Showalter on roster moves, O'Day and more (we're still tied)

DETROIT - The Orioles aren't expected to carry three catchers through the rest of the road trip that concludes Thursday afternoon.

Earlier today, the Orioles outrighted outfielder Craig Gentry to Triple-A Norfolk after he cleared waivers and they activated catcher Welington Castillo from the disabled list. They held onto backups Caleb Joseph and Francisco Peña as part of their five-man bench.

Asked about having three catchers, manager Buck Showalter replied, "Today, yes. Stay tuned."

"We knew with the off-day that we'd be OK in the bullpen for today," he added. "We figured we'd get Brad (Brach) and Darren (O'Day) back, so we're OK with that."

The Orioles figure to add a seventh reliever, perhaps by Wednesday night's game against the Tigers. They've been operating with a six-man bullpen that twice lost closer Zach Britton to the disabled list.

Gentry will report to Norfolk "shortly," Showalter said.

"He's been in 33 of 36 games. He's been a real contributor and will be again. And we'll probably make another adjustment to the roster here shortly."

An adjustment that expands the bullpen to seven relievers?

"Well, I'm not going to ... I'm trying to talk so you can read between the lines. I know you can do that," Showalter replied.

"We'll see. That would require somebody heading this way tomorrow or tonight."

Castillo is back behind the plate tonight after recovering from right shoulder tendinitis.

"Caleb and Francisco have done a good job, but very quietly the guy was hitting .300 (.314) when he left," Showalter said. "He's a guy with personality. He's experienced. We acquired him as a guy who could catch and throw and bring some offensive ability. Pretty much like the job that Franky and Caleb did.

"I'm feeling good about getting him back. We've been without him for almost two weeks. We really wanted to nip that issue in his shoulder if you can early in the season instead of having it dwell on."

O'Day said he's available tonight and could have pitched over the weekend in Kansas City. Showalter confirmed that he would have used O'Day on Sunday if the Orioles overcame a 9-8 deficit.

"I was really hoping to get another day away, but he feels good. He's ready to go," Showalter said.

O'Day said he warmed up during all three games against the Royals.

"It depends how you define 'warmed up,'" Showalter said. "He threw five or six pitches. But he felt OK and would have been able to pitch yesterday if the situation presented itself. I didn't want to put him in there. We felt like if we could get through (Sunday) and have the off-day, we might get the full 100 percent guy, if you can."

The off-day yesterday in Detroit might freshen up a bunch of guys who are trying to pull the Orioles out of a four-game losing streak. Got them away from baseball. Cleared their heads and maybe healed some bodies.

"Who will have something to say about that is (Matthew) Boyd and the Tigers," Showalter said. "That's why it was important to me to give Adam (Jones) and J.J. (Hardy) the two days and got Chris (Davis) a day there.

"It's a long season. Until you've walked in their shoes, realizing what that means, that blow, but it may not mean they're 4-for-4 today or do whatever. But it's not a normal thing to do to your body, especially as players get older with Chris and J.J. and Adam. You see how they play. You want them to continue to play that way, it has to be my idea and not theirs, because they're not going to come to me about that. But they take a lot of pride in posting up for their teammates and their organization."

I wrote earlier that pitcher Cody Sedlock, last year's top draft pick out of the University of Illinois, was placed on Single-A Frederick's temporary inactive list. He's away from the team while attending to a family matter. It's not an injury.

Update: The Orioles fell behind 1-0 in the first inning on Ian Kinsler's leadoff double, Miguel Cabrera's one-out single and Victor Martinez's ground ball to first.

Chris Davis fielded the ball and stepped on the bag, but he hesitated while checking Kinsler and failed to tag Cabrera going back to first. An apparent double play turned into an RBI grounder.

Wade Miley threw 30 pitches in the first, which included two-out walks to Justin Upton and J.D. Martinez to load the bases and a diving catch by Joey Rickard in right-center field to rob Mikie Mahtook and limit the damage.

Update II: J.J. Hardy led off the top of the third inning with his second home run of the season to tie the game 1-1.

Update III: The Orioles sent 11 batters to the plate in the third and scored seven runs to take a 7-1 lead.

Manny Machado and Davis had RBI doubles, Castillo lined a two-run single into left field to end Matthew Boyd's night, Trey Mancini hit reliever Chad Bell with a liner up the middle and reached on a run-scoring infield hit, and Castillo scored on Hardy's fielder's choice grounder to the mound.

Update IV: Miley's pitch count is up to 71 in three innings and his lead is down to 7-4 after Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer and J.D. Martinez had a solo shot in the third.

Update V: Mychal Givens walked the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh inning and J.D. Martinez hit a grand slam off Brad Brach to give Detroit an 8-7 lead.

Martinez has three careeer grand slams. The Orioles have major issues with their pitching staff.

Update VI: Mark Trumbo hit an opposite-field homer off left-hander Justin Wilson with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game 8-8.

O'Day retired the side in order in the eighth. Alec Asher has replaced him.

Update VII: The Orioles broke an 8-8 tie with three runs in the 12th, beginning with Chris Davis' lead off home run off Blaine Hardy, but the Tigers just scored three runs off Donnie Hart to tie the game 11-11. Richard Bleier has replaced him.

Ian Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila had RBI singles.