BALTIMORE — As Yankees closer Mariano Rivera recorded the final out of the Orioles’ 6-2 loss to New York on Monday night, you may have missed the fireworks between his catcher Russell Martin and Baltimore second baseman Robert Andino.
Martin accused Andino of trying to relay signs from second base and the two barked at one another as the ninth inning concluded. Both Andino and Martin are in their respective lineups, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter is downplaying what happened while maintaining his club will be ready for any potential fallout or retaliation in the second game of the three-game set.
“We’ll deal with it if it happens,” Showalter said. “I know where I think the right and wrong in the sense of the reality. It’s not exactly like Mariano [Rivera] is featuring a curveball and a changeup and a split. Certainly didn’t work out too well [for us] if that was the case.”
In typical Showalter fashion, the manager quipped that the best way to prevent the opposition from trying to steal signs is to keep runners off second base.
Orioles catcher Matt Wieters always assumes the opposition is trying to relay signs and makes adjustments to prevent that from happening.
“That’s why you do sequences; that’s why you try to move late,” Wieters said before Tuesday’s game. “You’re not going to like it if you do think someone is stealing pitches, but at the same time, it’s where you go to disguise it.”
Taiwanese left-hander Wei-Yin Chen makes his major league debut tonight as he takes the hill against the Yankees. Showalter acknowledged the extra excitement in the air with Chen’s debut and pointed to how the game will be broadcast live in Taiwan, joking that many people will be late to work with the early-morning start in Chen’s homeland.
The 26-year-old features a fastball, changeup, splitter, and curveball and depends on command and location to retire hitters. His fastball averages roughly 90 or 91 miles per hour, so he isn’t the type of hurler to overpower the opposition.
Wieters is in the lineup for the fifth straight day and will start again on Wednesday, according to Showalter. With his starting catcher fresh and the start of the season, the manager wanted Wieters behind the plate for every starter’s first turn through the starting rotation.
The Orioles are off on Thursday and Wieters will receive either Saturday or Sunday off in Toronto, depending on the pitching matchups.
Here are tonight’s starting lineups:
New York
SS Derek Jeter
RF Nick Swisher
2B Robinson Cano
3B Alex Rodriguez
1B Mark Teixeira
CF Curtis Granderson
DH Andruw Jones
C Russell Martin
LF Brett Gardner
SP Freddy Garcia
Baltimore
LF Endy Chavez
SS J.J. Hardy
RF Nick Markakis
CF Adam Jones
C Matt Wieters
DH Nick Johnson
3B Mark Reynolds
1B Chris Davis
2B Robert Andino
SP Wei-Yin Chen
Visit the BuyAToyota.com Audio Vault to hear more from Buck Showalter and Matt Wieters and be sure to follow WNST on Twitter for live updates throughout the evening from Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
