Pearce and Miller provide updates, Orioles sign Cuban pitcher Leyva

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles first baseman Steve Pearce remains optimistic that he will return to the lineup Saturday afternoon at Tropicana Field. Pearce, diagnosed with a strained right abdominal muscle, took early batting practice today and ran sprints in the outfield. "It felt good," he said. "Everything is good. We'll see how I feel tomorrow and I should be ready to go. "There's no point in rushing it. Today we did hitting and we were out in the field and everything felt fine, so we'll wait to see how I feel tomorrow and see where we go from there." Pearce, a native of Lakeland, Fla., has hit five of his six career home runs against the Rays this season. He's a career .382/.462/.735 hitter in 11 games at Tropicana Field, with six extra-base hits. "I like hitting here. It's fun," he said. "I've got a bunch of family here, so I want to play for them, but the most important part is my health, so I want to take care of that before anything else." Andrew Miller had his first bullpen session today since limping off the mound at Camden Yards following the eighth inning of Monday's game against the Twins. He also performed some fielding drills to test his left leg and sounded encouraged by his progress. "I feel really good," he said. "I think everybody's happy with where we've come. I think it's been as expected, which is all you can ask for. We thought it was pretty minimal and still think that. Feel like they ran me through the gauntlet out there and survived, so I should be ready to go." Miller tweaked the leg. Nothing too serious. "That's one of those hard words to describe, but that's kind of what it was," he said. "It was pretty minimal and just kind of a grab right there on the last pitch. I wouldn't necessarily call it a strain or a pull or a cramp or anything like that. I think it's all below that. Just a pretty minor thing. One of those things. Fortunately, we've been playing well and precautionary, been able to take a few days." Miller sustained a hamstring injury two years ago with the Red Sox. "It's probably somewhat related," he said. "I'd imagine it has something to do with either the way I pitch or that part of my body or something. But ultimately I knew it was nowhere near the severity of the last one, and the last one was pretty easy to handle, as well. I think it kind of just gave us an idea of what we would do and how we'd take care of it. And the training staff is good. They know what they're doing and they got me better." Miller is enjoying his stay with the Orioles, however long it lasts. He's a pending free agent. "It's been great so far," he said. "It's been a really welcoming group, staff to players. It's just one of those situations where I think winning was the most important thing when I got here and making me comfortable was in their best interest and everybody went out of their way to do that and it's really been an easy team to fall into. It's a great group of guys that are playing well and that's where you want to be." The Orioles reached agreement with Cuban pitcher Lazaro Leyva. The deal is pending a physical and confirmation of his age. Leyva will report to the fall instructional league next week in Sarasota. CBSSports.com reported that Leyva's deal is worth $725,000.