Davis out of lineup with stomach virus (plus other notes)

NEW YORK - Orioles first baseman Chris Davis became ill on the flight from Tampa and spent last night at a local hospital in New York. He's not in tonight's lineup and may not be available to play.

"I saw him on the elevator last night," said manager Buck Showalter. "He was throwing up on the plane last night. I'm not sure if it's a virus. It might be the same thing that Zach (Britton) and Matt Wieters had at the All-Star Game."

It's spread to the coaching staff.

"I know Wayne Kirby's had it and Dom Chiti's had it and I think another player. It's about a 24-hour thing," Showalter said.

Davis has missed only one game this season.

"We took him to the hospital last night and he took some IV fluid and he's pretty under the weather through this morning, so we'll see if he's available tonight to pinch-hit or not," Showalter said. "We'll see."

Hyun Soo Kim had a non-run day, as Showalter described it. He will test the hamstring again Tuesday, perhaps during Darren O'Day's simulated game.

"He did some exercises and strengthening," Showalter said. "I can't say he's any better, but I know he's not any worse. But tomorrow with Darren's sim game, which will be around 2:15, he'll hopefully participate in that. I know he's going to hit some today, but we'll have a pretty good feel tomorrow. Hopefully, we can dodge the DL. I think tomorrow we'll probably make a decision which way we're going with that."

Having four days off for the All-Star break didn't influence whether the Orioles were willing to keep Kim on the active roster.

"We would have probably done the same thing," Showalter said. "We're fortunate to have Nolan (Reimold) and Joey (Rickard). He's worth waiting on. If you talk to him about the history he's had with that, then you would have probably waited some. But the four days certainly didn't hurt."

Showalter doesn't know how many innings or ups O'Day will accumulate in the simulated game.

"I know one for sure. It would be warm up and pitch in the game," Showalter said. "I don't know whether they'll go one or two, but I'm hoping that goes well and we'll have kind of a pure baseball decision to make about the next step."

O'Day may only need one sim game before coming off the disabled list.

"I'm not going to rule anything out at this point, knowing Darren," Showalter said. "I trust him a lot. He knows what it's supposed to feel like and what it's supposed to look like to pitch at this level. It would be a big shot in the arm for us to get him back."

Dr. James Andrews will examine the right elbow of top Orioles pitching prospect Hunter Harvey, who left Saturday's start with short-season Single-A Aberdeen after only 1 1/3 innings due to a sore right flexor mass. Harvey was scheduled to undergo an MRI earlier today.

Showalter explained why he chose Vance Worley to start Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium after using him to record five outs yesterday at Tropicana Field.

"Just we thought his experience and background as a starter," Showalter said. "He's done it some this year and obviously started in spring training. He had really 10 days off before yesterday, so we really wanted to get him out there for a work day. He threw less than 20 pitches.

"I explained to him in the dugout, because normally he would have continued in that game, but it created an opportunity for us to get some people in the game who needed to get in the game with this long a layoff. We just think of all our options, he was the best one and we'll see. He's certainly capable of pitching well."

Worley has been valuable working in long relief. Does this start provide an opportunity for him to change roles?

"I hope so," Showalter said. "We're always going to try to put our best foot forward every fifth day. Hopefully, he can help us not have that job be as important. There's two ways to look at it. But he's a strong guy who can throw every day. But we also have the addition of (Odrisamer) Despaigne, and Ubaldo (Jimenez) is down there. We've got some people who can provide length for us.

"We're hoping to diminish the need for someone like him."