Orioles take precautions with nearby protests

BALTIMORE -- Fans at Saturday's Orioles-Red Sox game were asked not to leave Camden Yards for part of the evening, by both the mayor's office and city police department, due to protests in the area.

Fans were permitted to leave in the 10th inning with the Orioles advising fans of the safest routes to take home. The planned demonstration was for Freddie Gray and clogged downtown Baltimore, and the team closed an entrance gate for part of the evening.

"It's a challenging day for a lot of people, but probably a lot more than a baseball game," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who arrived in-game after attending his father-in-law's memorial services. "It's a game of baseball and those are life issues, So this kind of pales in comparison to what's going on in my life off the field and what's going on in our city. Just have to continue to have confidence that we'll get through it like we get through most things in Baltimore and hopefully learn from it."

The 25-year-old Gray suffered a spinal injury at some point after he was detained by Baltimore police on April 12 and died a week later. The Baltimore police department took to their Twitter account to encourage protestors to do so in a peaceful manner.

"It's a tough issue. I think everybody needs to get all the facts," said centerfielder Adam Jones, who watched part of the protest on the television in the clubhouse along with his teammates. "Stay safe, stay smart. Protest, but let's not damage our own city. At the end of the day, you got to live here."