Orioles and Mariners lineups and note on Pries (Roberts' wife giving birth)

Ryan Flaherty is starting at second base tonight for the Orioles, as they begin a three-game series against the Mariners at Camden Yards. Brian Roberts is listed among the reserves, though I haven't seen him today. He's expected to go on paternity leave soon for the birth of his first child. Pitcher Jason Hammel underwent an MRI on his right arm today and he's still waiting to hear the results. For the Orioles Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Matt Wieters C J.J. Hardy SS Henry Urrutia DH Ryan Flaherty 2B Chris Tillman RHP For the Mariners Brad Miller SS Nick Franklin 2B Kyle Seager 3B Kendrys Morales DH Raul Ibanez LF Michael Morse RF Justin Smoak 1B Michael Saunders CF Humberto Quintero C Aaron Harang RHP Former second baseman Roberto Alomar and former scout and baseball operations executive Don Pries will be inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame before tonight's game. Pries gave a nice 10-minute speech at today's Orioles Advocates luncheon on the sixth floor of the warehouse, reminding everyone in attendance before leaving the podium to "respect the game and protect the game." Always sound advice. Pries worked for the club from 1968-74 as an area scout (1968-69), director of player personnel (1970-72) and assistant general manager (1973-74). He oversaw the farm system and worked with GM Harry Dalton during the most successful time in club history, when the Orioles went to the playoffs five times and won three American League pennants and the 1970 World Series. Pries left the organization following the '74 season to help Major League Baseball design a computer system for the scouting bureau that benefited every team. Among his many contributions to the Orioles were a scouting report that led them to draft Rich Dauer and Eddie Murray in 1974 - he referred to Murray as a catcher who couldn't catch, but could hit - and his recommendation that they trade for outfielder Ken Singleton before the 1975 season. "The honor is something very, very special," he said before today's luncheon. "Something unexpected. I've been a part of the industry where basically you are in the background through an organization that is successful because of leadership. And that leadership has to put the right people in the right places. That takes a learning process. I've found that in my years with the Orioles we had that, through the leadership of Harry Dalton, Frank Cashen and Henry Peters, three men that I've worked for. It filters on down from the standpoint of having a plan and having that plan come about. "To see that all unfold and after 68 years in the baseball industry to be honored as a result of that has been a true privilege of mine. But it all boils down to the right leadership in the right places." Pries feels as though the Orioles have the right leadership now with executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter, who attended today's luncheon and received nice ovations from the crowd. "I was director of the Major League Scouting Bureau and I got a phone call one day and it was Harry Dalton and he said, 'Don, I have a graduate from Amherst that I'd like to have come and visit your office for a week and see if he can learn something,' " Pries recalled. "That young man was Dan Duquette. And he came to the office and Harry said, 'Just point him in the right direction.' So we undoubtedly pointed him in the right direction through his success in Boston and here with the Baltimore club. "It's an experienced process, too, from the standpoint of making the right decisions. They've made some right decisions here. I believe it's an exciting ballclub. You've been blessed with, from a standpoint of star categories, you can probably put a couple of them in that category. But it's a team effort and that's what it takes to win." Update: Roberts has left the team to be with his wife at the hospital. She is giving birth to their first child.