With his first-inning home run representing the Orioles' only run in Friday's 4-1 loss to the visiting New York Yankees on this first day of June, shortstop Manny Machado continued to be the only true bright spot in the team's dull offense, just as he was through April and May.

"I don't know if you could ask anybody to play at that level all year, but sometimes he makes you think that he might," manager Buck Showalter said.

Machado’s home run was his 17th of the season, putting him two off the major league lead and staking the team to an early 1-0 lead they wouldn't be able to sustain or build on.

This one came to right field, just Machado's third home run to anywhere right of dead-center field and part of a recent preponderance of taking the ball the other way. He's gone to the opposite field a career-high 29.6 percent of the time this season, according to FanGraphs, showing some of the struggles that came when he got pull-conscious last year are gone.

"Manny's been locked in since the first day of spring, and I actually think he's gotten — I don't want to say more comfortable, but he's been a lot more at ease with all the plays now at shortstop, and he's settled in there nicely, too," Showalter said.

Machado also had a single in the sixth inning and a walk in the eighth to bring his season line to .329/.398/.626 with 17 home runs and a team-high 46 RBIs.

"He's a star player," Friday's Orioles starter Andrew Cashner said. "That's what star players do. It's pretty fun to watch him every night, and it's pretty crazy how good he is."

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