Nick Markakis

Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis was scratched from the starting lineup for Sunday afternoon's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies after he woke up with neck spasms. “We're just going to be careful with him,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “He never had it before. He got better as the day went on. He's got some muscle relaxers and all that stuff, and we'll see where we are in a couple of days.” With Monday's off day and Tuesday's road game in Dunedin against the Blue Jays - veteran starters don't often make road trips this early in camp - Markakis will get an additional two days off. But Showalter said the injury was not a spring training precaution, and that Markakis would have missed the game had it occurred during the regular season.

Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis' broke his left thumb in the fifth inning of Saturday's 5-4 win against the New York Yankees and is lost for at least six weeks, putting the club's leadoff hitter and most tenured player out for the rest of the regular season and a chunk of the potential postseason. “The timing sucks. The timing definitely sucks but we got a great group of guys. They are going to battle through this,” Markakis said. “I'll be here for them and I'll be supporting them.

The Orioles' 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night gave them a 5-3 record eight games into this 11-game West Coast road trip. Perhaps even more important is that the win improved the Orioles' record to 9-3 when coming off a loss. That means that the Orioles have had back-to-back losses just three times this season. One of those times was this road trip, when they lost the final game against the Oakland Athletics and the first game against the Seattle Mariners. But the Orioles have avoided those consecutive loss slides that have foiled so many Orioles teams of the past.

Even though Chris Davis and Adam Jones have carried the majority of the offensive load in the Orioles lineup through the first 11 games, right fielder Nick Markakis has quietly had a solid start to the season. Markakis' go-ahead solo homer in the third inning of yesterday's 5-3 win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium gave him hits in nine of the first 11 games. He's also homered in two of his past four games. "That's where I like to be,” Markakis said after Saturday's game. “I like to be under the radar.

The Orioles resume play tonight with a second-half kickoff against the Detroit Tigers at Camden Yards. And they are doing it with a wrinkle you have never seen before. Right fielder Nick Markakis, who will be playing for the first time for the Orioles since having surgery to remove the hamate bone in his right wrist on June 1, is batting leadoff. He's never done that in his seven-year big league career, which spans 996 games. He has most frequently batted third (543 starts)

BOSTON -- Orioles manager Buck Showalter said in the first days of spring training that he wanted to float the designated hitter spot among different players. After seeing his DH's open the season 1-for-26 with a .038 batting average, the lowest in the American League, Showalter has placed Nick Markakis in that spot for the Orioles' series finale in Boston on Thursday. The move also allows Showalter to get left-handed hitting outfielder Chris Dickerson, who joined the team Wednesday from Triple-A Norfolk, into the lineup against Boston right-hander Alfredo Aceves.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis said Tuesday that the stiffness in his neck is getting better, but he added that he will likely still be out of the team's starting lineup for at least the next few days. “It's safe to say a couple more days,” Markakis said. “If the season was going on today, I would probably be able to play today, but its spring so we'll take it easy, nice and slow, no rush.” Markakis was scratched from the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates when he woke up with a stiff neck.

Having been cleared to resume baseball activities Thursday, Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis said he's confident he will have enough time -- and at-bats -- to be ready for the regular season. Markakis hasn't played since March 1, when he was scratched from the starting lineup with neck stiffness. After an MRI, Markakis was diagnosed with a small disk herniation in his neck. On Friday, he will take swings off a tee and do some light throwing. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said the progression, which is slated to take three to four days, will include soft-toss hitting, long-toss throwing and live batting practice thrown by coaches.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- After seeing a spine specialist in Baltimore on Tuesday, Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis remains optimistic he will be recovered from a herniated disk in his neck in time to be in the starting lineup on Opening Day. Markakis saw Johns Hopkins spine specialist Dr. Lee Riley on the team's off day and returned to Sarasota on Wednesday. He said he's currently pain-free and his range of motion is returning. Markakis was scratched from the starting lineup March 1 after he woke up unable to move his neck.

Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis resumed normal offseason workouts a few weeks ago after recovering from surgery to repair a broken left thumb that cost him the last month of the regular season and the team's first postseason in 15 years. "As good as I'm going to get right now.” Markakis said Tuesday. “I've already started all my stuff and I'm ready to roll. And actually, [I'm] anxious to get down there [to spring training]. I don't have any setbacks.” Markakis, who attended Tuesday's Oriole REACH holiday party at Dave & Busters in the Arundel Mills Mall , said he's antsy to help build on the Orioles' success last season - which he knows comes with higher expectations.