Greetings from Target Field, where the Orioles will take on the Twins for a Mother’s Day series finale.

*Mike Belfiore was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk and the left-hander will be available to add some length to an overworked bullpen. Belfiore takes the roster spot vacated by Steve Johnson, who was optioned to Triple-A after a four-inning start last night and he will be making his Major League debut if/when he gets into a game.

Belfiore was acquired as the player to be named later in the Josh Bell trade with Arizona and he was added to the 40-man roster over the winter.

*Chris Tillman will start Tuesday’s game with Wednesday’s starter either Freddy Garcia or Jason Hammel. Garcia, who was held out of his side session today, is available if needed in relief.

*Miguel Gonzalez was going to try to throw today, but there’s still some healing needed in regards to the blister on his right thumb. Gonzalez will try to throw a side on Tuesday and could go on a rehab start on Thursday or Friday. Tsuyoshi Wada’s rehab start hasn’t been determined just yet, but the team is leaning toward Thursday.

*Taylor Teagarden will see Dr. Brian Schofield on Thursday in Sarasota.

*Wilson Betemit is still doing pool work down at the team’s rehab facility and he will definitely not make the May 30 date, which is the first day he could be eligible off the 60-day disabled list.

*Triple-A Norfolk will pitch a game out of the bullpen today to get the relievers some work, according to manager Buck Showalter.  Jake Arrieta was originally slated to start.
ORIOLES LINEUP
Nick Markakis RF
Manny Machado 3B
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters DH
Steve Pearce LF
J.J. Hardy SS
Alexi Casilla 2B
Chris Snyder C

Wei-Yin Chen LHP

TWINS LINEUP
Brian Dozier 2B
Joe Mauer DH
Josh Willingham LF
Justin Morneau 1B
Ryan Doumit C
Trevor Plouffe 3B
Chris Parmelee RF
Wilkin Ramirez CF
Eduardo Escobar SS

Scott Diamond LHP

Steve Johnson surrendered seven hits and four walks (one intentional) and became the second consecutive starter to last just four innings on Saturday night, forcing the Orioles to option the right-hander after the game to add some bullpen help.

With Monday and Thursday’s off days, the team doesn’t need a fifth starter next week and  they are expected to officially announce the corresponding move prior on Sunday.

“We’re not going to be short. I can tell you that,” manager Buck Showalter said of the bullpen, which he has made a priority to protect since taking over. “We’re not going to assume anything with Wei-Yin [Chen starting], especially with the conditions that we’re playing in. “

“We’ve got two options. We had a couple calls in [to Triple-A Norfolk] in the fourth inning when Stevie came  out. I wanted to check on the health of one guy, and some other things before we try to make a decision. There’s a 5:30 [a.m.] flight, gets in at 10:30. If we make it, that’s what he’ll be on.”

Showalter said in a perfect world the team would like to have a right-handed reliever, behind the lefty Chen, who can add some length although he acknowledged that may not be the case. Options in Triple-A who haven’t pitched lately include right-hander reliever Adam Russell, lefties Mike Belfiore  and Daniel Schlereth and right-hander starter Jair Jurrjens, who is slated to start Monday for Norfolk.

Of those listed above, only Belfiore is on the 40-man roster. But given Brian Roberts’ hamstring surgery, the Orioles could transfer him to the 60-day disabled list should they need to make a 40-man move.

**Also Ryan Flaherty, who took a ball off his right wrist, said he’s fine and didn’t have any X-rays done after the game. He was removed for a pinch-hitter, but Showalter said that was just a game decision.

*The Orioles officially recalled right-hander Steve Johnson and he will make his first Major League start this season, with reliever Alex Burnett being optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk.

ORIOLES LINEUP
Nate McLouth LF
Manny Machado 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters C
J.J. Hardy SS
Ryan Flaherty 2B
Nolan Reimold DH

Steve Johnson RHP

TWINS LINEUP
Brian Dozier 2B
Joe Mauer C
Ryan Doumit DH
Justin Morneau 1B
Trevor Plouffe 3B
Chris Parmelee RF
Oswaldo Arcia LF
Wilkin Ramirez CF
Eduardo Escobar SS

Vance Worley RHP

Greetings from Target Field, where the Orioles will take on the Twins for a three-game road trip.

*In case you missed it, Miguel Gonzalez was placed on the disabled list (blister) and the Orioles recalled reliever Alex Burnett yesterday in his place. Burnett is expected to be the guy to go when they make a move to add right-hander Steve Johnson, who is here in Minnesota and will get his first big league start this season on Saturday.

