Showalter returns for postgame media session

Manager Buck Showalter was ejected by third base umpire Phil Cuzzi in the fifth inning tonight, but he still handled the postgame session with the media. He didn't shower, dress and leave the ballpark. Cuzzi missed the call on Nick Markakis, who clearly beat Brent Morel's tag. "It's one of those things. It's unfortunate," Showalter said. "You can usually go back to three or four things that would have made it not matter, but it's tough. Obviously, he's safe, but it's tough. Things happen quickly and he didn't see it the way that it was." Markakis jumped to his feet to argue, which is unusual for the mild-mannered right fielder. He's not known as an animated guy on the field.

"That's true," Showalter said. "Neither is Willie (Randolph). Like I said, there's a lot of things ... We had a tag play at second on a stolen base. We were in a spot we shouldn't have been. Should have been an out there at second and that was unfortunate. We had a man at third and less than two outs. So, we did some things well, but not well enough to beat a team with that type of bullpen. You've got to make the best of your opportunities against their starters. And they've got a lot of weapons down there." Chris Jakubauskas was quite a weapon for the Orioles tonight, allowing only two hits in four scoreless innings. "Jak was great," Showalter said. "He was the reason why we had a chance there. You couldn't ask for much better. It was good to see Berk (Jason Berken) get off to a decent start, too. Jak gave us more than you could expect in that situation. That was impressive." Making his first start for the Orioles, Jo-Jo Reyes was charged with four runs and five hits in four innings. He served up two home runs. "He needs to be better," Showalter said. "Keep in mind he hasn't started since I think the 22nd of July, somewhere in there. We wanted to take him to 70-75 (pitches) and see where we were. We'll continue to see where we are with it. He had a breaking ball he left out over the plate. He started out pretty crisp but you see a left-handed starter in the big leagues, they've got to defend themselves against right-handed hitters. You saw a good example of that here today. He has the potential to be better, but he just hasn't been able to do it yet at this level. We'll see where it takes us." Acting manager John Russell made an interesting decision in the ninth, sending up Josh Bell as a pinch-hitter against White Sox left-hander Chris Sale and bypassing Nolan Reimold. Bell grounded to short. Right-hander Sergio Santos entered the game and struck out Robert Andino for his 24th save. "I'm sure talking to John that Santos vs. Reimold was not a very good matchup," Showalter said. "That's what you're going to get - in his opinion, I'm sure." In the fourth inning, Markakis began to retreat to second base on Vladimir Guerrero's line drive into center field with one out. Markakis had to stop at third base, and the Orioles failed to score. "A lot of times what happens is, when a ball's hit right at a runner, sometimes they freeze, but we've got to do a little bit better job of knowing where the shortstop is playing," Showalter said.