Showalter on Jimenez's start: "Not very good" (Wright optioned)

The Orioles' lead in the American League East is down to one game following tonight's 9-5 loss to the Angels before 44,317 at Camden Yards.

The Blue Jays have won seven in a row. The Orioles are fighting to stay in front of them while their rotation continues to raise concerns.

Ubaldo Jimenez lasted only 1 1/3 innings and left to a chorus of boos. He was charged with five runs and five hits, walked two, struck out none and threw a wild pitch. Twenty-five of his 45 pitches were strikes.

Angels first baseman C.J. Cron suffered a fractured left hand after being hit by a Mike Wright pitch in the sixth inning. Wright hit Cron twice and Johnny Giavotella once in 4 2/3 innings.

Wright allowed four runs (two earned) and three hits, walked two and struck out two. He threw 72 pitches, 45 for strikes.

What's the solution?

Jimenez may be moved to the bullpen again, assuming the Orioles don't do anything more drastic.

"Not very good," Showalter said. "Mike had some struggles, too. That's why we were trying to leave him alone down there (Norfolk) if we could, but it's necessary to have somebody provide some length. Really didn't want to pitch (Odrisamer) Despaigne tonight if I could help it."

He couldn't. Despaigne pitched a scoreless ninth.

Wright could be optioned since he won't be available the next two days before the break. The Orioles will discuss it later tonight.

"I'm not going to announce it here," Showalter said. "We're going to talk about it. We talked a little about it before the game, what we were going to do. We were hoping Ubaldo could get us deeper in the game and keep us engaged a little more than that, but he wasn't able to."

So what can the Orioles do with Jimenez?

"We had tried to put him in the bullpen and see if we could work some things out there, but necessity put him back (the rotation)," Showalter said. "We'll attack it after the break."

Putting Jimenez in the bullpen wouldn't solve all the problems, of course.

"If you go down to the bullpen, then you've got to be able to do the job those guys are doing," Showalter said.

The rotation needs to be fixed. It's just a question of how to do it.

"We're a little challenged there, but we have been all year," Showalter said. "Tyler Wilson gets some of the arm strength back and the command he had, and Yovani (Gallardo) is going to have a good post All-Star break, hopefully, and we're going to do some other things we're thinking about. We'll keep searching for that.

"Through it all we've figured out a way to be better than the rest of the guys in our division so far, but we're not going to look at it with blinders on. We realize it's a challenge."

Jimenez hasn't indicated that he's injured.

"You look at everything, but that hasn't been the case," Showalter said. "He's one of the healthiest guys we have. I may go down there today or tomorrow and he might say something different, but he feels good. That's one thing he's always brought is taking the ball every fifth day and being a healthy pitcher."

Wright replaced Jimenez and retired the next two batters to end the second inning, but he loaded the bases with no outs in the third on two hit batters and a walk. Back-to-back errors by J.J. Hardy in the fourth led to two unearned runs. Daniel Nava had an RBI single of Wright with two outs in the sixth after Cron was hit for a second time.

"Mike was in a good spot, I thought," Showalter said. "He came in, got two quick outs, brought some pace back to the game. I thought it was set up pretty good for him to give us a good, solid outing. But what did he hit, three people? First baseman broke his hand. That's not good. I think Jon (Schoop) has been hit three times in the last two games. I know he's not happy. I'm sure Mike's not happy.

"That's a reminder just how fragile the whole thing is. One pitch gets away from somebody and you're in a whole different situation. That's why health is so important.

"(Wright) would go through some sequences where you thought he was going to dial it in and never was just consistent. I thought it was a really good situation for him. Nothing to lose, coming in and he got out of that first inning. I was expecting him to really give us a good outing there, but he didn't. You saw some of the things that he needs to be working on down there in Norfolk."

Wright's 4 2/3 innings were a career high in relief. He owns a 2.08 ERA in five career relief appearances over 8 2/3 innings and a 6.32 ERA in 21 starts over 105 1/3 innings.

The sluggish pace would provide a convenient excuse for defensive miscues, but Showalter pointed out the spectacular plays made tonight.

"We've had some challenges some nights when we're behind and they grind through it," Showalter said. "I think it's as much a challenge defensively as it is anything. There were some great plays tonight. Chris Davis made a pick on a ball, that hard, short, long hop. It's not a long hop where you can back up and you can't go get it. He works on that play every day. That's as good a play as you'll ever see.

"Matt (Wieters) made a great play by the dugout, Manny (Machado) and Jon turned a great double play, Adam (Jones) ran a ball down in center field. Not many guys do. I watch with great admiration every night with some of the pace and things that we kind of put on ourselves that they work their way through. But it's a challenge."

Jones hit a leadoff home run tonight, his second this season. His 210 home runs as an Oriole move him past Brady Anderson into sixth place on the club's all-time list. Rafael Palmeiro is next with 223.

Mark Trumbo hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth and finished with three RBIs. He's batting .346/.382/.750 (18-for-52) in his last 12 games, with three doubles, six home runs, 15 RBIs, three walks and 12 runs scored.

Schoop homered tonight while going 2-for-4 and is batting .345/.406/.517 (10-for-29) during a seven-game hitting streak. He's hit safely in 18 of his last 19 games, batting .418/.465/.684 (33-for-79).

Meanwhile, Darren O'Day's flat ground session went well today and he'll repeat it on Sunday before heading to Sarasota and joining the Orioles in Tampa after the break.

Mychal Givens remains with the club. His wife hasn't given birth. She's due on Monday.

Update: The Orioles have optioned Wright to Triple-A Norfolk. A corresponding move will be announced on Saturday.