Schoop lands on DL with right oblique strain

Infield depth to be put to test; Mancini hot at Fenway

BOSTON – The Orioles placed second baseman — one of the team’s most durable players and top offensive contributors — on the 10-day disabled list with a right oblique strain before Saturday’s game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Before the game, Orioles manager

said that he believed Schoop might miss just two weeks. An MRI performed Saturday morning revealed a Grade 1 strain, which is the mildest grade. Last season, first baseman missed a month just before the All-Star break with a Grade 1 strain.

“We’re thinking a little bit better scenario than what it could have been,” Showalter said. “We think we caught it kind of early.”

Schoop, who was replaced on defense in the eighth inning of the Orioles’ 7-3 loss Friday, suffered the injury while swinging during his final at-bat of the night.

“The last swing, if you go back and look at it, was a little awkward. I thought something might be going on there,” Showalter said.

Recovery from oblique strains — a common injury in today’s game as hitters are constantly swinging — have unclear timetables.

The Orioles’ move to place Schoop on the disabled list coincided with the team calling up right-hander to start Saturday’s game.

Schoop, who set career highs in practically every offensive category in his first All-Star season last year, had a slow start to this season. He entered Saturday hitting .230/ .266/.344 with one homer and three RBIs in 14 games, though he was coming off back-to-back multihit games after going 2-for-4 on Friday night at Fenway Park.

shifted from third base to fill in at second in Saturday’s 10-3 loss to Boston and figures to be the team’s primary second baseman in Schoop’s absence. Beckham — primarily a shortstop before this year’s move to third base — made his 56th career start at second base Saturday. “Whatever we need, man,” Beckham said. The injury would likely open up more playing time at third base for

who started at third Saturday and committed a fielding error. Shortstop

made two throwing errors in the loss.

Schoop has been one of the Orioles’ most durable players. Since the beginning of the 2016 season, he missed just two regularseason games. This is just the second time Schoop has gone on the disabled list in his major league career. He suffered a partial PCL tear and an MCL sprain in his right knee in April 2015 — an injury that also took place in Boston — and missed nearly three months.

The Orioles return to a short bench with the move, with utility man the only player other than Beckham to have significant experience at second base. Replay matters: A day after a review challenge went against the Orioles, Showalter was still wondering about a controversial play in Friday’s game. In the fourth inning of the 7-3 loss,

looped a ball in shallow right field down the line that dropped in fair territory, bounced foul and landed on the tarp roll positioned by the railing.

Right fielder gave chase, retrieved the ball and threw out Jones attempting to reach second base.

According to Major League Baseball’s universal ground rules, any ball that becomes lodged between the tarp and the railing is ruled a dead ball. But the ball was never ruled dead.

Showalter challenged the boundary call, but after a lengthy review, the call stood because there was not clear evidence that the ball was “lodged.” Mancini the man at Fenway: After a 2-for-4 performance Saturday, leadoff hitter

had multihit games in each of the first two games of the series in Boston, continuing a strong showing at Fenway Park to open his career.

Mancini has hit safely in all nine games he’s played at Fenway Park — hitting .500 (17-for-34) in Boston — which is the the longest hit streak in Boston to open a career by an Oriole since had hits in his first 10 games at Fenway Park.

Mancini is also now hitting .365 (19-for-52) with six walks batting from the leadoff spot over the course of his career. Around the horn: An MRI performed on

on Friday revealed only rotator cuff inflammation, but the righthander could receive a cortisone injection to relieve the inflammation possibly on Monday. Ynoa opened the season on the DL with a shin injury. … Showalter said there hasn’t been any significant progress with outfielder

surgically repaired hip. He’s eligible to return from the DL on Tuesday, but won’t likely be ready by then. … The club is separating Double-A right-hander

and Triple-A right-hander who were starting on the same day, to give the club 40-man roster reinforcement options on different days.