Tyler Wilson talks about his next opportunity

What could be better than losing the season's final off-day on Thursday and making the horrible drive to D.C. four times instead of three? What could possibly top spending all day and a large chunk of the night at Nationals Park without actually covering a game?

The baseball gods have a wicked sense of humor.

The Orioles will be eliminated from the division race with a loss tonight or a Blue Jays win over the Yankees. You may have stopped checking a while ago.

The Rays dropped into last place after blowing a 6-4 lead over the Red Sox last night on Xander Bogaerts' grand slam in the eighth inning. The Orioles are a game ahead of Boston for third place and 1 1/2 ahead of Tampa Bay.

So, what did we learn yesterday during those precious hours at Nationals Park?

Adam Jones has back spasms to go along with the sore shoulder, wrist and ankle. And we haven't forgotten about those concussion symptoms in Kansas City. Jones hasn't, either, or he wouldn't be cleared to play.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never question Jones' toughness or his dedication to this team. Manager Buck Showalter has to drag him out of the lineup.

Junior Lake will make his 66th major league appearance in center field tonight if Jones' back hasn't improved. He's played 94 in left and 11 in right.

Not that it necessarily means much, but Lake is a career .218/.245/.311 hitter while playing center field. He's batted .267/.309/.453 as a left fielder and .250/.294/.438 as a right fielder.

Lake is only 5-for-42 with 23 strikeouts as a pinch-hitter.

We also learned yesterday that Miguel Gonzalez probably won't come off the disabled list this weekend to start at Fenway Park. He seemed to be headed in that direction, so the news came as a surprise.

Gonzalez set a goal over the winter of reaching 200 innings for the first time in his career, but he's stuck on 141 while hoping to make two more starts.

Also, Tyler Wilson will stay in turn and start the final game of the Nats series, which has been pushed back to Thursday afternoon. He hadn't been told when I approached his locker yesterday afternoon, but Showalter confirmed it later while meeting with reporters who tried to stay dry in the visiting dugout.

Wilson didn't require advance notice.

"Like always, I just approach it a day at a time and be ready for whatever," Wilson said. "It hasn't been any different all year, especially with the up and down thing. It's just part of it. Take care of whatever I need to take care of and be ready when the phone rings."

Or the manager taps you on the shoulder and says you're starting.

Wilson wants another shot in the rotation after allowing six runs in 4 1/3 innings in Friday night's loss to the Rays. He feels as though it's important to get right back on the mound.

"Definitely," he said. "Baseball, it's a long season and everybody's going to face an outing like that at one point or another. Obviously, I'm disappointed that it happened at this time of the season where every game is so important, but I'm really looking forward to the next time getting out there. Just go out and flush whatever's happened in the past and get back to competing."

Ubaldo Jimenez will try again tonight to become the 11th Dominican-born pitcher to register 100 career victories. Hall of Famer Juan Marichal leads the way with 243 wins. Current Orioles pitching instructor Ramon Martinez owns 135 career wins.