Updating Britton and Showalter speaks after 9-0 loss

Orioles closer Zach Britton will receive a stem cell injection in his left knee on Thursday afternoon and is expected to be shut down for the last nine games of the season, which continued to turn sour with tonight's 9-0 loss to the Red Sox at Camden Yards.

The Orioles will monitor how Britton responds to the injection, but also where they stand as they move through their final homestand and hit the road for series in Pittsburgh and St. Petersburg, Fla.

"The plan is do that now and then see where we are in three to five days on a lot of different fronts," said manager Buck Showalter. "We'll see how he is physically and where we are as a team."

Britton sounds like he expects to be shut down through the end of the month with a strained MCL, though he intends to keep himself available in case the Orioles decide to use him again. His last appearance came Monday night with a scoreless inning against the Red Sox. He recorded a four-out save on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

"Hopefully, that (injection) will speed up the recovery process of it," he said. "It's not anything I need any surgery done. It's going to go away once I rest it. So, we felt like that's a good step in the recovery process."

Britton underwent a second MRI on the knee as part of his exit physical and met with team orthopedist Dr. Michael Jacobs. Surgery isn't an option. Just the injection and rest.

"The most important thing for me is to be healthy going into next season," he said. "That's the thing that they kind of preached to me from an organizational standpoint."

The Orioles suffered their 12th loss in 14 games and haven't scored in 26 consecutive innings. Chris Sale struck out 13 batters over eight innings to give him 300 for the season.

"He's one of the best pitchers in the game and couple in the fact that we're not really operating on all cylinders offensively, that's for sure, you end up with a shutout," Showalter said.

"If it wasn't for the other team beating you, it's always something to watch as far as being to operate at that level. Now he's got the changeup that he's real confident in, too. Doesn't miss location much, can do up and go down, breaking ball. You've got to cheat so much with the fastball. And his angle.

"That's what a lot of people miss about pitchers. Some guys are 6-5, 6-6 and don't take advantage of their angles. Some guys are shorter and do. He's got a great angle. It's a release you don't see. It's tough to simulate and prepare for."

Wade Miley was charged with six runs in 4 1/3 innings, the last two scoring on Hanley Ramirez's double off Mike Wright. He allowed four hits, walked four batters, struck out four and served up a pair of two-run homers.

"It's not like, for instance, you watch him pitch and you don't see some of the command that Tanner (Scott) had a challenge with," Showalter said. "At this level, with power being such a challenge for pitchers, you're always trying to pitch ... it seems that sometimes you get defensive. But we walked, what, five or six guys tonight? That certainly doesn't help anything. But started off well. Just the second time through the order he really wasn't able to get the ball where he was getting it earlier."

Miley escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third on a line drive that J.J. Hardy turned into a double play, minimizing the importance of Ryan Flaherty's fielding error. But the game got away from him in the fourth and he was gone after back-to-back walks in the fifth.

"Sometimes, you take advantage of a line drive at somebody for a double play," Showalter said. "And then on the flip side of that, when someone makes an error behind you, you're able to make it not ...

"There's always a price to pay for defensive miscues because you throw more pitches, you have to go to the tank more, you have to, maybe you have to bring in a guy for more outs than normally. That's why we place such a premium on it here is there's a price to pay for errors. And outs are out there that we don't get. As good a club as Boston is, you can't give them those type of opportunities. They do enough earning it."

Scott made his major league debut in the eighth and flashed a fastball clocked at 98-100 mph, but his slider was the more effective pitch. He gave up Dustin Pedroia's two-out, two-run single after loading the bases on a hit and two walks.

"As advertised. About how I thought it would be," Showalter said.

"Slider has come a long way for him. His presentation was good. He didn't show it, but he's always been that type of guy. That's one thing that was intriguing about him. It's unfortunate, the very first hitter (Sam Travis) was trying to defend himself and get out of the way and blocks it to right field. But you're going to get that.

"We talk about the huge jump in pitching when you get here, but you're also going to face a lot better hitters. The strength factor comes into play a lot more. They fist some balls over there and they don't try to do too much. That's why the slider is going to be a big pitch for him as he goes forward. But I'm glad we had an opportunity that he could get out there.

"I didn't want him to pitch the ninth. Wanted to make sure he had some coverage behind him in case he had some of the challenges that he had. I wish that first guy wouldn't have broken his bat to right field. It might have created a little less anxiety for him."

Showalter confirmed a third starter for the Rays series that closes out the final homestand. Jeremy Hellickson will pitch Saturday night, following Gabriel Ynoa on Thursday and Ubaldo Jiménez on Friday.

The Sunday starter remains TBD, with Showalter unsure whether the same group of starters will get another turn.

"We're taking it day to day," Showalter said. "We can make some changes with that depending on what best serves our players and our organization. We're committed to those two to three games and see where we are after that.

"Past that, I really wouldn't commit to that. I'll adjust it as we go."