Orioles/Red Sox lineups and pregame tidbits

*Orioles rookie Zach Britton was optioned to Double-A Bowie to make room for reliever Mark Hendrickson prior to tonight’s game, a shocking move that adds to a depleted relief corps and stops Britton’s service clock. The Orioles already planned on pushing back Britton to the fifth game after the All-Star break and Saturday’s move will feasibly cause him to miss just one start and help him pitch into September.

The 23-year-old Britton started the season brilliantly, going 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA in April. But he’s gone 2-5 since then, and has posted a 6.86 ERA over his last eight starts.  The move to Bowie is because the Orioles would prefer to keep him close by and work with Kennie Steenstra, who worked extensively with Britton throughout the Minors.

Right now, the plan is for Britton to stay down there until July 30, which would give him the 20 days in the Minors necessary to delay his clock.  He is slated to throw three innings for Bowie on the 15th, but there aren’t any concrete plans besides that.

*An X-ray taken last night on Brad Bergesen’s right forearm came back negative and he isn’t expected to be sidelined long. Obviously, manager Buck Showalter will try to stay away from using him tonight.

*Following last night’s on-field melee and ejection, Red Sox hitter David Ortiz left without talking to the media. Here’s what he said about the incident,which involved him charging the mound and exchanging blows with Kevin Gregg– prior to tonight’s game.

“I apologize to everyone for the situation,” Ortiz said.  “Even to them, I have a lot of friends in that ball club. Even Gregg. I don’t really know him, but he doesn’t seem like he’s any crazy person out there. Situations happen. I’m not happy about it. This is not what people come to see in the field. Hopefully we can stay away from that and turn the page.”

Gregg said he had no regrets about how he handled the situation and has not heard from Major League Baseball regarding any kind of punishment.

*Brian Roberts did long toss, conditioning and took flips in etended spring today and will see if he can progress further after he meets with concussion specialist Dr. Michael Collins on the 13th. He has a follow-up on the 14th.

Here are your lineups…

ORIOLES LINEUP

J.J.Hardy SS
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Matt Wieters C
Derrek Lee 1B
Mark Reynolds 3B
Nolan Reimold LF
Robert Andino 2B

SP Alfredo Simon

RED SOX LINEUP

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
David Ortiz DH
Josh Reddick LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
J.D.Drew RF
Marco Scutaro SS

SP John Lackey