Tillman's bullpen session pushed back

Chris Tillman was scheduled to throw a bullpen session today, but the Orioles decided to wait another day or two. The delay is a precaution. Tillman says his elbow feels good and he's ready to throw off a mound, but the Orioles want to make certain that the inflammation is gone. "Probably going to slow down a little bit and make sure the anti-inflammatories, make full use of that," said manager Buck Showalter. "I think he's on his fifth day with them. He's done two things. He's played short toss and he's played long toss, and both of those have been fine. The next step is to go to the mound, but they thought it would be prudent to give him another day or two and make sure we get all that inflammation out of there, if there is any left. I don't think Tilly's real happy about it, but it's the proper thing to do precautionary-wise. "It's tough because the only way you're going to find out about it is to get on a mound and throw, but the worst thing you want to do is have that happen today and for him to still have an issue. We'll wait and take the benefit of a couple days, because we've got them with the off-day (Monday)." Matt Wieters isn't in the lineup tonight because he's caught eight days in a row. "Matt needs a day. He'll never admit it," Showalter said. "We've pushed the envelope on him pretty good the last eight days and we've found that with a day off today and an off-day Monday, that really refreshes his legs. "Every time I see him take a foul tip off the head, the shoulder...it's every night. I don't want to take him for granted. I don't want to make that mistake." Steve Tolleson is making his first major league start as a designated hitter. He pinch-hit for the DH in one game and struck out. Small sample size. Tolleson is 2-for-3 against Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia. Also a small sample size. "Tolley's made contributions for us," Showalter said. "He went down to Norfolk and started swinging the bat well again. But there aren't many positive matchups with Sabathia out there. We only have three or four guys who have had much success off him, but I think there are a lot of clubs that could say that. "It's been a sum of the parts team and will continue to be." The Orioles aren't listing any starters for the three-game series against the Rays that begins Tuesday at Camden Yards, but Miguel Gonzalez is expected to take the ball in the opener. The Rays are starting left-hander Matt Moore, Alex Cobb and Jeremy Hellickson. Showalter mentioned that the 2013 road schedule includes a trip to San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. That's going to be a popular one for the local media. "It's late in the season though," Showalter said, "so it's yet to be seen whether we're all together." Has he been talking to my bosses? For the Yankees: Derek Jeter SS Nick Swisher RF Mark Teixeira 1B Alex Rodriguez DH Robinson Cano 2B Russell Martin C Andruw Jones LF Ichiro Suzuki CF Jayson Nix 3B CC Sabathia LHP



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