The Orioles placed Blaze Alexander on the 10-day injured list with lower back discomfort and recalled Jeremiah Jackson from Triple-A Norfolk. Alexander was forced from Tuesday's game against the Guardians with lower back spasms, and his condition did not significantly improve by Wednesday.
Alexander has played three different infield positions and all three spots in the outfield during his first season with Baltimore. Despite missing significant time with a fractured hand, he is batting .303 with four homers and 31 RBI in 93 games. Jackson started at second base in Wednesday night's series finale.
Shortstop Gunnar Henderson was out of the starting lineup Wednesday night against Cleveland after fouling a pitch from Hunter Gaddis off his left knee in the eighth inning of Tuesday's game. Henderson stayed in that game, but the knee locked up as he ran toward second base on a grounder, and he was removed.
Manager Craig Albernaz said Wednesday that Henderson was day to day, adding that "he's pretty banged up." Henderson is batting just .219 this season but ranks second on the team in both home runs (22) and RBIs (57). Jackson Holliday started at shortstop on Wednesday night.
The Orioles have lost seven of eight through Tuesday and are fading in the AL wild-card chase, leaving them able to ill afford being without Henderson and Alexander over their final 16 games.
