A look at Manny Machado's struggles at third and a Gold Glove presentation in Bowie

It was quite a picture captured by the MASN cameras in the last of the eighth last night. Jonathan Schoop, who is on the disabled list, had his arm around his close friend, Manny Machado, trying to console him as Machado just shook his head. Machado seemed down after making yet another error.

We are not used to Machado making this many mistakes. But in the top of that inning he made his latest miscue and could have been charged with a second on a play that was scored a hit. It was his sixth error this year, all coming in the last nine games and four have been throwing errors. He also made a diving stop earlier, but his defensive struggles continued last night and Schoop tried to provide a lift in the dugout.

This is just probably a stretch that doesn't have an explanation but will pass soon. As a reminder, shortstop J.J. Hardy who has won three straight Gold Gloves, had a stretch last June where he made six errors in seven games.

Going into last night, four American League third baseman all had made four or more errors, and what they all have in common is they've all won Gold Gloves.

Here is the rundown:

* Adrian Beltre of Texas, a four-time Gold Glove winner, with four errors.
* Kyle Seager of Seattle, the 2014 Gold Glove winner at third base, with four errors.
* Chase Headley of the Yankees, a Gold Glove winner in 2012, with five errors.

What is going on at third base?

Who knows, but Machado is too good to keep making such mistakes. In 2013 he not only won a Gold Glove, but a Platinum Glove as the best fielder in the league at any position. If Hardy can have a fielding slump, anyone can. Maybe that is all that is happening right now for Machado.

Speaking of fielding at third base: The president of Minor League Baseball, Pat O'Connor, was at Double-A Bowie last night for a special presentation. He presented Bowie third baseman Jason Esposito with his minor league Rawlings Gold Glove Award, won for his play at Single-A Frederick in 2014.

A second-round pick by the Orioles in 2011 out of Vanderbilt, Esposito paced all Carolina League third baseman in fielding percentage (.960), putouts (83) and assists (257) and finished tied for the lead in double plays (19) in 2014. He didn't commit an error through his first 38 games.

O'Connor provided some information about the background for the minor league Gold Glove Award, which has been handed out for three years now.

"We used to have the Silver Gloves years ago in the early '70s and it kind of went away," O'Connor said. "About four years ago, Rawlings came to us and wondered if we would be interested in bringing back a defensive award and we'd call it the minor league Gold Glove. I thought it was a great idea and prestigious award. It is a nice piece of hardware, just like the big league award."

The award is pretty exclusive when you consider just one is handed out at each of the nine positions for the entire minor leagues, not just for one league or even for one classification.

"We can't conduct the polling like they do at the big league level since all players are not seen by the same set of eyes," O'Connor said. "But we use statistical analysis to try to figure out an equitable way to say compare a Single-A infielder with a Triple-A infielder without seeing each one.

"We do one per position and we have 10 full-season leagues with two Triple-A, three Double-A and five Single-A leagues that are eligible. So you are talking about 120 clubs and 3,000-plus players. So for these nine to stand out, you are talking probably about 120 to 150 people eligible so it is quite an award. That is part of the reason I felt I should travel to present each award in person."

Photo: Third baseman Jason Esposito, second from left, is presented his minor league Gold Glove Award by, from left, Orioles director of minor league operations Kent Qualls, Minor League Baseball president Pat O'Connor and Double-A Bowie general manager Brian Shallcross. Photo courtesty of Bowie Baysox.