Orioles keep same attitude while moving into second wild card spot

Remember when the Orioles were alternating wins and losses while losing ground in the wild card chase? And being no-hit by Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma and remaining calm while everyone around them melted down?

No one yelled or punched a wall or mugged the bat boy. No one lost control. And they're no longer losing ground after winning the first three games of the homestand.

If the season ended today, the Orioles would hold the second wild card. Welcome to the pennant race.

I've read comments from some fans who want the players to show more emotion after another tough loss, to display more of an edge. They view the calmness as a concession, as if the team really doesn't care.

I'm often asked to gauge the mood in the clubhouse. Last week, I challenged manager Buck Showalter to do it after the Orioles returned from their West Coast trip.

How were the players handling the latest downward turn in the season?

"I don't know about lull. If you look at the last 15 or 20 games, there's a reason why we stayed engaged in this thing," Showalter said.

"I know there are some clubs, not us, that would be content with a 4-5 West Coast swing, even though we didn't like the way it ended. Believe me, if someone doubts their caring, there's a lot of things that go up the runway, go in the clubhouse. But things are so publicly available to everybody and everything's being filmed, and it's really taken away some spontaneity of players because they know that everything's going to be viewed around and they really want to represent the organization and the fans and their teammates well.

"Some people may find that something that could be critiqued. I think it's an admirable trait to a point. But if anybody doubts how upset they get when things aren't going well for our team, they really don't know our guys very well."

Perhaps that attitude contributed to the Orioles' scoring 30 runs in the last three games since the no-hitter. It's a long season. They understand the pace of it.

Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia threw two more scoreless innings yesterday in an 18-2 win over the Athletics. He hasn't allowed a run or hit over four innings since coming off the disabled list.

"I'm trying not to think too much about it," he said. "Working a lot with Dom (Chiti) and Dave (Wallace). Every time I get out there, just trying to take advantage of it and trust my stuff, like Buck says, and take advantage of hitters."

Can the Orioles take advantage of A's starter Sonny Gray, who hasn't pitched since Aug. 7 due to back spasms?

Gray is 12-4 with a 2.06 ERA in 23 starts, but he's 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA in three career starts versus the Orioles and 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA in two starts at Camden Yards. He's 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA in seven career starts when working on six or more days of rest.

Time between starts isn't much of an issue for Gray. He owns a career 2.67 ERA in 36 outings on four days rest and a 2.80 ERA in 23 starts on five days rest.

J.J. Hardy is 2-for-6 with two doubles lifetime against Gray, who has one loss since June 9. Adam Jones is 3-for-8 with a home run and Manny Machado is 2-for-6.

Jones has five home runs and 10 RBIs in his last six games. He's batting .400/.407/1.040 (10-for-25) in that span, and he's totaled 18 RBIs in his last 16 games.

Chris Davis is batting .336/.413/.794 with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs in 28 games since the All-Star break. Caleb Joseph is batting .353/.371/.853 (12-for-34) in August, and nine of those hits are for extra bases.

Chris Tillman is making the start tonight after taking a shot off his right triceps in his last outing in Seattle, when he allowed five runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs over 41 1/3 innings in his previous six starts.

Tillman is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in four starts against the A's, with six earned runs (seven total) in 25 innings. The current group is 15-for-77 (.195) against him.

Brett Lawrie is 4-for-22 with two home runs. Billy Butler is 4-for-16 with a double and home run.