Alberto Castillo

Alberto Castillo, Orioles catcher What do you remember about your last major league home run? It was 2005 off Arthur Rhodes, a walk-off home run in Kansas City. That's a good memory of that day. A Sunday afternoon. I got a lot of phone calls because I slid into home plate. I was hiding from all my teammates who were trying to slap me on my head. I wanted to get down and try to avoid them, but they were hitting me. It was funny. Everybody was asking me, "How can you slide into home plate?"

The Orioles will interview ESPN analyst Bobby Valentine for their open manager's job Friday, according to an industry source. Andy MacPhail , the club's president of baseball operations, is expected to conduct the meeting in Baltimore. MacPhail has just started the interviewing process after firing Dave Trembley last Thursday and appointing third base coach Juan Samuel as the interim manager. Valentine is believed to be the second candidate to interview after another interview that took place Thursday, an industry source said.

David Hernandez and four relievers shut down the Boston Red Sox in the Orioles' 6-1 victory today before an announced sellout crowd of 8,037 at sun-splashed Ed Smith Stadium. Bidding to win the Orioles' fifth starter job over Chris Tillman, Hernandez tossed five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six. The Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs against Hernandez in the fourth, but the Orioles' right-hander, mostly relying on a buckling curveball, struck out the side, fanning Mitch Dening, Marco Scutaro and Josh Reddick.

As soon as the door swung open in the visiting bullpen before the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday night, the Orioles' fortunes changed. For six innings, Jeremy Guthrie gamely protected a one-run lead, escaping one jam after another by retiring the best the Texas Rangers had to offer. But after he ran out of gas on a typical hot and humid night here, six Orioles relievers were used and all but Will Ohman played a role in a 4-3 loss in front of an announced 22,321 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The Orioles trotted out most of their projected regular-season lineup Wednesday, but they could not build on their three-game Grapefruit League winning streak. In fact, they barely could get out of the batter's box against a parade of effective Toronto Blue Jays pitchers, who combined to give up just two hits in a 4-1 victory over the Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium. The Jays didn't have a big day at the plate either, but they scored three runs in the third inning off Orioles starter Jason Berken, more than enough to carry the day. Cesar Izturis led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, and the Orioles did not get another hit until there were two outs in the ninth inning.

- David Hernandez and four relievers shut down the Boston Red Sox in the Orioles' 6-1 victory Saturday before an announced sellout crowd of 8,037 at sun-splashed Ed Smith Stadium. Bidding to win the Orioles' fifth starter job over Chris Tillman, Hernandez tossed five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six. The Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs against Hernandez in the fourth, but the Orioles' right-hander, mostly relying on a buckling curveball, struck out the side, fanning Mitch Dening, Marco Scutaro and Josh Reddick.

PHILADELPHIA - -Feeling that Chris Ray has worked out the command and mechanical issues that got him demoted to Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles will recall the reliever before Tuesday's series opener against the Florida Marlins. He'll replace Alberto Castillo, who was optioned to Norfolk after Sunday's game. That will leave Orioles manager Dave Trembley without a left-handed specialist in his bullpen, though Trembley could use long man Mark Hendrickson in certain situations. "It has more to do with the status of Chris Ray than it does with the status of Alberto Castillo," Trembley said.

A recap of the Orioles' 6-5 loss to the Angels last night: Blip of a start Orioles starter Brian Burres turned in his shortest start of the season, getting blasted for five runs on seven hits in just 1 2/3 innings. He allowed a two-run double to Torii Hunter in the first inning and then a solo homer to Juan Rivera and a two-run shot by Casey Kotchman before being removed in the second. It was the second-shortest start of his career, behind July 5, 2007, against the Chicago White Sox, when he allowed seven runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Orioles left-hander Brian Burres stood at his locker, fielded several questions and offered one consistent answer. He can't pitch as he did in the Orioles' 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels last night at Camden Yards and expect his team to win. "You can't just throw up a five-run deficit or something like that up there. You just can't do that to your team," Burres said. "I need to do a better job." In fact, he can't pitch as he did last night and expect to keep his spot in the starting rotation.

