Orioles continue to battle opponents, illness and injury (O's up 5-0)

Orioles manager Buck Showalter was a lighter shade of green today, so he must be feeling better.

The stomach virus is hitting guys hard.

Showalter didn't lean on the dugout railing for the entirety of yesterday's game at Yankee Stadium. He kept disappearing into the shade and beneath an air vent.

"I don't have to play. Kept reminding myself of that," Showalter said. "Gives you an even healthier respect for the players. We had trouble getting nine on the field yesterday. We had like 10 guys.

"We may be lucky to have as few as we've had. It's obviously very contagious and moves very quick. As soon as they show the symptoms, Richie (Bancells) tries to get them out of here. It happened with Manny (Machado) in New York.

"I think that's one of the advantages of being 24. You get over things a lot quicker. I cut myself almost two weeks ago and it hasn't healed yet. Those guys heal in about a day. Remember those days? But I think everybody's a little bit different."

Players keep using hand sanitizer and wondering who's next.

"It's kind of like a 'what's next' for us," said first baseman Chris Davis, who became ill on the flight from Tampa to New York. "You can't prepare for that. It's just one of those things you have to go with. It's good that we had a four-day break before that. Obviously, nobody wants to be sick and when you have to do a physical job, it makes it that much harder.

"There's no choice. When you can't get out of bed, you're not going to be very productive on the baseball field. The first night I went to the hospital and after that it was, I was trying to do everything I could to get hydrated. I wasn't able to eat any food, so basically my food was Pedialyte.

"It was miserable, the sickness, but I feel like I'm kind of on the other end of it now. Yesterday, I was fine in the New York heat. The win probably made it fun. It was good to get out there and sweat a little bit and be on the field."

The Orioles are a close-knit group, but that's not always beneficial as they pass around germs.

"Despite popular belief, we actually show up here several hours before the game, not just 30 minutes to put our uniforms on and take the field," Davis said. "We're sharing utensils, we eat right next to each other. You have to do everything you can to clean your hands, to exercise correct hygiene. It's one of those things that was kind of inevitable. One guy got it and it kind of spread like wildfire."

A losing streak spread to four games and dropped the Orioles out of first place, but they won yesterday and finally made it back home.

"I was actually pretty happy with the way we played in Tampa," Davis said. "I thought we played some pretty clean games. We won some games that were high-pressure, high-emotion games. We weren't just out there slugging. Then, the three games in New York we weren't able to get a win, but yesterday we battled back and beat a guy (CC Sabathia) who's given us some trouble the last few starts.

"I'm proud of the way that we battled yesterday and proud of the way we've been playing this whole season."

Also, consider that the Orioles had one healthy player on the bench the last two games.

"Just like Buck said, nobody's going to feel sorry for us," Davis said. "We understand that. It's part of being in the middle of the season. Some of us get four days off and then you get hit with something like that. You take it for what it is and then you move on."

The Orioles also are challenged by trying to stretch out two of their five starters, Vance Worley and Dylan Bundy, the latter taking the mound tonight against the Indians.

"That's tough," Showalter said. "But the other team is the only thing that lets you stretch them out. That, and you've got to pitch pretty well.

"It's going to be a hot, sticky night, but it's July and August. That's what it is. It's hot and sticky for everybody. (Bundy) is a young man who might surprise us. Not that it would be surprising to me. But I usually go by what the other team tells me.

"You hope it's not self-inflicted with walks or something like that. Dylan has a chance to present himself well."

Hunter Harvey will have to wait. He's set to undergo ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow on Tuesday.

"He's 21 and Dylan's 23? You could do a lot of hindsight stuff, but I know there's a lot of things taken in trying to see if we could keep from this happening. I'm looking forward," Showalter said.

"I think if you're looking at him and Dylan and some of the challenges we're going to be able to put behind him and you look at the history of those things, I like our chances of getting an effective pitcher down the road. I try to keep that in mind."

There's always the additional risk in drafting a hard-throwing high school pitcher.

"We knew this might be a challenge when we took him," Showalter said, "so we think he's worth the wait."

Harvey's father, former major league closer Bryan Harvey, has taken good care of him and the Orioles have been cautious with his development.

"That's one of the biggest assets he has going for him," Showalter said. "His dad's super. He's not one of those push dads. He knows the reality, as evidenced by the scar on his elbow. It's also a reminder that you can take every precaution possible and there's no magic grid. There's nothing that shows you 'follow this and this happens or this doesn't happen.'

"I don't think you can get any more diligent than his dad or our people in the minor leagues have been. Sometimes, it just happens, but thank goodness there's a way to hopefully rectify it."

Now, if the Orioles could find a way to keep the virus and assortment of injuries out of their clubhouse.

"The game doesn't stop, so you keep moving forward," said center fielder Adam Jones. "Somebody's hurt, there's going to be somebody else called up. Somebody's sick and is going to miss a day, somebody's got to fill in.

"We have a good system here, we have confidence in every player who plays in the minor leagues and on the 40-man, so whenever there's something that happens, we have the necessary resources to get by."

Jones missed yesterday's game with back spasms, but he's in tonight's lineup. So far, he's dodged the virus, escaping its clutches as if avoiding a tag in a rundown.

"I was sick earlier in the year. I don't know," he said.

"It just happens and you just kind of work around it."

Update: Mark Trumbo hit his first home run since the break, a three-run shot off Trevor Bauer in the first inning to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead.

Adam Jones singled and Manny Machado walked to fuel the rally.

J.J. Hardy led off the second with a single, Caleb Joseph walked, Julio Borbon laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt and Jones lined to center field to increase the lead to 4-0.

Bundy struck out the side in the top of the first and stranded runners on the corners in the second. He's at 38 pitches.

Update II: Machado led off the bottom of the third inning with his 20th home run to give the Orioles a 5-0 lead.

This is the most runs scored by the Orioles since July 8.