporting to Double-A Bowie on Thursday while his teammates fly to Minnesota for the start of a three-game series.

Karns threw again today without discomfort in his right forearm. He's going to throw an inning with the Baysox Thursday and another inning a few days later.

"He's going to have a couple outings and then we'll kind of reassess," said manager Brandon Hyde. "We always reassess after every outing, but we plan on him having a couple outings and then hopefully be back up here soon."

Karns returned to Baltimore after one appearance at Triple-A Norfolk, when he served up a three-run homer and retired only two Charlotte batters. Some lingering tightness in the forearm caused the Orioles to slow him down and resume the assignment at Bowie.

Going to Bowie keeps Karns close to Baltimore, where his wife Jenny is expecting the couple's first child in a few weeks.

Joey Rickard is continuing as the starting center fielder with Cedric Mullins optioned to Norfolk. It's an opportunity for Rickard to seize the job, especially with limited alternatives on the club.

"It's something that Joey's not used to and something we're finding out," Hyde said.

"I think Joey's athletic enough, I love his versatility. Can play three outfield spots. I've said it before, I like the way he plays the game. He's going to play hard for you, he's going to run through the wall and make diving plays. He's going to be in the right spot. He's aware, he's engaged defensively. So yeah, we're going to throw him out there and see ... as well as maybe a couple other guys.

"Stevie (Wilkerson) is going to get some looks in center, also. We're going to work on that. But it's just going to be an everyday thing of work, and it's not easy to play center in the big leagues. I mean, that gets way understated how hard that actually is. So without having a true center fielder, we're going to work hard with those guys and try to put them in the best position so they can have success and they can be in the right spots."

Dwight Smith Jr. made one start in center field with the Blue Jays in 2017 and played the position in 114 games in the minors, but Hyde likes him in left, where he made a leaping catch at the fence last night to rob Adam Engel of a home run.

"I'm so comfortable with him in left field," Hyde said. "I think he's playing so good in left that I'd rather him just stay there, to be honest with you."

Hyde said he's happy for Mike Wright after today's trade that sent the right-hander to Seattle for minor league infielder Ryne Ogren.

Wright is out of minor league options and the Mariners must keep him on the 25-man roster or designate him for assignment, as the Orioles did Sunday morning.

"Mike's a great guy," Hyde said. "We're pulling for him. He had success here, ran into an unfortunate situation and now he's getting another opportunity with a big league club, so good for him.

"Seattle's getting a really good person over there and so I hope he has success."

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez will be skipped on occasion this summer with Single-A Delmarva to control his innings after making the jump from high school to a full-season affiliate.

Rodriguez, who pitched in nine games last summer in the Gulf Coast League, will miss a turn this weekend.

The Orioles made Rodriguez the 11th overall pick last year out of Central Heights High School in Texas. He's made three starts with the Shorebirds this season and allowed only one run and seven hits with 28 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings.

Update: Two-out doubles by Smith and Renato Núñez in the first inning gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead and Núñez scored on Rio Ruiz's single.

Update II: Rickard led off the second inning with a triple and scored on Hanser Alberto's fly ball for a 3-0 lead.

Update III: The White Sox whittled the lead down to 3-1 in the third on a two-out single by Tim Anderson and double by José Abreu.

Update IV: Wilkerson hit his first major league home run in the fourth inning for a 4-1 lead.

Update V: The White Sox scored a run off Evan Phillips in the sixth after loading the bases with one out. Phillips hit Ryan Cordell to reduce the lead to 4-2.