Looking ahead to two games

The Orioles can't win their division and they can't qualify as a wild card. They can, however, stay out of last place. Their positioning from third to fifth is still under their control.

The suddenly hot Red Sox have moved ahead of the Orioles by a half-game for third place, defeating the Yankees again last night. Only a half-game separates the Orioles from the last-place Rays.

Just win, baby.

There's plenty to play for over these last six games. They just don't hang a banner on the outfield padding that says "Avoided last place."

The baseball gods aren't always fair, as manager Buck Showalter points out, and they can be downright cruel by forcing a team to play a doubleheader a day after it's been eliminated from the wild card race.

Miguel Gonzalez is opposing Marcus Stroman in Game 1, and I already passed along the splits and matchups yesterday morning when I made the foolish assumption that a game actually would be played.

Game 2 features Kevin Gausman and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. The starting time is flexible. Thirty minutes following Game 1, but not before 7:05 p.m. Get comfortable.

Gausman is making his final start in 2015 and he'd love to finish strong after allowing nine runs and 13 hits in his last two outings over 11 innings. He's 2-7 with a 4.48 ERA in 16 starts this season and 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in eight relief appearances.

Gausman is 1-3 with a 2.68 ERA in seven starts when he's received two runs of support or fewer. He's 0-4 with a 6.48 ERA in six starts when receiving three-to-five runs of support, and 1-0 with a 5.28 ERA in three starts with six or more runs of support.

In his career, Gausman is 1-1 with a 3.74 ERA in eight games (three starts) against the Blue Jays. The current group is batting .143 (7-for-49) against him. Josh Donaldson is 3-for-9 with a double and four strikeouts, Jose Bautista is 0-for-8 and Edwin Encarnacion is 0-for-9.

Dickey has allowed two runs or fewer in four of his five starts this month, walking four and striking out 17 in 35 2/3 innings. He's 2-6 with a 4.20 ERA in 13 games (10 starts) versus the Orioles and 1-3 with a 3.67 ERA in five games (four starts) at Camden Yards.

Adam Jones is 3-for-25 with a home run against Dickey. He's also day-to-day with back tightness. It must be bad for Jones to be excluded from the lineup in eight of the last nine days, including two postponements.

Manny Machado is 5-for-14 with two doubles against Dickey, Gerardo Parra is 6-for-9 with two doubles and two triples, Chris Davis is 6-for-23 with two doubles, two home runs and eight strikeouts, Paul Janish is 3-for-3 with a double and Matt Wieters is 2-for-11.

Parra is batting .215/.244/.340 in 49 games with the Orioles, but nothing has changed. They'd like to keep him beyond this season and will attempt to negotiate a multi-year deal over the winter. He's open to staying, but money always talks.