Wade Miley's debut with the Orioles tonight ended after five innings and a shot off his left calf that caused him to limp into the dugout and through the tunnel with head athletic trainer Richie Bancells. However, no X-rays are scheduled and Miley is confident that he'll make his next start, saying it's "not a concern."
Manager Buck Showalter sounded the same optimistic tone following a 5-3 loss to the Rangers before 28,762 that ended a three-game winning streak and prevented a sweep.
Rougned Odor's comebacker nailed Miley with two outs in the fifth, the ball rolling to second baseman Jonathan Schoop.
"I was afraid it hit him on the Achilles, but it's a little higher," Showalter said. "It doesn't seem to be swelling much, so we might have gotten fortunate. It actually loosened up a little bit as the game went on, Richie told me. I just talked to him a little bit before I came down here. Unless we get some complications, it shouldn't jeopardize his next start.
"Just kind of wait and see how it manages tomorrow."
Miley allowed four runs and eight hits over five innings, with no walks, five strikeouts and Jonathan Lucroy's solo home run in the second. He threw 91 pitches, 62 for strikes.
The Rangers collected a home run and four doubles off Miley, but he also was hurt by some soft singles in the fifth. Chris Davis was shielded by Shin-Soo Choo on Ian Desmond's ground ball that sneaked into right field for an RBI, and Choo scored on Carlos Beltran's fly ball into shallow right field that deflected off Schoop's glove.
Asked about Miley's start, Showalter said, "I thought it was competitive."
"Plays we normally make, we didn't make," he added. "The runner did a great job of shielding Chris on the one and some ground balls snuck through. But I liked what I saw."
Showalter thought Miley came pretty much as advertised.
"Some balls on the ground, works fast," he said. "Good lineup over there and he kept us engaged in the game. We got back, just couldn't get that last hit. Their bullpen did a good job. Our bullpen did a good job tonight."
Mychal Givens struck out four batters in two scoreless innings. Logan Ondrusek retired the side in order in his first two innings with the Orioles before tonight, but he surrendered back-to-back doubles to Adrian Beltre and Odor in the eighth. Vance Worley breezed through the ninth.
"Mychal was good again," Showalter said. "Vance doing what he's been doing. I like the way Logan competed and kept them to just that one run."
Davis is playing Gold Glove-caliber defense this season, but he couldn't make the backhanded stop on Desmond's grounder.
"There's always hindsight with things, but that's one of the things you talk to your runners about," Showalter said. "You try to get in that position. He almost had to guess where the ball was."
The Orioles hit three more home runs, all of them solo. Mark Trumbo and Pedro Alvarez went back-to-back in the fifth, and Hyun Soo Kim hit his first Camden Yards home run in the sixth.
"(A.J.) Griffin did a good job of not putting people on base," Showalter said. "Did we draw a walk tonight? That's probably the difference.
"I thought our guys pitched pretty well. Guys have so many different looks as starters. (Yu) Darvish, (Cole) Hamels, Griffin, it's an adjustment every night."
There was a brief moment of drama in the fifth when Griffin hit Schoop after the Trumbo and Alvarez home runs and Matt Wieters' pop up. Schoop didn't appreciate it, but he went to first base without incident.
Griffin turned away in disgust after hitting Schoop.
"I usually read the reaction of the pitchers," Showalter said. "I know what people think when it first happens, but I try to think things through before you overreact. It doesn't make me happier about it. Jon has been hit a lot this year. Bad hitters don't seem to get hit by a pitch very often.
"I don't think it was intentional."
Despite the loss tonight, the Orioles won another home series by taking two of three from the Rangers. However, the Rangers won the season series 4-3, which could become a factor if home field advantage is at stake in the playoffs.
"I was impressed with how well our guys pitched against them, because that's a tough lineup to go through and stay engaged in the game," Showalter said. "We did for three games. That's the type of thing we're going to have be able to do to get where we want to go.
"I was proud of them, the way we presented ourselves against one of the best teams in the league and maybe in both leagues. They've got a lot of weapons."
Since July 3, Alvarez is batting .324/.333/.676 (23-for-71) with four doubles, seven home runs, 10 RBIs and 11 runs scored.
Kim is batting .375/.464/.500 (9-for-24) during a career-high seven-game hitting streak.
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