Britton and Gausman optioned

The Orioles have optioned pitchers Zach Britton and Kevin Gausman to Triple-A Norfolk. The corresponding moves will be announced on Wednesday. Wei-Yin Chen will come off the disabled list and replace Britton in the rotation. The Orioles also will call up a reliever to take Gausman's spot in the bullpen. Britton allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings tonight, with three walks and no strikeouts. No matter how the left-hander pitched, he figured to be sent down because his turn wouldn't come up again before the All-Star break. Britton, 25, is 2-3 with a 4.76 ERA in six starts for the Orioles this season. Gausman, 22, is 1-3 with a 6.21 ERA in nine games, including five starts. He allowed two runs and two hits, with two walks, in 1 2/3 innings tonight. The Orioles wanted to put Gausman in Norfolk's rotation during the break so he wouldn't remain idle. The move became necessary because the Orioles are short a long reliever after using Gausman tonight and T.J. McFarland the two previous games. Jair Jurrjens started tonight for Norfolk and threw 92 pitches. He's not a consideration. Neither is Josh Stinson, who worked seven innings Saturday. Mike Belfiore and Tsuyoshi Wada are on the 40-man roster and could provide length, though the Orioles already have three left-handers in the bullpen and Showalter - in a perfect world - would prefer having a right-hander backing up Chen. Eddie Gamboa, who isn't on the 40-man roster, is scheduled to make his first start for Norfolk on Wednesday.