Showalter on Castro, Ynoa and more (O's down 12-6)

Manny Machado took batting practice this afternoon and remained in the Orioles lineup for tonight's series opener against the Twins at Camden Yards.

Machado still had to test his left hand after yesterday's X-rays came back negative.

"Keep in mind there's three levels of X-rays, it seems like to me," said manager Buck Showalter. "There's the one local in the locker room and there's the scan and if you're still having some symptoms they go to the MRI. I guess it's because each one costs a little bit more."

The Orioles optioned Miguel Castro on Sunday after he tossed three scoreless innings in two appearances back-to-back in Detroit.

"Wanted to get Miguel back on a program that was set up for him," Showalter said. "We got into kind of an emergency and he was close by and he was throwing well, but basically it's a guy who kind of fast-tracked to the big leagues and kind of missed Double-A altogether and he's only 22, so basically he's like a college senior. And we want to start him, not all over again, but ...

"It's very similar to what's going on with Tanner Scott where he's pitching three or four innings every fifth day and having a work day in between. He's an interesting case. Just trying to get him back doing that. So that was one of the reasons for that. We also had Tyler around in case we had a need the last two days."

Castro still is viewed as starter material, though his role could change down the road.

"The changeup's the thing that's interesting," Showalter said. "He has a plus-changeup for a guy with above-average velocity. He's got pretty good shape on a breaking ball. Guys like him, you ask yourself how they're going to defend themselves against left-handed hitters. The changeup, that's one of the reasons why Toronto was so intrigued by him. They made him a closer for, what, a month?"

Gabriel Ynoa probably will get back into Triple-A Norfolk's rotation as he recovers from a hamstring injury. He threw a simulated game today at Camden Yards.

"I think that's the plan," Showalter said. "We've got a lot of pitchers down there. I asked Dan (Duquette) today, 'How are you going to make room for Ynoa?' We'll make room for him somehow. The only problem with him as a starter is that if we have a need and a day is a throw day or a day removed from starting, it's a problem. But I think we still like him enough as a starter that he's a guy we want stretched out in case we have an issue here, he'd be one of our options.

"That's what we're kind of running into with a guy like (Alec) Asher. We've kind of gotten away from being stretched out. He's pitching pretty well out of the 'pen."

The Orioles could send Ynoa on an injury rehab assignment or option him.

"The option takes him out of play for 10 days, but you kind of look at what he's going to have to do to get back to being an option up here," Showalter said. "You could probably go either way and still have the same timeframe."

Ubaldo Jiménez is 5-3 with a 2.49 ERA in 11 career games (10 starts) versus the Twins over 65 innings. Most of his success has come at Target Field, where he's 4-1 with a 1.81 ERA in seven starts over 44 2/3 innings.

Jiménez is averaging 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings against the Twins, his third-highest percentage versus any opponent.

Brian Dozier, who's leading off tonight, is 7-for-22 (.318) with two doubles and eight strikeouts against Jiménez. Eduardo Escobar is 4-for-7 with three doubles.

Eddie Rosario is 0-for-8 with five strikeouts. He isn't in tonight's lineup.

Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson is 1-1 with a 3.58 ERA in five career starts against the Orioles, with a 1.627 WHIP in 27 2/3 innings, and 0-1 with a 4.02 ERA and 1.851 WHIP in three starts at Camden Yards spanning 15 2/3 innings. He's allowed seven runs and 17 hits and walked 12 batters.

J.J. Hardy is 5-for-9 with a double and home run against Gibson. Chris Davis is 4-for-11 with a home run and Jonathan Schoop is 3-for-10 with two doubles.

Adam Jones is 2-for-14 with a double and home run.

Single-A Frederick outfielder Austin Hays has been named Carolina League Player of the Week after batting .438 (14-for-32) with six doubles, two home runs, six RBIs and an .813 slugging percentage.

For the Twins
Brian Dozier 2B
Robbie Grossman LF
Joe Mauer 1B
Miguel Sanó 3B
Max Kepler RF
Eduardo Escobar DH
Jorge Polanco SS
Jason Castro C
Byron Buxton CF

Kyle Gibson RHP

Update: The Orioles announced that they reinstated Ynoa from the disabled list and optioned him to Norfolk.

Update II: Chris Davis walked on four pitches to lead off the second inning, Welington Castillo reached on a fielder's choice and scored on Trey Mancini's double to center field. Mancini scored on J.J. Hardy's two-out single after jarring the ball out of catcher Jason Castro's glove.

Adam Jones followed with a three-run homer to increase the lead to 5-0. His 125 home runs at Camden Yards are a club record, surpassing Rafael Palmeiro for first place.

Update III: The Twins got a run back in the third on Brian Dozier's leadoff double and ground balls by Robbie Grossman and Joe Mauer. Dozier's ball appeared to land in foul territory in left field, but the call stood after a challenge.

Update IV: Max Kepler homered on Jimenez's first pitch in the fourth inning to reduce the lead to 5-2. Jimenez began the inning at 62 pitches.

Update V: Doubles by Hardy and Manny Machado in the fourth upped the lead to 6-2.

Update VI: The Twins tied the game 6-6 in the fifth inning. All six runs were charged to Jimenez, the last two after Tyler Wilson replaced him.

Jimenez allowed nine hits in four-plus innings, with two walks, three strikeouts and a home run. He threw 90 pitches, 53 for strikes, and his ERA ballooned to 7.17 in 42 2/3 innings.

Update VII: Wilson was charged with six runs in the sixth inning, four of them earned. The last run scored when Stefan Crichton committed a balk by dropping the ball. It's turned into that kind of night.

The Twins sent 10 batters to the plate.