Showalter held out optimism that Markakis, who watched Sunday's 13-3 loss to the Yankees from the dugout, might be able to return if the Orioles play deep into the postseason, and that hope was validated Sunday.
Entering the day, surgery appeared to be a season-ending option. But after the game, Showalter said Markakis was flying Monday to Sarasota, Fla., where he is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday morning that is expected to accelerate his recovery time.
"They said the surgery should actually knock off three weeks of recovery, so hopefully we are looking at somewhere around four weeks," said Markakis, who added that a T-plate would be inserted into his thumb. "It is good news and bad news. I'm just going to go ahead and get it done and just get it out of the way."
Said Showalter: "September is not an option, so we've got to hopefully play good baseball and make October an option."