KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Orioles left-hander T.J. McFarland might have been as surprised as anyone that he was still with the club Saturday, a day after pitching five scoreless innings in the Orioles' 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Because McFarland's longest outing in nearly two years made him unavailable to pitch the next few days, and because the Orioles faced a roster crunch in activating left-hander Brian Matusz on Saturday and right-hander Kevin Gausman to start Monday, the Orioles were considering optioning McFarland to Triple-A Norfolk.

But they avoided sending McFarland back to the minors, instead placing right-hander Yovani Gallardo — who left Friday's game after just two innings — on the disabled list with right biceps tendinitis.

When he called the bullpen after the second inning Friday, manager Buck Showalter said bullpen coach Dom Chiti told him he thought McFarland could give the Orioles up to 75 pitches.

“Mac's that type of guy,” Showalter said. “A lot of the work he did in spring, stretching him out, [helped]. He would pitch in a game for two to three innings and go down to the bullpen and pitch another two to prepare him for what his role was going to be. … I think a lot of people miss how important guys like that are on a staff. You don't want to have to need it every night. You'd like to have multiple [long] guys. But Mac's already said, ‘I can give you an inning tonight if you need me.' But he's not going to do that.”

McFarland allowed just three hits on 66 pitches against a left-handed-heavy Royals lineup. And McFarland's outing not only kept the Orioles in the game; it also ate up much-needed innings to keep the bullpen fresh.

“Well, that is first and foremost,” McFarland said. “The reason why I go out there so early is so we don't mess up the bullpen for the rest of the series. It was definitely important for me to stretch it out. But because the game was so close, it kind of turned into me ... not giving up any runs, because we needed a chance to win.”

Matusz giving Orioles length: Showalter said Matusz, who has been mostly used as the team's situational left-handed reliever over the past few years, could provide the Orioles with bullpen length if needed after being activated Saturday.

Matusz opened the season on the DL with a lower-back strain and was stretched out in his minor league rehabilitation assignment, pitching three and four innings in his past two appearances.

Showalter said Matusz would be available to give the Orioles some length in the bullpen Saturday night, and right-hander Vance Worley, who threw just 10 pitches in a scoreless eighth inning Friday, could be extended if needed.

Just 10 of Matusz's 58 appearances last season — and just one of his last 20 — went more than one inning.

Kim receives start:Hyun Soo Kim got his third start of the season, and first in 10 days, on Saturday, when he started in left field and batted ninth.

Kim has played sparingly in the season's first three weeks. His previous start was April 13 in Boston, but he went into Saturday's game 3-for-7 — all of his hits are singles — with two walks and a strikeout.

Starting left fielder Joey Rickard moved to right, and Mark Trumbo was the designated hitter, meaning the slumping Pedro Alvarez was out of the lineup.

Alvarez, who is 4-for-34 this season, is hitless in his past 10 at-bats and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout and two walks Friday night.

Around the horn: Third baseman Manny Machado extended his career-best hitting streak to 16 games with a first-inning single Saturday. It is the second-longest streak in club history to open a season. Davey Johnson began the 1971 season by hitting safely in 17 straight games. Before Saturday, Machado had been tied with David Newhan (2004) and Luis Matos (2003), who had 15-game opening streaks. … Utility infielder Ryan Flaherty likely will start in today's series finale in Kansas City, Showalter said.

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