Showalter on Machado suspension and 4-2 win

Orioles manager Buck Showalter told the media this afternoon that third baseman Manny Machado would begin serving his four-game suspension on Sunday, bringing a semblance of finality to a situation that continues to gnaw at the organization.

Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura had his suspension reduced from nine to eight games without a hearing. Machado dropped his appeal, knowing that Major League Baseball wasn't going to budge.

The suspensions were handed down after Ventura drilled Machado in the back with a 99 mph fastball in the fifth inning of a June 7 game at Camden Yards. Machado charged the mound, threw a punch and bedlam ensued.

Machado will miss Sunday's series finale against the Blue Jays, the makeup game Monday in Texas and the two-game series against the Padres at Camden Yards. The Orioles are off Thursday before starting a three-game series against the Rays at home.

"The logic with when to take the suspension, you can find 20 things to make it look that way, this way, that way," Showalter said. "It's going to start somewhere and it's going to be painful any way you do it. It's almost like we lost a guy to the DL again, so somebody's going to have to step up.

"A good player doing good things and we won't have him for four days because somebody hit him with a pitch. There's other reasons, too. Intentionally. I need to stop."

Get the impression that Showalter is agitated with how the process played out?

The Orioles optioned reliever T.J. McFarland earlier today to create a spot for shortstop J.J. Hardy. They kept Paul Janish rather than designate him for assignment in order to have an extra infielder in Machado's absence. The other choice would have been optioning Ryan Flaherty, but again, the Orioles wanted infield insurance.

"There's a lot of factors going on here," Showalter said. "Manny's going to start serving his suspension tomorrow and that had a lot to do with it. I guess we have to announce it? They actually reduced Ventura's suspension? They've always been searching for a way to, figure out a way to make it equal for a pitcher and a position player, obviously. This is all based on precedent and not what we being biased would consider fair."

Showalter tried to choose his words carefully regarding how Ventura's suspension was reduced to eight games.

"Without a hearing?" he asked. "I'll let you guys critique that. I'm trying to have enough money to finish up the garden."

The Orioles gladly would have taken a reduction in Machado's suspension, but knew MLB had no intention of doing it.

"Otherwise, we would have done that," he said. "We would have tried to get every game less without him. That was not going to happen. Now if you look at precedent ... You're going to get me in trouble. If you look at precedent, you're not going to ...

"I think a lot of people feel like they gave him some leeway there by starting at four, from where some other ones have been."

Machado met with Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette before deciding to drop the appeal on Sunday.

"That's Manny's decision," Showalter said. "He asked me a lot about it and we talked back and forth.

"We're not allowed to send him to Frederick or Bowie or anything. It's another thing that's not really always equal, because a pitcher can go throw. And a hitter can go hit. He can do some work here. We're leaving a bunch of guys here. There's going to be a workout at 11 a.m. on Monday. And he'll get his work in somewhere and hopefully be ready Friday."

The Orioles got five innings of two-run ball out of Yovani Gallardo this afternoon, his return from the disabled list deemed a success. The increase in velocity, with multiple fastballs clocked at 92 mph, illustrated how he earlier had tried to pitch with weakness in the shoulder that must have accompanied him to spring training.

Gallardo is back in a rotation sorely in need of a lift. J.J. Hardy is back in a lineup that did just enough against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to produce a 4-2 win over the Blue Jays before 41,901 at Camden Yards.

Dickey allowed three runs (two earned) in six innings. Jason Grilli entered in the eighth and was greeted by back-to-back singles from Jonathan Schoop and Machado, and a shallow fly ball from Mark Trumbo that turned into an out at second base and plated a big insurance run.

Schoop and Machado each collected three hits today. Schoop came within a triple of the cycle, his 11th home run a solo shot in the third inning.

Hardy bounced into a double play, doubled and struck out in his first game since May 1. He didn't appear to be favoring his left foot. He was his usual reliable self in the field.

Mychal Givens tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Gallardo, who threw 85 pitches. Brad Brach struck out two while retiring the side in order in the eighth and Zach Britton notched his 21st save in as many opportunities, but not before loading the bases with one out on a single and two walks. Josh Donaldson grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end it.

Britton hadn't walked multiple batters until today, in his 28th appearance.

The Orioles are 39-28 and still holding sole possession of first place in the American League East.

Gallardo allowed five hits, walked four and struck out four in his five innings. He served up a solo home run to Ezequiel Carrera in the third.

Here's more from Showalter:

On Gallardo: "I was real pleased with him. We played four times at their place, we go Boston for three, come back here for three more. That's 10 games against some of the best offenses you'll see. I was pleased with his outing. I'll tell you, Richie (Bancells) and his staff did some kind of job with him. To get that kind of start, I think it bodes well. I'm excited about him the rest of the year. That's pretty hard to do. He was diligent about it. He's going to have to stay on it now to stay where he was today."

"He'll get deeper in games as we go forward. He had a lot of adrenaline going today. I thought he started getting the ball up the last inning."

On the increase in velocity proving Gallardo's shoulder was weak earlier: "There was some concern early on, but you thought his pitchability and getting into the lights and the adrenaline of the season takes care of that a lot from experience. But it didn't. You knew he had an issue."

On the pitch count: "I wanted him to get out of there on a good note. And let's face it, Mychal had three days' (rest) and Brad and Zach had time there, so we felt like we had a chance to kind of pass the baton. Sixteen runs yesterday and runs were at a premium today."

On Hardy's return: "J.J. was probably the most excited guy about winning. It was a nice feel to have him out there. One of the big plays was the relay in the fourth inning. It's a good feeling to have him back. It's apropos that he turns the double play to end the game against a tough offensive threat."

On Schoop batting second despite being 1-for-9 against Dickey: "You can throw out .. I didn't want to hit J.J. ninth. It was obvious, and it's a tribute to him, that R.A. wasn't carrying a real good knuckleball today by the number of fastballs he threw. You can throw out somebody's tendencies against a knuckleballer because one day he's got a real good one and one day he doesn't."