KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Orioles starting catcher Ramon Hernandez sat out for the second consecutive game yesterday with a sore left wrist that has him concerned.
Hernandez said he has been dealing with wrist pain - which increases significantly when he turns his hand while swinging a bat - for about two weeks. He tried to play through it but decided before Saturday night's game that it hurt too much to grip a bat. He said he expects to see a doctor today in Baltimore.
"I've got to check it out," Hernandez said, "because you know that's the hand I had surgery on [in 2005]."
The pain, he said, is reminiscent of that season with the San Diego Padres in which he twice was placed on the disabled list because of a sprained wrist, eventually having it surgically repaired that July. He missed six weeks after surgery.
Hernandez, whose status is classified as day-to-day, said he hopes to avoid the disabled list. Orioles manager Dave Trembley said he expects to have Hernandez available for tomorrow's game against the Boston Red Sox.
Hernandez said he likely could have caught yesterday if pressed into duty but would not have been able to pinch hit because "to continue a swing is very hard."
Hernandez is hitting .215 with three homers and 17 RBIs in 32 games but has shown recent signs of emerging from his slump. He had seven hits in 27 at-bats on the Orioles' 10-game road trip (.259 average) and was retired several times on hard-hit balls. And now he has to sit and watch - and hope that he can get back soon.
"That's how my luck has been going for me right now," he said.
Cintron gets call
The Orioles returned to 12 pitchers and a four-man bench yesterday by optioning reliever Bob McCrory to Triple-A Norfolk and purchasing the contract of veteran infielder Alex Cintron from the Tides.
It has been a long, strange odyssey for Cintron, 29, who thought he was on the verge of signing with the Orioles in February. He queried several players, including former Oriole Roberto Alomar, and was told Baltimore would be a great place to play.
But Cintron, a career .277 switch-hitter in seven major league seasons, said his agent talked him into signing with the Chicago Cubs, who released him toward the end of spring training.
On March 31, Cintron accepted a minor league offer from the Orioles and batted .288 in 16 games with Norfolk. He could have opted out of his Orioles contract Thursday if he had remained in the minors.
