Notes on rumors, tonight's game, Joseph and minor matters

The Orioles are doing a lousy impression of a team that's focused on the future.

Players hear and read the rumors. They're aware of the vulnerability of their top relievers. They, too, wonder how they can remain competitive if the bullpen, the team's undisputed strength, is torn down at the back end.

One player told me yesterday that he'd be surprised if Zach Britton or Brad Brach isn't traded. Not necessarily both, but one of them.

Britton and Brach sat next to each other yesterday before batting practice. I walked over to Britton and joked that I was just checking to make sure he was still on the team. Then I pointed out how reporters should be asking manager Buck Showalter whether Richard Bleier could close instead of being stretched out as a starter.

Bleier, of course, also was sitting at his locker. Otherwise, what's the point of the quip?

Three consecutive quality starts have sparked three straight wins, allowing the Orioles to get within four games of .500. They're 3 1/2 back for the second wild card.

What does this stretch mean for a group of players who don't want to be separated?

"Shuts up all the trade rumors. I know that," said center fielder Adam Jones. "We feel that we're still in this race. A long way to go, so we're not just going to give up."

* A win tonight would give the Orioles their first four-game home sweep of the Rangers since June 30-July 3, 2014. They swept the Rangers in four games in Texas back on July 8-11, 2010.

Wade Miley will try to extend the run of quality starts by allowing fewer runs. He's given up seven in two of his last three outings.

Miley is 1-5 with a 5.75 ERA in seven career starts against the Rangers. Elvis Andrus is 6-for-17 with four doubles, Jonathan Lucroy is 5-for-13 with a double and two home runs and Carlos Gomez is 6-for-20 with a double, triple and home run.

The Orioles get another left-hander in Cole Hamels, who's 4-0 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.017 WHIP in nine starts over 59 innings. He's made three starts this month and allowed two runs and nine hits in 22 innings, with two walks and 17 strikeouts.

Hamels is 1-3 with a 4.32 ERA in five career starts against the Orioles and 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA in two starts at Camden Yards. He's allowed 10 runs and 13 hits in 12 innings in Baltimore.

Mark Trumbo is 6-for-18 with two home runs against Hamels. Jones is 2-for-13 with six strikeouts.

* Caleb Joseph had two more hits last night, including a double, to raise his average to .299. He briefly made it to .301.

Joseph has a multi-hit game in his last three starts and is batting .352 (38-for-108) in 40 games since May 8.

Grab a shovel, bury the .174/.216/.197 slash line and no RBIs last season and forget about them.

"We had Caleb and I think we had (Jonathan) Schoop over .300 for a short period of time. That was a good look up on the scoreboard," Showalter said.

"I've got to tell you, without mentioning names, there were a lot of people wanting to throw some sand over (Joseph). That's the difference between analytics, statistics and what you know in the clubhouse from being around people. I told you all many times, he's very cordial, he speaks to you, makes fun of it. But trust me, it burned him inside because he knew he was better than that. And that's where you know things about players during the offseason. Don't make the mistake of saying this is something that's going to happen all the time.

"It's a snowball place up here. Things get snowballing well, don't get fooled by it when they get snowballing bad. You can trust the track record. Same way with spring training. That's why it's big foolers. Spring and September baseball are big foolers. Be careful."

* I wrote yesterday that the Orioles must protect pitcher Hunter Harvey in the Rule 5 draft to avoid losing him at the Winter Meetings. He's not the only prospect on the list.

Catcher Chance Sisco and left-hander Tanner Scott also must be protected. Of course, Sisco could be on the 40-man roster and playing for the Orioles later this summer.

Infielder Adrian Marin, a third-round pick in 2012, and outfielder Randolph Gassaway also are eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 draft.

What about right-hander Pat Connaughton? He's still trying to succeed in the NBA and hasn't pitched in the minors since appearing in six games with short-season Single-A Aberdeen in 2014. It's believed that he, too, would need to be protected.

Would a team bother to take him? Maybe if it needed a shooting guard.

* I also wrote yesterday that Single-A Delmarva's pitching staff hadn't walked a batter in 19 games, believed to be the most in professional baseball. That is correct.

The Single-A Stockton Ports in the Athletics organization were second with 17 heading into last night. The Red Sox led the majors with 12.

Left-hander Alex Wells led baseball with 12.