Bundy and Gentry on injuries, Showalter on Machado (tied 7-7)

Dylan Bundy is confident that his next start will come July 6 in Minnesota and that his sprained left ankle won't push him further down the rotation.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said this afternoon. "We've got a plan going forward and we've got two work days in there to make sure it's all right, so just take it day by day, I guess."

Bundy suffered the injury while rounding third base during Saturday's game in Atlanta. He knew immediately that something was wrong, though the severity of the injury was a gradual unveiling.

"Oh, yeah, I knew I did it," he said. "It was a little sore, but I think how fresh it was out there, you don't really feel it until the next day once you sleep on it. Didn't really feel it out there too much when I was pitching. It just kind of swelled up that night and kind of got stiff on me and bruising set it, so just got to treat it and get that swelling out of there."

The lack of a designated hitter in a National League ballpark led to the injury, but Bundy - who collected his first major league hit - took full responsibility.

"It's my fault," he said. "I hadn't run the bases since high school and that was seven years ago, so it's my fault. I need to go out there and prepare myself to do that in case it happens and I didn't do that."

The experience hasn't soured him on the different set of rules between the two leagues. He'd gladly step up to the plate again if given the chance, though the Orioles weren't going to let him pitch on July 4 in Philadelphia.

"No, not at all. I like hitting. I think it's fun and it's part of the game and if you're on the field you need to grab a bat and hit," he said.

"I don't mind it. Just got to prepare yourself to be able to do those things out there."

The Orioles haven't discussed a rehab assignment with Bundy, who's made 16 start this season.

"I haven't heard anything," he said. "I just know we have two workdays in there right now planned and then should be ready to go on July 6."

The Atlanta series took down two Orioles. Outfielder Craig Gentry was hit in the rib cage by a Peter Moylan pitch Friday night and suffered a nondisplaced fracture. He received one at-bat the following day and struck out.

"When it happened, I knew. It hurt," he said today. "I was telling guys after it happened, I've been drilled a lot and for some reason, that one was one of the worst and it's affecting me, bothering me when I'm breathing and just moving around and different things. It kept grabbing on me and just got to the point where I played on it and it was still bothering me, so we got the CT scan done and it showed a rib fracture.

"I think it's in my best interest to take it down and relax and let it try to heal up. I don't want anything serious to come from it, you know?"

Gentry won't be ready to come off the disabled list when he's eligible.

"I know that it's definitely going to be longer than the 10 days, but to set a timeline, I have no idea, to be honest with you," he said. "I know that this type of fracture, it takes like the bone to heal completely they said was like six weeks, but it shouldn't take that long to be able to play again. That's all I know right now."

Gentry played only four games last September because of a fractured right middle finger. He appeared in 59 games this season and now joins the growing list of injured players.

"It's extremely frustrating," he said. "I felt like we got everybody back and then personally I felt like I've been playing well, getting some chances to play and show what I can do and then this happens. It's not what you want at all and it's definitely frustrating, but at the end of the day what can you do? It's part of the game and you've just got to go with it and make the best out of it and hopefully come back stronger."

The Orioles learned from Darren O'Day's MRI today that he probably won't need surgery on his left hamstring because he avoided a Grade 3 tear.

"It wasn't the worst grade, but he's got a problem there and hopefully it will manage," said manager Buck Showalter. "I'm not sure. You can't really put a timeframe on it, but he's pretty sore, limping around pretty good. In fact, try to get him home tonight and get off it."

Showalter confirmed that there's no real timeline for Gentry's rib injury.

"That's something that could potentially manage itself in a shorter period of time than you normally think about when something's cracked, I'm told, but we'll see what the next week brings," he said. "I think we can gain some days on him, but I don't know if he'll make seven or eight days still."

Showalter chose Jace Peterson as the pinch-runner last night for Danny Valencia and he kept Gentry on the bench.

"I didn't want to take any chance last night of him sliding on it or anything," Showalter said. "Just not worth the risk. Found out about it so late, we couldn't really replace him in time."

Double-A Bowie pitcher Hunter Harvey, who had his right shoulder examined today by Dr. James Andrews, can begin a throwing program in one week.

I wrote earlier that Manny Machado met with Showalter in the manager's office to discuss his failure last night to run out a double play ground ball in the sixth inning. Machado was apologetic and vowed not to let it happen again.

"I talked with Manny about it," Showalter said. "He almost borderline beat me to the punch. But he's better than that.

"It's funny through the years you have a lot of that. I remember I had - nobody likes to hear about back when you played and everybody was different - don't think this was just something ... I had a great player, ended up winning a world championship, being a part of that, he'd peel off three-fourths of the way down the line. If you look at the reason why, I used to be so mad about hitting a ground ball or whatever that I wanted to punish my body going down the line. I mean, you were so ticked off and that's how you expressed it. Some people express frustration different ways. But it still is a really bad presentation and he knows that.

"The toughest thing about it is it's a poor presentation of what he's really about."

Update: Valencia hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first and Ryon Healy hit a solo shot in the top of the second, and the Orioles lead 2-1.

Update II: Denard Span's two-out RBI single in the third tied the game 2-2. Alex Cobb allowed three hits in the inning.

Update III: Mark Trumbo broke a 2-2 in the third inning with a two-out single that scored Adam Jones, and Machado raced home on Span's errant throw for a 4-2 lead.

Update IV: The Mariners loaded the bases with one out in the fifth and got a sacrifice fly from Healy and a two-run single from Mike Zunino to lead 5-4.

Update V: Chris Davis hit a three-run homer off Alex Colome in the eighth to give the Orioles a 7-5 lead, but Kyle Seager's two-run shot off Zach Britton in the ninth tied the game.