Padres-Orioles preview

BALTIMORE-- The Baltimore Orioles waited until the last minute before announcing that Ubaldo Jimenez will be the starter for Wednesday's game against the San Diego Padres, the finale of this brief two-game series.

Baltimore apparently was thinking about a number of options for this start after sending Mike Wright down to Triple-A following a poor start in last Friday's 13-3 loss to Toronto. Manager Buck Showalter talked about several scenarios before Tuesday's game and confirmed afterward that the ball goes to Jimenez.

Jimenez had recently been pulled out of the starting rotation and will come into Wednesday's game with a 3-7 record and a 7.34 ERA. He made 13 starts and pitched once in the bullpen since losing his starting role and struggled in the relief appearance also.

The Orioles will need some help Wednesday since they are at the end of a tough three-day stretch. After playing at home on Sunday, they had to fly to Texas for a one-game make-up on Monday before turning around and returning home.

They didn't get in to Baltimore until around 4 a.m. and were tired, but Showalter said he would not use that an excuse for some shaky work in Tuesday's 10-7 loss to San Diego.

"You know what? People really don't want to hear it," Showalter said. "They really don't. It'd be very easy to complain about it, but we do this for seven, eight months for seven days a week and we are all lucky to do it, and no one really wants to hear about it."

For the Padres, Erik Johnson will make his third start since joining the team. He is 0-4 overall with a 7.66 ERA, including two starts with the White Sox.

Johnson is 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA with the Padres. He has allowed 10 earned runs in 10 2/3 innings with San Diego -- including five homers.

The two teams are going to meet again in a two-game series in San Diego next Tuesday and Wednesday that starts Baltimore's nine-game Western road swing where the Orioles also play the Mariners and Dodgers.

Baltimore, playing with just 24 players as Manny Machado will serve the final day of his three-game suspension Wednesday, could be making a move for pitching as left-hander Brian Duensing's elbow is bothering him and was examined Monday. He could be headed to the disabled list.

The Orioles have a one-game lead in the American League East over Boston and are up 2 1/2 games on Toronto.

San Diego also will get a better look at how Jon Jay's injured forearm is on Wednesday. Manager Andy Green said Tuesday he will see how Jay feels after Monday's off-day and sitting out the first game of the Baltimore series.

Green didn't want to address whether Jay, one of the team's top offensive players with a .296 average, would be headed to the disabled list, saying the team wants to see how Jay does Wednesday.

"I think it's a little early on for that," Green said. "We'll wait and see how he responds tomorrow."

The Padres have been getting plenty of offense lately. They banged out 15 hits in the 10-7 victory over Baltimore Tuesday night. Matt Kemp went 4-for-6 with two RBIs to lead the way as San Diego won its third straight game.