BALTIMORE (AP) -Injured Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada has been cleared to play again and could be activated from the 15-day disabled list when Baltimore hosts the New York Yankees on Friday night.
Tejada played in 1,152 straight games before being placed on the DL on June 22 with a fractured bone near his left wrist. The injury, which occurred when he was hit by a pitch in a June 20 game against San Diego, was supposed to keep him sidelined well into August.
But Tejada had the bone examined Tuesday, and the results were encouraging.
“He got 100 percent clearance to go ahead with full baseball activities,” interim manager Dave Trembley said.
Said Tejada: “I’ve been feeling well the last two weeks. I can’t feel much better, and the doctors said that I’m fine.”
Tejada is hitting .306 with seven homers and 41 RBIs. He took batting practice indoors Tuesday and said he was ready to go on a rehabilitation assignment.
“I haven’t decided how many at-bats I’ll need to come back. I’ll be ready,” he said. “I’m not worried about getting so many hits down there. The only thing that I’m worried about is not feeling any pain in my wrist.”
Tejada intends to play for Double-A Bowie on Wednesday and for Class A Frederick on Thursday. If all goes well, he will return to the Baltimore starting lineup Friday.
That was good news for the Orioles, but the team faces the prospect of losing closer Chris Ray, who had an MRI on Monday that revealed a bone spur and inflammation in his right elbow. Ray was not available Sunday in Oakland or Tuesday night against Tampa Bay.
“We’ll probably have a better determination as to what his status is (Wednesday),” Trembley said. “He’s on medication to get the inflammation down in his elbow. He has had a bone spur, which he’s had and has been pitching through it.”
Ray is 5-6 with a 4.43 ERA with 16 saves in 20 chances. He will throw on the side Wednesday, and afterward the Orioles will decide whether to put him on the disabled list.
“I’m certainly hoping that’s not going to be the case,” Trembley said.
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