Mountcastle batting leadoff for 1st time in Orioles’ lineup against Yankees

BALTIMORE—For the first time in his major league career, Ryan Mountcastle will be batting leadoff for the Orioles on Thursday night. Jackson Holliday, who normally bats atop the lineup, isn’t playing against New York Yankees left-hander Max Fried.

“Just trying to get Jackson a blow for today,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Like a lot of guys this time of the year, they’re kind of nicked up this time of the year. He needed to take the day. I think If you’re probably in the hunt, Jackson’s probably playing today.”

Mansolino said he wanted Jordan Westburg to continue to bat in the second spot.

“I wanted Westy to have some stability,” Mansolino said. “I don’t want him to move around.”

Mountcastle missed more than two months with a hamstring injury and has played in only 82 games.

“He would have been in there the last couple of games. He had a finger that was a little nicked up,” Mansolino said. Mountcastle hurt the finger fielding a ground ball in Monday’s game in Chicago.

“He’s fine, but we just wanted to make sure that his hand, his finger was good for these New York games because we knew we were getting left-handed pitching. Every day I can get Mounty in the lineup, I would like to.”

Notes: Right-hander Shawn Dubin, who’s on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort, does not need surgery. His MRI showed no structural damage. “It came back better than expected,” Dubin said. “Kind of a lingering issue from what I was dealing with earlier this year, so a little frustrating in that sense. I got it taken care of. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, everything’s back to normal and have a productive offseason. … Catcher Adley Rutschman didn’t play in Triple-A Norfolk’s 8-5 loss to Jacksonville. It was a planned day off in his rehab assignment, Mansolino said.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.