Mr. Miami starting at third base for Orioles (O's lead 16-3)

BOSTON - The Orioles took batting practice today in their bright orange caps, the kind that make it appear as though they should be hunting in the woods instead of chasing a wild card berth.

Be very, very quiet.

As they celebrate Players Weekend, the Orioles are wearing special T-shirts and jerseys with patches honoring someone or something they hold dear. For example, outfielder Craig Gentry has hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh's last name written on his patch as a tribute to a man who's been such a strong influence on his career.

Manager Buck Showalter and his coaches are donning T-shirts to bring attention to various charitable causes. KidsPeace is the obvious choice for Showalter.

Most of the players have nicknames on the back of their jerseys, the roll call including the following:

Gentry: Gent
Chris Tillman: Tilly
Ubaldo Jiménez: Big U
Brad Brach: B-Rad
Caleb Joseph: Cabob (his aunt came up with the nickname, pronounced K-Bob)
Kevin Gausman: Gausy
Zach Britton: Brit
Darren O'Day: Odachowski (his family's original name before immigrating from Poland)
Jeremy Hellickson: Helly
Mike Wright: Bird (his college coach thought he looked like Big Bird from "Sesame Street")
Mychal Givens: Tony (his middle name is Antonio)
Tim Beckham: Swaggy T (his former Rays teammates admired his swagger)
J.J. Hardy: J.J. (he isn't here, but that's the nickname)
Ryan Flaherty: Flash (a nickname since youth baseball days)
Jonathan Schoop: Mamba
Adam Jones: Pappo (a name used by his mother, especially when he was in trouble)
Manny Machado: Mr. Miami
Trey Mancini: Trey (his real name is Joseph Anthony Mancini III)
Chris Davis: Crush (superhero nickname since Rangers days)
Welington Castillo: Beef (low minor league nickname derived from the famous dish)

Mark Trumbo, Seth Smith, Anthony Santander, Wade Miley, Miguel Castro and Richard Bleier are sticking with their last names. Business as usual.

Mancini couldn't use "Boom Boom" because of a trademark issue and he preferred "Trey."

Machado wanted to honor his South Florida roots.

"It was between 'Mr. Miami' or 'El Ministro.' They were calling me during the Classic," Machado said.

Or 'El Ministro de Defensa,' but 'Mr. Miami' fits more easily across the shoulders.

"I just wanted to do something to represent home, where I started playing baseball," Machado said. "If it wasn't for Miami, Hialeah where I was born, I wouldn't be living the dream I'm living right now."

Machado could sympathize with the challenges of coming up with a suitable moniker.

"It's tough," he said. "Like myself, it was hard to come up with a nickname. Everyone calls me Manny. My nickname is Manny. I'm not going to put Manny on the back of my jersey. I'd rather do something a little more important. Some people don't have a nickname.

"I think every player out here is going to enjoy this weekend, is looking forward to this. It's kind of representing a little bit. We're showing everyone a little bit of ourselves, how we live, how we go about our business every day, where we come from, a little background, a little more insight of ... where we were born or how much we love this game. This weekend is going to give us an opportunity to show everyone."

Machado was still learning the nicknames of his teammates.

"I haven't really seen all of them, to be honest, so I'll be on the lookout today to see what people came up with, some ideas," he said.

"It's going to be fun. Overall, it's going to be a fun weekend for everyone all around baseball, for all the fans out there, for all the kids watching. We always play this game for them and now we're working with something our way that the commissioner is kind of letting us have the opportunity to do this. We're just going to go out there and enjoy ourselves and show everyone how we play baseball."

Players will be getting into the spirit of the occasion from head to foot.

"Everything. My bats, my cleats, everything," Machado said.

"Can't wait. It's going to be a fun weekend. Be on the lookout."

Machado would love to extend it beyond one weekend.

"You know what? To a certain extent, yeah. It would be cool kind of to go out there and wear whatever you want," he said. "To a certain extent, I mean obviously, how they put in the rules, I know there are some rules, what you can wear and what you can't, but this is us. We go out there, we grind stuff out.

"Everyone comes out here, they're just excited to see what we're wearing out on the field, so we go out there and try to do the same thing. I know I see a lot of kids pimping home runs and psyching out people, pimping them. They're watching everything we do up here. We just go out there and just put a little styling on our game play. It's always a good thing."

Update: The Orioles scored two unearned runs off Rick Porcello in the first inning. Machado and Schoop singled with one out and Jones lined back to Porcello, who knocked down the ball and threw it into center field. Mancini followed with a sacrifice fly.

Update II: Mark Trumbo homered to lead off the second, giving the Orioles a 3-0 lead. The Orioles have six players with 20 home runs, Trumbo the latest to join the group.

Update III: Machado had an RBI single in the second inning. He stole second base, and Beckham scored on catcher Sandy Leon's throwing error for a 5-0 lead. Second baseman Eduardo Nunez was injured on the play and left the game.

Update IV: Xander Bogaerts homered off Hellickson in the bottom of the second after Mitch Moreland reached on Schoop's throwing error, reducing the lead to 5-2.

Update V: Davis homered with one out in the third, his 21st, to increase the lead to 6-2.

Nunez has a sprained left wrist and thumb. X-rays were negative and he's day-to-day.

Update VI: Mancini had an RBI single in the fifth inning and two more runs scored on Seth Smith's single to give the Orioles a 9-2 lead and force Porcello from the game. The Red Sox committed their fourth error.

Beckham greeted Joe Kelly with a two-run double to give the Orioles an 11-2 advantage. Porcello was charged with four earned runs and seven unearned in 4 2/3 innings.

Schoop added an RBI single for a 12-2 lead, as the Orioles sent 10 batters to the plate.

Make it 12. Jones had an RBI single off Kelly for a 13-2 lead.

Update VII: The Orioles have scored a season-high 16 runs, three more coming in the seventh inning on Mancini's two-run triple and Davis' sacrifice fly. They lead 16-3.