Wrapping up a 5-1 loss

NEW YORK - Shortstop J.J. Hardy and second baseman Ryan Flaherty played nine innings tonight at Double-A Bowie, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter is eager to write their names into the lineup at Yankee Stadium.

Hardy went 1-for-4 and Flaherty went 2-for-5. Hardy is expected to be activated from the disabled list on Thursday, with Flaherty joining him the following day.

"We have to talk to J.J. and Ryan in another form, so we've got an idea of what we're going to do," Showalter said after tonight's 5-1 loss to the Mets. "We'll get our arms around if there's anything we don't know about. We just finished our game."

Showalter expressed how much he's looking forward to adding Hardy and Flaherty by saying, "There are some things in the middle of the diamond we're not doing very well defensively. We've got to get better."

Rey Navarro and Everth Cabrera could be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to create room on the 25-man roster. Cabrera had a difficult night with a couple of baserunning mistakes and his inability to prevent Dilson Herrera's ground ball from scooting into center field for an RBI single in the second inning.

Cabrera was tagged out trying to get back to third base on Alejandro De Aza's grounder to the mound in the fifth inning. Third baseman Daniel Murphy blocked Cabrera's path to the bag. Cabrera went in standing.

Showalter came out of the dugout to discuss the call, but not because of Murphy's positioning.

"Any time a guy is in the act of catching a thrown ball or a batted ball, he has first right of position, so it didn't have anything to do with that," Showalter said. "We were just reviewing because we made contact with him whether or not he had actually put a glove on it. If he slid there, he was safe."

Starter Ubaldo Jimenez was removed for a pinch-hitter after allowing three runs and six hits in four innings. Two walks in the second inning led to the game's first run.

"Probably not quite the command that he's spoiled us with so far this year," Showalter said. "He was very close to being good. I'm proud of him. We just scored three runs in two nights. That's what it comes down to."

The Orioles had runners on base in every inning except the sixth and were held to one run. They stranded 10. Mets starter Jacob deGrom struck out nine over seven innings.

"Obviously, he's a quality pitcher," Showalter said. "We didn't take advantage of the few (opportunities) we did have, the strikeouts. We haven't done much offensively in two nights. It's more a case, once again you tip your hat to their pitchers. Those two guys are pretty good. It's one of the reasons why they're going to be a force this year in their division and you've got to beat the good ones, too."

Showalter also came onto the field after Herrera's home run in the sixth, which initially was ruled an RBI double. A pinch-hitter came to the plate for deGrom, then returned to the dugout. deGrom batted and came back out for the seventh.

"There were two things," Showalter said. "One, they showed a replay before, which they can't do. But the big thing was their batter got in the batters box, the pinch hitter, so he's in the game. Two of the umpires went to look at replay, and the other two should have seen it, but didn't. deGrom should have been out of the game, and he was coaching the runner, also. Once you get into the box, whether you report or it, you're in the game."

Jimenez didn't have a feel for his breaking ball tonight.

"I couldn't throw it for a strike," he said. "It felt I was getting ahead of hitters in the first couple of innings, but I couldn't put it away because I didn't have the put-away pitch. And that's why I ended up walking those two guys in the second inning.

"It seems like every time you start walking people, you end up having to pay for that. They're going to find a way to score. It doesn't matter how it is. It's like you know it's going to score."

Jimenez left the game after throwing 85 pitches, the lack of a designated hitter shortening his night.

"If we were playing in the American League, I'd probably throw one or two more innings, but we don't know," he said. "It's the National League, you have to put that in your mind. The managers, they're going to do whatever it takes to score runs or to get a rally going."

Jimenez wasn't familiar with many of the Mets' hitters.

"You watch video and stuff like that, but it's never the same until you get to face all of the guys," he said. "It helps a little bit more when you've faced those guys, because you know how you're going to attack them."

Catcher Caleb Joseph said Jimenez has pretty good stuff.

"I know he probably struggled a little bit with his slider and curveball, but I thought the fastball had some good sink to it," Joseph said. "He was just missing more down. The sinker was moving more down than down and side-to-side, so he wasn't missing by a lot, just a little bit. You're going to give up solo homers here and there and they don't beat you, so the home run to (Curtis) Granderson, we still felt like we were OK.

"I think the big mistake was walking their seven-hole hitter, their catcher (Kevin Plawecki), and that led to kind of a big inning. If we could go back and kind of attack him a little bit more, that would have been a big thing we wish that we could have done."

The Orioles scored three runs in two games. Good Mets pitching or poor hitting?

"You've seen us not really get a lot of hits and then bust out for eight or 10, so I think it's a little combination of both," Joseph said. "I'm scuffling a little bit and a couple of guys are scuffling, but it's a long season and we've faced two really good pitchers. A guy (Bartolo Colon) who's really perfected his craft over there. He's 40-something years old and he really knows what he's doing. And then the young kid who's throwing 95 mph. But we hit the ball and we're going to score runs. It just seems like every time we get a start that keeps us within the game, we just can't push that big hit across."

The offense should get a jolt with Hardy's return, and the defense certainly will benefit from it.

"J.J. is a huge part of this team," Joseph said. "He's an anchor, he swings the bat really well. But I think more importantly, he's a great clubhouse guy. He's been through the battles and is a great guy to just play ball with. He's at the park, works hard every day.

"Very quietly, he's stable for us, both offensively and defensively. We've been looking forward to getting him back since the day he was injured. So, it's exciting but we're not going to put the world on J.J. We're just excited to have him back in the clubhouse."