Orioles make the most of an off-day (Delmonico note)

BOSTON - Yesterday was a good day. The Orioles didn't lose a game or suffer an injury. Those open dates on the schedule can be a blessing. Adam Jones' MRIs in Sarasota came back negative. The left wrist and hand are fine except for the contusions. The right wrist and hand are fine except for the contusions. His ego might be bruised, too, because of the offense's struggles, but look for Jones to be in tonight's lineup. Nick Markakis was told yesterday that his right wrist is healing nicely, though it will be a while before he's back in the lineup. Bill Hall cleared waivers again and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk for a second time. I'm fine with Hall being in the organization. And the Tides need a rested body after back-to-back doubleheaders and yesterday's 13-inning marathon. Former Oriole Jack Cust hit two home runs in extra innings yesterday for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the second one against Tides infielder Carlos Rojas. The winning pitcher, Ryan Baker, is a third-string catcher. The two teams played two games and 14 innings Saturday night, and two games and 18 innings Sunday. Factor in the 13 innings yesterday, and we're talking 45 innings in 46 hours, which emptied both bullpens. Norfolk might need Hall to work the middle innings tonight. By the way, Brad Bergesen has turned in four consecutive quality starts for Norfolk. He allowed two runs and four hits, with five strikeouts, in six innings yesterday. That's also good news. Left-hander Zach Britton is scheduled to start tonight for Norfolk as his rehab assignment progresses to the International League. Again, good news. How much longer before the Orioles activate him? The Orioles selected a college pitcher, LSU's Kevin Gausman, with the fourth overall pick in last night's First-Year Player Draft. For me, that's definitely good news. I'm aware that the Orioles believed high school lefty Max Fried would move quickly through the system, but if this is a sprint, I'm going with the college pitcher who has a head start. Besides, how can you turn down a guy who eats powdered donuts between innings and freely admits that he's a little weird? Gausman and Dylan Bundy might not have much in common - I'm guessing Bundy eliminated donuts from his diet a long time ago - but I'm looking forward to having the odd couple in the rotation. And I'm eager to get manager Buck Showalter's opinion of dugout donuts, which sounds like a nice little promotion for the Orioles. For a team that lost its hold on first place and is reeling and can't seem to go a day without taking another hit to the roster, it must have been nice to accomplish so much while being idle. Now they'll see if their luck holds up in Fenway Park. NOTE: Single-A first baseman Nicky Delmonico, the Orioles' sixth-round pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, has been named to the South Atlantic League Northern Division All-Star Team. Delmonico, 19, leads the Shorebirds in several major statistical categories, including doubles (15), home runs (5), RBIs (33), hits (53) and total bases (83). He has 16 multi-hit games and has reached base in 45 of 54 games played this season. After batting .247 in April, Delmonico hit .280 with 14 RBIs in May. He reached base in 20 consecutive games from April 17-May 11, batting .338 (25-for-74).