Orioles hoping to be defensive in 2018

Manager Buck Showalter gets another day to plot his Game 2 lineup after the second-guessers descended upon him in the opener.

Chris Davis batting leadoff wasn't the only move that stirred the masses. Craig Gentry was given the start in right field over Colby Rasmus and switch-hitting spring training darling Anthony Santander.

We'll never know whether Rasmus or Santander would have caught Eddie Rosario's fly ball to the track in right-center field leading off the top of the second inning, but Gentry soared above the grounds crew shed to make a spectacular grab and keep the game scoreless.

Gentry broke back and veered to his right, still going at full speed as he became airborne.

In the first inning, Gentry raced toward the line to catch Miguel Sanó's fly ball while the Orioles were in a shift. A much harder play than it appeared.

"That was one of the things that Gentry brings," Showalter said. "He's going to figure out a way to impact not only your game, but what the other manager can and won't do, especially late in the game."

Rasmus began the day on the bench because he's 1-for-11 with six strikeouts against Twins starter Jake Odorizzi, who happens to be a big-time reverse-splits guy. And Showalter gladly will take Gentry's defense on any given day, though it figures to mostly come off the bench.

Adam Jones swiped his glove at Gentry after the catch in the second inning as they crossed paths and doubled back for a chest bump, appreciating the plus defender who was stationed next to him. He's also going to like Rasmus if the veteran lives up to his reputation in the field.

Later in the game, Trey Mancini broke back on a ball in left field and made the catch against the fence as if he'd played the position his entire life. He used to be a first baseman until last year. It's easy to forget.

"I've got to tell you, I'm not saying I was wrong, but I had some real doubts whether he was going to be able to make that quick a transition last year," Showalter said. "It's just a real tribute to him and the people who worked with him - Kirb (Wayne Kirby) and Brady (Anderson) and everybody. When you've got that type of guy that wants to be as good as he can possibly be out there, I grew to really trust him out there over the course of the last year."

Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette would like defense to serve as the tiebreaker in most decisions and it isn't a new stance.

"It was last year, a heavy tiebreaker, but we just didn't quite have the personnel," Showalter said. "It's something that Dan and I really wanted to focus on. It's one of the things we didn't get away from. We just had some injuries and some things that happened that forced us to put some people in situations that we didn't want to. And they knew it.

"One of my jobs is to put people in the position to succeed and take advantage of their skills. It won't be perfect every night. Sometimes, guys need days off. I want to give people more days and last year we couldn't do that. I don't want to be in a position where a guy has to play when he probably should get a day off because we don't really have the personnel to give him that day."

Tim Beckham will be closely scrutinized at third base after replacing a Platinum Glove winner. He couldn't make a backhanded stop of Brian Dozier's bouncer along the line in the third inning, but he started a 5-4-3 double play in the sixth after Joe Mauer's leadoff single.

"He had a tough DP turn," Showalter said. "I've seen Timmy when I first talked to him at FanFest about it a little bit. We kind of kicked it around a little bit last year, thinking some things. That was the first time I'd really ... Timmy said, 'Let's go.'

"He showed up in camp and the work that he put in, you like to see. You watch his pregame preparation. Timmy knows we need him to play third base. He's played it well so far. About two weeks into the spring I said, 'This has got a chance to work.'"

Davis, a former Gold Glove finalist whose work in the field slipped last year according to various defensive metrics, couldn't backhand Rosario's bouncer in the sixth, but Jonathan Schoop corralled the ball and fired to Dylan Bundy covering the bag for the 4-1 putout.

A big miscue came in the ninth and was scored a hit after Davis appeared to lose Rosario's chopper in the lights. The ball came out of the tip of his glove and the Twins used two Brad Brach walks and Robbie Grossman's bloop single to tie the game and force extras.

Mychal Givens made a lunging stop of Mauer's comebacker in the 10th and threw him out. Used to be a shortstop, you know?

In his first start atop the order, Davis went 0-for-4 with an intentional walk and a called third strike that ended the seventh inning. He grounded out twice to the right side against the shift, with Mauer making a diving stop to rob him.

Not one bunt.

Davis has vowed to do more bunting in an attempt to combat the shift and he tried a few times in spring training, but don't expect him to lay one down every time he steps to the plate. Or half the time. He's mentioned how opponents say that's exactly what they want him to do to eliminate the home run threat. It would play right into their gloves.

The scoreboard will dictate when it's appropriate. I expected it yesterday while the game was scoreless and maybe again with Caleb Joseph on third base with two outs in the seventh after a two-run triple. It had to be tempting to squeeze another run out of the Twins, so to speak.

Schoop ran the count full in each of his first three at-bats against Odorizzi and struck out twice and grounded out. But at least he made Odorizzi work, which probably does nothing for your fantasy stats.

Tough opening day for last year's Most Valuable Oriole. Schoop went 0-for-5, including a double play with the bases loaded that ended the 10th. But Jones hit a walk-off home run in the 11th, destroying a 92 mph two-seamer from Fernando Rodney, and the Orioles improved to 8-0 on opening day under Showalter.

There was a crooked-hat reliever and he threw a straight fastball. A revised Mother Goose nursery rhyme. And a happy ending for the Orioles.