Orioles-White Sox game postponed

Tonight's game between the Orioles and White Sox has been postponed. An announcement regarding the make-up date will be made at a later date.

Fans are encouraged to keep their tickets and parking passes until more information is made available.

Players were seen leaving their parking lot shortly before the Orioles made the annoucement after consultation with the Baltimore City Police Department.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter tried to strike a balance today between staying up to date on the protests and rioting, and getting his team focused on the series opener against the White Sox.

"I've been behind closed doors, Dan (Duquette) and I have been talking about a lot of different things," Showalter said. "I was just trying to catch up on it. I guess a lot is going on. You all might have to fill me in right now. I go by TV."

Showalter said he took a different route to the ballpark today with Freddie Gray's funeral services held in Baltimore.

"We'll see what the rest of the day brings," he said. "I know we've taken every precaution as far as the fans go to a fault."

The unrest naturally has been a hot topic of conversation inside the clubhouse.

"Sure, sure it is, but I don't want to lessen it all, so I'm very cautious about even talking about it," Showalter said. "There's so many things that go on that you get challenged with and obviously this is a different level. There's not a lot of experience with it, so you try to take each moment as it comes and I know there were a lot of calls to some guys' families about making sure they knew what was going on from a safety standpoint. But guys are watching it. They're all aware of what's going on."

Showalter said any decision on playing the game would be done as a group.

"We'll get together and both talk about it," he said. "I'm sure they already have. I know (vice president of communications and marketing) Greg Bader and his staff and the front office, they already have. I haven't had any updates on that yet, but I probably will and will ask if I haven't.

"I'm not oblivious to the things that are going on, but I'm trying to keep our guys focused on this (game). And then if we have to make an adjustment, we'll make it."

Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia wouldn't have been available in the bullpen tonight after throwing 2 1/3 innings yesterday against the Red Sox and surrendering two home runs to Hanley Ramirez.

Garcia has posted a 6.97 ERA and 1.645 WHIP in 10 1/3 innings, with nine runs (eight earned), 10 hits, seven walks (one intentional), five strikeouts, two hit batters and a wild pitch.

Asked whether he can continue to carefully chose when to use Garcia, Showalter replied, "So far."

"We've gotten close, but like I said before and Dan (Duquette) and I are in agreement, we're not going to put the bullpen in harm's way physically and we're not going to do something that's not right for the kid and the organization," Showalter said. "We're trying to win. So far, that hasn't gotten in the way, but if it does, we'll make an adjustment. Just want to make sure he's healthy and we'll see how he feels today.

"You guys all know. Just looking at someone's velocity to judge him, he's down a little bit from where he was in spring training and last year some, but he's still effective for the most part. Its a different intensity volume than he's had, so there's a lot of new things being thrown at a 22-year-old guy with not a whole lot of experience at upper levels. But if we don't like him, he won't get through waivers going back to Boston."

As I wrote this morning, Steve Johnson threw two more scoreless innings last night for Triple-A Norfolk to lower his ERA to 0.82. He's walked two and struck out 16 in 11 innings.

"Steve's throwing the ball well," Showalter said. "You can see the velocity. He doesn't need to be 93-94. When you have a track record with a guy, you kind of know what it reads like and what it looks like.

"I could tell the last thing to come was his feel for the curveball in the spring. He just didn't have a feel for it. When he gets that going, the little changeup and that invisible fastball, the high fastball. He jumps at you and his velocity plays up. It's been good to see. He's a good option for us."

Shortstop J.J. Hardy still isn't cleared for baseball activities after receiving a cortisone injection Saturday in his left shoulder. He's hoping to take live batting practice later this week and go on an injury-rehab assignment, but there's no timetable.

"I think more than anything you miss the ball security, the presence, the consistency, knowing what you have," Showalter said. "J.J. kicks a ball or does something, you know it's one of those things that just happens three or four times a year. That's what you miss, the sureness. If there's a ball bouncing out, you like the way it's going to end up most of the time. Ball security. Like a point guard, you know the guy is going to get the ball up the court with someone guarding him. I miss a lot of things about him."

Hardy explained today why he chose to get the cortisone injection after taking batting practice and working out at Norfolk.

"It just wasn't getting better to the point where I thought I could get out there and play. Just hoping that this will kind of get me over the hump," he said.

"It's tough. It's tough whenever you put these times on it where first one is three weeks, then the next one is, you know, a week from now and you don't make those times. That's what gets frustrating. We're doing everything we can, and hopefully soon."

Hardy tried to describe what he's feeling in his shoulder.

"I don't know how I'd describe it. After I do certain activities, it will get pretty achy and start to tighten up more, but it's been getting better. It's been better with every little progression," he said.

"We're waiting a couple of days after this cortisone shot to let it just kind of calm down and then start the progression again and see where we're at."

Showalter projected that Hardy would need only three or four games in the minors before coming off the disabled list. Hardy said he won't have to go back to the beginning of his progression once he's cleared for activities.

"I would think kind of where I left off," Hardy said. "I'm been doing a pretty good job of taking ground balls, doing everything that I could and keeping my legs underneath me, hoping that my shoulder would be all better and that I could play a game last weekend and the same thing for the weekend before that, so I feel like I'm still in good shape. I just need my shoulder to get better and I'll be ready to go."

Asked about needing only three or four rehab games, Hardy said, "Yeah, I don't know. I think it should be fine. Like I said, defensively and everything, I feel like I've been doing everything I possibly can, and if it doesn't bother me when I'm doing that, it would just be a matter of getting some timing, really making sure the shoulder's gone."

Hardy can't offer a timetable for when he'd be ready to play.

"I don't know," he said. "I mean, it's kind of the same thing where we're setting these dates like two weekends ago where I was going to be ready to go, and I just wasn't, and then I set it again for the weekend after that, and I wasn't. I'm kind of tired of setting those dates and not making it. I hope so. I was kind of hoping to play this past weekend to see where we're at. I really wasn't thinking about that whole 20-day minor league rehab stint, probably would have started the clock on that. Hopefully, some time this week, I can go out and hit on the field and not feel anything for a couple of days and get back soon."

Update: Ubaldo Jimenez, who was scheduled to start tonight, will start tomorrow's game. Jeff Samardzija remains Tuesday's scheduled starter for the White Sox.