Dan Connolly

Smith not starting; Machado back in lineup; Schoop leads off for first time in 2017

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Orioles manager Buck Showalter didn’t announce his starting lineup Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays until less than two hours before first pitch because he was waiting on the health of a few of his players.

One, third baseman Manny Machado, was back in the starting lineup after being out Thursday, when Showalter rested his superstar partially because of a sore right index finger.

Outfielder Seth Smith, who fouled a ball off his left cheek Thursday, was not in Friday’s lineup even with a right-hander on the mound.

Smith was dealing with some blurry vision Thursday and, on Friday, took some pre-game fly balls in the outfield, but, apparently, the Orioles decided to err on the side of caution.

Hyun Soo Kim started in left, Mark Trumbo in right field and Trey Mancini was the starting designated hitter against Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez.

The lineup also had a slightly different look. With Smith shelved and Joey Rickard not starting against Sanchez, second baseman Jonathan Schoop got the call to leadoff.

It’s only the second time Schoop, who is hitting .281 with a .329 on-base percentage, has hit leadoff in his career. The other was last Aug. 29 – also against the Blue Jays. Schoop was hitless in four at-bats in that one.

Dan Connolly

Dan Connolly has spent more than two decades as a print journalist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate first covered the Orioles as a beat writer for the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record in 2001 before becoming The Baltimore Sun’s national baseball writer/Orioles reporter in 2005. He has won multiple state and national writing awards, including several from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013 he was named Maryland Co-Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. And in 2015, he authored his first book, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." He lives in York, with his wife, Karen, and three children, Alex, Annie, and Grace.