Reimold hopes return to lineup becomes permanent this time

Nolan Reimold returns to the lineup tonight at Camden Yards for the first time since Friday and he said this time he's hopeful he is back for good after missing the past four games due to neck spasms. "I feel confident," Reimold, who is batting .370 with five homers, 10 RBIs and an OPS of 1.166, said. "I wouldn't play if I thought it was going to act up and get worse again. I think I am to the point where I can go out and play and it will be OK. So that is what I'm planning on it doing. It took awhile to get it under control, but I think I am to the point where it is not going to act up while I'm playing. I'm in the lineup because I feel I'm good enough to go. "Yeah, doing better. I hit yesterday and it didn't get worse, so it feels better today and I'll give it a go." On a lesser scale, he has become among the latest Oriole to deal with a cold and you could hear him with a strain in his voice today. When last seen, he had a sizzling hot bat with 12 hits in his past 25 at-bats over his last six games, a stretch during which he hit three doubles and five homers with four multi-hit games. Has four days off done something American League pitchers couldn't do and cooled off his bat? "You never know. You never know when you are going to get hot or not be hot. I'll go in there and hopefully it continues," he said today before batting practice. Reimold has seen the spasms get worse during the games he has played in but hopes that is all behind him now. "I know how it felt the last time I played. If I feel that again, I will say something because I don't want it to act up as bad as it did in Anaheim. So, I'm aware of how it could feel and I'll pay attention to it and not try to push through it. Don't want it to set me back for a long time if something does happen. "You use your neck all the time. Just looking around, rolling over in bed, you are always activating that muscle and it is hard to fully rest it but I think I have it under control," he said. Reimold is batting .405 during a 10-game hitting streak since going 0-for-4 opening day. His four homers in the seventh inning or later leads the major leagues. His five road homers are tied with Matt Kemp and Josh Hamilton for second in the majors behind Mike Napoli's six.