Orioles place Castro on bereavement list (O's trail 5-4)

The Orioles have placed reliever Miguel Castro on the bereavement list and recalled pitcher Alec Asher from Triple-A Norfolk.

They learned late last night that Castro had lost a close family member and might be leaving the team. Travel arrangements were finalized this morning after Castro met with manager Buck Showalter, pitching coach Roger McDowell and traveling secretary Kevin Buck.

Castro has been a valuable member of the bullpen and enabled the Orioles to remove the revolving door on it. This is only the second move involving a reliever since July 5.

Left-hander Donnie Hart was optioned on Aug. 9 to make room for outfielder Mark Trumbo on the 25-man roster.

Castro worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings in each of the last two nights and tossed a career-high six innings on Aug. 3 against the Tigers. He's 2-1 with a 2.98 ERA and 1.039 WHIP in 28 appearances over 42 1/3 innings

Right-handers are batting .208 against Castro. Opponents have posted a .198 average in the second half.

Asher is 2-5 with a 5.53 ERA and 1.392 WHIP in 21 appearances with the Orioles, including six starts, covering 55 1/3 innings. He was optioned on July 2 after allowing five runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings the previous day in a 10-3 loss to the Rays.

Asher is 3-2 with a 3.51 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in nine starts with Norfolk. He was scratched from today's outing and brought to Baltimore.

In his last start, Asher shut out Lehigh Valley on three hits over seven innings. He's available in relief today and could back up starter Chris Tillman in the event of a short outing.

Update: Tillman retired the side in order in the first inning, but Kole Calhoun led off the second with a home run to give the Angels a 1-0 lead.

Update II: Albert Pujols delivered a two-out RBI single in the third, but Chris Davis responded with a home run leading off the bottom half to cut the lead to 2-1.

Update III: Mark Trumbo's two-out, RBI double in the sixth tied the game 4-4.

Jonathan Schoop had a two-run single with the bases loaded and no outs.

Tillman allowed four runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings, with a season-high six walks, two strikeouts and two home runs. He threw 99 pitches, only 49 for strikes.

Former Oriole Parker Bridwell was charged with two earned runs (four total) in five-plus innings.

Update IV: Pinch-hitter Cameron Maybin singled off Mychal Givens with two outs in the eighth to score Calhoun and break a 4-4 tie. The run was charged to Brad Brach, who walked two of the three batters he faced.