When Manny Machado arrived at Camden Yards amid much fanfare, Orioles manager Buck Showalter insisted the 20-year-old player was promoted for no other reason than to help the team win.

And that is precisely what Machado did in his second game in the major leagues.

Machado thrust himself into the Orioles’ record book by hitting two home runs and driving in four runs, a power display that carried Baltimore past the Kansas City Royals 7-1 on Friday night.

After going 2 for 4 in his debut on Thursday, Machado hit a solo shot in the fifth inning and a three-run drive in the sixth. Both homers came off Luke Hochevar (7-10) and landed in the left-field seats.

The second clinched the victory, but Machado never will forget his first home run trot in the big leagues.

“It was the best feeling ever,” he said. “The crowd here loves me, and for them to support me like that, after my first home run, it just felt great.”

After the second one, Machado was pushed out of the dugout by teammate Adam Jones to acknowledge the request of a curtain call by the crowd of 17,277.

“It was great,” Machado said. “I’ve dreamed about that my whole life, about going out there and getting that curtain call, and second game in the big leagues I get it.”

At 20 years, 35 days old, Machado is the youngest Oriole ever to have a multihomer game. Boog Powell was 20 years and 258 days old when he homered twice against Minnesota in May 1962.

Machado also became the 12th youngest major leaguer since 1918 to hit at least two home runs in a game.

Machado, the third overall pick in the 2010 draft, went 2 for 4 in his second straight start at third base. He never had played above the Double-A level before Thursday night.

And that explains why manager Buck Showalter was cautious in his praise of the youngster.

“It’s two games. He’s off to a good start,” Showalter said. “He’s hit some mistakes and hit them well, which guys have to do up here. He’ll have the kitchen sink thrown at him and we’ll see how it goes. But so far, so good.”

Omar Quintanilla also homered for the Orioles, who have won six of seven.

Miguel Gonzalez (4-2) allowed one run and six hits in eight innings, striking out five and walking one. The right-hander was 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA in two home starts.

Salvador Perez homered for the Royals, who lost for the second time in six games. Hochevar had allowed only 13 homers in 22 starts before giving up three in this one.

“That’s what it falls on: three mistakes that they didn’t miss,” said Hochevar, who went 5 1/3 innings. “Hitters don’t usually miss mistakes at this level.”

Not even Machado in his second game.

“These last two games he’s played really well. He’s hit mistakes, he’s hit good pitches,” Hochevar said. “He’s having some really, really good at-bats. Plays good defense and obviously swinging it well right now.”

Baltimore led 2-1 before Machado notched his first home run and RBI with one swing at a 3-2 pitch. In the sixth, after Nate McLouth doubled in a run, Machado connected on a 1-2 pitch for a 7-1 lead.

Machado’s heroics overshadowed a fine performance by another Baltimore rookie, Gonzalez, who went eight innings for the first time.

“Just throwing strikes, getting ahead of guys,” Gonzalez said. “My sinker worked well and my changeup was good.”

In his previous two starts at home, Gonzalez twice gave up a home run to the first batter he faced and yielded a combined six first-inning runs. He reversed that trend by striking out leadoff hitter Alex Gordon to begin a 1-2-3 first.

Perez hit a drive over the right-field wall in the second inning to put the Royals up 1-0. It was the 10th homer allowed by Gonzalez in 48 2/3 innings, although nine of those 10 home runs have been solo shots.

In the bottom half, Wilson Betemit led off with a double, and Quintanilla homered with two outs.

— Associated Press —

Billy Butler already had cleared the most difficult obstacles of hitting for the cycle, including a home run and his first triple since 2009.

All he needed was a measly little single in his final two at-bats to become the seventh player in the history of the Kansas City Royals to complete the cycle.

Butler fell short, but that was one of very few negatives for the Royals in an 8-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.

Butler finished with three RBIs and scored three runs, and Alex Gordon homered and had three hits to help Kansas City end the Orioles’ five-game winning streak and take the luster off Manny Machado’s impressive major league debut.

Butler homered in a four-run first inning, doubled in the third and tripled in the fifth. Vying to become the first Kansas City player to hit for the cycle since George Brett in 1990, Butler struck out against Matt Lindstrom in the seventh and submariner Darren O’Day in the ninth.

“I really didn’t have much to hit,” Butler said. “They pitched me tough with some really good sliders. O’Day is not somebody a right-hander is going to have much success against at all. I know I haven’t in my history. I’m just trying to take him the other way and it just didn’t work out. He’s going to get most righties out all of the time.”

Butler is 11 for 24 (.458) with three homers and five RBIs in six games against Baltimore this season.

“Butler’s one of the top five right-handed hitters in baseball,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “This guy is solid. You look at his track record. I try not to feel like he’s picking on us. We made some good pitches on him the last couple at-bats, but we made some mistakes on him and good hitters are going to pounce on those.”

Machado, the third overall pick in the 2010 draft, went 2 for 4 and played flawlessly at third base in his first game above the Double-A level. The 20-year-old grounded out in the second inning, tripled in the fifth, beat out a slow roller to second base in the seventh and popped out to end the game.

“I thought Manny did well, presented himself well tonight,” Showalter said. “I’m proud of him. There was a nice calmness about him and a good start. He handled the situation well, all things considered.”

Machado was pleased with his performance but disappointed with the final score.

“It would have been way much better if we would have come out with a win, but they did a good job,” the rookie said.

Asked if this taste of success might carry over, Machado replied, “I’ve still got a long year and a lot more at-bats to go. But for the first night I think it went great.”

Matt Wieters homered for the Orioles, who failed for a sixth time this season to extend a five-game winning streak to six.

Baltimore rookie Wei-Yin Chen (10-7) allowed a career-high seven runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. Coming off two straight starts in which he did not allow an earned run, the Taiwanese left-hander yielded a home run to Gordon on the second pitch of the game and never got back on track.

Will Smith (3-4) gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings for the Royals, who have won four of five.

“That was a great game,” manager Ned Yost said. “We tacked on runs on three or four different occasions. (Alcides) Escobar was spectacular at shortstop. Great defense. We hit homers. We hit doubles. We played very, very well.”

Kansas City took a 4-0 lead before Chen could get an out. After Gordon hit his third leadoff homer of the season, Escobar and Lorenzo Cain followed with singles before Butler homered on a 1-1 pitch.

In the second inning, Machado received a warm ovation from the crowd of 21,226 before his first at-bat. With two on and two outs, he hit a chopper to Escobar and was thrown out by a step.

The Royals used doubles by Butler, Mike Moustakas and Jeff Francoeur to make it 6-0 in the third. Moustakas was 2 for 27 lifetime against Baltimore before his run-scoring hit.

Chen’s night ended in the fifth, when Butler tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Salvador Perez.

In the bottom half, Machado tripled and scored on a fly ball by Nick Markakis to make it 7-1. Escobar hit an RBI single in the sixth, and Wieters connected in the Orioles’ half.

— Associated Press —