Adam Jones leaves with virus — not injury

When the Orioles came out to play defense in the top of the seventh inning Tuesday, there was an uh-oh moment.

Adam Jones wasn’t in center field, Joey Rickard had moved from left to center and Nolan Reimold came in to play left.

It was an ominous sign, since Jones had just missed six starts due to ribcage soreness.

Well, the concern subsided shortly thereafter – at least as far as the connection between Jones’ departure Tuesday and the lingering side injury.

Jones was dealing with a stomach illness. He left the game and the stadium to get checked out and make sure it wasn’t anything more than a garden-variety stomach bug.

“He was battling it a little bit right after batting practice. After he threw up, he seemed to be feeling a lot better and (it) had cleared up and then got a little worse after,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “He ran the bases a lot and (I) had to get him out of there. They took him over to check him a little further and make sure it’s not something else. We’ll see.”

There’s no information as to whether Jones will play Wednesday. I’m sure he’ll want to if he feels OK, but Showalter is pretty conservative with any health matter.

The important thing for the Orioles is that it’s not a reoccurrence of the rib injury, the obvious initial concern for those watching the game when Jones left it.