Game update and more from Showalter (O's win 5-1)

BOSTON - Orioles rookie right-hander Tyler Wilson, in search of his first quality start this month, retired the Red Sox in order tonight in the bottom of the first inning. He threw 14 pitches and was back in the dugout.

The Orioles stranded Joey Rickard and Manny Machado in the top of the first after back-to-back singles off left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, who retired the side in order on 10 pitches in the second inning.

Shortstop J.J Hardy is playing his third game tonight at Double-A Bowie. What happens next is pending.

Hardy could be activated from the disabled list or move his rehab assignment to Single-A Frederick.

"I'll talk to him on the way to the airport and he'll give me a yes or no," said manager Buck Showalter. "It's pretty simple. It's not very complicated. If not yet, he'll go again tomorrow.

"I know Caleb (Joseph) is going to see Dr. (William) Goldiner tomorrow, I believe. I know J.J. was going out for early work at 3 o'clock. I think that's a good sign. I don't think anybody's going to be 100 percent here until next March."

Hardy's return would at least partially lessen the impact of Machado's suspension, though the Orioles have to play with a 24-man roster in his absence. Machado's hearing for his appeal is slated for Tuesday, per an industry source.

Showalter didn't provide any specifics earlier today.

"Are you trying to get me to tell you what they told me?" he quipped.

"That's kind of Manny's decision, not ours, about whether he wants to have a hearing or not. Did (Yordano) Ventura have one? Is he going to have one?

"You obviously have an idea at four days what it is, and if you're OK with that, you can forego the hearing, right? But if you think it's not just, then you have a hearing sometime next week. It won't be this week. So far. That may change tomorrow."

Odrisamer Despaigne pretty much came as advertised last night after replacing starter Kevin Gausman and tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

"He's going to throw the kitchen sink at you," Showalter said. "He threw about five pitches warming up and told Dom (Chiti), 'I'm ready. Tell him I'm ready.' He's done this before. He's been down a lot of roads. He's experienced.

"It's like (Ron Johnson) and them said, he's going to take the ball and compete, very much like the guy that he replaced, that we had to put on the DL in (Vance) Worley. There's not a whole lot of tempo there. Vance and Mac, when you have that long-relief role, you really want to bring some tempo and some energy back to the game. I think his contribution is going to be, hopefully, getting people out. I don't think the tempo's going to pick up when he comes in."

It could be Ubaldo Jimenez's turn to pitch in long relief tonight if Wilson makes an early exit.

Asked what he wants to see from Jimenez, Showalter replied, "I want him to pitch better."

"He's capable of it," Showalter said. "It's like the guy that says if you pitch me more, I'll pitch better. I say you pitch better, I'll pitch you more. That's kind of the way it works. He knows that, he knows that.

"At some point, we hope that he can get back to form and help contribute because we're going to need him. He's capable of it, too. It's not like he hasn't done it before."

Yovani Gallardo will come off the disabled list on Saturday as Jimenez's replacement in the rotation. Perhaps he can join Chris Tillman in the effort to lower the staff's 4.89 ERA. Are guys pressing?

"It's what we do up here, we press. Everybody does," Showalter said.

"Depends on how you define it. Everybody does it differently. We've got like half our pitching staff with less than a year's experience in the big leagues. I think it's less than that now. It is what it is. The season's not going to stop while you develop more experienced guys. And the only way to get experience is to pitch. We'll figure it out at some point if they're good enough. And they have at times this year. It's not like they've pitched poorly all the time.

"I know Tyler's looking at today as the start of something real good for him. He's going to compete and he's got his work cut out for him. But it is what it is. It's kind of who we are and how we have to do it.

"I think it's been proven that you pay five years for a contract for a starting pitcher, you're going to get about three if you're lucky. There's probably five in the history of those contracts that have lived up to their billing for all five years. It just doesn't happen. So some people are willing to pay five to get three. We can't do that."

Update: Adam Jones followed Paul Janish's leadoff walk in the third inning with his 13th home run, the ball clearing everything above the Green Monster and giving the Orioles a 2-0 lead.

Jones has hit four homers in his last four games and eight in his last 14.

Update II: Jones' two-out RBI double in the fourth gave the Orioles a 3-0 lead.

Matt Wieters drew a leadoff walk, the Red Sox failed to turn a double play that should have been routine, Janish walked with two outs and Jones delivered again.

Update III: Machado led off the fifth with his 26th double of the season and scored with one out on Chris Davis' single. Rodriguez is done for the night with the Orioles leading 4-0.

The lead grew to 5-0 when Jonathan Schoop doubled off Matt Barnes. All five runs are charged to Rodriguez, who allowed eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Tyler Wilson has allowed one hit and walked a batter in four innings. The Red Sox are hitting the ball hard, but the defense is making the plays. Wilson's at 53 pitches.

Update IV: The Orioles took the series and regained sole possession of first place in the American League East with a 5-1 win over the Red Sox.

David Ortiz homered off Brad Brach with two outs in the ninth to deny the Orioles their third shutout.

Wilson went a career-high eight innings and threw 100 pitches, tying his career high, while shutting out the Red Sox on three hits. He walked one, struck out six and threw a wild pitch.

The Orioles improved to 38-27. They went 3-4 on the road trip.