Showalter on Davis: "I have a lot of confidence he'll get it going"

The Blue Jays and Red Sox lost this afternoon. It's your move, Orioles.

A win tonight would give the Orioles a three-game lead over the Jays and a 3 ½-game lead over the Red Sox.

Chris Davis continues to bat cleanup despite being hitless in his last 24 at-bats. He's 9-for-66 (.136) this month with a double, three home runs, seven RBIs, 12 walks and 28 strikeouts.

Manager Buck Showalter knows how Davis can heat up in an instant and how he still can influence decisions made in the other dugout.

"If you watch how the opposition reacts to him, the walks are there," Showalter said.

"Kind of look at different bullpens as we face them, try to present the best challenge for that, though tonight's starter (Jon Gray) will present quite a challenge on his own. You're going to see a really good pitcher tonight. This kid was the third pick in the country out of Oklahoma. Our guys have him ranked with one of the top sliders they've seen. A really good arm.

"Chris, you're not always going to have all nine guys clicking, especially when you're facing a team that really hasn't seen guys. And they're making a lot of moves around Chris now, which kind of helps the rest of the batting order, too. Just kind of read what the other teams are thinking of him and how they're attacking him, as far as moving him around.

"The batting order doesn't work as well if you do certain other things. I have a lot of confidence he'll get it going and remind us why."

No roster moves today, but stayed tuned. It never stays set for long.

"We're kind of in position where we can adjust the roster as we go if we need to after tonight's game, after the Minnesota game," Showalter said. "We've got some optionable situations where, if we have a need in an area, we can go get it."

Tyler Wilson retired all 12 batters he faced last night, validating the Orioles' decision to go with 13 pitchers.

"I thought Tyler could serve a need there. It's very easy to say now," Showalter said. "I'd really like to keep away, if I could, using up (Odrisamer) Despaigne and not be available for two or three days, even though he'd tell you he can pitch every day. And with trying to buy another day or two of rest for Vance (Worley), so he can fit back into the equation. We felt like Tyler gave us the ability to do that."

As I wrote earlier, Worley will be available in the bullpen Thursday night in Minnesota. The rotation is mapped out through August, but is vulnerable to changes.

"I'm hoping Ubaldo (Jimenez) pitches well tomorrow and doesn't make it as, not complicated, but as challenging as it is now," Showalter said.

"Vance has shown that he's capable of doing both. Nice to have him there to kind of mix and match, which a lot of clubs are doing. We're not the only one. I also want to make sure I've got Dylan (Bundy) covered tonight and cover Jimenez tomorrow. That's part of the reason with Tyler. We just wanted to err on the side of pitching right now, especially with going on the road."

Showalter noted how Gulf Coast League right-hander Jhon Peluffo turned in another excellent outing today, allowing one unearned run and two hits over five innings to lower his ERA to 1.61.

"They've been talking about moving him (up), maybe," Showalter said. "A good arm."

Peluffo was one of the minor league pitchers discussed in the proposed Jimenez-Melvin Upton Jr. trade with the Padres.