Game 1 update and notes (O's win 9-2)

The Orioles worked Yankees Game 1 starter Ivan Nova for 24 pitches in the bottom of the first inning and took a 1-0 lead on Manny Machado's double play grounder after back-to-back singles by Nolan Reimold and Gerardo Parra.

Chris Davis doubled with two outs, barely missing his 46th home run, and Matt Wieters walked before left fielder Steve Pearce flied to the warning track in left field.''

Wei-Yin Chen threw nine pitches while retiring the side in order in the top of the first. Chris Young led off the second with a triple over Reimold's head in center field, but Chen induced two pop-ups and struck out John Ryan Murphy looking to end the threat.

Young is 7-for-15 lifetime against Chen.

The Orioles recorded their 48th outfield assist in the third inning when Pearce cut down Brendan Ryan trying to go from first to third on Brett Gardner's single.

Game 1 started on time with the temperature at 53 degrees. No rain for a change, but the mental challenges continue.

"Oh yeah," said manager Buck Showalter. "We met after the first game of the doubleheader. It's part of it. But I'm not so cold not to realize that ... There comes a point where you're like, 'What else?' The start times, the unknown. What really bothers players is it's such a routine game and when you take guys out of any form of a routine ... You might look at a schedule and say, 'Wow, there's six games in a row at 7:05,' and by the time you get through them, you've ended up starting at 12, you sit around until 10 o'clock and you don't play the game.

"People think you get a rainout, it's not an off-day, and you're going to pay the piper by not playing that game. I think our guys are mature enough to know that, 'Hey, I'd rather stick around here and start at 9:30 then have to play like we have to today,' especially with a quick turnaround 3 o'clock game tomorrow and the possibility of Monday. These games mean something to the Yankees, obviously. We need to put our best foot forward. I told them there are a lot of people counting on us to play as well as we can play."

Second baseman Jonathan Schoop had a second X-ray on his bruised right hand today. Showalter is taking it game by game.

"Getting a little better. We'll see about Jon Schoop's availability as the day goes on. Hoping we'll get Jon back out there," Showalter said.

"They're going to get the next step up X-ray just to be sure, especially with him leaving. Make sure we've got our arms around everything there."

Schoop will undergo an MRI arthrogram on his knee Monday, where dye is injected, due to some swelling.

"I know he has an MRA scheduled on his knee Monday to make sure we've got our arms around that," Showalter said. "We don't want to get surprised by anything in the offseason. He's had some, we call it swelling, from something else. But a lot of guys we're doing that with. They started some exit physicals yesterday. We'll do some more between games and make sure we look at everything and monitor it."

Showalter is asked daily whether his coaching staff will remain intact for 2016. That's his wish, but he can't be certain.

"That's something we haven't really ...That's not completely true. We do discuss a lot of things," he said.

"You'd like to see them return intact, but we'll see what the game has in store. I'm trying to play these three games and win them. That's something we'll ... We know there's a window there. Another part of the puzzle we have to solve in the offseason."

Speaking of puzzles, Showalter touched on the areas where the club needs to improve next year, and the biggest piece is the pitching.

"There's always room for (improvement)," he said. "You want to make sure you don't take something for granted and maintain some of your strengths. I think that's as important as the other part, and not get fooled into thinking that just because something was good it will automatically be there again next year.

"Obviously, just a statistical look is we need to pitch better, especially from a starting standpoint. Depth-wise, too. Something we're going to have to attack. Make sure you've got to be seven or eight starters deep, in the American League especially.

"We talk about points of emphasis in the spring, and some of them we got better at and some of them we didn't. That was disappointing, but we'll put that together again when the smoke clears. Try to make some good decisions. Some I'm sure have already been made. If you're waiting until right now, then you probably haven't done the work you should have done, waiting this long."

No matter what happens to the roster over the winter, rotation depth will remain a priority.

"It's a challenge, it's something we're going to have to attack in the offseason," Showalter said. "I'm sure Dan (Duquette) is on top off that. It's pretty obvious, a lot of the what-ifs. Some of them might be here.

"We've got to wait and see when the chairs stop moving, who's there. Every club's facing that this time of year, not just us. Obviously, we've got a lot of guys that, if they're not here will really affect what we have to do in the offseason. First place you always look is from within. We're going to need to try to get a little deeper there."

Update: The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the third when Reimold was hit by a pitch, moved to third on Parra's double and scored on Machado's grounder.

Update II: Machado hit his 34th home run with two outs in the fifth to increase the lead to 3-0. He's homered in three straight games for the first time in his career.

Update III: The Orioles tacked on four more runs in the sixth to lead 7-0. Parra, Machado and Davis had RBI singles, and Machado scored on a wild pitch.

Machado has three RBIs today. Wieters has a single and season-high three walks.

Pearce has ended the first, third, fifth and sixth innings.

Update IV: Brad Brach replaced Chen with no outs in the seventh and let two inherited runners score, as the Orioles lead was reduced to 7-2.

Chen was charged with two runs and four hits in six-plus innings, with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 103 piches, 69 for strikes, and left to a standing ovation in what could be his last start as an Oriole.

Chen has 20 quality starts this season.

Update V: Parra has four hits today, including a two-run double in the seventh that gave the Orioles a 9-2 lead.

Update VI: The Orioles win 9-2 in Game 1 of the doubleheader. They're two games below .500 with two remaining.

Chen is 11-8 with a 3.34 ERA in 31 starts.