Happy Birthday to Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez, who turned 29 today.  Here are the rest of your pregame notes from Nationals Park…

*Tommy Hunter’s right hand is a little swollen but looked good all things considered and he got a second X-ray this afternoon (the first done last night was negative) just to make sure. The early reports have been positive on Hunter and the Orioles are pretty optimistic he’ll avoid any serious injury. Hunter said he hoped to be available tomorrow.

*Speaking of availability, manager Buck Showalter stood by closer Jim Johnson again this morning and the right-hander –who has blown four of his last five save opportunities– will get every opportunity to work through his struggles and get back on track. Johnson will remain the team’s closer, although coming off a 37-pitch outing yesterday he’s not going to pitch for a third consecutive day today.

*Pedro Strop (lower back) is still with the team and Showalter said he hoped to get Strop throwing on the team’s upcoming homestand, which begins on Wednesday.

*All Orioles uniformed personell are wearing special jerseys today and they will be autographed and authenticated and auctioned on Orioles.com beginning at 1 p.m. ET. and continuing through June 2. The proceeds will go to the Yellow Ribbon Fund to  benefit patients at the Walter Reed national Military Medical Center. The Orioles will visit the facility tomorrow.
ORIOLES LINEUP
Nick Markakis RF
Manny Machado 3B
J.J. Hardy SS
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters C
Steve Pearce LF
Yamaico Navarro 2B
Jason Hammel RHP

NATIONALS LINEUP
Denard Span CF
Steve Lombardozzi 2B
Jordan Zimmerman 3B
Adam LaRoche 1B
Ian Desmond SS
Tyler Moore LF
Roger Bernadina RF
Kurt Suzuki C
Gio Gonzalez LHP

BALTIMORE — From the moment the Orioles selected right-hander Kevin Gausman with the fourth overall pick in last year’s First-Year Player Draft, this was the plan. The most advanced pitcher in the crop of amateurs, Gausman — out of Louisiana State University — was considered an arm that could help Baltimore, and help soon.

But it wasn’t until a few days ago, when the 22-year-old was discreetly brought into the batting cage to practice his bunting skills during one of Double-A Bowie’s games, that the possibility became clear.

“I was like, ‘What are we doing?’” Gausman said when Brian Graham, director of player development, gave him a bat and had him square up.

What he was doing was preparing for the future.

The Orioles on Thursday will officially promote Gausman and add him to the active roster for his Major League debut that night in Toronto, a bold move for an organization that shocked the baseball world when it called up 20-year-old infielder Manny Machado in the middle of a pennant race last August.

“We’re trying to win,” manager Buck Showalter said of what went into the decision to call up Gausman after just eight Minor League starts. “And we think he can help us.”

Click here to read the rest of the story on Gausman.

BALTIMORE — From the moment the Orioles selected right-hander Kevin Gausman with the fourth overall pick in last year’s First-Year Player Draft, this was the plan. The most advanced pitcher in the crop of amateurs, Gausman — out of Louisiana State University — was considered an arm that could help Baltimore, and help soon.

But it wasn’t until a few days ago, when the 22-year-old was discreetly brought into the batting cage to practice his bunting skills during one of Double-A Bowie’s games, that the possibility became clear.

“I was like, ‘What are we doing?’” Gausman said when Brian Graham, director of player development, gave him a bat and had him square up.

What he was doing was preparing for the future.

I’ll have a full story up on Kevin Gausman and his Major League debut on Thursday shortly on Orioles.com, but here is what the 22-year-old had to say to the media this afternoon.

[on how he got the news?] “I was in Akron [Ohio] and Brian Graham and Gary Kendall, Blaine Beatty all of them were in the coaches room and called me in there and I didn’t really know what to expect. Gary Kendall kind of dropped the bomb on me. You know, I don’t really think it hit me until today, until my second flight here from Atlanta. Then I just kinda was thinking, you know, ‘Wow I’m really here. It’s crazy.’”

[on what it was like to walk into the clubhouse] “It’s definitely something I’ll never forget. Kind of just walking in here. But like you said, Spring Training, part of the reason they kept me there so long was to kind of get used to being around these guys. I think they did a really good job of having younger prospects, guys like me and [Dylan] Bundy kind of around those guys a lot. so when it does happen like this it doesn’t feel like we don’t know anybody on the team.”

[on the experience at Double-A Bowie] “The biggest thing was they told me to kind of get used to a five-man rotation, get used to pro ball. i hadn’t been used to throwing every fifth day and the travel that yo udo in pro ball, it’s a lot different than college. In college you are not playing every night. So, it’s definitely something you get used to after a while.