*Alexi Casilla is in the lineup tonight against a right-handed starter, and he could move over to the right side and hit from there. Casilla, a switch-hitter, has been working on moving just to the right side because the organization feels he gets on top of the ball better that way. He said he will start off a lefty tonight, but could make the switch tonight. It’s still an experimental thing, but Casilla said he feels comfortable over there and –depending on the game–could try it out tonight. He is a career 0-for-5 as in two games as a right-handed hitter against a right-handed pitcher.

*There was some drama on Friday afternoon when news quickly spread that the pink bats of Nick Markakis and Trevor Plouffe wouldn’t be allowed on Sunday because they weren’t Louisville Slugger issued, although that’s not entirely true.

Markakis and Plouff’s proposed bats are black with a pink circle that reads MAX Bats and a memo sent to equipment managers around the league stated that while the use of plain pink bats by other companies is OK, any logo by a company other than Louisville is not.

“The fact is that players can use [Mother's Day] bats from any bat manufacturer as long as the bat manufacturer makes a modest donation to the Susan B. Komen Foundation,” Matt Bourne, VP Business Public Relations for Major League Baseball said in a statement.

Major League Baseball encourages players to wear pink equipment on Sunday with players around the sport donning pink bats, cleats and wristbands to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer. The game-worn equipment is later auctioned off on MLB.com to support breast cancer research. Both Markakis and Plouffe have mothers who are cancer survivors.

Louisville, MLB’s official bat, started the initiative in 2006 and donates the pink bats every year as well as makes a sizable monetary donation to the cause. Spokesman Rick Redman said those donations total up to roughly a quarter-million dollars.

You can read the full story on this on Orioles.com

*With Mother’s Day on Sunday, I wrote about catcher Matt Wieters and his mother, Pam, and you can read that here.

ORIOLES LINEUP
Nate McLouth LF
Manny Machado 3B
Nick Markakis DH
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters C
J.J. Hardy SS
Chris Dickerson RF
Alexi Casilla 2B

Jason Hammel RHP

TWINS LINEUP
Jamey Carroll 2B
Joe Mauer DH
Josh Willingham LF
Justin Morneau 1B
Trevor Plouffe 3B
Ryan Doumit C
Oswaldo Arcia RF
Aaron Hicks CF
Eduardo Escobar SS

Mike Pelfrey RHP

The Orioles’ 8-4 win in Anaheim here this afternoon caps a 7-4 road trip and the team will head home tonight for Monday’s off day before a quick three-game homestand.

Given the rare day off, I thought it would be a good time to answer some questions with my first Orioles inbox of the regular season. If you have a question you want considered about the team, a player, etc, shoot me an email me at brittany.ghiroli@mlb.com. Please include your name and hometown for possible inclusion in Monday’s Orioles.com inbox.

Thanks!

Greetings from the series finale in Anaheim with first baseman Chris Davis back in the lineup after doing some pregame running out on the field and testing his right knee. Davis said all went well and he’s wearing a brace on his knee right now. An MRI taken yesterday morning revealed he’s dealing with some tendinosis in that area and you can read more on that here.

*Tsuyoshi Wada wil throw what is expected to be his final extended spring game on Saturday and, assuming all goes well, he will go out on Minor League rehab assignment after that.

“I was talking to different guys about him down there,” Showalter said. “I had Brian Roberts go down there and scout it out for me. He had some interesting things to say. I’ll have Wilson [Betemit] have a look at him next time out, and then [Taylor] Teagarden.

Speaking of Roberts, he continues to progress in baseball activities, with the next step for him to take batting practice, although no date has been set for that.

*Zach Britton suffered the loss for Triple-A Norfolk yesterday after yielding five runs (three earned) on 10 hits in six-plus innings of work.  Britton walked one and struck out three while getting 10 groundball outs.

ORIOLES LINEUP

Nate McLouth LF
Manny Machado 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters C
J.J. Hardy SS
Ryan Flaherty 2B
Nolan Reimold DH

Jason Hammel RHP

ANGELS LINEUP
Erick Aybar SS
Mike Trout CF
Josh Hamilton RF
Mark Trumbo 1B
Alberto Callaspo 3B
Howie Kendrick 2B
Hank Conger DH
Chris Iannetta C
J.B. Shuck LF

Jerome Williams RHP

ANAHEIM — Chris Davis was diagnosed with right knee tendinosis and the Orioles remain optimistic that the first baseman will avoid the disabled list given the encouraging results from Saturday morning’s MRI.

“I thought if it was really serious obviously I wouldn’t have come out of that game and walked around here and talk to you guys [in the media] in a good mood,” said Davis, who left Friday night’s game in the fifth inning after suffering the injury running out a ground ball.

“It’s one of those things, going to the bag hard, felt some discomfort today still a little bit. Got the MRI back, everything’s intact. Nothing is wrong with the knee structurally, which is really good. My patella tendon [where the injury is] felt a lot better today, going up and down the stairs.”

