BALTIMORE -- Buck Showalter is tired of seeing the Baltimore Orioles fail.

"What's the definition of insanity?" he asked rhetorically before Monday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, a nod to the saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

After watching his team lose 10 of its past 11 games while averaging just 2.7 runs in the process, and knowing that the O's were going up against Rays' ace Chris Archer, Showalter juggled his team's lineup for Monday's series opener against Tampa. Reserve utility man Ryan Flaherty was at third base. All three catchers -- Caleb Joseph, Steve Clevenger, and Matt Wieters -- were in the lineup, including Wieters making just his third career start at first base. But the most notable change?

Manny Machado at shortstop.

It was the first time in 420 career games as a big leaguer that Machado, who was drafted as a shortstop back in 2010, has started somewhere other than third base. Well, technically.

"He's been playing shortstop all year," joked Showalter before the game, referring to the countless defensive shifts the Orioles have employed that often result in Machado being positioned by himself on the left side of the infield. "He's got as many putouts at shortstop as he does at third."

As for Machado's official debut as a starting shortstop, it ironically comes just one day before the Orioles will pay tribute to Cal Ripken Jr. (on Tuesday, Camden Yards celebrates the 20th anniversary of his 2,131 game), arguably the most famous third baseman/shortstop in the history of the game. Not that that had anything to do with Showalter's shuffling.

"Every once in a while, you're in need of a different look," said the O's skipper. "Something to take away from Groundhog Day." Then his team proceeded to go out and do the same thing it's been doing for the better part of the past two weeks. They lost. The 6-3 defeat in the series opener at Camden Yards dropped the fading Orioles to six games out of the second American League wild card spot, and 11 games back in the American League East.

In a season that seems all but lost for the Orioles, the most significant storyline from Monday night's game may have been the relocation of one Manuel Arturo Machado. However temporary it may have been.

Is there more where that came from?

"Not necessarily," Showalter said after the game when asked if Machado might see more time there over the final month of the season. Regular shortstop J.J. Hardy, currently on the 15-day disabled list with a recurrence of the back issues that have contributed to him missing 38 games this season, is eligible to return tomorrow. Last week, in Hardy's absence, the Orioles called up defensive specialist Paul Janish from Triple-A Norfolk. Janish had started four of the previous six games at shortstop prior to Machado's transfer, and will likely be back there real soon. Said Showalter: "I think Manny will play third base tomorrow and Janish will play short."

Nevertheless, after watching Machado ply his trade on Monday -- he fielded all three of his chances flawlessly, including a highlight reel, back-hand hose job from the outfield grass to nail Rays catcher Rene Rivera -- it's hard not to imagine a future in which the 2013 AL Platinum Glove winner eventually winds up at shortstop. Especially when you consider that the 33-year-old Hardy, who has missed 30 or more games in four of the past seven seasons and isn't hitting the way he used to, isn't getting any younger.

As for Machado, he seemed just as at peace with his new position after the game as he did during it. "It was great be out there playing short," he said calmly with the faintest hint of a smile that belied his team's fortunes on the field earlier. His behavior was a stark departure from eight days ago, when after playing his first big-league inning at shortstop and committing a key error that resulted in the Orioles losing, he was a human bleep machine in the clubhouse afterward. Today was different though. Today, despite yet another O's defeat, he seemed like a guy who was at peace with his place in the world. And on the field.

"It came back pretty easy," Machado said. "I've been playing that my whole life. It just came naturally."