More on Jones and Mancini as reserves today (O's down 2-1)

OAKLAND, Calif. - Center fielder Adam Jones said his right hand and wrist are fine, last night's X-ray came back negative and today was a scheduled day off. No reason to be concerned about his absence from the lineup.

Jones gripped a reporter's hand tightly to show that he's pain-free and there's no weakness. He said drinking milk as a child is responsible for his strong bones.

A fastball from Santiago Casilla smashed into Jones' wrist last night in the 10th inning, but he stayed in the game.

"Adam's sore," said manager Buck Showalter. "He said he'd be there if I needed him. I knew he would be. I was going to, at the very worst, DH him today anyway. I talked to him some last night, what we expected today. He's pretty sore."

No further tests are scheduled for Jones, but that's subject to change depending on how the wrist responds.

"If it doesn't manage well tomorrow, then you take the next step," Showalter said. "There's like three of them in there. There's the X-ray at the ballpark, the last one is the MRI. Right now we're not anticipating that, but if it's still sore tomorrow we'll go forward in another direction. But I think he's OK.

"He's lucky. That one scared me. I thought they got him pretty deep. He said if it had been a little lower or higher, he would have had an issue."

Trey Mancini is on the bench today while battling a slump and the residual effects from jamming his right knee into the brick wall in foul territory during an April 20 game at Camden Yards.

"I think the knee's been a challenge for him some," Showalter said. "I want to give him the benefit of today and tomorrow and see if we can clean that up and put it behind him. I think that's important that he gets a couple of days off that knee.

"Still, the way he plays, he's going to bang it once or twice a game. What was it, his first play after he hurt it? He's sliding into something. He made a great play last night early on. Just trying to get him back close to 100 percent as somebody can get in baseball. Those two guys.

"Both are available if I had to use them, but I'm going to try to stay away from them."

And there's the balancing act for a manager whose club is starving for a win. Protect the players from further harm, but also run out a lineup with two fewer offensive threats.

"It's better for our team today if Adam doesn't try to play with a real sore wrist and run around the outfield," Showalter said. "It's better for our team if Trey tries to get back to 100 percent. You can develop some bad habits with that subconsciously. Leaning on it a little bit, kind of covering for it with some other things that you've got to do.

"I can tell he hasn't been posting up on that leg as well."

Orioles closer Zach Britton is scheduled to throw batting practice on May 15, the first time he's faced hitters since undergoing surgery in December to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon.

Britton had another positive work day this morning, "about as good as I've seen him throw," Showalter said.

Second baseman Jonathan Schoop is expected to play Monday night at Single-A Frederick. He wants to get more at-bats before coming off the disabled list on Tuesday.

"He doesn't want to take tomorrow off. He wants to play somewhere," Showalter said.

Triple-A Norfolk will be in Durham, so Schoop is moving down to the Carolina League before reporting to Camden Yards on Tuesday.

"I told Manny (Machado), 'Let's go to Frederick tomorrow and heckle Jon,'" Showalter said. "Manny said, 'I'll be in bed.'"

The Orioles are facing left-handers Danny Duffy and Eric Skoglund in the first two games of their series against the Royals, adding to the importance of Schoop's return.

"Jon's feeling good," Showalter said. "I know he wants it (oblique) to be perfect when he comes back. I think he's gotten there and knows he needed some at-bats."

Ian Kennedy starts Wednesday for the Royals. The Orioles are listing Dylan Bundy, Andrew Cashner and Kevin Gausman.

Update: Pedro Álvarez gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his seventh home run of the season, but his throwing error in the fourth opened the door for two runs. The Athletics lead 2-1.