Zach Britton throws scoreless inning at Aberdeen (quotes added)

ABERDEEN, Md. - Pitching in a game for the first time since he faced Boston on May 4, Orioles closer Zach Britton pitched a scoreless first inning tonight for short-season Single-A Aberdeen.

Facing the Hudson Valley Renegades in Aberdeen's season opener, Britton fanned second baseman Vidal Brujan on a 2-2 pitch that the young hitter chased off the outside corner. Britton then walked center fielder Emilio Gustave on a 3-2 pitch. But the lefty then got a first-pitch grounder from catcher Zack Law, who bounced into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Every pitch he threw was his trademark two-seam sinking fastball.

It went pretty fast. Britton threw 12 pitches, six for strikes, and topped out at 94 mph on the Ripken Stadium radar gun. Britton is beginning a minor league rehab assignment tonight that could have him back on July 4 with the Orioles.

Britton is working his way back to the Orioles from a left forearm strain. It put him on the disabled list the first time from April 16-May 2 and four days later he went back on the DL. This second time, the Orioles have been taking a slower, more conservative approach with the hope that when he resumes pitching for the Orioles the next time it is with no further injury issues.

Earlier today, the Orioles moved Britton from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL to open a 40-man roster spot for outfielder Craig Gentry. This temporarily removes Britton from the 40-man roster and he can now officially return to the Orioles on July 4.

After spending weeks rehabbing in Sarasota, Fla., Britton came north to throw a 22-pitch simulated game on Thursday at Single-A Frederick. That went well and was the last step before beginning the minor league injury rehab assignment tonight.

Britton has pitched in eight Orioles games this season, with an ERA of 1.00 and five saves in five chances. Over nine innings, he allowed 12 hits and one run with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Britton had not pitched on the farm since pitching for Triple-A Norfolk in 2013. Long before that, a then 19-year-old Britton was in the rotation with Aberdeen in 2007. He went 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA in 15 starts.

Britton's post-outing quotes

He said it went well: "Actually felt pretty good. Surprisingly, I had a little bit of adrenaline going. It's nice to get back in some competition. So (was) overthrowing a little bit. But had really, really good movement which was kind of the issue I was fighting with the injury. So that was a really big positive. Getting a ground ball. Any level, ground balls play. That shows the action (on his pitches) was good and physically feel good. So now it's about getting the command a little better as I go up the levels and back to Baltimore."

Did he throw all two-seam sinking fastballs?: "Yeah, that was the focus. I threw a lot of breaking balls in the bullpen before the game. That felt fine. Today was really just about getting in a game, getting the juices flowing a little bit and competing. Got over that hurdle. Feel great. Kind of the approach you take in that first game in spring training. Just make sure everything is working and then you begin to hone the pitches and command the ball. I was missing armside today, which is OK. I was running (the ball) off the plate. Just need to command the ball a little better."

Britton said his arm feels fine: "Feels good. I had a couple of misses armside, almost tested it a bit to an extent to see if anything would come back and bite me. But nothing. Felt great. I feel normal. That is what the doctors told me. Once the issue heals it is not something I am going to deal with. A lot of that was the mental hurdle of getting over that today."

So what is the next step?: "I will be in Delmarva on Thursday. Same thing. Going to be an inning. I don't think we will build up to two innings at this point. But we are definitely going to do a back-to-back (outings) at some point. As long as everything tomorrow feels good. I'll talk to Buck (Showalter) and Roger (McDowell) and Richie (Bancells) and we'll go from there."

The original plan called for Britton to make two outings with Single-A Delmarva, throw back-to-back games with Double-A Bowie and then rejoin the Orioles. In moving to the 60-day disabled list today, he may get back to the Orioles a few days later than he ] had thought.

"Yeah, it was a little different initially when we looked at the schedule, but not too far off," Britton said of a July 4 target date for his return. "They felt like that was the best thing. The two extra days or three that I will spend on the DL now because of that move (to the 60-day DL) is not necessarily the worst thing. Dan Duquette just texted me right before I went out there to make sure I was OK with that. Not really in my control anyway. But it was kind of a courtesy text. I am fine with it. I just want to get back healthy and help the team as quick as I can. But now we know a specific date."