Davis receives injection in elbow (Mariñez reassigned, O's up 11-2)

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles first baseman Chris Davis received a cortisone injection this morning in his right elbow in an attempt to reduce the inflammation and accelerate his return to the lineup.

Manager Buck Showalter emphasized that Davis hasn't experienced a setback.

"Nothing that's going to stretch that out any more, and if anything, we hope it shortens it," Showalter said.

According to Showalter, he hasn't been told anything about the injection that leads him to be concerned.

"Not from what everybody's telling me," he said. "It's just, 'OK, let's do this, too, to speed up the process and get it completely out of there.' We've got this down time. We may as well take it.

"The injection doesn't stretch out the time away. Should just help the process. He's not going to feel any effects from the injection other than what they put in there.

"Sometime tomorrow he won't even be able to tell he had the shot, if they hit the right places."

Showalter said the club should be able to get Mark Trumbo "moving" early next week. Trumbo is sidelined with a sore right quadriceps muscle.

"He's getting there," Showalter said.

Though he's decided on an opening day starter, Showalter isn't ready to make an announcement and satisfy the media's appetite for news.

"We look at a lot of things," he said. "We look at the first month and especially the first two weeks of the season, because there aren't many chances once the season starts that you get a chance to kind of match up some things with history - how they pitch against Minnesota home and away, how they pitch against the teams we're playing the rest of the year. And we know the fourth starter's got to pitch Houston's home opener. All those things come into play.

"I think us doing it as an organization has allowed us to get off to good starts. We're trying to get every advantage we can to start the season."

Kevin Gausman started last year's opener with Chris Tillman on the disabled list. Dylan Bundy was the club's most consistent starter. Does that weigh into it, or is it just about matchups?

"It's all of the above," Showalter said. "You start out with, the guy who pitches first has a chance to get the most starts over the course of the season. You want to get that guy on the bump as many times as possible, but I'd like to think all our guys are going to be guys we look forward to starting."

Showalter said he has nine days before needing to set the rotation leading into the start of the regular season. The schedule allows for various adjustments.

Tillman is starting Tuesday afternoon against the Twins in Fort Myers, which should indicate that the right-hander won't face them in the opening series at Camden Yards. But Showalter said it's subject to change.

"I think Chris' need to face A-team competition is more important than where it falls and who may see him," Showalter said.

"With where we are now, Chris will either face Minnesota or pitch after that (in Houston). It's more important for him to pitch against him, but it's not a given that he won't be pitching one of the first three (games)."

Showalter is still deciding on a leadoff hitter. He's using Colby Rasmus again today but has also put Davis, Tim Beckham and Craig Gentry in the top spot.

"I'd say it's 50-50, I'm thinking about taking my three best hitters and lining them up," Showalter said. "I've said this 100 times, how many conventional leadoff hitters, the way that we view them in our generation, how many of them are there in baseball? They're gone, they don't exist much anymore, and when those guys leave there won't be people to replace them. It's not a skill set that's easily found.

"Who leads our team in walks every year? Chris Davis. Then the computer will tell you that it's all about who can get your best hitters up to the plate the most times. So, do you take Joe Blow and have him hit first and the next best hitter hit second and the next best hitter hit third. I'm not sure that's not the right way to do it sometimes. The heck with conventionality. And then the guy that shows a propensity for driving in runs, the problem is that guy sometimes is that first guy we're talking about. That's why you hear me talk a lot about how important the nine hole is in the American League."

The Orioles usually lack a prototypical leadoff hitter like Brian Roberts - or going way back to Al Bumbry. They've used Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Manny Machado in recent years.

"We didn't have that guy. And sometimes that guy is more of a platoon guy, but you'd like to get it set," Showalter said.

Showalter expected to make another roster cut at lunch, which I'll include as an update in this entry.

Update: The Orioles reassigned right-hander Jhan Mariñez to minor league camp, reducing their roster to 48 players.

Mariñez allowed three runs and four hits over four innings in four relief appearances.

Update II: Jayson Aquino allowed two runs in the top of the first inning on RBI doubles by Corey Dickerson and Francisco Cervelli. He also struck out two batters.

Update III: Trey Mancini, Machado and Jonathan Schoop homered off Chad Kuhl in the first inning to give the Orioles a 4-2 lead. Mancini delivered a two-run shot after Colby Rasmus' leadoff single.

Machado is 12-for-22 with three doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs in nine games.

Update IV: Aquino retired the side in order in the second and Luis Gonzalez replaced him. He threw 37 pitches, 27 for strikes.

Gonzalez retired the side in order in the third. Brad Brach is warming in the bullpen.

The Orioles loaded the bases against Kuhl with one out in the third on Schoop's single, Pedro Alvarez's walk and Tim Beckham's single, and Chance Sisco walked to force in a run and give the Orioles a 5-2 lead.

Anthony Santander greeted Tyler Eppler with an RBI single on the first pitch and Rasmus singled up the middle to score two more runs and increase the lead to 8-2. Machado's grounder put the Orioles ahead 9-2 and gave him 14 RBIs, and two more runs scored on Adam Jones' broken-bat bloop single into left-center field

The Orioles sent 11 batters to the plate and tallied seven runs.