Kevin Gausman, Brian Matusz and No. 42

ARLINGTON, Texas - Kevin Gausman and Brian Matusz remain scheduled to pitch tonight at Single-A Frederick, perhaps their final appearances in the minors before coming off the disabled list.

Team executives Dan Duquette and Brady Anderson will be in attendance, along with special assignment pitching instructor Ramon Martinez.

Manager Buck Showalter wants more than good health from Gausman and Matusz. He expects good results, too. He won't accept ugly pitching lines and elevated pitch counts in the early innings.

The message has been delivered. They won't be activated if they can't get out Carolina League hitters.

Gausman worked two-plus innings in his first rehab start at Double-A Bowie. He allowed an unearned run and four hits, couldn't retire a batter in the third and left after throwing 47 pitches.

Matusz made three appearances at Bowie covering three innings. He retired the side in order in his second outing, but allowed six runs and seven hits in the first frame on Monday.

The Orioles wanted Matusz to work two or three innings, but he threw 30 pitches in the first and was done. His velocity increased a tick, but Erie hitters got around on him. There's room for improvement in his command, according to the reports.

Matusz has allowed seven runs and eight hits in three innings, with one walk, four strikeouts and two home runs. The Orioles will try to get three innings out of him Friday after Gausman goes five, if the plan holds.

Showalter said Matusz would be activated on Sunday at the earliest. Gausman could start on Wednesday, which would keep him on normal rest, but the Monday off-day must be factored into the decision.

Meanwhile, players throughout the majors will wear No. 42 to commemorate the 69th anniversary of legendary Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier in 1947.

Showalter said he can't imagine everything that Robinson endured, "but you do think about it."

"If you don't," Showalter said, "you should."

He's also heard the stories.

"I watched a lot of that," Showalter said. "I had a pitching coach for many years, my first pitching coach as a manager, Russ "Monk" Meyer, who played with him. Some of the stories he used to tell on the bus rides about some of the things that went on with the Brooklyn Dodgers and different things, that's when I really started becoming intrigued by it.

"Just the class. I don't know how many of us or anybody in today's game could have done what he did, and how much it meant for our game. I think it's one of the things I really love, drawing attention to it every year, to learn from it. Just remarkable. I was shocked. When I sat with Monk, I used to have the guys come up to the front of the bus and listen to him talk about the things that went on, how it evolved.

"Their desire to win was more than any other feelings they might have, and very quickly they knew how much Jackie could help them win and how that evolved in making his path a little easier. I don't think the word 'easy' should ever be used in that whole conversation. There was nothing easy about it."