Zach Britton: "I'm ready to go"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles closer Zach Britton said he's available to pitch tonight if the club is in a save situation.

Britton was held out of last night's 4-3 victory over the Rays, with manager Buck Showalter wanting to rest him in back-to-back games. Britton had appeared in three straight before Wednesday night's series finale against the Red Sox at Camden Yards.

Showalter hinted following last night's game that Britton might be dealing with some soreness.

"Not too much," Britton said this afternoon. "Everyone at this point in the season has got a little something going on. With the three days of throwing, and I got warmed up the day before, just trying to give me two days.

"Obviously, we were hoping it was a situation where I didn't need to pitch yesterday. We kind of stuck with the plan and he gave me another day and I'll be ready to go today."

Britton, who's 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 33 saves in 60 innings, said there isn't a specific area of discomfort. He threw on three straight days twice last season and he's done it twice this month.

"I've done the three days in a row before," he said. "I think a couple of times last year, a couple of times this year, so I never feel great after those days. You do some maintenance with Richie (Bancells), agility with Joe (Hogarty), but I was prepared to throw yesterday if that was the need. But we needed the extra day.

"Everyone's got something they're dealing with right now, but it's nothing that's going to keep me off the field tonight. I'm ready to go."

The Orioles scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning last night to wipe out a three-run deficit. Brad Brach worked the bottom half of the inning and Darren O'Day recorded his third save.

"They told me I wouldn't (pitch), which is nice," Britton said. "Buck does that. He'll let you know so that you're not down there stretching, moving around. When he gives you a day, which is rare that he'll comes up to you and say you can have a day today, which is nice where we are right now. I think I kind of needed those two days with the workload that I had and then just being ready to go for the rest of the season."

O'Day retired the Rays in order in the ninth.

"Dom (Chiti) was like, 'I think you're more nervous out here watching Darren than you are pitching,'" Britton said. "It was funny. It's been a while since I'd seen that. It was good for Darren and good to get in there. We have guys that are capable of doing that, whether it's me or Darren or Brad. Oliver (Drake) has done it in the minors, (Mychal) Givens has done it in the minors. When you have options down there, it's nice. You can give a guy that."

This is Britton's first full season as a closer, inheriting the job from Tommy Hunter in May of 2014. Britton said he feels "pretty similar" at this point in the season.

"I think last year I probably threw more consistently than at parts this year, but it's just an adjustment," Britton said. "If anything, this year has been a little bit different. So next year, I have two different seasons to base off how I'm going to feel in different situations, which is all about learning and adjusting. That's what's going on there."

Meanwhile, Miguel Gonzalez threw at 120 feet today and said his shoulder felt more loose than during his previous sessions. He's going to throw a bullpen session on Sunday and could be activated next weekend in Boston.