The Orioles knew closer Chris Ray probably would be out for the season, but they expected to have him back next year. However, that changed Thursday when what started as a procedure to remove a bone spur from Ray's right elbow revealed the need for more extensive ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery. Renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews performed the procedure, commonly known as Tommy John surgery, Thursday in Birmingham, Ala., and Ray likely will be sidelined for all of 2008. "You lose a pitcher of his caliber, it's a difficult thing to replace," Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "But I think we all feel for his career and for ourselves, the sooner we know the better. We've got an offseason now to try to address it as opposed to [having] this happen in May. It really would've been that much worse. It's not good news to begin with, but that really would have been bad as well."