[on what the start will be like] “Obviously it’s going to be really exciting. I try and not think about it too much. Just go out there and keep doing what you’re doing and throw strikes.”

[who he called first] “I called my dad and he didn’t answer of course so I called my mom. My dad told me he thinks she just about fainted. It was pretty exciting and kind of emotional for my mom. So it was definitely something I’ll never forget.”

[anybody going to watch?]
“I know my parents are going to be there. I don’t really know anything other than that. Right now I don’t really know.”

[on if he think he's improved from the start of the season]
“Yeah I think I’ve definitely improved. I think the biggest thing is probably my slider more than anything. Just being able to throw it in different situations. I’ve spent all year learning different ways to throw it and in different situations so that’s something I definitely learned more than anything else.”

[were you concentrating on fastball command?]
“I was definitely working on throwing — in Spring Training, kind of focusing on throwing more strikes. One thing I didn’t want to do in big league camp was have them send me down because I couldn’t throw strikes. That was something that I kind of wanted to work on while I was there and I think I hit the ground running in Spring Training and, you know, going into the season, just try to keep doing the same thing.”

[was there a game you thought, ‘if they call me, now I’m ready’?]
“Not really. I didn’t really kind of have that one moment that really sticks out. I was just trying to win ballgames. I kind  of got off to a slow start up there, I was leaving some balls up. So I was just trying to get back to what I was doing in college, just try to leave the ball down and win ballgames.”

Like I said, I was kind of shocked and I didn’t really know what happened until, you know, today. And then I was like, wow, I wish I had hugged this guy or said thanks and stuff like that but it didn’t really hit me until today.”

Greetings from Camden Yards, where the Orioles will take on the Yankees in a series finale game tonight.

*In case you missed it, the Orioles have promoted top pitching prospect Kevin Gausman and he will be activated and make his Major League debut on Thursday in Toronto. Gausman was in the clubhouse today and will wear No. 37 for the Orioles. Baltimore’s top pick in last year’s Draft, Gausman has been impressive at Double-A Bowie and he got the news last night from Akron, Ohio from Bowie manager Gary Kendall.  Gausman is the Orioles’ best option for the rotation right now and his stay obviously will be performance-based. But it sends an important message too in that the Orioles want to win and they want to win now.

I’ll have more on that shortly on Orioles.com.

*Adam Jones is serving at designated hitter for the second consecutive game and is dealing with some groin soreness stemming from Monday’s game. Manager Buck Showalter, who clarified it was Jones’ groin not leg today, said Jones is not happy with him about the decision but with the team slated to play four games on Toronto’s turf it was a precautionary move.

*Nolan Reimold will remain in Baltimore when the team travels to Toronto and see a local physical therapist. Reimold, who is eligible to come off the DL early next week, probably won’t be ready immediately. But the club hopes he can start getting some at-bats while the team is on the road. Reimold had a pair of MRI done on his right hamstring to confirm the strain and make sure the organization knew what it was dealing with.

*Top position player prospect Jonathan Schoop has been sidelined with a lower back injury that was diagnosed as a stress fracture and he will see Dr. Robert Watkins out in California next week for a second opinion. The club is hoping the second opinion is different than the first one, since a stress fracture would require 6-8 weeks of rest.
YANKEEES LINEUP
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
David Adams 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Reid Brignac SS
Austin Romine C

ORIOLES LINEUP
Nate McLouth LF
Manny Machado 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones DH
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters C
J.J. Hardy SS
Chris Dickerson CF
Alexi Casilla 2B

Jason Hammel RHP

The Orioles are expected to promote top pitching prospect Kevin Gausman to make Thursday’s start in Toronto with the organization believing that the 22-year-old is their best option.

Gausman will make his Major League debut against the Blue Jays –working on on an extra day of rest– a promotion that is sooner than expected, but not completely a shock given the struggles of Baltimore’s starting rotation. A source confirmed the pending promotion to MLB.com Tuesday night.

The Orioles have gotten three consecutive starts of six innings or more, but went a seven-game stretch prior to that in which the team got five innings or fewer from their starter six times. They’ve already used 10 different starting pitchers and Gausman would be taking the turn of Jair Jurrjens, who allowed four runs over five innings in his one start before being optioned on Tuesday.

Manager Buck Showalter said Tuesday afternoon T.J. McFarland and Jake Arrieta were the two primary candidates for that start, but it’s now expected to be Gausman, who is coming off a career-high 10-strikeout outing for Double-A Bowie Friday night. Gausman allowed an earned run on four hits over six innings in that 90-pitch outing and he has a 3.11 ERA this season for the Baysox.

