Showalter on Machado, the order and retaliation (O's down 8-3)

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado enters tonight's game batting .216/.299/.426 in 48 games. However, manager Buck Showalter reminded the media that Machado leads the club with 25 RBIs and is tied with Chris Davis for the home run lead with 10.

Showalter doesn't think the slash line should fully define the three-time All-Star.

"I'm really impressed by the way he's handling some of his challenges this year," Showalter said. "He's very approachable. I told him that, too. You may see him break a bat or get frustrated with the helmet, but as far as dealing with his teammates and competing and playing defense and being approachable and working, it's been great. That's why he's going to get a return for it. You've just got to stay true to it. It'll let him up off the deck."

Machado was 4-for-12 with three doubles in a three-game stretch beginning Wednesday against the Twins, but he's 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in his last two games.

"Manny's 24 years old, so basically a year out of college, depending on how his grades were and how long it took him to get out," Showalter said. "That would have been my junior year."

Showalter doesn't have any immediate plans to change Machado's placement in the order. He moved Adam Jones to the leadoff spot on May 27, 2016 in Cleveland, but out of necessity as much as attempting to jolt his center fielder out of a slump.

Davis moved up to second in the lineup yesterday, but Jones was scratched and the Yankees were starting left-hander Jordan Montgomery, which factored into the decision. Davis has been hitting fourth or fifth.

"I think about it," Showalter said. "A lot of that stuff is kind of a short fix. We think about it. John (Russell) and I do the lineup with Cooley (Scott Coolbaugh) and every day we talk about things like that. But I look at where we are competitively, knowing there are a lot better times ahead where Chris and Manny are concerned.

"They're not the only ones. Yeah, I've thought about it. We look at it. It's something I bring up with the players, what best fits their mentality. Sometimes it does work. It may get to that point. We're not there yet."

Showalter was asked whether he saw yesterday's brawl between the Nationals and Giants, and why Machado and Bryce Harper seem to be cast as villains. He didn't have an immediate answer, saying he'd have to give the subject more thought.

Harper charged the mound and threw his helmet and a punch at Giants reliever Hunter Strickland after being drilled on the hip by a 98 mph fastball - apparent retaliation for Harper's two home runs off the right-hander in the 2014 National League Division Series. Harper was suspended four games and Strickland six. Both players are appealing the suspensions.

"You'd like to see at some point guys being suspended and the reason being given is stupidity," Showalter said.

"Some of it, you shake your head and go, 'Really?' It's tough. It's a very emotional game. Sometimes, you don't know it's coming. You'd like to think you should. Every once in a while you kind of go, 'Where did that come from? Did I miss something?' I don't know. It's tough to put a blanket over all of it and say they're the only two.

"But there are some really good players, too, that it doesn't seem to follow around."

Showalter liked the idea of having an expiration date on players retaliating.

"I wish there were," he said. "That's just like eggs or something, where you go, 'OK, don't buy them after this.'

Showalter said he broached the subject of the brawl with Machado, who charged the mound and threw a punch at Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura after being hit on June 7, 2016.

"He doesn't dwell on much of that," Showalter said. "Manny's a pretty focused guy."

Update: Brett Gardner hit a leadoff home run and Matt Holliday homered with one out to give New York a quick 2-0 lead.

Chris Tillman didn't allow a home run in his first four starts. He faced 95 batters without anyone taking him deep.

Update II: Tillman has allowed three runs and thrown 33 pitches in two innings.

Didi Gregorius led off the second with a double and scored on Aaron Hicks' single. Tillman also walked Rob Refsnyder and stranded two runners.

Update III: Holliday led off the third with another home run, Chase Headley had an RBI single and Tillman was done after 2 2/3 innings. He allowed five runs and seven hits, walked two, struck out one, served up three home runs and threw a wild pitch. He threw 59 pitches, 33 for strikes.

Logan Verrett stranded two runners.

Update IV: Gardner led off the fourth inning with his second home run of the night and Aaron Judge added a two-run double to increase the lead to 8-0.

Update V: The Orioles won't be shut out. They loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning and Trey Mancini reached on an infield hit to reduce the lead to 8-1.

Mancini is 3-for-3. Machado is 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

Update VI: The Orioles scored twice in the eighth on RBI singles by Joey Rickard and J.J. Hardy to cut the lead to 8-3.