Nick Markakis Injury: Orioles OF Reportedly Breaks Thumb

The Baltimore Orioles are in a tough battle with the New York Yankees in the AL East. They've erased a four-game deficit over the last two weeks with an 11-3 stretch.

UPDATE: September 11, at 3:56 p.m. ET by Tim Keeney

Nick Markakis underwent thumb surgery for his broken thumb on Tuesday morning. The news comes from MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko:

"

Markakis had his thumb surgery. Seemed to go well

— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) September 11, 2012"

Baby steps.

The six-week timetable for Markakis' return is still in place, but this is a good first step for him returning in time to help the Orioles, who currently are holding onto a wild-card spot, in the playoffs. 

Markakis was hitting .298 and the Orioles would love to seem him back in uniform sometime in 2012. 

------End of Update------

Baseball players can be a bit superstitious, and the last thing Baltimore needed was something disrupting their momentum.

Well, perhaps the last thing they needed was having their momentum disrupted while losing one of their best offensive players.

Richard Justice of MLB.com is reporting that Nick Markakis will likely miss the next six weeks. 

"

Nick Markakis broken bone in thumb. Gone around six weeks pending more exam. "We lost a big part," Buck Showalter said.

— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) September 9, 2012"

He injured the thumb on a pitch from CC Sabathia.

Markakis has put together a very good season for Baltimore. He leads the team with a .298 average and has hit 13 home runs with 54 runs batted in.

He also contributes in right field, but his bat is what the Orioles will miss the most.

Markakis missed the month of June and half of July with a broken hamate bone in his right wrist. He was hitting just .263 at the time, in part due to struggling with the injury for two weeks before it broke completely, requiring surgery.

There is no word on how the Orioles will respond, but backup first baseman Chris Davis filled in for Markakis during his first absence from the lineup.

MLB.com tweeted a video of the pitch that hit Markakis.

"

BREAKING: @orioles RF Nick Markakis out roughly 6 weeks with broken bone in left thumb from this @cc_sabathia pitch: atmlb.com/P0nYVA

— MLB (@MLB) September 9, 2012"