O's call up Machado, promote Bundy

Calling him "a natural," the Orioles will call up top prospect Manny Machado from Double-A Bowie prior to Thursday's game against Kansas City.

"When you have the player with this kind of talent, he's a natural. The guy's got a lot of a talent and we feel like he can help," Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette told MLB.com.

The announcement came not long after the Orioles said they would promote Dylan Bundy, their top pitching prospect, to Bowie from Class A Advanced Frederick.

In Baltimore, Machado is expected to occupy third base, a position he's played only twice in 219 games since the Orioles selected him third overall in the 2010 Draft.

"Manny should be a plus defender wherever we play him," Duquette said. "He's a five-tool player and he can help our team. I think he improves our team and it's important here [for this club] to be strong."

Orioles manager Buck Showalter echoed that sentiment, saying, "If we can do something that makes us two inches better to have a chance to win the last 49 games, we're going to do it."

Baltimore has won five straight to climb within 4 1/2 games of the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East. The Orioles are tied with the Tigers and A's atop the Wild Card standings.

The callup caps a frenetic week for Machado. MLB.com's No. 3 overall prospect hit for the cycle on Saturday and, two days later, was named Eastern League Player of the Week. A nine-game hitting streak has raised his average to .266 with 11 homers and 59 RBIs in 109 games.

Machado, who turned 20 last month, will not be teammates with Bundy -- at least not for the time being. Bundy is expected to make his Double-A debut on Tuesday, when the Baysox play a doubleheader against Erie.

The Eastern League will be the third stop this season for the 19-year-old right-hander, who's already been profiled on national television.

Bundy spent the first six weeks at Class A Delmarva, where he gave up only five hits over 30 scoreless innings in eight starts. Since moving up to Frederick, the former Oklahoma prep star is 6-3 with a 2.98 ERA in 11 starts.

After allowing just one earned run over his previous three starts, Bundy was roughed up for four runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings in a victory over Lynchburg on Wednesday. That brought his overall record to 7-3 with a 1.92 ERA in 19 starts.