Gathright out for Royals' series finale

BALTIMORE -- Center fielder Joey Gathright pulled his left shoulder out of place so Royals manager Trey Hillman had him out of the lineup on Thursday night.

Gathright's shoulder went out briefly as he tried for an over-the-fence catch during a 5-2 loss to Baltimore on Wednesday night. He dropped the ball because his hand went numb as his shoulder went out. However, he stayed in the game.

"Any time Joey extends that left arm when he dives or when he goes over [the fence], he's got some laxity in there," Hillman said. "He could have played today, but I thought it was a good time to give him a day off."

David DeJesus, who returned to the lineup on Wednesday night after two days off with a rib cage injury, was moved from left to center field. Jose Guillen went from designated hitter to left field and Billy Butler was back at DH.

Catcher John Buck, who took a foul tip to the groin and also stayed in the game, was also out of the lineup.

"The worst pain I felt was from the clubhouse to the bus right after icing it," Buck said. "But once I laid down and put ice on it, it started to go away."

Buck declared he was ready to play in the series finale.

"When a guy's been catching as long as he has says that's the worst shot he's taken in that area of his body, anytime, anywhere, then that's a pretty big statement," Hillman said. "He's in a lot of pain."

Rookie shortstop Mike Aviles also was out of the lineup for the first time in 24 games. He was hitless in his last two games and made a couple of mental mistakes defensively on Tuesday night.

"I don't want his confidence level to go too low," Hillman said. "I think he's just two for his last 15 or 16. Of course, the last hit he got was a huge hit -- it ended up plating the winning run for us in that extra-inning opening day win here."

He cited Aviles' recent tendency to chase high pitches as a factor.

Tony Pena, who had not played in six straight games, started at shortstop.

"It'll be a good opportunity for TJ to get back in the mix," Hillman said. "Hopefully, he can do some productively offensively; he almost always does defensively."