Game update and more from Showalter (O's win 18-7)

Bud Norris has blanked the Red Sox over three innings this afternoon despite allowing two hits and walking two batters, and he's now protecting a 1-0 lead.

Steve Pearce lifted a sacrifice fly to left field in the second inning to score Delmon Young, who reached second when center fielder Mookie Betts lost his fly ball in the sun and dropped it.

Pearce was in a 4-for-40 slump before reaching base twice on a walk and single in his last appearance on Friday. He's starting today for the first time since April 21 in Toronto.

"I think Stevie's too strong. I think it's just a matter of time," said manager Buck Showalter. "He's hit some balls at people. He went through some periods last year as good a year as he had last year. When I think about concerns, Stevie will figure it out. He's a hard worker, almost to a fault. He's had some really good swings off the bench, too, balls that people have run down, balls he's swung at well.

"Like I've said many times, I feel like somebody's going to pay down the line. Stevie's going to get it going. Sometimes you can want something too much and you should just try to stay (loose). He grinds every at-bat, every defensive play. I don't care what's going on at the plate. Steve's going to take every angle of the game seriously and attack it. He's going to try to help you defensively. He's going to try and run the bases well. I don't ever worry about something carrying over with him. Whatever happened with him the last at-bat doesn't mean it's going to happen again. He's not one of those guys that lets stuff snowball, so understand that the statistical return is a little unusual for him, but he'll get it going."

Showalter decided to give Pearce a break, in part because of the slump and in part because he wanted other players in the lineup, including hot-hitting Jimmy Paredes.

"I think he understands the confidence we have in him," Showalter said. "Part of it had to do with Jimmy being hot, Paredes, and trying to keep people in the flow. Don't want David (Lough) to sit too long. Don't want Delmon to sit too long. I know that we're going to see three out of four left-handers the next four days. You kind of look ahead where it comes, trying to get (Alejandro) De Aza going.

"We have some infield challenges. One of the things about DHing Jimmy is it kind of locks up some moves we can make during the games. We've got some ways to do it. It's just not as good defensively, but Stevie will get his at-bats over the course of the year. He's already gotten a lot of them this year. I think he has a lot of confidence in the confidence we have in him."

A morning at the ballpark wouldn't be complete without more injury updates from Showalter, who was in much better spirits today after last night's somber postgame session.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy received a cortisone injection yesterday on his left shoulder and is shut down until Wednesday.

"Just trying to give him some help getting that last little discomfort out of there," Showalter said. "We almost did it three or four days ago, but J.J. thought it was really progressing, thought it might leave while he was in Norfolk.

"I'm hoping this is the last step. If not then, I don't want to think about that."

How many at-bats will Hardy need on an injury-rehab assignment?

"One," Showalter quipped. "Do one right here, right down the hall.

"All the fielding, BP, soft toss, that part of it I'd leave that up to him, but at first blush should be three to four games, something like that. What happens if we get an injury and he's two days into it? He's stayed pretty connected to the baseball activity other than the games."

Showalter remains confident that infielder Ryan Flaherty will be ready to come off the disabled list when eligible. He's also encouraged by the progress made by Jonathan Schoop (knee) and Wesley Wright (trapezius).

"Jonathan, little by little the swelling's getting out of there," Showalter said. "He has a brace on there to make sure it heals properly."

Catcher Ryan Lavarnway snapped an 0-for-12 streak with a leadoff single in the third.

Update: The Orioles sent 10 batters to the plate in the third, scored six runs and knocked out Wade Miley, who looked more like Miley Cyrus. And the Orioles came at him like a wrecking ball.

Adam Jones drew a bases-loaded walk, Young had an RBI single, Chris Davis had a two-run double, Pearce had an RBI single and Paredes had an RBI grounder.

Update II: The hits just keep on coming. And so do the runs - nine of them, to be exact, in four innings.

Young had a two-run single in the fourth to increase the Orioles' lead to 9-0. Bud Norris has thrown 64 pitches while shutting out the Red Sox.

Update III: Rey Navarro picked up his first major league RBI with a single in the fifth. Orioles 10, Red Sox 0.

Norris has thrown 86 pitches in six scoreless innings.

Update IV: You can't stop or contain Paredes.

Paredes' RBI triple in the sixth gave the Orioles a 12-0 lead. Chris Davis hit his fourth home run earlier in the inning.

Paredes is 14-for-34 with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and eight RBIs since coming off disabled list.

Davis has four home runs and 13 RBIs this season.

Update V: Norris surrendered a three-run homer to Pablo Sandoval with two outs in the seventh and Hanley Ramirez homered off Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia to narrow the Orioles' lead to 12-4.

Norris allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, with three walks and two strikeouts. He threw 107 pitches and lowered his ERA from 17.42 to 12.18.

Update VI: Now it's just plain silly.

The Orioles scored six runs in the seventh and lead 18-4. They haven't exceeded that run total since Sept. 28, 2000, when they totaled 23 against the Blue Jays.

The Orioles have batted around twice today. Delmon Young has five RBIs. Davis, Pearce and Paredes have three. Navarro has his first career three-hit game.

Update VII: Ramirez hit another homer off Garcia in the ninth, a three-run shot to conclude the Orioles' 18-7 win.

The Orioles finished with 20 hits and won back-to-back games to take the series.