Reimold and Machado occupying top two spots in order (O's win 14-8)

Mike Wright struck out two batters tonight in the top of the first inning, but Lorenzo Cain crushed a 94 mph fastball for his 15th home run of the season to give the Royals a quick lead at Camden Yards.

If the Orioles are going to win, they'll have to climb out of another hole.

Nolan Reimold is leading off again tonight for the Orioles, his spot in the lineup more secure when the opposition is starting a left-hander. He drew a walk in the bottom of the first off Royals southpaw Danny Duffy.

The Orioles are 3-0 with Reimold atop the order. He reached base three times and scored three runs Wednesday night in a 5-3 win over the Yankees.

Manny Machado, the primary leadoff hitter this season, dropped down to third while Adam Jones was out of the lineup with a sore shoulder. He's hitting second tonight and also worked Duffy for a walk.

Machado is batting. 300/.364/.512 with 23 home runs in 111 games atop the order. He's batting .125/.263/.125 in four games in the second spot, .174/.269/.217 in six games in the third spot, .250/.333/.477 in 13 games in the sixth spot and .429/.375/.857 in four games in the seventh spot. He's 2-for-4 in one game batting fifth.

"There's some people you could find who say, 'Where's his ideal spot?' Who knows?" Showalter said. "What is a spot in the lineup nowadays in today's game? It's kind of like, were they trying to pitch around Chris (Davis) the other day? Yeah, when he hit the home run. They were. But when you have guys with that type of range with the bat...

"Some people think Manny, that's his best spot. Some people now this year think one is his best spot, some people think three, some people think six. But it kind of fits for us where we are today. Our guys don't pay a whole lot of attention to it.

"If he doesn't hit second, who hits second? Nolan's been on a pretty good presentation as a starter."

Showalter could have flip-flopped Reimold and Machado, but he didn't want to be at a disadvantage later in the game.

"There's some dynamics for what happens out of their bullpen if you don't do it that way," Showalter said. "You're always looking at the spots where you would pinch-hit and wouldn't pinch-hit and what it allows the other manager to do if you put it in that order. The first thing you've got to do is kind of look at where you would hit and not pinch-hit, how the lineup changes if they do certain things.

"You try to get their starter out as soon as possible so certain guys don't pitch in the game. Very much like the Yankees."

Update: The Orioles stranded Reimold and Machado in the first, and the Royals expanded their lead to 3-0 in the second on Kendrys Morales' double, a one-out walk to Salvador Perez, Alex Rios' sacrifice fly and Alcides Escobar's double on a ball down the right field line that eluded Dariel Alvarez's glove.

Update II: Alvarez led off the bottom of the third inning with his first major league home run to reduce the Royals' lead to 3-1. It's the first hit off Duffy.

Wright has thrown 60 pitches, 34 for strikes, in three innings.

Update III: The Orioles are down 3-2 after Chris Davis led off the fourth with a double, Jonathan Schoop singled with one out and Caleb Joseph reached on a force at second base.

Wright has retired seven in a row and 10 of 11. He's thrown 84 pitches in five innings.

Update IV: Cain led off the sixth with another home run to give Kansas City a 4-2 lead.

Wright allowed four runs and four hits in five-plus innings, with two walks, two strikeouts and two home runs. He threw 86 pitches, 50 for strikes, before Brad Brach replaced him.

Update V: The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth and settled for one run to trail 4-3. Alex Rios homered leading off the seventh to give the Royals a 5-3 lead.

A run scored on Caleb Joseph's fielder's choice grounder. Jonathan Schoop was ruled safe at second, but the call was overturned after a review that lasted 3 minutes, 17 seconds. J.J. Hardy struck out and pinch-hitter Gerardo Parra flied to center field.

Rios connected off Brach for his third home run of the season and the third tonight for the Royals.

Update VI: Machado scored from first base on Chris Davis' two-out single to right field in the seventh to cut the Royals' lead to 5-4.

Davis has doubled, walked and singled.

Update VII: Machado committed his 17th error of the season in the eighth and it led to an unearned run when Salvador Perez singled off Mychal Givens with two outs. The Royals are ahead 6-4.

Update VIII: Reimold hit his first career grand slam off Kelvin Herrera in the eighth inning and Machado followed with a solo shot off Franklin Morales to give the Orioles a 9-6 lead.

Adam Jones singled and Morales hit Davis on the right hip. Davis smashed his bat to the ground and Showalter was ejected for the second time this season.

Steve Pearce followed with an RBI double into center field and Morales was booed as he left the game. The Orioles lead 10-6 in one of the wildest games in recent memory.

Still wild. Steve Clevenger hit his first career grand slam in the eighth to give the Orioles a 14-6 lead. He took Joba Chamberlain deep.

Update IX: The Orioles used a 10-run eighth inning to defeat the Royals 14-8 and extend their winning streak to three games - if three games count as a streak.

Mike Moustakas had a two-out, two-run single off Mychal Givens after the rookie hit Kendrys Morales to load the bases.

The Orioles are four games below .500. They remain one game behind the third-place Rays and are two ahead of the last-place Red Sox.