Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cesar Izturis has appendectomy

Orioles SS Izturis undergoes surgery

OAKLAND, Calif. — Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cesar Izturis is going on the disabled list after undergoing an appendectomy.

Izturis had the surgery Friday night in San Francisco after complaining of severe stomach pains earlier in the day. He was still in the hospital Saturday and was expected to be released Sunday in time to fly home with the team following the finale of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.

The Orioles planned to call up infielder Oscar Salazar from Triple-A Norfolk for Sunday’s game and make the Izturis move official. It will be retroactive to Thursday, when the team was off.

Manager Dave Trembley has been told by the team’s medical staff that Izturis likely will be sidelined for two to three weeks.

“It’s a tough break losing Izturis because he means so much to the team,” Trembley said Saturday. “We’ll have to pick up from there. This is different because they went in with a scope. It’s going to be 15 days and then some. We’ll see how he feels.”

For now, Robert Andino will be the primary fill-in at shortstop. Trembley said he didn’t anticipate the team making a trade to acquire a shortstop during Izturis’ absence, but might make another move soon.

“We’ll make it through today and tomorrow,” Trembley said. “With the off day Monday, we could make something happen. We just don’t have a lot of depth in the organization at that position. We’ll have to get by.”

Izturis played in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to Seattle and accompanied the Orioles to Oakland for a three-game series against the Athletics. After arriving at the Coliseum early Friday with stomach pain, the 29-year-old Izturis was taken to a hospital for a CT scan.

The 29-year-old Izturis, who received a two-year contract as a free agent in December to join the Orioles, is batting .260 with one home run and 13 RBIs in 45 games this season. He was batting .291 over his previous 36 games after hitting .152 over his initial nine games of 2009.