Wrapping up today's roster move and a 2-0 loss

ST. PETERBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he'd check later on Adam Jones to find out whether his center fielder was hurting again or annoyed during an at-bat in the top of the ninth inning.

Jones took a big swing and missed a pitch from Rays reliever Erasmo Ramirez, circled the batter's box while grimacing and hit a slow roller to the mound.

Showalter doesn't know whether Jones was experiencing more discomfort in his rib area.

"I saw some of the same things you did," he said following a 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay. "It's always, is it frustration or is it something else? I'll know shortly."

Earlier in the day, the Orioles optioned infielder Ryan Flaherty to Triple-A Norfolk and went with a three-man bench while also activating Kevin Gausman from the disabled list.

"There's a lot of factors," Showalter said. "Nothing that Ryan didn't do. It's kind of where we are with the pitching. Want to keep some length ... We're getting ready to face a handed team again. These guys are a lot more right-handed than they've been in the past. Chicago's very right-handed, six or seven. Not sure what Gaus was going, how many innings and pitches. You want to cover in case he has a problem the first time back.

"You don't want to send a starter out. There's just a lot of moving parts. We thought that from a club standpoint for a few days it was the best way to cover our needs."

Shortstop J.J. Hardy apparently would move to second base if Jonathan Schoop had to leave the game.

"J.J.'s played on that side of the base," Showalter said. "What I always worry about is putting somebody like Manny (Machado) over there with, not back, but their side to a sliding runner even though the slide rule is a little different now. J.J.'s been on that side of the diamond it seems like about as much as he's been the other side. He's turned some double plays from there. But it will be a short-term thing.

"The thing that will be tough is if you get a three- or four-day injury, not DL. Then we'd probably make a move to counteract it. So we're hoping it's really for nine games if you're counting the off-day. But it's tough. There are a lot of different scenarios out there. This is the one that fit best for where we are right now."

Gausman, making his 2016 debut, was firing 100 mph fastballs at the Rays while carrying a shutout into the fifth inning.

"Honestly, it felt like I hadn't pitched in years," he said. "At times, I had to step off the mound and refocus and try to tell myself to calm down."

Gausman needed 32 pitches to get through the fifth and the Rays took a 1-0 lead on Curt Casali's two-out RBI double.

"Threw some good pitches," Gausman said. "There was a couple breaking balls that (Steve) Pearce laid off. Threw a great breaking ball 3-2 to (Steven) Souza (Jr.) that I thought was a strike. But those things you can't control. Overall, ended up getting out of it.

"I was more upset throwing a fastball right down the middle to Casali. At 3-2, you could tell he was looking for it. Major league hitters don't miss that pitch."

Gausman kept getting ahead of the Rays hitters, but wasn't putting them away with the same regularity as the first four innings.

"At times, I tried to throw a little too hard and not focus on hitting my spots," he said. "Also, I threw some great breaking balls that they just kind of didn't bite at. And that's just kind of hats off to them. Those are pitchers pitches. That's what you want to do in that situation.

"Like you said, I got myself in some bad counts. When you're 1-2, 0-2 and end up getting to 3-2, throwing multiple pitches, that's what gets your pitch count up."

Gausman will start again on Saturday against the White Sox.

"I feel ready to take the ball every fifth day," he said. "I wanted to go seven innings my first outing and I was on pace to do that. That fifth inning, those walks, hit (Logan) Forsythe and those things come back to bite you."

Gausman's one-out walk to Souza in the fifth proved costly after Casali's RBI double, a full-count pitch that plate umpire Paul Nauert easily could have called the other way.

"The 3-2 pitch to Souza was a real close pitch," Showalter said. "Otherwise, he probably gets out of that inning unscathed. He was pounding the strike zone. That's kind of the guy we've been missing. We'll see next start.

"He had a lot of adrenaline I'm sure. Not always get to go through those programs building up before you get to the end game. Now the end game is September and October, hopefully."

The Orioles haven't scored in their last 17 innings. Chris Archer, who's been dreadful this month, shut them out on five hits, didn't issue a walk and struck out 10 in 6 2/3 innings.

"You could tell with Archer, the way he was pitching, it was going to be a fine line of margin for error there," Showalter said. "A lot of those close pitches go either way.

"Kevin attacked the strike zone. Archer has such a good changeup. That was really impressive for both of them. If you're a fan, you like watching both pitchers pitch. They just were a little better than us.

"We kind of got caught with a guy with a real good track record finding his step tonight against us."

Pedro Alvarez collected two doubles in his first two at-bats and raised his average from .108 to .150.

"I've been feeling pretty good the last couple of days, and I'm not going to say something that's just overnight," Alvarez said. "Nothing's changed since Day 1. I'm always trying to take good swings at pitches. I just happened to make contact today.

"It's just one of those things where sometimes the season's just got to take its course. You've just got to go out there every day and stick to your routine. That's what I've been doing."

Alvarez is adapting to a new team in a new league filled with new pitchers. He's also handling a new role as designated hitter.

"I don't know if 'difficult' is the word, but it's different, obviously," he said. "Like you said, there's some guys I haven't seen yet. Obviously, you have to start to learn some of these guys' tendencies. You can watch all the film and video you want, but it's different when you're standing in there, so any opportunity I get to go up there, I'm just trying to take as much information from every pitch I see and I still have a whole lot to experience."

Watching from the dugout, Alvarez was impressed with Gausman's outing. This is the first time as a starter that Gausman has lost when yielding one run or fewer. He's the first Orioles starter to lose after allowing one run or fewer since Ubaldo Jimenez on July 3, 2015 versus the White Sox.

"He was pitching very well, obviously," Alvarez said. "Good life on the fastball. Mixing pitches well. He was cruising and getting good outs. He showed really good stuff like he's always had. Just glad he's healthy, glad he's on board, but obviously very, very good stuff."