Showalter reveals rotation beyond All-Star break

The Orioles will go into the All-Star break 10 games above .500 and four ahead of the Blue Jays in the American League East.

Of course, they had to endure a 2 hour, 22 minute rain delay tonight before being awarded a 3-1 victory over the Yankees in a game halted in the bottom of the fifth inning due to rain.

Kevin Gausman is credited with a complete-game victory after allowing one run and four hits in five innings.

Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen and Gausman will start the three games in Oakland following the break. Bud Norris, Miguel Gonzalez and Tillman will start the three in Anaheim.

Ubaldo Jimenez will need to pitch in a rehab game, scheduled for July 23, before coming off the disabled list. The Orioles are aiming for a July 29 return, when they're back from their 10-game West Coast trip.

Jimenez is on the disabled list with a right ankle sprain.

"Talking with Jimenez today, he tried to take a work day today and he was very tentative, so if you look back to the last day he pitched, it would be almost 2 1/2 weeks. So he'll have to make at least one rehab start before we put him back in," said manager Buck Showalter.

"If you fall in turn, those five guys, you can put them into the post five days, too. So if everything went well, Jimenez's rehab start would be the day he's eligible, which is the 23rd. Six days after the break. That's what we're shooting for for his rehab start.

"He'll be with us in California and I'm hoping he has to get on a plane to get back here to make a rehab start on the East Coast. He'll be with us to take two work days, hopefully. The workout day in Oakland at 5 o'clock, and hopefully he'll take two days off and take another (side session), and if (the ankle) doesn't blow up again and he responds twice well, we'll try to pitch him on his eligibility date back here and see how it goes.

"You can probably tell from looking at it how far we'd probably have to go with the five post All-Star break. Probably the quickest he'd figure back into it is post-road trip. It's just complicated. Waiting on a lot of things for a while."

Jimenez is still favoring the ankle "a lot," Showalter said, which led to the decision to extend his stay on the disabled list.

"He was trying to protect it and we kind of shortened it up a little bit because it wasn't getting any better and we didn't want him to have a setback," Showalter said. "They have X-rayed, I'm pretty sure. He's had a history and anybody who's had that ankle, it gets a little weaker each time you do it or it's more susceptible to it. Obviously, he's got some significance in there that we're going to have to clear up before we can pitch him."

Catcher Steve Clevenger and reliever Preston Guilmet will accompany the Orioles to Oakland.

Gausman notched his first career complete game - albeit a short one - and the fourth by an Orioles pitcher this season. The only run off him came on Brett Gardner's leadoff homer.

"I don't think I've ever won a game when our first hitter hit a home run, and I don't think I've ever lost a game when their first hitter hit a home run," Showalter said.

"I hope it's an indication of him understanding that he pitched pretty well after that. That's part of the plan up here. You can't let one thing snowball into another. He didn't try to start throwing harder."

Gausman is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA at night this season, allowing three earned runs in 18 innings.

Chris Davis was 0-for-13 before hitting a two-run homer in the fourth. He ends the first half with a .199 average.

"I think from a human being standpoint, just for him to spend the next four days thinking about his last swing is good for him and good for us tonight," Showalter said.

Manny Machado singled in the third inning to extend his on-base streak to 16 games, tying his career high. He's batting .410 (25-for-61) during that stretch.