Miley vs. Perez in series finale in Texas

Manager Buck Showalter remains noncommittal about Jeremy Hellickson's debut with the Orioles and whether he's going with a five- or a six-man rotation. Reporters in Texas couldn't pry the answer from him.

Hellickson will join the club Monday in Baltimore. In the meantime, the rotation received another boost last night from Kevin Gausman, who came within an out of a complete-game shutout and has allowed only one run in his last 20 2/3 innings.

The Orioles surrendered another minor league pitcher in the Hellickson trade, sending Double-A Bowie left-hander Garrett Cleavinger to the Phillies along with outfielder Hyun Soo Kim. Cleavinger, 23, had a 6.28 ERA in 27 relief appearances, but he was 5-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 17 games at Single-A Delmarva in 2016.

I've heard that former Orioles director of pitching development Rick Peterson made an adjustment to Cleavinger's delivery that didn't bring the desired results. Cleavinger probably would have benefited from beginning the season at high Single-A Frederick instead of moving up to the Eastern League.

Cleavinger has a plus curveball and the Orioles were working on the rest of his repertoire. I've talked to people who think he will be a major league reliever someday. His name came up in previous trade talks.

"There's been some interest in Cleavinger," said executive vice president Dan Duquette. "A left-hander with a pretty good breaking ball."

Wade Miley had one bad inning in his last start at Tropicana Field, and it cost him the game.

Five runs in the second, nothing otherwise as Miley made it through the sixth for the first time since June 1, a span of 10 starts.

I can appreciate how Miley doesn't try to sell anyone on his starts over the first two months. He posted a 2.32 ERA in April and a 3.97 ERA in May, but he littered the bases and kept finding ways to slither out of jams.

Miley knew that it eventually would catch up to him - he had a 1.853 WHIP in May and opponents batted .313 against him - and it's been a real struggle as the season's progressed. Miley registered a 7.48 ERA and 1.952 WHIP in six June starts and he's carrying a 9.78 ERA and 2.261 WHIP in five July outings.

Fans have come down hard on Miley, when they're not preoccupied with Ubaldo Jiménez, Chris Tillman and until recently Gausman, but the left-hander remains his harshest critic.

"Like I said a couple starts ago, April and May really weren't that good," he said following his loss to the Rays. "It was more of a luck-based kind of deal. I was walking five, six, seven guys a game, and I was just kind of able to make a pitch here and there to get out of those jams. Deep down, I knew that luck was going to run out eventually and it did and I haven't been able to put a stop to it."

There's always today.

Miley faced the Rangers on July 20 and allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings. He didn't get the decision in the Orioles' 9-7 victory at Camden Yards.

Miley is 1-5 with a 6.11 ERA in eight career starts against the Rangers, including a 1.445 WHIP in 45 2/3 innings. He's made three starts at Globe Life Park and gone 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA and 1.245 WHIP in 17 2/3 innings.

The Rangers are batting .310 (45-for-145) against Miley. Elvis Andrus is 6-for-20 with four doubles, Carlos Gomez is 7-for-22 with two doubles, a triple and a home run, Jonathan Lucroy is 5-for-14 with a double and two home runs and Delino DeShields Jr. is 5-for-14 with a double.

The Orioles get another shot at left-hander Martin Perez, who faced them on July 19 and allowed five runs in six innings. Adam Jones hit a leadoff home run off him.

Perez is 2-2 with a 4.70 ERA and 1.304 WHIP in five career starts against the Orioles. Mark Trumbo is 5-for-15 with a double and two home runs. Caleb Joseph is 4-for-8.

Chris Davis is 1-for-13 with a double and eight strikeouts.

Right-handers are batting .315 off Perez and left-handers are hitting .292. Lefties are hitting .240 in his career.