What's left, what's happening tonight and Brad Brach's contributions

While wondering if the Nationals should have chosen Pearl Jam's "Better Man" instead of "Even Flow" as Manny Machado's walk-up music yesterday ...

We're down the final 10 games of the regular season and the last road series. Three games against the Red Sox this weekend at Fenway Park before returning home for four against the Blue Jays and three versus the Yankees.

Repeating as division champions ceased to be a mathematical possibility for the Orioles after the Blue Jays won Wednesday night. The Orioles are 3 1/2 behind the Astros for the second wild card.

The Orioles are 11-5 against the Red Sox this season and 4-3 in Boston. They added an extra player yesterday, outfielder David Lough, who may have to dress in his hotel room or the dugout rather than squeeze into the tiny visiting clubhouse.

Expanded rosters and Fenway Park don't mix. Maybe if they grease his hips.

The Orioles will face left-hander Rich Hill, who appeared in 14 games and made 13 starts for them back in 2009. He walked 40 batters and struck out 46 in 57 2/3 innings. He also wore an expression that mimicked a deer caught in the headlights. Extremely nice guy, but he didn't exude confidence.

Hill signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox on Aug. 14 after pitching for the independent Long Island Ducks. He hadn't made a major league start since July 27, 2009, when he allowed three runs and four hits and walked three batters in 2 1/3 innings against the Royals to leave his Orioles ERA at 7.80.

With the Red Sox, Hill has gone 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in two starts while allowing three runs in 14 innings. He's walked one batter and struck out 20.

Who is this guy and what has he done with Rich Hill?

Hill has made 10 career relief appearances against the Orioles and allowed one run in six innings. The current group is 9-for-21 against him, with J.J. Hardy going 4-for-10 with two doubles, Steve Pearce going 2-for-5, Adam Jones and Matt Wieters both collecting a hit in their only at-bat and Ryan Flaherty going 1-for-2 with a triple and two RBIs.

Jones underwent an MRI on his back yesterday and remains day-to-day. No one knows whether he's ready to return to the lineup tonight, though manager Buck Showalter sounded fairly optimistic after receiving the MRI results. Wieters already caught back-to-back games in D.C. and may need a night on the bench or in the designated hitter slot.

"I feel good," Wieters said after catching a day game following a night game. "The arm's come a long way as the year's gone on, but I feel good playing and at the same time we'll play it out for as long as we can and then enjoy some rest in the offseason whenever it comes. Hopefully later than sooner."

The Red Sox will be missing Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Ramirez is shut down with a right shoulder injury and Sandoval has pneumonia.

Kevin Gausman has allowed two runs in 9 2/3 innings in three games against the Red Sox this season. In his only start, he shut them out on two hits over six innings on Sept. 14 at Camden Yards.

Gausman is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA in nine career games (four starts) against the Red Sox and 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA in five games (one start) at Fenway Park. David Ortiz is 4-for-10 with a double and two home runs. He's almost done circling the bases on the second one.

Dustin Pedroia is 3-for-9 and Ryan Hanigan is 2-for-5 with a home run. Sandoval is 3-for-5 with a double, but like I said ...

Gausman is 2-1 with a 238 ERA in 10 games (seven starts) at home and 1-5 with a 5.83 ERA in 13 games (eight starts) on the road.

Brad Brach's splits have caught Showalter's eye. Probably both eyes.

Left-handers were batting .175 against Brach before yesterday and right-handers were hitting .213. Lefties were hitting .220 in Brach's career and right-handers were hitting .222.

Clint Robinson doubled off Brach yesterday, but the Nationals failed to score.

"The biggest thing is you're talking about a guy who left-handers are hitting under .200 off. He's almost like having a left-handed reliever and that's made him be able to pitch multiple innings," Showalter said.

Brach covered the seventh and eighth innings on Tuesday, shutting out the Nationals and lowering his ERA to 2.39 in 57 appearances. Now it's down to 2.36 in 58. He's allowed 20 earned runs (21 total) and 52 hits in 76 1/3 innings, with 35 walks and 87 strikeouts.

Brach was 12-3 with a 2.75 ERA in 137 2/3 innings over 103 appearances in his two seasons with the Orioles before Showalter called upon him again yesterday.

"He's a rock," Showalter said. "You break down his year, he's not going to take a back seat to many people at all. His hits to innings pitched, his strikeouts, everything is up. That's a heck of an acquisition. And Brad's only gotten better and better and better. I think you've seen it like the last couple months, a guy that really is confident and knows he can do it. His presentation.

"With Zach (Britton) not being available a few times, it's pushed everything forward."

I'm jumping on a 7:25 a.m. flight to Boston, packing light with a scheduled return late Sunday night.