Mussina to Start Against Twins

The Baltimore Orioles, eager to right a pitching staff that has struggled over the past two weeks, activated staff ace Mike Mussina off the disabled list Saturday.

Mussina, who owns the best winning percentage among active pitchers, will start today against the Minnesota Twins. The right-hander had been sidelined since April 17 because of a wart on his right index finger.

To make room for Mussina, the Orioles put right-handed reliever Terry Mathews on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 30. Mathews has an inflamed right wrist.

Mussina has not pitched for Baltimore since the wart split open in a game against the Chicago White Sox on April 16. The wart had been a problem since spring training, and after that game he and the Orioles decided to correct the problem before it got worse.

Mussina is 2-2 with a 3.21 earned-run average in four starts this season.

Mathews is 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA in nine appearances. In his last outing he yielded a grand slam to Chicago’s Wil Cordero on an 0-2 pitch.

“There’s nobody in the world who wanted to make a better 0-2 pitch than Terry Mathews,” Baltimore Manager Ray Miller said. “With an injury like that, the first thing you lose is your movement. The second thing is location.”

Mathews will stay on the disabled list until the Orioles are certain that the problem is completely behind him.