Wrapping up today's 7-6 loss with quotes from Showalter

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph was scheduled to start Sunday's game against the Twins in Fort Myers. However, he's been scratched from the lineup while waiting for his son to be born.

It would have been Joseph's first road game this spring.

"Everything's going well," said manager Buck Showalter, "but it could be a long process."

Ryan Lavarnway is expected to catch starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who lasted only 1 1/3 innings against the Tigers on Tuesday and allowed six runs (five earned).

Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Matt Wieters won't travel to Fort Myers, but they're likely to start the next three games, all of them at home. Wieters will continue to serve as the designated hitter.

Wieters will catch in back-to-back games for the first time on March 14-15 against Puerto Rico and a B team. He went 0-for-4 today and his hitless in 10 at-bats this spring.

Dariel Alvarez hit a three-run homer today with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to reduce Boston's lead to 7-6. Jimmy Paredes walked and Henry Urrutia singled, but Rey Navarro flied out.

Alvarez has been impressive in camp. Showalter said the Cuban outfielder did "a couple things that got him noticed today, some good and some bad."

The bad apparently relates to Alvarez's reaction after hitting the home run. I was watching the flight of the ball as it cleared the left field fence, so I'm not sure exactly what happened and Showalter didn't go into detail.

"He had a good at-bat," Showalter said. "Is that the first home run he's hit in his career? I don't think so. I thought it might have been."

Message delivered.

"He's very exuberant," Showalter continued. "He likes to play. He's a good kid. We like him. He can do a lot of things well. You can tell guys like him and Jimmy (Paredes) and Henry (Urrutia), they like to play."

Paredes is hitting .429 this spring.

"Jimmy Paredes, I don't know if he's had a bad at-bat down here yet," Showalter said. "He's firing on all cylinders."

Asked what he thought about Bud Norris, who allowed four runs and four hits in the first inning, Showalter replied, "Probably, like his line, he'll get better. That's his first time really out there. Sometimes, you kind of like a little slap. It's kind of a reminder. He'll be fine. He'll get better."

Hunter Harvey's fastball was 96-97 mph today while retiring all three batters he faced. He didn't throw any splitters. The club would prefer that he wait to develop that pitch.

Harvey may not make another appearance before being reassigned to minor league camp. The Orioles are discussing their first round of cuts.

"He's got a good presentation," Showalter said. "He's one of those guys you watch him warm up or throw on the side, there's a little different look and a little different presentation when it starts counting. We did a good job with him not pushing the envelope on him with his health last year and I think we're getting a return on him. He was 96-97, pretty effortless."

Dylan Bundy allowed two runs and three hits, with two walks and two strikeouts, in 1 2/3 innings. The numbers didn't matter to Showalter.

"Dylan threw some good sequences," Showalter said. "I don't think you're really going to see...it may be June before you really...I don't know. We'll see. He's right where he needs to be.

"I just want to see him healthy and just the look on his face. He knows he's got that (surgery) behind him and little by little he'll build up and he'll be as good as he's capable of being. What it is, I don't know for sure. Nobody can say. We've got a lot of those guys. He's not the only one.

"We have to keep producing those guys to be who we are."

Former Orioles farmhand Eduardo Rodriguez retired all nine batters he faced with three strikeouts.

"It was a lot of fun," he said through an interpreter. "It was fun to spend some time with guys I spent four years with. I said hello to a lot of them and they said hello to me. I just tried to keep the same routine and do what I was doing. Thankfully it went well."

Rodriguez wasn't facing a bunch of minor leaguers. He retired Alejandro De Aza, J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones, Davis, Steve Pearce, Wieters, Machado, Steve Clevenger and Everth Cabrera.

"I kept the same approach, maybe tightened some things up here and there. I think I did get a lot out of facing their starting guys," Rodriguez said.

"I've been working very hard. Not just for myself or to impress them. But also for my teammates and to make a good impression."

The Orioles traded Rodriguez to the Red Sox last summer for left-hander Andrew Miller.

"We thought he was a good prospect, too, remember?" Showalter said. "It wasn't propaganda.

"He looks a year older, a little thicker, like guys who age a little bit. All of us get thicker, he in the right places.

"We knew exactly (how good he was). I'd do it every time. He's a good prospect."