Brach and Givens not feeling pressure with O'Day out (O's down 7-5)

SAN FRANCISCO - Orioles manager Buck Showalter may be able to push his bullpen a little harder this afternoon with the club having an off day on Monday. Not to mention how it's more of an "all hands on deck" situation as we approach the stretch run.

Wade Miley will have a huge say in the proceedings as today's starting pitcher. And the Giants will need to cooperate, as they tried to do in the first inning with two ground balls to second baseman Jonathan Schoop on seven pitches. Brandon Belt worked Miley for 13 pitches, fouling off nine, before flying to Adam Jones.

Miley should have been in the dugout after two innings with the game scoreless, but Mark Trumbo dropped Eduardo Nunez's wind-blown fly ball with one out and catcher Trevor Brown bounced a two-out RBI single into left. Brown replaced Buster Posey, a late scratch with back tightness.

Miley has thrown 37 pitches in two innings. The Orioles have wasted singles by Hyun Soo Kim in the first and Matt Wieters in the second.

Darren O'Day never made it to AT&T Park, returning to Baltimore to undergo a right shoulder examination and being placed on the disabled list with a strained rotator cuff. This could lead to baseball's version of the trickle-down effect, with O'Day's absence impacting guys like Brad Brach and Mychal Givens.

A quick survey in the clubhouse revealed that the relievers don't feel added pressure to compensate for O'Day's loss and don't anticipate major changes to their roles. They can handle whatever is dumped at their spikes.

"We've already gone through it once this year, so I think it's just kind of continuing what we've been doing," Brach said, referencing O'Day's seven-week stay on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. "I've heard Zach (Britton) say, and other guys, someone else is going to get a chance to step up here and it's not added pressure. You just want to go out there and continue what we have been doing."

Givens offered up the same response to the initial question of whether he's feeling more pressure.

"No, not at all," he replied. "Buck's put me in situations early this year, shown confidence in the type of situations, so I'm hoping that Darren gets back healthy and ready to compete in September when we really need him. We're capable in the bullpen of picking up the slack and help win ballgames."

No O'Day, but no overreactions.

"No, not at all," Givens said. "Buck's put me in situations early this year, shown confidence in the type of situations, so I'm hoping that Darren gets back healthy and ready to compete in September when we really need him. We're capable in the bullpen of picking up the slack and help win ballgames."

Not that O'Day's injury is worthy of little more than a casual shrug. He's productive and popular, and losing him again disappoints everyone in the clubhouse.

"Yeah, definitely," Brach said. "Anytime you lose a teammate like Darren, it's difficult, but at the same time we did it once this year and it's going to give somebody a chance to step up. But it definitely hurts losing Darren, because it was great having him back.

"His leadership is second to none and that's probably where we're going to miss him the most. But hopefully he can get healthy soon and get back out there as soon as possible.

"He's there to talk to pitching-wise and he kind of keeps things loose out there. He's been around a lot longer than a lot of us have been down there, so he kind of knows how to keep things loose and take things seriously when you need to, and that's always huge in a long season like baseball."

Showalter tried to freshen up Brach by using him less frequently in the second half, but the right-hander could get busy again.

"Yeah, possibly," he said. "I don't know 100 percent, but just be ready to go whenever they ask me. Whether it's the eighth inning, seventh inning, ninth inning, whatever it may be, just be ready to go whenever he asks."

Givens remains challenged by left-handed hitters, who have posted a .355/.459/.532 slash line against him, but he's done a better job recently of defending himself.

"It's a game of adjustments," he said. "They had little adjustments early in the year and I made the adjustments the last few months. I'm just going to go out there and compete and get guys out.

"Just attacking the hitters a little bit better. Going down the hill instead of just not ...I wasn't really getting down the hill mechanically as properly as I wanted to. Right now, I'm going downhill and attacking hitters a lot better."

Update: The Giants scored twice in the fourth inning on Hunter Pence's leadoff home run and Johnny Cueto's two-out RBI single, and they lead 3-0 as we head to the top of the fifth.

Miley walked Joe Panik with two outs to bring Cueto to the plate. That simply cannot happen.

Update II: Jones had an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning after Wieters led off with his second hit, but Miley lasted on 4 1/3 innings and the Orioles trail.

Miley left with the bases loaded, one out and the Giants ahead 4-1 after Angel Pagan's leadoff double and Belt's RBI single. Tyler Wilson replaced him and Brown bounced a two-run single into left field. Panik followed with a run-scoring single up the middle to give San Francisco a 7-1 lead.

Cueto has two hits today. The Orioles still have trouble winning on the road.

Miley is charged with seven runs (six earned) and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, with two walks, one strikeout and a home run. He threw 83 pitches, 55 for strikes.

Update III: The Orioles have made it interesting, scoring twice in the seventh on Jones' sacrifice fly and Kim's RBI double, and twice in the eighth on Trumbo's 34th home run and J.J. Hardy's RBI single.

Steve Pearce flied to the warning track in left field and Jones popped up to leave the Giants ahead 7-5.