Davis battling stomach virus that's keeping him out of lineup

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Chris Davis feels much better at the plate. It's his stomach that's keeping him out of the lineup.

Davis was scratched yesterday due to a stomach virus and he's on the bench for tonight's game against the Rays. He's in the visiting clubhouse at Tropicana Field, but unable to play unless there's significant improvement in his physical condition.

"I don't think there's really a whole lot I can do," Davis said this afternoon. "You just have to let it run its course. I haven't really eaten a whole lot. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep, not being able to keep stuff down.

"I feel like it's starting to get there. They gave me a bunch of stuff to kind of kill the nausea. Obviously, that's going to be the biggest thing the next couple of days, try to keep fluids down, start eating some kind of solid food and seeing if I feel better."

Davis seems to come down with a similar illness each season. It struck this week with the Orioles on a road trip that carried them from Boston to Tampa.

"I feel like it's about the same time every year, you know?" he said. "It's just tough when you're going from cold and rainy to hot, but I mean, it's part of it, so hopefully I can start to keep some stuff down and get it turned in the right direction and get back on the field."

Manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday that Davis came down with some sort of a stomach virus that forced him out of the lineup.

"I guess that's what they're calling it," Davis said. "I know they said the flu bug was kind of rolling around Boston and here. It's kind of how I felt yesterday, more flu-like symptoms, but I think it's a viral thing.

"Like I said, it's tough this time of year. The weather's tough as far as cold and rainy, starting to get our bodies adjusted to traveling again."

Davis was fine in Boston, collecting his first hits of the season, along with four RBIs, in Saturday's game and belting his first home run on Monday. But his health began to deteriorate on the flight to Tampa.

"I started feeling sluggish on the way down here from Boston, but I didn't know if it was just the fact that we had three day games or if it was something that was running through my system," he said.

"Obviously, it was more than I expected and I didn't sleep a whole lot the first night, was hardly able to keep anything down. Just kind of got worse and worse yesterday. I felt like I was at least good enough to go out on the field and then once I went out on the field and started moving around it got a little bit worse. And that's when it probably hit the peak of how bad I felt yesterday. It was right when I came off the field.

"We'll see if we can find some kind of miracle cure."

If there's bad timing for an illness, Davis has found it. Four hits in his last 12 at-bats, including two doubles and a long home run. Six runs batted in, and the feeling that he's able to contribute beyond his defense at first base.

"It's not anything serious, so I'm thankful for that, but, yeah, I would have liked to maybe gotten over all this in spring training, but it's part of it," he said.

"Take what strides I've made in that direction the last few days and just try to keep going with that and try not to do too much. I definitely think I'm starting to feel a lot better in the box, starting to see a little bit of a return. But it's never a good time to get sick, especially when we play a sport that lasts six months, seven months and it's day in and day out. So just keep going."

Meanwhile, Richard Bleier and Nate Karns threw their bullpen sessions today. Bleier is on the injured list with tendinitis in his left shoulder, Karns with a strained right forearm.

Karns is expected to be activated before Bleier.