Hearing from Showalter and Pearce before tonight's game (O's lose 4-3)

NEW YORK - Orioles manager Buck Showalter said outfielder Steve Pearce suggested today that he go on the disabled list as the corresponding roster move for Kevin Gausman. Pearce stopped by Showalter's office at Yankee Stadium and revealed the extent of his oblique injury.

The Orioles were prepared to make a different move before Showalter's conversation with Pearce.

"He said, 'Listen, I know we've got a pending move coming and I'm kind of at the point where it's really bothering me,'" Showalter said. "He said he hasn't gotten any better the last day or two. He's been on the sheet, but nothing that we thought ... But Stevie said, 'I don't want two days from now I need to go on the disabled list and we had to make this move.' That's exactly what hapepend. We were prepared to go in some other ways.

"I know the way baseball works, the Yankee doctor has to come over and approve the injury today. I think it's theirs. If he sees what I know he's going to see, (Pearce) will take a train back and get an MRI on it. He's never had anything like this before, so that was what he was hoping he could kind of play through it and it might heal, but the last couple of days it was really bothering him.

"I know he was talking to J.J. (Hardy) about it earlier in the day because J.J. had some history with it and he got some good advice."

Pearce, who's played four positions this season, has dealt with wrist injuries in the past and might benefit from a shutdown period. It's the only way to keep him from trying too hard to get back in the lineup and compounding the ailment.

"It's part of who he is," Showalter said. "He had the sore wrists he had to get injected. It's where he gets his edge. It's why he's able to play second base and play third base and first base and left field and right field, because he's engaged in the competition every day. He's always prepared. And with that, sometimes you pay a price.

"What have we got now, 12 days backdated to Sunday? With obliques, I'd sign up for it in blood if it was 12 days. I hope that's the case. We'll see. With the MRIs, you get a real good idea of the severity of the oblique, of the bleeding and whatever hot spot you've got in there.

"He had been on the medical report for the last three or four days just getting treatment. He came in in Detroit and told Richie (Bancells), 'You know, maybe I should start treating this a little bit.' He's a guy that, he doesn't complain about anything. He just posts up, so I appreciate his honesty. And I'm sure there's a player on our team who really appreciates it."

Pearce said the oblique started to bother him a few weeks ago.

"I'm not disappointed," he said. "It just needs to get done. It kind of stinks that I'm going on (the DL), but it needs to be taken care of. It's getting to the point that it feels a little more threatening than I'd like."

Pearce doesn't recall one particular swing that led to the injury.

"It just started to slowly escalate and get a little more pain every day. Now it's time for me to take care of it," he said.

"I hope we've gotten ahead of it. I've been in treatment the last couple days and it's kind of just staying the same, so we'll just go ahead and get an MRI on it.

"I've never had an oblique injury before. The wrists are fine. Everything's all good. I haven't been working myself to death. It's baseball. It's one of those things that unfortunately happens and it's time to take care of it.

Pearce will rejoin the Orioles in St. Petersburg this weekend.

Earlier today, the Orioles released left-hander Wesley Wright after designating him for assignment on July 14.

"He's a good young man and hopefully a fresh start somewhere will put him back on the path we thought he'd be on," Showalter said. "We wish him well. He's a good man. He just could never get it going to the point where we felt he could take the place of someone we had here's spot.

"You take some chances. He'll end up on his feet pitching in the big leagues somewhere. It just doesn't fit here and it reached the point where we didn't want to stand in his way."

Ryan Flaherty is making a rare start at first base tonight, with Chris Parmelee on the bench against right-hander Ivan Nova.

"I wanted to get him out there," Showalter said of Flaherty, who took early batting practice today and put a ball in the second deck in right field. "He hasn't been out there in a while. He's had a little success against this guy.

"Ryan's capable of playing anywhere. I want to keep him in the flow. I'm just trying to keep everybody ... get some at-bats, make sure we keeping put our best foot forward."

Matt Wieters is the designated hitter instead of Jimmy Paredes.

"I think Jimmy could, need to back off Jimmy a little bit. And it gives us some really good options off the bench," Showalter said.

Wieters is 11-for-31 with four home runs lifetime against Nova.

"In a perfect world, he would have caught tonight. Didn't fall that way," Showalter said.

"It's a good matchup. Plus with the loss of Stevie, we need some versatility off the bench. Jimmy gives us that something."

Showalter was told that executive vice president Dan Duquette referred to the Orioles as buyers no matter what happens this week.

"We're trying to win," Showalter said. "A lot of games, very much like Detroit. We stubbed the first one, came back and won two. Close ballgame last night against a good team, good pitching. We'll try and end up on the other side of it tonight."

Third baseman Manny Machado leads the Orioles in hits, home runs and stolen bases. According to Elias, no Orioles player has done so since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954.

Update: Kevin Gausman threw 29 pitches in the first inning while allowing three runs, the last two on Mark Teixeira's home run.

Five of the first six Yankees reached against Gausman. Brett Gardner followed Jacoby Ellsbury's leadoff double with an RBI single. Gausman struck out the last two batters after walking Carlos Beltran.

Update II: Flaherty, making his first start at first base since Sept. 23 at Yankee Stadium, followed J.J. Hardy's leadoff single in the third inning with a two-run home run. Yankees 3, Orioles 2.

Flaherty's last home run came on June 16. He now has 100 career RBIs.

Update III: Alex Rodriguez homered in the fifth to extend the Yankees' lead to 4-2.

Update IV: The Orioles were held hitless after Machado's double in the third inning until Chris Davis homered with two outs in the ninth, and they lost again 4-3 to fall six games behind the Yankees in the American League East.

Davis has 20 home runs this season.

Gausman allowed four runs and six hits in six innings, with two walks, four strikeouts and two home runs. He threw 96 pitches, 62 for strikes.

The Orioles are below .500 again at 46-47.