After Bowie game, Chris Davis said he feels ready to return to the Orioles

BOWIE, Md. - After playing nine innings at first base and getting four at-bats tonight for Double-A Bowie in its 7-6 loss to New Britain, Chris Davis feels he's ready to return to the Orioles.

Out since April 26 with strained left oblique, Davis went 1-for-4 with a single in the eighth inning. He can be activated by the Orioles for Sunday's game and said he feels ready to rejoin the team.

"I think so, but we'll find out," he said tonight in the Baysox clubhouse. "I'm going to go back and talk to Richie (Bancells, O's trainer) and talk to Buck (Showalter) and see what the game plan is. But felt good to swing, move around and do it at game speed."

Showalter said he relied a lot on Manny Machado after his rehab stint with Single-A Frederick to tell him he was ready. Will the same happen with Davis?

"Yeah, I think so," he said. "Obviously, Manny had a lot more time out and a lot more serious injury. You want to make sure he's 100 percent. Especially your legs, you want to make sure they are underneath you before you go full throttle. I'll be honest with them and see what happens."

Davis was out on a soft line drive to short right field caught by the second baseman in the first inning. He then struck out in the third and fifth innings before his line drive single to right. He scored ahead of Dariel Alvarez's two-run homer in the eighth.

"I felt good," Davis said. "Took me a few at-bats to settle down. Saw the ball well my first few at-bats. Was a little jumpy. Probably had a little bit to do with the time off and just being excited to be back out there. But I felt good. I finally settled down my last at-bat, took some good swings and I was pretty happy with the way things went tonight.

"I definitely wanted to play all nine and get at least four at-bats. It was nice to face righties and lefties. Had a couple of groundballs hit to me. Fielded some throws. Felt good, got to run the bases a little bit."

In the field, Davis was involved in a few routine plays - nothing too difficult for him - at first base tonight. But he felt good both before and after the game, and took another step tonight toward a return to the Orioles.

"I felt good all day. I think the big test was in between innings, not being able to heat up and stretch out before I went out and swung," he said. "But I felt good. There were a couple of throws in between innings I had to extend on and I felt great.

"It's going to be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow. But I didn't feel anything (concerning) today during the game so that's a good sign."

The game attracted the second-biggest crowd of the year to Prince George's Stadium, with 8,620 on hand. The Baysox fell to 18-17.

As fans filed out after a great postgame fireworks show, Davis was getting ready to head back to Camden Yards to see if his next game will be for Bowie or Baltimore.