Hyde on lineup decisions and opener (O's ahead 5-1)

NEW YORK - The reverse splits that Yankees left-hander James Paxton brings into today's start couldn't convince Orioles manager Brandon Hyde to include Chris Davis in his lineup.

Davis and Cedric Mullins are on the bench as the Orioles continue their opening series at Yankee Stadium. Davis struck out in all three at-bats Thursday, and Renato Núñez batted for him in the ninth inning against left-hander Aroldis Chapman. Mullins is a switch-hitter with much better numbers from the left side throughout his professional career.

Strict platooning isn't Hyde's intention, but the changes in only the second game of the season raised questions.

"I think it's going to be a number of things," he said. "Paxton is a tough left-handed pitcher, obviously. He's a reverse-split guy, but he's tough on lefties and righties. And I want to play as many guys early as I can, also. And I wanted to see (Drew) Jackson in there and I wanted Rio (Ruiz) and Smitty (Dwight Smith Jr.) to see some at-bats off a left-handed pitcher, as well as Rio's defense, and I wanted Nunie to get some at-bats.

"So it was kind of a little bit of everything, but it's not going to be set where a left-hander is starting and these guys are sitting, that kind of thing. It's going to be more of matchups and splits and different scenarios."

Davis' exclusion draws most of the attention, given that he's coming off perhaps the worst season in baseball history and still has four years left on his $161 million contract. It's rarely a subtle adjustment.

Left-handed hitters have slashed .290/.352/.392 against Paxton over his major league career. Right-handers have hit .226/.278/.357.

Davis launched balls into the right field seats during batting practice and later took his seat on the bench. The splits didn't favor him.

"I see Chris being a part of our lineup. This was just a day that I felt like would be a good day for him to take a breather," Hyde said.

"I'm trying to get him off to a good start and I want Chris to feel good. And like all of our guys, I want all of our guys to be involved and feel like they're going to be part of the lineup. I don't want guys to sit too long, but also just get them the best opportunities to have success. I think really good coaches do that.

"I don't know our club real well yet. We have so many guys with so little experience that we're going to kind of see what we have. That's why this is a little bit exciting. I'm just going to be throwing guys out there, mixing and matching the best way we can, and we'll go from there. But right now we don't have a great feel for our club, just because there's not a ton of major league at-bats. So we're going off splits and a little trial-and-error."

Jackson is making his first major league start after pinch-hitting Thursday. Taking the plunge after first getting his feet wet.

"Just beyond excited. It's a dream come true," he said.

"I was telling my family last night that two days ago I was having an out-of-body experience, just a full-on dream, and here I am starting, so pretty sure it will be the same thing."

The difference is standing in center field at Yankee Stadium, probably not how he imagined his major league debut.

"If you asked me a year ago I'd probably say 'no,' but this spring I knew I could just about be anywhere."

Jackson will be exposed to some, shall we say, creative taunts from the bleachers.

"I hope so," he said, smiling. "I like good material."

Hyde would like for Nate Karns to work into the third inning if possible before the Orioles start passing the baton.

"He's gone two innings in spring training, so it's going to be a little bit of a wait-and-see," Hyde said. "Anxious to kind of see what this looks like today. I think, best-case scenario, if he can get into the third, that'd be great. But we're not really expecting more than that because he hasn't been stretched out."

Karns won't be on a strict pitch count.

"It's going to be kind of how he feels," Hyde said. "A lot of communication the first couple innings. We'll go from there."

Hyde is a proponent of the opener, but it's obviously done on his club largely out of necessity, and adjustments could be made later.

"I'm interested in it, to be honest with you, and we can kind of find a way to mix and match guys throughout the course of the game. So yeah, it's going to be fun. I'm looking forward (to it)," Hyde said.

"The thing with Nate is that over the last couple years he's had a tough health history. The last couple years he's had a hard time. So to be able to give him a proper warm-up and to be able to kind of go at his own pace to start the game, that's why we felt like he was the best candidate if we were going to do this."

Hyde is going with the term "opener" because that's how it's now labeled in the industry.

"I think that's the catch phrase right now, right?" he said. "Yeah, it's a bullpen game. That's what we used to call it a little bit."

Update: The Yankees broke a scoreless tie in the 4th on D.J. LeMahieu's RBI single off Jimmy Yacabonis after a two-out infield hit by Gleyber Torres and a walk to Troy Tulowitzki.

Update II: The Orioles took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on Smith's run-scoring single and Gary Sanchez's throwing error on a double steal, with Richie Martin crossing the plate.

Update III: Jesús Sucre singled in the seventh to score Ruiz and increase the lead to 3-1.

Update IV: Sucre came through again with a two-run double in the ninth for a 5-1 lead.