O's enjoy watching O'Day's first career at-bat

SAN DIEGO -- The Orioles' dugout had a good laugh during Wednesday's 10-3 win when reliever Darren O'Day got his first career at-bat, a ninth-inning strikeout facing Padres reliever Sean O'Sullivan.

"Quite a bit," O'Day said when asked how much ribbing he got from teammates as he walked back after the four-pitch at-bat. "Everybody had a good laugh, which they should. It was a good moment. I got to hit once, this is my sixth year [in the Majors], I got to wait six more years to hit again.

"I haven't had to calm myself down on the mound that much in a while. The adrenaline of hitting is different, a lot of fun."

O'Day, who recorded the final out of the eighth inning, was told by manager Buck Showalter that he'd take his turn to hit and go back out for the ninth.

"We couldn't lose there," said Showalter of the decision. "If Darren got a hit, we'd have something to talk about. If he struck out, we've got something to talk about. "

O'Day, one of the more outgoing personalities in the Baltimore clubhouse, joked to reporters that he was a big "opposite-field guy" after admitting he had no batting helmet, gloves or bat.

"I was walking up there thinking, 'Is this really happening? Am I really getting to hit?'" said O'Day, who last stepped into the batter's box in a summer league in 2002. "Because we joke around about what we would do if we got to hit. It was a lot of fun. Very disappointing with the strikeout. Because before I went up there, I envisioned myself rounding first, easing to second with a nice double. But it didn't happen that way."