**Join us in the Orange Crush live chat at 7:00 as the Orioles take on CC Sabathia to close a two-game set with the New York Yankees**
BALTIMORE — Fifteen innings later, the state of the roster grew only cloudier.
As if the sting of a 4-1 loss wasn’t bad enough, the Orioles today placed first baseman Derrek Lee (left oblique) and second baseman Brian Roberts (headaches) on the disabled list. The Orioles have placed Roberts on Major League Baseball’s new seven-day disabled list, retroactive to May 17, with a concussion. Lee has been placed on the traditional 15-day disabled list.
However, Wednesday’s 15-inning marathon left the Orioles’ bullpen in shambles — forcing tonight’s originally-scheduled starter Jeremy Guthrie to pitch in relief — and the club had no choice but to recall relief pitchers Troy Patton and Chris Jakubauskas for extra arms against the Yankees. The roster moves currently leave the Orioles with 14 pitchers and 11 positional players.
The decision to send Guthrie to the mound after Michael Gonzalez was ejected for striking Chris Dickerson in the head with a pitch forces the Orioles to send Brad Bergesen to the hill against the Yankees. Keep in mind, however, that Bergesen will be working on regular rest due to Tuesday’s postponement in Boston.
The Orioles will likely make an additional roster move — or two — before Friday’s opening game against the Nationals to remedy the unbalanced roster.
Who it might be is anyone’s guess at this point.
An infielder such as Ryan Adams or Brendan Harris would be a likely option to take Roberts’ spot on the roster. The Orioles could also elect to bring another catcher to Baltimore, allowing Jake Fox to receive more opportunities at first base in place of the injured Derrek Lee without creating shallow depth behind the plate.
Here are tonight’s starting lineups:
New York
SS Derek Jeter
CF Curtis Granderson
DH Mark Teixeira
3B Alex Rodriguez
2B Robinson Cano
C Russell Martin
1B Jorge Posada
RF Nick Swisher
LF Brett Gardner
SP CC Sabathia (3-3, 3.47 ERA)
Baltimore
2B Robert Andino
SS J.J. Hardy
RF Nick Markakis
DH Vladimir Guerrero
CF Adam Jones
LF Felix Pie
3B Mark Reynolds
C Jake Fox
1B Brandon Snyder
SP Brad Bergesen (1-4, 4.35 ERA)
As we do for every weeknight home game, join us in the Orange Crush live chat beginning at 7:00. Talk about the game with us as an array of WNST.net personalities visit the cyber sports bar throughout the evening! Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@WNST) for the latest updates and analysis regarding the happenings from Oriole Park at Camden Yards!
