Notes on rotation and the WBC (O's down 2-0)

With the Tigers winning Game 1 of their doubleheader today in Minnesota, they've moved within a half-game of the Orioles for the second wild card spot.

The Orioles will hold a pregame ceremony at 6:50 p.m. for retiring Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. Nothing too elaborate, for fans who find it offensive.

I have no idea what they're going to do, but I'll guess that it includes a check to his favorite charity.

Manager Buck Showalter confirmed that the Orioles will start Yovani Gallardo, Wade Miley and Dylan Bundy against the Diamondbacks.

Bundy is fine physically. We focused on the wrong guy while speculating about the rotation's health.

Showalter would have pushed back Bundy if not for Kevin Gausman's sore intercostal muscle. He's trying to provide extra rest where possible.

"Got a little something bothering him that we think should manage hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday," Showalter said of Gausman.

"We're hoping he's our starting pitcher Tuesday or Wednesday. That's what we're hoping for. It won't be Sunday. We have the off-day there to play with. We'll see how things manage the next few days.

"Gaus felt it a little bit, the start of it, the intercostal and we think we caught it in time, but we'll see how it manages. We just don't think it's smart to have him pitch on Sunday. I know he had some things happening to his body that meant he might have been a little short on fluids, and they may have been some of this. We're hoping it's more of that than anything else, but we'll see."

Showalter added that the intercostal didn't impact Gausman's last start.

The Tuesday starter would be working on normal rest if tabbed for the Oct. 2 regular-season finale in New York. If only Showalter could plan that far ahead.

The media keeps pressing him to do so despite the obvious uncertainties. He felt compelled to lay them out for everyone.

"I've got to tell you, ideally that's the way you would do it, but where we are with some of the physical challenges we have, we may not have that luxury," Showalter said. "We've looked at that, but that's why we wait until after every game, gather information, the dust settles.

"(Jayson) Aquino can't pitch and now Gaus. We have to see how (Chris) Tillman does tonight, see how Ubaldo (Jimenez) feels, see where (Wade) Miley's issue is, see when his wife is going into labor. There are a lot of things that we have to gather after each day. I probably missed two or three.

Aquino is sidelined with a viral infection. Miley left his last start with cramping in his upper back, but says he felt great the next morning.

"I know Wade's going to leave Sunday and join us in New York unless things happen earlier than that and he feels comfortable leaving and joining us in Toronto," Showalter said. "I don't know why anyone would want to join us in Toronto if they have an option, with the custom challenges that we face every time we go in there. It's trying to figure out which ones they're going to pull out this time."

Showalter also was pressed to think about spring training and the possibility of players leaving camp to participate in the World Baseball Classic. The poor guy is just trying to get through tonight's game.

"People smarter than me think it's great for the game to grow it globally, and if the players want to do it ..." Showalter said.

"I'm a little biased. I'm always thinking about what best serves the Orioles and being in spring training on Feb. 12, I hear, and playing our first game on the 24th of February. I know we're playing the Dominican next year. Am I supposed to say those dates? I take that back.

"I don't know. How would you feel? You're seeing a pitcher go. Some of our guys, talking to them a little, I think we're going to have some participation. It's something that people think is important and I can see why, so we'll cooperate as usual."

Update: The Orioles presented Ortiz with a check in his name in the amount of $10,000 for the World Pediatric Project to help critically ill children in the Dominican Republic. They also had a little fun at his expense.

They showed highlights of Ortiz hitting home runs against the Yankees, something Orioles and Red Sox fans could enjoy together. Then, they showed video of Ortiz using his bat to destroy the phone in the visiting dugout in 2013, his back turned to the screen while it played. He wasn't particularly amused.

However, Ortiz smiled as Adam Jones came out of the dugout with the phone as a retirement gift, and they embraced twice before Ortiz left the field without it.

He was happy to accept the check.

Update II: Chris Tillman threw 35 pitches in the first inning and fell behind 1-0 on Hanley Ramirez's two-out RBI single to center field. Tillman has allowed 14 runs in the first this season, his highest total of any inning.

Mookie Betts singled with two outs, Ortiz walked and Ramirez delivered his 108th RBI.

Update III: Jackie Bradley Jr. led off the second with a triple and scored on Sandy Leon's single. Red Sox 2, Orioles 0