Kim getting a rare start against a lefty (O's lose 8-1 in six innings)

A day can't pass for the Orioles without a flurry of injury updates.

Outfielder Joey Rickard must keep his right thumb in a split for another two to three weeks, but manager Buck Showalter doesn't want it viewed as a setback.

"Everything as it's supposed to be," he said. "Put the splint back on. We're hoping at the end of that period he can start baseball activities. We were fortunate (the ligament) wasn't detached and didn't require surgery, but it is a significant injury that's going to take some time.

"We miss him. He did a lot of good things for us. We've missed him for a while now."

Getting Rickard back by Sept. 1 no longer is a possibility, though Showalter joked about it with the media.

"What's today, the 17th? Two weeks is the 31st, so that means he can make Sept. 1. If he comes up here and pinch-runs and plays defense," Showalter quipped.

"You're right, he won't be Sept. 1. I had hoped so, but I didn't really have any set timeframe. It won't be if, it will be when.

"We're looking at some possibilities for September call-ups around the corner, a couple weeks away. We're looking at some options that would give us some versatility that we really have been challenged with."

Reliever Darren O'Day, on the disabled list with a strained right rotator cuff, is "inching along," according to Showalter. He isn't eligible to return until Aug. 27.

Showalter also said Chris Tillman, scratched from tonight's scheduled start due to right shoulder discomfort, "feels pretty good today. If he proceeds at this rate, he'll pitch Saturday.

"He could pitch today. He could. If it was Sept. 25 we probably would, but it's not and we didn't like some of the things that were being described and we had an opportunity with the off day. We told these guys a couple days ago. It's not like we just hit (Dylan) Bundy between the eyes last night with it. They knew it was a possibility. We wanted to see how the work days go and see how everybody feels. I was really hoping to give everybody an extra day, but ..."

The discomfort shouldn't be described as "lingering."

"It really started showing up on the sheet probably about two or three days ago in San Francisco," Showalter said. "I think it was Sunday. And Richie (Bancells) and I started talking about it. And that's when we gave them all a heads-up that we might do something different."

You want different? How about outfielder Hyun Soo Kim making only his second start against a left-hander, in this case the Red Sox's David Price?

Kim as accumulated only 18 plate appearances against southpaws, going 0-for-14 with three walks, two strikeouts and two runs scored. He's also been hit by a pitch.

I suggested this morning that Nolan Reimold could sit tonight because he's 4-for-33 (.121) with a home run and 13 strikeouts against Price. He's also 4-for-46 overall since the All-Star break.

"Nolan's had quite a history with Price. Nothing to really hang your hat on. There's a lot of people who fall in that category," Showalter said.

"Just felt like it was our best option tonight. If you look at track records in Korea, it wasn't an issue for Kim. Obviously, the quality of pitching is better here, but I think as he goes forward with us next year, you'll see a better hitter against left-handed pitching. But it's going to be a challenge for him tonight."

If you need another example of how far Kim has come since his spring training struggles and the controversy over refusing a minor league option, consider that Showalter referenced former Yankees outfielder Paul O'Neill today while making a comparison.

"It starts out where you're trying to keep everybody involved and try to create kind of a role, so to speak, where everybody feels like they're contributing, and they are. But during the length of the season, situations arrive where you get a chance to show that you might be able to do more," Showalter said.

"It's like Paul O'Neill when I first got him (in 1993). He was a .196 hitter against left-handed pitching in the National League. I said, 'Paul, I really want you to get started right in New York, because it's not a good place to start out bad. Especially when we just traded Roberto Kelly. So, we're going to start out platooning you and then every time you face a left-hander during the course of that, just act like it's my face out there.' Because he was mad. He wasn't happy about it. And he got to where he hit left-handers pretty good down the road."

O'Neill ended up hitting .247 against left-handers.

"I think Kim will take a similar path as far as somebody you'll be able to run out there against them as we go forward," Showalter said. "Fourteen plate appearances, 15, aren't enough to base something on, especially the quality of pitching he sees."

Kim's average versus left-handers was above .300 in his last three seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, but he pointed out today that he didn't see changeups and forkballs.

"We know he hasn't seen any knuckleballs," Showalter said. "That was a pretty candid conversation. But I'm sure as good a hitter as he was over there, he saw the kitchen sink. People aren't just going to sit there and continue to let you pound them with the same mistakes. But are we talking about left-handed relievers or left-handed starters? They're usually two different cats. Or dogs. Or donkeys."

Update: Dylan Bundy threw nine pitches in the first inning and 21 in the second while falling behind 1-0 on Travis Shaw's two-out single. Kim made a diving catch in left to rob Dustin Pedroia, end the inning and save at least one run.

Update II: Chris Davis hit his 25th home run with one out in the second inning, a long blast to right field to tie the game. He crushed a belt-high 83 mph changeup from Price.

Update III: Dylan Bundy walked Mookie Betts with two outs in the third inning and Jackie Bradley Jr. followed with a home run to center field to break the tie.

Bundy turned his right ankle and fell on the mound while trying to break toward first base on David Ortiz's slow roller to the right side. He threw one warmup pitch, stayed in the game and faced Betts. It was all downhill from there.

More on Davis' home run: It's the 86th ball to land on Eutaw Street and the ninth for Davis in his career, the most for any player.

Update IV: Sandy Leon hit a two-run homer off Dylan Bundy in the fifth to increase the lead to 5-1.

The five runs and nine hits off Bundy in 4 1/3 innings are the most he's surrendered in seven major league starts. He was done after 89 pitches.

Update V: Tyler Wilson allowed three runs in the sixth, the Orioles trail 8-1, it's still raining, the grounds crew is still lined up behind the tarp.