Center fielder Adam Jones was scratched Wednesday from the Orioles' lineup with a right hip strain less than an hour before their series finale with the New York Yankees. Jones called it precautionary and said he expects to be in the lineup Thursday night, when the Orioles begin a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins. "It was just smarter not to play today," he said. "I'd end up hurting myself more than I need to." Jones said he hurt his hip while taking a swing during his second at-bat in Tuesday night's game and it became more uncomfortable as the game progressed.

Center fielder Adam Jones was scratched Wednesday from the Orioles' lineup with a right hip strain less than an hour before their series finale with the New York Yankees. Jones called it precautionary and said he expects to be in the lineup Thursday night, when the Orioles begin a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins. "It was just smarter not to play today," he said. "I'd end up hurting myself more than I need to." Jones said he hurt his hip while taking a swing during his second at-bat in Tuesday night's game and it became more uncomfortable as the game progressed.

- David Hernandez and four relievers shut down the Boston Red Sox in the Orioles' 6-1 victory Saturday before an announced sellout crowd of 8,037 at sun-splashed Ed Smith Stadium. Bidding to win the Orioles' fifth starter job over Chris Tillman, Hernandez tossed five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six. The Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs against Hernandez in the fourth, but the Orioles' right-hander, mostly relying on a buckling curveball, struck out the side, fanning Mitch Dening, Marco Scutaro and Josh Reddick.

David Hernandez and four relievers shut down the Boston Red Sox in the Orioles' 6-1 victory today before an announced sellout crowd of 8,037 at sun-splashed Ed Smith Stadium. Bidding to win the Orioles' fifth starter job over Chris Tillman, Hernandez tossed five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six. The Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs against Hernandez in the fourth, but the Orioles' right-hander, mostly relying on a buckling curveball, struck out the side, fanning Mitch Dening, Marco Scutaro and Josh Reddick.

The Orioles trotted out most of their projected regular-season lineup Wednesday, but they could not build on their three-game Grapefruit League winning streak. In fact, they barely could get out of the batter's box against a parade of effective Toronto Blue Jays pitchers, who combined to give up just two hits in a 4-1 victory over the Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium. The Jays didn't have a big day at the plate either, but they scored three runs in the third inning off Orioles starter Jason Berken, more than enough to carry the day. Cesar Izturis led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, and the Orioles did not get another hit until there were two outs in the ninth inning.

Cla Meredith is taking the decision out of manager Dave Trembley 's hands. Needing a good spring to make the Orioles' Opening Day roster, the right-handed reliever has been flawless. He pitched another scoreless inning in the Orioles' 4-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium on Wednesday, and he has not allowed a base runner in his six outings spanning five innings. "He's gotten both left- and right-handed hitters out," Trembley said. "For the most part, he's kept his pitches down, and by down, I mean the count, not the location.

PHILADELPHIA - -Feeling that Chris Ray has worked out the command and mechanical issues that got him demoted to Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles will recall the reliever before Tuesday's series opener against the Florida Marlins. He'll replace Alberto Castillo, who was optioned to Norfolk after Sunday's game. That will leave Orioles manager Dave Trembley without a left-handed specialist in his bullpen, though Trembley could use long man Mark Hendrickson in certain situations. "It has more to do with the status of Chris Ray than it does with the status of Alberto Castillo," Trembley said.

Cla Meredith is taking the decision out of manager Dave Trembley 's hands. Needing a good spring to make the Orioles' Opening Day roster, the right-handed reliever has been flawless. He pitched another scoreless inning in the Orioles' 4-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium on Wednesday, and he has not allowed a base runner in his six outings spanning five innings. "He's gotten both left- and right-handed hitters out," Trembley said. "For the most part, he's kept his pitches down, and by down, I mean the count, not the location.

As soon as the door swung open in the visiting bullpen before the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday night, the Orioles' fortunes changed. For six innings, Jeremy Guthrie gamely protected a one-run lead, escaping one jam after another by retiring the best the Texas Rangers had to offer. But after he ran out of gas on a typical hot and humid night here, six Orioles relievers were used and all but Will Ohman played a role in a 4-3 loss in front of an announced 22,321 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Orioles left-hander Brian Burres stood at his locker, fielded several questions and offered one consistent answer. He can't pitch as he did in the Orioles' 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels last night at Camden Yards and expect his team to win. "You can't just throw up a five-run deficit or something like that up there. You just can't do that to your team," Burres said. "I need to do a better job." In fact, he can't pitch as he did last night and expect to keep his spot in the starting rotation.