Pregame notes and Astros lineup

First baseman Chris Davis showered, dressed and headed to Prince George's Stadium this afternoon, where he's scheduled to play first base for a minimum of seven innings with the Double-A Bowie Baysox.

Davis might have to serve as the designated hitter if heavy rain causes sloppy conditions. It wouldn't prevent the Orioles from possibly activating him on Sunday, but they'd prefer that he play in the field to further test his left oblique.

"From what I've heard, at Bowie the field surface there is very good," said bench coach John Russell. "It handles water very well and we should be able to get it playable enough, barring any heavy downpours while they're playing, that he should be able to play defense.

"If we get the heavy downpours and the field gets a little messed up and they're still going to play, we don't want to put Chris in harm's way. And it's not so much for the oblique. We don't want him to get hurt any other way on a bad field, so he'd probably just DH. But he's going to bat second to make sure he gets his at-bats.

"Once that's over with, the million dollar question is, what's next? We'll just have to reevaluate. See when he comes back tonight and tomorrow, see where he is, see how he feels, let him talk to the trainers, talk to Buck (Showalter) and see where we go from there. Take it one step at a time."

Davis probably will attempt to convince the Orioles to activate him.

"We'll see," Russell said. "Me personally, I'd love to say, 'Yes.' Knowing Chris, I think chances are pretty good that's what he's going to say. But I've been around baseball enough. I've seen obliques over the last few years. I don't want to step out there and say it's going to be great.

"I've seen guys take BP, I've seen them in the cage swing as hard as they can, and the first swing in a game, they felt it. So, until we get through tonight, I've very optimistic, I think CD's very optimistic about it. If he comes through it great and it feels great, I think the first thing on his mind is, 'When should I be able to be activated?' And again, we'll cross that bridge when it happens. But we fully expect that if everything goes great that Chris will be back very soon."

Russell said there are no immediate plans for Matt Wieters to throw on the field to test his right elbow. He remains the designated hitter.

"Probably not the next couple of days," Russell said. "It's tough to put an exact timeline on Matt because it is a different kind of scenario. He doesn't really feel pain, it's not loose, he can move it around, he doesn't feel much. He just doesn't feel like he has much on it the last couple games when he'd make a throw back to second.

"Throw the ball back to the pitcher? Nothing. Throw a ball to second base, he felt like the ball died on him. A little bit of discomfort. But to say that in two weeks he's going to start throwing 30 feet, we don't know that yet. It's going to be up to Matt and Richie (Bancells) and Brian (Ebel) as they progress his treatment to get it calmed down, to get whatever is in there - whether it's fluid - out of the way. And then once he starts feeling better, I'm sure they'll start doing exercises to make sure. And then we'll pick up a baseball.

"Is that seven days, is that two weeks? It kind of depends how Matt and Richie feel about it. I know if it was me, I'd want to make sure it's kind of OK, because you don't want to make that throw and get set back.

"I was telling someone earlier that once we see Matt pick up a ball and go to the outfield and play catch, then we can kind of see what kind of timeline we have barring any setbacks. But right now, is it a week or two weeks? I can't really put anything on it and I don't think Matt can either. We're not going to rush it. I know that. We want him back, we want him catching. To try to get him back three or four days early and have a setback is not worth it. We need him for the long haul, and if it takes another two or three weeks, we're willing to wait."

Russell is filling in for Showalter this afternoon while the manager flies back to Baltimore after attending his son Nathan's graduation at TCU. Showalter was expected at Camden Yards by 5 p.m.

"It's basically a normal day," Russell said. "Buck and I have been talking about it. We spent some time together talking about the lineup, looking at the matchups, like we do any day. Buck called me right when he was getting on the plane from graduation, which went very well. He said it was very nice, but very hot in the stadium at TCU. But we talked a little bit. Told him anything different, which there wasn't other than the rain that might affect CD at Bowie. But as far as my day and what Buck set forth, it's pretty much a normal day."

Russell will manage next Saturday's game in Kansas City while Showalter attends his daughter Allie's graduation from law school at SMU.

Russell managed the Pirates from 2008 to 2010.

"I wish I had the players in Pittsburgh that we have here now," he said.

"I enjoy what I do, whether it's the bench coach, managing or whether it's something else in baseball. I thoroughly enjoy coming to the ballpark. It may not look like it because I don't talk to you guys very often, but it's not really my place.

"I'm stepping in for a guy I truly respect and has done a great job in Baltimore and I've learned a lot from, and really enjoy coming to the ballpark and working with him. I wouldn't say this is anything more than that, that I'm here to take over because he's not here. Just like when he gets thrown out of a game. It's his team, but it's our team, and I really look at it that way."

The Orioles, Tigers and Giants are the only teams in the majors at least two games over .500 at home and on the road.

For the Astros
Jose Altuve 2B
Dexter Fowler CF
Jason Castro C
Matt Dominguez 3B
Alex Presley LF
George Springer RF
Chris Carter DH
Marc Krauss 1B
Jonathan Villar SS

Collin McHugh RHP

Here are the pitching matchups for the Tigers series at Camden Yards:

Monday: Bud Norris vs. Rick Porcello
Tuesday: Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Drew Smyly
Wednesday: Wei-Yin Chen vs. Justin Verlander