BALTIMORE -- Orioles slugger Chris Davis will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique, a development that came as a disappointing surprise to the first baseman after he expressed confidence he would soon return from the injury. Johan Franzen Red Wings Jersey . Davis left Friday nights game against Kansas City after four innings. He received an MRI on Saturday, and the results indicated that rest would be the best course of action. "A little bit worse than what we thought it was going to be," Davis said Saturday night. "Its kind of crazy because I dont feel terrible. Ive never had anything like this before. I figured it would just be a few days and then wed forget about it." Davis led the majors last season with 53 home runs and 138 RBIs. He has only two homers this season, and it will be a while before he gets to add to that total. "I guess the DL is the best choice right now," he said. "Hopefully things will go well and Ill be able to bounce back quickly." Earlier in the day, Davis expressed confidence that he wouldnt miss more than a few games. "Its definitely disappointing, frustrating," he said. "I do a lot to try and take care of my body and prevent injuries. You play this game long enough eventually youre going to run into something like this. But Im going to stay positive." It is uncertain when the injury occurred, although Davis suspected the muscles in his left side might have been weakened when he dived for groundballs in Boston and Toronto before the Orioles returned home to face the Royals. On Friday night, Davis winced after hitting a flyball in the third inning. He played another inning before manager Buck Showalter removed him from the game. Now, it appears as if Showalter will have to adjust to being without Davis for at least the next two weeks. "Its something we think will take the DL period at a minimum, so well start with that (Sunday)," the manager said. Right fielder Nick Markakis was in the starting lineup at first base Saturday night. Before batting practice, three Baltimore coaches worked with Markakis at the position, going over throws and positioning. The Orioles recalled infielder Jemile Weeks from Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday to provide an extra bat after optioning reliever T.J. McFarland to Norfolk late Friday night. Utility infielder Ryan Flaherty also is expected to get time at first base. Flaherty has been playing third base while the Orioles wait for Manny Machado to come off the disabled list following off-season knee surgery. Asked if subbing for Davis, an All-Star last season, will be imposing, Flaherty replied, "I got stuck trying to do that for Manny the first couple weeks." Machado could play in Class A Frederick or Norfolk on Monday. It appears the Minnesota series on May 2-4 could be the most likely time for him to return to the Orioles, Showalter confirmed. Danny DeKeyser Jersey . While the spotlight has been on potential first overall draft pick Jadeveon Clowney and his 40-yard time, and top quarterback prospect Blake Bortles during the throwing drills, top prospects Greg Robinson and Sammy Watkins have impressed scouts enough to solidify or even boost their spots on draft boards. Nicklas Lidstrom Jersey . The league announced the decision on its website Saturday, shortly before AC Milan was due to kick off against Genoa at 6 p.m. local time. The 25-year-old Morosini died about an hour earlier after suffering cardiac arrest during his teams Serie B match at Pescara.SOELDEN, Austria -- Lara Guts start to the Olympic season couldnt have been more different from the one she had four years ago. Gut convincingly won the season-opening womens World Cup giant slalom Saturday for her fourth career victory -- but first in the discipline -- with a dominant performance that sent a message to her rivals less than four months ahead of the Sochi Olympics. It was a sharp contrast to September 2009, when the Swiss skier dislocated her hip in GS training and missed the entire season -- including the Vancouver Games. "This is sensational," said Gut, who became the first Swiss female to win a GS since Sonja Nef placed first in Santa Caterina, Italy, in January 2003. "Winning the first race of the season is amazing," Gut said. "Its great to have a GS winner in Switzerland again after all these years. ... Ill take it step by step this season and I dont think about Sochi yet." Watched by 11,000 visitors in warm and sunny conditions, Gut led the field by 0.77 after the opening run before finishing in an aggregate 2 minutes, 25.16 seconds. Kathrin Zettel of Austria came 0.84 back in second and Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany took third, 1.28 off the lead. The favourites struggled as overall World Cup champion Tina Maze of Slovenia was 3.05 behind in 18th, and world GS champion Tessa Worley of France trailed Gut by 3.31 in 21st. Four-time overall champion Lindsey Vonn skipped the race and plans to start her season next month after recovering from knee surgery, while American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, who won the slalom title last season, came 1.62 behind in sixth for her career-best World Cup result in the discipline. "Im really happy, and happy that the race is over, that we have that under our belt," Shiffrin said. "Its cool to see the other girls out here and who has improved. I think today was a pretty good day." Following surgery, Gut struggled to get going again in the technical races after impressing as a 17-year-old rookie in the 2007-08 season. "After my injury it took a lot of time to build up my GS skiing again," Gut said. "It was easier in super-G and downhill. But now I am back to what I can do in GS as well. Nicklas Lidstrom Authentic Jersey. " During summer training under new coach Rudi Huber, Gut focused on avoiding mistakes. "The last years I was used to ski fast but I also did a lot of mistakes," she said. "So we practiced skiing clean, and thats what I did today, skiing clean but still pushing it to the limit." Gut said she was surprised by her dominant performance as the conditions didnt really suit her. "There was much distance between the gates and the snow was pretty aggressive," said Gut, who has won two super-Gs and a downhill. "Its not easy to find the right mixture of skiing carefully and attacking. Usually I am not so good at it." Maze started her record-breaking season last year with a convincing win in Soelden but never found her rhythm this time. "She didnt ski," her coach Andrea Massi said. "She didnt get one turn right." Julia Mancuso, the 2006 Olympic champion in the discipline, was another big name struggling. She finished the first run in 31st but was allowed a second run after Emi Hasegawa of Japan was disqualified. "It was just slow," Mancuso said. "The snow was good. I guess for me I wasnt in race mode. Its just a hard race." Former overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch lost balance in a right turn early in her opening run and went off course. The German, who finished runner-up to Maze in the overall standings last season, said she didnt want to put much weight on the first race of the season. "I didnt come far but my skiing felt good," Hoefl-Riesch said. "Its better for me to take some risks than hold back and finish two, three seconds off the lead. Ive watched the other girls and I am pretty sure I will be right there with the best in GS this season." According to Hoefl-Riesch, Gut was the only racer who didnt hold back. "As its the first race, many skiers were too cautious. Lara Gut didnt do that, she raced like in training last week," said Hoefl-Riesch, who is yet to win a GS in her career. "I thought (Maze) would be very strong again. Last season she was incredibly dominant. Its good for me to see that she is beatable again." ' ' '