BALTIMORE -- If Chris Davis is going to continue to make unfortunate baseball history, it’s going to have to wait.

A day after setting a Major League record for futility, Davis was out of the Orioles' starting lineup Tuesday night vs. Oakland. Rio Ruiz started at first base against left-hander Brett Anderson, shielding Davis from a southpaw starter for the second time in four games. Davis is 0-for-28 in 2019 and hitless in his past 49 at-bats dating back to last season. He went 0-for-5 on Monday to set the mark, previously held by little-known infielder Eugenio Velez.

“It’s tough to put yourself in his shoes and what he's going through,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Monday. “The first three at-bats were really good. So I'm taking that as a positive moving forward.”

Davis hit three balls with upwards of 90-mph exit velocities on Monday, including his record-setting lineout at 103.5 mph off A’s righty Yusmeiro Petit. The fact that it registered as Davis’ second-hardest-hit ball of 2019 brought some cruel irony to the conclusion of a saga that, by Monday night, had captured the attention of a national audience.

By the end, it had also somewhat softened Davis’ image to his detractors in Baltimore. On Monday, Davis was cheered emphatically by the crowd that had booed him heavily during the club’s home-opening series against the Yankees last weekend.

“I thought the fan reaction to Chris last night was phenomenal. It was so cool and says a lot about our fan base,” Hyde said. “I just thought the reaction to the tough times he’s had and how they cheered him was fantastic.”

Davis hasn’t spoken publicly since setting the record, but he made himself visible early and often Tuesday. Davis was on the field four hours prior to first pitch, doing tee work with hitting coach Don Long. An Edgertronic camera was set up behind him, meant to capture high-speed images of his mechanics. Davis is in the fourth year of a seven-year, $161 million contract over which he’s hit .199/.295/.389. He hit .168 with 50 OPS+ last season, both among the worst marks posted by a position player over the course of a single season.

Davis’ last hit came on Sept. 14, 2018, a double against White Sox righty James Shields. Since then, he’s gone 56 plate appearances without a knock, just one away from the big league record set by Tony Bernazard in 1974.