Orioles hoping for sunny outlook on Machado beneath dark clouds

The Orioles have been poised to run away with the American League East, which they lead by six games over the Blue Jays. The rotation is better, the back end of the bullpen can dominate, the defense again has been a team strength despite the three errors last night, and the offense is starting to score runs in bunches - again leading the majors in home runs with 150. They just need to stay healthy. They haven't done it. Shortstop J.J. Hardy's sprained thumb doesn't seem to be a big deal, but losing Manny Machado to a knee injury could be crippling. We'll know more about the severity of it later today. The word "sprain" brought some comfort last night, but that's still a slight tear at the very least. The Orioles have been able to overcome catcher Matt Wieters' season-ending elbow injury, though his bat is missed. Losing Machado for a lengthy period would be a gut punch that could threaten to take the air out of an entire team. Machado's average has steadily been climbing and his power has returned. He's back to being a human highlight reel at third base, his throws from deep in foul territory becoming the norm. You can't replace him. Someone else can play third base and bat second, but you can't replace him. The Orioles will keep their collective fingers crossed and hope that Machado gets back quickly. They're a resilient bunch, which they've proven over and over, but let's not push it. I suppose it's appropriate, with this huge dark cloud hovering over the team, that the forecast for today is awful. Lots and lots of rain. Something like 90 percent throughout the night. As I wrote yesterday, the Orioles and Yankees could play a doubleheader during their Sept. 12-14 series at Camden Yards. The teams have a mutual off day on Thursday, but manager Buck Showalter wants his players to benefit from it. That's especially true of Nick Markakis and Adam Jones, who have played every game this season. Showalter mentioned how he can rest them Thursday. Nobody wants to come out of this lineup. "There are a lot of things going on here in Baltimore that still permeate from what Cal (Ripken) did," Showalter said. "We just had one of the best celebrations I've ever been around Saturday night. It was unbelievable, the things that went on here and the emotion and watching Cal and Boog Powell and Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson. I could go on and on. Kind of hit me that the things they established here and did are still there. They've been dormant a little bit, but this city still has a very long memory." Hardy will try to convince Showalter that his left thumb is fine. He didn't want to be scratched from Sunday's lineup and he would have tried to play last night. "If the players care about playing every day and it's important to them ... ," Showalter said. "The biggest thing J.J. was upset with me (Sunday) was that he knew guys were out there on the field playing and he wanted to be a part of that. In his heart he probably knows he should take a day. "You talk about, 'Do you want to disappoint your teammates? I don't want to disappoint them.' When you've got that mentality, you've got a chance, and I think that's what guys like J.J. do. They want to post up and not disappoint their teammates." Yankees starter Shane Greene shut out the Orioles on four hits over 7 1/3 innings in a July 12 game at Camden Yard. Machado, Markakis, Steve Pearce and Ryan Flaherty collected the hits. Right-handers are batting .203 against Greene and left-handers are batting .244. If Hardy is in the lineup, I'd expect Flaherty to play third base and Jonathan Schoop second. Chris Davis, who replaced Machado last night and hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth inning, likely will return to first. Wei-Yin Chen is 6-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 12 home starts this season. He's 2-3 with a 5.76 ERA in eight starts vs. the Yankees. Jacoby Ellsbury is 6-for-13 (.462) against Chen, and Brett Gardner is 5-for-12 (.417) with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs. Showalter has challenged Dan Duquette, Jim Palmer and Wayne Kirby to participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge to strike out ALS. Jones doused Kirby yesterday during batting practice. I can't imagine Weaver letting a player dump ice water over his head, but I could be wrong. Showalter continues to draw comparisons to Weaver. It happened a lot on Friday during the 60th anniversary celebration. "I think Buck's got it figured out. I think he's got everything figured out," said Boog Powell. "He's got the pitching figured out, it looks like he's got the defense figured out. Earl had it figured out. So did Hank Bauer. Hank told us one time, 'It doesn't matter how I write this lineup out. I could write it out in reverse order. However I want to write it out, you guys are still going to win.' And he was probably right. We had the talent, though. "I think one of Earl's strongest suits, looking back over it, was his ability to pick the best guys in spring training. The best 25 guys. Not necessarily the best 25 absolute ballplayers, but 25 guys who could get along together and play well together. And we were a good unit. We played good defense. And I would have liked to see our team play on this billiard table out here. There's no bad hops. "I would have liked to take a shot at those 373s in the alleys, too, or 360 or whatever it is. I might have had a few more home runs."