The Orioles’ first-round pick in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, Gausman has allowed 21 runs (16 earned) on 44 hits over 46 1/3 innings, striking out 49 and walking just five. He is considered the organization’s second-best pitching prospect, behind only Dylan Bundy, who is currently hurt. Gausman was impressive in big league Spring Training, staying much longer than expected and fitting in exceptionally well among teammates in his first Major League clubhouse.

Orioles closer Jim Johnson, who blew his third consecutive save on Monday night, was hoping to get an immediate chance for redemption. And if a save situation arises Tuesday against the Yankees, manager Buck Showalter made it clear that Johnson will be the one to get the ball.

“He’s not going to sugarcoat it,” Johnson said of Showalter’s public and private support for him. “If he felt like he needed to do something, he would do it. But we are not at that point. He trusts me and I trust him.  We use that word a lot around here, trust. We hold each other accountable and that’s just the way this works.”

Johnson, who saw a stretch of 35 consecutive save opportunities snapped on May 10, has allowed eight earned runs over his last three games (2 1/3 innings) and the All-Star closer has looked nothing like the shut-down reliever who lead the Majors with 51 saves last year. Or has he?

“It’s never as bad as you think it is, and you are never going as good as you think you are,” he said. “There were times last year I pitched terribly and somehow ended up getting the save. But nobody talked about that because they don’t see it. Actually there is one person that saw it, it was [broadcaster and Hall of Famer Jim] Palmer. He called me out on it. And I knew he was right. It’s just the way the game works.

I feel like being consistent in this game is having a good work ethic. I think I have a good work ethic and the results will come.”

Johnson has gone back and watched the video of all three of his blown save outings and has been working on making a few adjustments that he hopes will get his command back on track. And while Showalter has stuck by his closer, Orioles fans have been pretty divided over whether the 29-year-old should continue to man the ninth-inning duties. Johnson said Tuesday he doesn’t pay attention to any of that kind of stuff, but he did have some high praise for the home crowd.

“I think our fans are a little bit smarter than most, honestly,” Johnson said. “They understand the game a little bit better than I’ve seen at other ballparks. They understand it’s not that easy. They are fans, they want us to win, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s part of being a fan, [and] enjoying the game.”

*The Orioles optioned Jair Jurrjens back to Triple-A Norfolk, opting to keep Jake Arrieta to add some length to their bullpen. Manager Buck Showalter said he’s trying to give T.J. McFarland one more day off tonight and both Arrieta and McFarland are options to start Thursday’s game which would have been Jurrjens’ turn.

Arrieta is more stretched out than McFarland, who has been in the bullpen all year, although Showalter said he feels confident he could go between 75-90 pitches on McFarland. Arrieta, who has had a nearly two-week layoff from pitching in a game, is 1-2 with a 7.31 ERA in three starts in Toronto. The organization has been impressed with McFarland, a Rule 5 pick this winter, and there’s been some thought to giving him a start for a while. The team’s recent starting rotation struggles have made that more of a possibility.

Jurrjens declined politely to speak to the media and his opt-out clause is dissolved given that he’s on the 40-man roster. He has an option and will report to Triple-A Norfolk where he will continue as a starter.

*Adam Jones is serving at designated hitter tonight after dealing with some right leg soreness at the end of last night’s game. Showalter said he didn’t like the look of it and he’ll give Jones a chance to keep his legs fresh.

*Nolan Reimold (hamstring strain) could travel with the team to Toronto instead of heading down to start rehabbing in Sarasota, Fla. Showalter said they haven’t made a final call on that yet, but either way Reimold will need to get at-bats at an affiliate before he is activated.

*Taylor Teagarden (dislocated left thumb) is about four or five days away from playing in games in extended spring.

*It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyways: If the Orioles have a save situation tonight, closer Jim Johnson will get the ball.

*Major League Baseball announced each team’s Draft representatives and the Orioles will send Al Bumbry and Tripp Norton.
YANKEES LINEUP
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Travis Hafer DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Curtis Granderson RF
Davis Adams 3B
Jayson Nix SS
Austin Romine C

Phil Hughes RHP

ORIOLES LINEUP
Nate McLouth LF
Manny Machado 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Adam JOnes DH
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters C
J.J. Hardy SS
Chris Dickerson CF
Yamaico Navarro

Miguel Gonzalez RHP

Orioles closer Jim Johnson was at his locker and faced the media after suffering his third consecutive blown save, leading to the Orioles’ 6-4, 10-inning loss to New York.

