Machado expected to miss about a week with knee injury

The Orioles' top prospect, Manny Machado, is only expected to miss about a week with a left knee injury he suffered Thursday.

Machado, who was selected third overall in last year's amateur draft, had a MRI on Friday and was diagnosed with a left patellar subluxation, which can also be described as a dislocated kneecap.

Orioles team orthopedist John Wilckens reviewed the MRI on Friday evening and is expected to examine Machado on either Monday or Tuesday, when Machado's Delmarva Shorebirds are in Hagerstown.

The team will have a better idea on the injury once Machado sees Wilckens, but the early read is that he will only be out four-to-seven days. He likely will be put on the seven-day disabled list.

"So far it is good in that it looks like he could be back within a week," said Orioles director of player development John Stockstill.

The 18-year-old Delmarva shortstop had to be helped off the field in the first inning Thursday at Asheville after he collapsed running from second to third base.

Machado has hit .333 in his first 25 games with the Shorebirds. He had five homers, 21 RBIs and a .450 on-base percentage and was named the organization's player of the month for April.

Scott 'very optimistic' shoulder won't be a problem

Luke Scott was not examined by team doctors Friday, saying the plan is for him to see doctors when he gets an MRI on his sore right shoulder Monday morning.

The injury occurred late in spring training, but Scott said the injury has been bothering him more over the past three weeks. Still, he expects to play through it, saying he is "very optimistic" that it won't require a trip to the disabled list.

"I want to just see if there's anything going on in there, and if there is, what to do about it," Scott said. "If there isn't, that's good. I just want to know exactly and go from there."

More injury updates

Left-hander Brian Matusz (intercostal strain) is scheduled to make a pair of rehab starts at the team's spring training facility in Sarasota, the first of which will be Saturday. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Matusz will throw 2-to-3 innings Saturday, followed by 3-to-4 innings later next week. His third rehab start, scheduled for May 16, will be with an Orioles minor league affiliate, but Showalter did not reveal which one.

J.J. Hardy, who last played April 9 and was placed on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, made his first rehab appearance Friday in Triple-A Norfolk. He batted second and played shortstop for the Tides. He walked in his first at-bat. Showalter wouldn't put a date on Hardy's return, but doesn't plan to see him back before Tuesday.

A local and impressive debut

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brandon Guyer made his major league debut Friday at Camden Yards, roughly an hour's drive from where he grew up in Herndon, Va.

In front of about 20 friends and family, Guyer homered in his first at-bat, a two-run shot against Zach Britton in the second inning. He became the first Ray in club history to homer in the first at-bat of his major league debut. Pitcher Esteban Yan also homered in his first big-league at-bat, but it wasn't his debut.

Among those cheering on Guyer on Friday was his wife, Lindsay Murphy, a television sports anchor with Fox 5 in Washington. Guyer met Murphy when she came down to the University of Virginia to do a story on him after his 26-game hit streak was snapped. He won a bet with teammates when he asked her out after the interview.

Around the horn

Showalter said Jake Arrieta will start Tuesday after Monday's off day, but no decision has been made in regard to Wednesday's starting pitcher. … Chris Tillman went 3 2/3 innings in Thursday's 9-1 loss to Kansas City, snapping a streak of 19 straight games in which Orioles starting pitchers went at least five innings. Since Tillman's 1 2/3 inning outing in New York on April 13, Orioles pitchers averaged nearly 5.93 innings per outing and posted a 3.91 ERA. … Saturday's starter Jeremy Guthrie's last seven starts against the Rays have all been quality starts. … Brigid Morahan of Annapolis, a pediatric nurse in the intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital, is the winner of the 'Honorary Bat Girl' contest, which recognizes MLB fans that have battled breast cancer. Morahan, a one-year survivor of breast cancer, will be recognized in an on-field ceremony prior to the Orioles' Sunday game against the Rays and also throw out the first pitch.

dan.connolly@baltsun.com

xcxjmeoli@baltsun.com