Akin to open for Orioles; O’Neill resting at Norfolk with shoulder soreness; Sánchez close to return

BALTIMORE—Interim manager Tony Mansolino decided that left-hander Keegan Akin would be the opener on Thursday night for the Orioles against the Detroit Tigers and ace Tarik Skubal. Dean Kremer, who was originally listed as the starter, will be the bulk pitcher.

“The strength of their lineup is left-handed,” Mansolino said. “When it lines up, you have a right-handed starter. You’ve got a lefty that’s got the ability to start a game like Keegan and flip it, go through it a couple of innings, whatever the predetermined amount is. You kind of force them to go right-handed if they choose, and if they don’t choose to do it and stay lef-handed, you get the good matchup.

“You get the ball to the starter a little bit later … He can work later into the game, and if all goes well, pass the ball to the late-inning guys later.”

Akin will be opening for the third time this season.

O’Neill resting

Outfielder Tyler O’Neill has paused his rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk as he continues to work through shoulder soreness. O’Neill is on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder injury.

“There’s been so many rehab stints here with main guys,” Mansolino said. “Everything’s not super linear. It doesn’t always go straight up for guys. Everybody’s a little bit different. He’s had some shoulder soreness for a couple of days. We’re working through that right now. I don’t think quite a while is the way to put it, but you don’t know how these things are going.”

Sánchez getting closer

Gary Sánchez was hitless in two at-bats as the designated hitter in Norfolk’s 8-7 win over Nashville in 10 innings on Thursday. The catcher is on the injured list with right wrist inflammation.

“He hit the points that we needed and we’ll probably see him here sooner rather than later,” Mansolino said.

Mansolino said last weekend that there was a small chance he’d be activated on the homestand, but his condition improved.

Waiting on Rogers

Trevor Rogers allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits in four innings for Norfolk on Thursday. He struck out four and walked two. Rogers was used as the 27^th man in the Orioles’ 2-1 win over Boston in the second game of a doubleheader on May 24^th. He pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, and was returned to Norfolk after the game.

“Right now with how things are structured, I think we’re rolling with our guys,” Mansolino said. “Things change rapidly in this game, and I think everyone understands that.

“It’s rare that you have depth in starting pitching. We thought we had a ton of it going into the year, and then we ran out. As long as Trev continues to do exactly what he’s doing, good things will happen for him going forward.”

Notes: Infielder Emmanuel Rivera cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Norfolk. Charlie Morton (2-7, 6.59), Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.23) and Cade Povich (1-5, 5.46) will face Jack Kochanowicz (3-7, 5.61), Tyler Anderson (2-3, 3.99) and Yusei Kukuchi (2-5, 2.92) when the Orioles begin a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night. Friday night’s game will be seen exclusively on Apple TV+.

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