Buck Showalter offered several reasons why he chose to sit first baseman Chris Davis for Sunday’s series finale at Fenway Park, but none were more convincing than the fact that the Orioles slugger is back in a horrendous rut at the plate.
Davis hadn’t had much success against Sunday’s Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez, going just 5-for-27 with 14 strikeouts in his career against the Boston lefty. Showalter said he also wanted to give outfielder Craig Gentry an opportunity to get his bat going against left-handed pitching, and he wanted to shift Trey Mancini, who has been dealing with a sore knee, out of left field and move him to first base.