The Orioles shifted their infield tonight against the second batter of the game, Tampa Bay first baseman Logan Morrison, a left-handed hitter played to pull the ball.
Ryan Flaherty abandoned third base and moved over to second, with Jonathan Schoop sliding to his left and back toward right field. Manny Machado was alone on the left side of the infield, manning the shortstop position.
Machado often takes that spot in the shift, but he's actually playing it tonight.
Morrison hit a sharp ground ball up the first base line that Chris Davis gloved and turned into a 3-5-3 double play. You don't see many plays scored in that manner, but the shifts create all sorts of possibilities.
Machado is most familiar with playing shortstop. The routine is a little bit different, but he doesn't need a crash course in handling the position.
"You won't have any trouble getting his attention with it," said manager Buck Showalter.
"He enjoys being able to do something for the club that there's a need there. Ryan's probably a little better third baseman than he is shortstop, and Manny has a tough act to follow. He knows."
That act would be three-time Gold Glove winner J.J. Hardy, who's out of tonight's lineup with calf stiffness.
"(Machado) doesn't want to step back," Showalter said. "He's playing with house money as far as going over there. Kind of like a new toy for him. But it's different. The clock's different, and that's why it's so hard to find people like Ryan who can do it at different positions. But Ryan was going to play somewhere today, and I've got one more to get in there before we leave."
The "one more" is outfielder Hyun Soo Kim, who is expected to start on Sunday.
Chris Tillman is starting tonight and his first inning didn't resemble his brief but impressive outing on opening day. He threw 24 pitches, two more than he totaled in two innings Monday, and served up a long home run to Evan Longoria following Morrison's double play grounder.
Longoria's ball almost landed in the concourse walkway of the lower level in left field, a monstrous shot that gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. Longoria is 17-for-50 with seven home runs and 10 RBIs lifetime against Tillman, who struck out five of six batters in the opener.
Tillman gave up three hits, walked a batter and threw a wild pitch tonight, but he surrendered only one run.
Corey Dickerson doubled after Longoria's homer and Desmond Jennings walked. Next came the wild pitch on Tillman's 22nd offering, but Brad Miller swung threw a high 93 mph heater to end the inning.
Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard led off the bottom of the first with an infield single, his sixth hit in 12 at-bats this week.
Update: Chris Davis tied the game in the second inning with his second home run.
Both teams have hit into two double plays through two innings.
Update II: Davis walked to lead off the fourth, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Matt Wieters' third RBI this week. Orioles 2, Rays 1.
Wieters has a career-high 11-game hitting streak dating back to Sept. 23.
Update III: Schoop, Nolan Reimold and Machado homered in the fifth to give the Orioles a 5-1 lead. Now it's a party.
Reimold and Machado went back-to-back.
The Orioles also got an RBI infield single from Wieters on a ball that drilled Archer. Orioles 6, Rays 1.
T.J. McFarland has replaced Tillman, who allowed one run and four hits in five innings, with two walks, five strikeouts, a home run and a wild pitch. Tillman threw 83 pitches, 50 for strikes.
Update IV: The Orioles got three scoreless innings from T.J. McFarland in his debut and a scoreless ninth from Brad Brach to close out a 6-1 victory over the Twins.
The Orioles are 4-0 to start the season and have won nine in a row dating back to last year.
By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://www.masnsports.com/