You can read my full recap of the game here, but here is what Johnson –who manger Buck Showalter said would be run back out there in the team’s next save situation–  had to say…

[on what the Orioles have to do to stop the current season-high six-game losing skid]
“Well, three of them are my fault. The other guys do their job and I do mine, then we’re not standing here. I think everybody’s doing a great job. I’m just not pulling my weight. And I’ll figure it out.”

[Easier said than done on bouncing back after three blown saves?]
“I don’t know. I haven’t been in this position before. I wasn’t thinking about the last two outings when I was out there today. So I don’t expect to be thinking about the outing before, tomorrow when I’m out there.”

[on the issue Monday night]
“The ball’s up. That seems to be the common thing lately. Just not making the adjustment. I’m trying. You know, doing everything. I’m going to work through it. Just like anybody else would. I just need to execute, you know. Balls are coming up, hittable. Just make better pitches.”

[on if this is the most frustrating stretch of his career]
“Yeah. I’ve put a lot of hard work into everything I do. It’s not going to change anything, you know. Go home, get some rest, come back tomorrow, ready to work, just like anybody else would.”

[on making adjustments]

“I’m not getting the ball to where I need to be. We’ve watched a lot of tape, and working on certain things, staying tall a little bit longer…We will figure it out. I’ll figure it out, there’s no other option.”

Greetings from Camden Yards, where the Orioles will try to snap a five-game losing streak. The O’s are 3-7 over their last 10 games, which his the first time they’ve had such a rough stretch since June 30-July 13 of last year.

*Wei-Yin Chen will leave for Sarasota, Fla. tomorrow and get an early start on his rehab. He will start on the stationary bike and hopes to progress to running at some point next week. Chen, who has a Grade 2 oblique strain, will not pick up a ball for a while with manager Buck Showalter saying today he’d feel “fortunate” if Chen was a week away from a throwing program.

*J.J. Hardy is batting third today, which Showalter said is more of a product of trying to provide the toughest lineup possible against Yankees lefty CC Sabathia. Hardy, who had a 13-game hit streak snapped on Sunday, is a career .321 hitter (9-for-28) with a homer and five RBIs off Sabathia.

*Jake Arrieta is here as part of the bullpen and Showalter said there are no plans right now for the right-hander to get a start. That, of course, could change soon. Freddy Garcia will need to have a good start tonight to stay in the rotation and the Orioles will have to make a roster move tomorrow to activate Miguel Gonzalez from the disabled list. Rule 5 Draft pick T.J. McFarland continues to impress and could emerge as a candidate should the Orioles need another starter.
YANKEES LINEUP
Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Curtis Granderson LF
David Adams 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Reid Brignac SS
Austin Romine C

CC Sabathia LHP

ORIOLES LINEUP
Nick Markakis RF
Manny Machado 3B
J.J. Hardy SS
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
Matt Wieters C
Danny Valencia DH
Steve Pearce LF
Alexi Casilla 2B

Freddy Garcia RHP

*Danny Valencia is here, taking the roster spot of Ryan Flaherty, and he will serve as the Orioles’ designated hitter today. Flaherty will probably play multiple positions for Triple-A Norfolk given the team need and the possibility that there could be an injury to the big league club that would involve him playing a spot other than second base.

*Freddy Garcia will start Monday’s game on his scheduled turn with Miguel Gonzalez still on track to be activated from the disabled list and start on Tuesday. The team will need a roster spot for him, and right now it looks like they’d send out a pitcher, particularly with Valencia slated to start two of the next three games against a lefty starter.

*Taylor Teagarden will start a hitting and catching program in Sarasota, Fla. on Monday after getting the splint off his thumb the other day. Brian Roberts will have the sutures removed from his leg on Monday. It was originally scheduled for Friday, but it wasn’t healed enough then.

Wei-Yin Chen will head down to Sarasota at the end of the homestand on Wednesday, and manager Buck Showalter said he wasn’t sure if Reimold will join him or be ready to go get some at-bats at an affiliate.

*The Orioles started bunting and hitting with their pitchers today to get ready for the upcoming Interleague play in Washington D.C. next week.
ORIOLES LINEUP
Nick Markakis RF
Manny Machado 3B
Adam Jones CF
Chris Davis 1B
Steve Pearce LF
J.J. Hardy SS
Danny Valencia DH
Yamaico Navarro 2B
Chris Snyder C

Chris Tillman RHP

RAYS LINEUP
Desmond Jennings CF
Matt Joyce RF
Ben Zobrist 2B
Evan Longoria 3B
James Loney 1B
Luke Scott DH
Kelly Johnson LF
Jose Lobaton C
Yunel Escobar SS

Matt Moore LHP