Roster manuevering and other notes (game update)

Don't be surprised if the Orioles decide to option a starting pitcher within the next few days and call up an infielder to give them a four-man bench before rosters expand. The affiliates end their season on Sept. 1, at which point the Orioles could recall the pitcher without having to wait the minimum 10 days. Send down a starter who wouldn't be available anyway and add a position player. Meanwhile, manager Buck Showalter talked about how Kevin Gausman continues to feel good after having his innings carefully monitored earlier in the season. "We've given him some extra bumps here and there," Showalter said. "I think he's in pretty good shape. I know he feels good. I'd love to see him pitch through October." Ubaldo Jimenez will pitch again this season, but it's not known when or in what capacity. He's not scheduled to start any of the remaining games in August, but he could reappear in the rotation over the final month. "We're going to continue making him available to us as a starter, too, because the need could be there shortly," Showalter said. Jimenez threw four innings on Saturday at Wrigley Field and could be available tonight. Showalter needed to check on him. "He told Dave (Wallace) yesterday to wait and see how he feels today, which I thought was pretty encouraging about his mentality, to be really two days removed and be thinking about it before he took a work day," Showalter said. A few players alluded last night to the sense of panic that enveloped fans after the Cubs swept the Orioles over the weekend. Showalter said he didn't broach the subject. "I don't think we've had a meeting all year, but before a three-game series, pitchers and catchers sit down, position players sit down after them, and we go over the team," Showalter said. "There's always a moment there. ... Mostly it's, 'You guys got anything we need to talk about?' They kind of initiate most of it. But it hasn't been a topic. "I don't listen to radio and I try not to read anything. They give it to me if I need to read it so I'm not prepared for something - he said, she said, they said. But I know the one thing it means is you've raised expectations. That's a good thing, right? "If you're involved in that Twitter and all that other stuff, I guess you're aware of it. It's another thing for me that ignorance is bliss. I don't go through those boards things, they call them, where all the people weigh in. I'm just glad that somebody cares. It hasn't been a topic here very much in the last... quite a number of years. "It can start again whenever. We're always a day away. I told you, the last 30 or 40 days are an eternity." Caleb Joseph is behind the plate again tonight after Nick Hundley caught Chris Tillman last night. Showalter said he doesn't believe in strictly pairing pitchers and catchers, but there are matchup considerations. "On the surface, no, I don't believe in it, but I want everybody to be comfortable for everybody," he said. "And certain things we try to do with Nick and Caleb, certain pitchers - I'm talking about the other team's pitchers - we match them up with, and try not to let them get too far away from catching. We do some things before that game to make sure we take advantage. "Sometimes, you'll see Nick catch two, three games in a row and Caleb will catch two, three games in a row. It's kind of the matchups. It tells you how comfortable we feel with catching either one of them. We're real lucky to have them because I could catch either one of them with any pitcher and there would be no worries from the pitcher. "I'm very careful about giving them too much of a voice with that, because it can become a crutch. But these two guys, I feel comfortable with anybody." Left-hander Brian Gonzalez, the Orioles' third-round pick the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, moved up to short-season Single-A Aberdeen and is starting tonight at Hudson Valley. Gonzalez allowed an unearned run and 11 hits in 24 2/3 innings with the Gulf Coast League team. He walked eight and struck out 25. Good idea to bump him up a level. Infielder David Adams was placed on Double-A Bowie's disabled list with a wrist injury. The Baysox activated catcher Zane Chavez. Update: Evan Longoria poked a single into right field with two outs in the first inning to score Ben Zobrist and give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. Zobrist doubled after Desmond Jennings led off with a single against Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen. Logan Forsythe grounded to Chris Davis, who glanced at Jennings before throwing to first. Jennings broke for home and Steve Pearce threw him out. A crew chief challenge didn't change the call. Joseph didn't block the plate in violation of Rule 7.13. Longoria followed with his single. Zobrist is 12-for-31 lifetime vs. Chen.