Orioles

With second baseman Ryan Flaherty struggling at the plate, Orioles manager Buck Showalter has deflected the attention to highlight Flaherty's improved defense. But in Thursday night's 6-2 loss to the Royals, Flaherty placed the spotlight to himself. After a sixth-inning third-strike call that ended the frame with a runner on second in a 4-2 game, the normally cool-headed Flaherty slammed his helmet and bat to the ground in frustration. “He thought it was a strike, I didn't,” Flaherty said.

"Did you ever notice Mike when he came off the mound after a good inning?" asks Alex Flanagan, widow of the Orioles Hall-of-Famer who committed suicide a year ago. "He always had his head down. " That provokes a vivid memory of No. 46, the smart pitcher who studied all and fooled many of the 11,684 batters he faced over 18 major league seasons. He was the long-haired lefty with a mustache who won the American League Cy Young Award in the Orioles' 1979 World Series season. He was all business on the mound, and Alex is correct about Mike's demeanor during his walk to the dugout after most of his 2,770 innings: head down, serious, pondering what he had just done well or not so well.

The Orioles made several moves before Saturday's game, with one high-profile player hitting the disabled list and another getting a recall to the major leagues. Outfielder Nolan Reimold, who has struggled to hit in the early season and hasn't played since May 11, was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to last Sunday, with a strained right hamstring. Right-hander Jake Arrieta, the club's 2012 Opening Day starter who pitched in four games this year before being demoted to Triple-A Norfolk in April, was recalled and was in the bullpen Saturday night.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Orioles left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada's recovery from Tommy John surgery is expected to take a significant step forward next week. Wada is slated to make one more start in extended spring training on Friday and after that he will likely be assigned to one of the team's minor-league affiliates to begin a rehab assignment. On Friday, Wada will go between five and seven innings and throw about 80 pitches, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He looks good," Showalter said.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles optioned third baseman Danny Valencia to Triple-A Norfolk during Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Valencia, who was acquired from the Boston Red Sox this offseason for cash considerations, was 10-for-31 this spring. He hit a game-winning solo home run in the Orioles' 8-7 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday in Fort Myers, his only one of the spring. The 28-year-old Valencia entered camp as a possible right-handed designated hitter because of his .316/.359/.472 career batting line against right-handed pitching.

MINNEAPOLIS - There are no secrets as far as Orioles right-hander Tommy Hunter is concerned. He figures he's been a good pitcher in the past - he went 13-4 with a 3.73 ERA for the Texas Rangers in 2010 - and he'll be a good pitcher in the future. So he's not even slightly surprised that he's currently a good pitcher - in fact he's arguably the Orioles' most effective one right now. He hasn't been scored on in his last nine appearances out of the bullpen, a span of 14 2/3 innings.

This may come as a surprise to loyal Orioles fans, but the club is going to make a roster move on Sunday. I was kidding about the surprise part. The Orioles' Norfolk Express, which in the last three weeks has brought Josh Stinson, Zach Britton, Luis Exposito, Zach Clark, Steve Johnson, Freddy Garcia and Alex Burnett (twice), will be running again Sunday morning. Technically, the reliever that will be called up will be coming from Syracuse, where the Tides are this weekend.

The Orioles are traveling to Fort Myers today to face the Red Sox, but some important stuff is going on this morning here at the Ed Smith Stadium Complex. Pitchers Tommy Hunter, Zach Britton and Jim Johnson will all throw in a two-inning simulated game on the back fields here. What happens here might be more important than what's going on down south. The Orioles will send essentially the same lineup as they did yesterday afternoon on the road against the Rays. Here are the lineups: Orioles Chavez RF Adams 2B N. Johnson DH Betemit LF Mahoney 1B Teagarden C Flaherty SS Bell 3B Avery CF Eveland LHP Red Sox Ellsbury CF Pedroia 2B Gonzalez 1B Lavarnway C Ross RF Punto DH Hassan LF Middlebrooks 3B Aviles SS Bard RHP

Mark Reynolds, who spent the past two seasons as a starting corner infielder with the Orioles, has agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $6 million plus incentives with the Cleveland Indians, according to an industry source. Reynolds, 29, hit .221 with 23 homers and 69 RBIs in 135 games last year after a 2011 season in which he hit a team-leading 37 homers in 155 games. The Orioles held an $11 million option on Reynolds for 2013 that the club declined this offseason, preferring instead to buy it out for $500,000.