Davis is considered day-to-day, and it’s unknown if the first baseman — who wasn’t in Saturday’s lineup — will play before the team returns to the East Coast on Sunday night. He will try to run on Sunday morning and given that the team’s has an off day Monday, Davis said his target right now is probably “a soft Tuesday”.

“We haven’t gotten anything negative to make us think that [the DL is a possibility] but, he hasn’t done anything on the field yet,” manager Buck Showalter said. “We’re letting it quiet down. We’ll see if he can play there tomorrow or not. There’s some temptation given the off day sitting there, a very rare off day in our case. We’ll see.

So, Davis could potentially play Sunday if he comes in and says everything is good?

“He said he was doing some things in the [training] room he probably shouldn’t have been doing and said he felt good last night,” Showalter said. “We can’t hit outside tomorrow. There’s a fine line between pushing it to see how it is and having a setback.”

Davis, an integral part of the team who is coming off an April in which he was named the American League Player of the Month, hasn’t had any prior injuries to his right knee and has been able to walk around the clubhouse without any issue. He has been getting regular treatment on the area and, according to executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette, the team’s doctors will look over Saturday’s MRI back in Baltimore on Monday.

“In all honesty, I would have loved to play today,” Davis said. “I don’t like missing games, obviously.”

Still, the 27-year-old had a pretty good seat in watching Steve Pearce –filling in at first base – collect the game-winning hit in the Orioles’ 5-4, 10-inning win.

“That spot right there. Put somebody at first, it’s looking good right now,” Davis said. “I’m happy for Pearce. It’s kind of the same thing we ran into last year. Guys got injured, other guys filled in and stepped up. I keep saying that’s the great thing about this team is nobody cares who gets the credit at the end of the day as long as we get the ‘W’. And we got the W. And I ate a lot of seeds.”

ANAHEIM– Orioles first baseman Chris Davis will likely avoid the disabled list, with encouraging results from Saturday morning’s MRI on his right knee.

“It doesn’t look like Chris Davis will go to the DL,” executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette told MLB.com over the phone. “[The Angels] doctors looked at the MRI and our doctors are going to be able to read the MRI on Monday, and the info I have is that Chris is feeling better than last night.”

Davis is considered day-to-day and it’s unknown if the first baseman—who wasn’t in Saturday’s lineup—will play before the team returns to the East Coast Sunday night. Although with an off day on Monday, the team could be cautious with Davis, an integral part of the team who is coming off an April in which he was named the American League Player of the Month.

Davis exited in the top of the fifth inning of Friday’s game after trying to beat out a groundout and walked gingerly back to the dugout, needing help to get down the stairs.

“My knee kind of buckled,” Davis, who landed awkwardly on the first-base bag while running full-bore down the line, said afterwards. “Felt a tingling in my foot, thought I could walk it off. Went down the stairs, tried to go down the stairs, couldn’t go down the stairs.”

Davis was in good spirits on Saturday morning, walking around the clubhouse without a limp and with his knee wrapped in ice.

“I think it’s just something that when I hit the bag I kind of veered to the right a little bit,” Davis said after watching the replay Friday night. “Lesson learned, go right through the bag. It sounds so elementary now. But, like I said, hopefully it will just be a few days.”

*Orioles first baseman Chris Davis had an MRI this morning and the team was still waiting for the results to be read. Manager Buck Showalter had an alternate lineup with Davis in it that won’t be used at this point. Davis was walking around on his leg in the clubhouse, with his knee wrapped and iced up, and was in good spirits, jokingly asking reporters if anyone knew how to read an MRI.

Steve Pearce is at first base today, with Ryan Flaherty –who entered the game last night for Davis– another option. Nick Markakis took some reps at first base this afternoon and could be used there as well.

*The Orioles have designated right-handed pitcher Zach Clark for assignment to clear a roster spot for today’s starter, Freddy Garcia. The move frees up at 40-man spot and the Orioles will know by Monday afternoon if Clark has cleared waivers, which is  a process that goes in the inverse order of the standings.

*Luis Exposito, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week, has cleared waivers and will report to Triple-A Norfolk.

ORIOLES LINEUP

Nate McLouth LF
Manny Machado 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Nolan Reimold DH
J.J. Hardy SS
Steve Pearce 1B
Ryan Flaherty 2B
Chris Snyder C

Freddy Garcia RHP

ANGELS LINEUP
Erick Aybar SS
Mike Trout CF
Albert Pujols 1B
Mark Trumbo RF
Alberto Callaspo 3B
Howie Kendrick 2B
Hank Conger DH
Chris Iannetta C
J.B. Shuck LF

Tommy Hanson RHP