Buck Showalter

Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez said there really is no time when it is not on his mind - even when he is on the mound, even when he is turning in what was arguably his best performance of the year in a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night. Sometime in the next week or so, the 29-year-old Gonzalez will become a father for the first time. Limiting Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and company to four hits, one walk and one run in eight standout innings pales comparatively.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter confirmed Friday that right-hander Kevin Gausman was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after Thursday night's win to add another fresh arm to the bullpen. Showalter, however, did say there were no guarantees Gausman would be back as soon as possible. “I didn't tell him, promise him,” Showalter said. “I made sure he understood he could conceivably stay down there the rest of the year - see what the needs are going to be up here. I told him to go down there and present himself as an option for us. It's all in his hands.” The Orioles recalled right-hander Jake Arrieta from Norfolk on Friday.

One day after a strong defensive and offensive performance by Alexi Casilla, the reserve second baseman's name wasn't in the Orioles' starting lineup Monday. It likely would have been, but Casilla jammed his right index finger in a ninth-inning steal attempt Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Although he was supposed to test the finger while playing catch before Monday's contest, Casilla said pre-game that he didn't think he would be able to start without dealing with some pain.

No question the fifth and sixth innings were a mess Monday night at Camden Yards due to a continual and heavy rain. And surely the Los Angeles Angels would have preferred if the game had been stopped after they scored a run in the top of the sixth. The Orioles scored twice in the bottom of the sixth as the field conditions worsened. Those two runs proved to be the difference in a 4-3 Orioles victory that included a two-hour and 14-minute rain delay. Here are post-game interviews with umpiring crew chief Joe West, Orioles manager Buck Showalter and Angels manager Mike Scioscia.

While the Orioles await the results of this morning's MRI on second baseman Brian Roberts' injured right hamstring, utility man Ryan Flaherty is in the starting lineup at second base for today's home opener against the Twins. Roberts was able to move up the MRI to get the test done at 10 a.m., but it still needs to be read by team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens. As a precaution, infielder Yamaico Navarro traveled to Baltimore from Triple-A Norfolk last night and arrived at the Orioles clubhouse this morning.

Growing up, Angela Showalter was no stranger to the harsh realities that come with being a foster child. The wife of Orioles manager Buck Showalter can remember the times when her family would take care of a couple of foster children from time to time either during the summer or on weekends. As a youth in a traditional family, it was difficult for her to see the hardships foster children endure on a day-to-day basis. "We weren't an actual full-time foster family, but we would pick up kids who were in foster care facilities," Angela Showalter said.

Buck Showalter not only has baseball talents, Baltimore -- he's also quite a believable prankster. The folks at Major League Baseball's Fan Cave just posted a really funny video where Showalter "punks" relief pitcher Darren O'Day. Here's the setup: O'Day thinks he's being interviewed by a Wall Street Journal reporter about his fondness for something called a "Solowheel," a unicycle-type thing that he's apparently getting paid to endorse. In the middle of demonstrating the device, Showalter storms up and asks him what the heck he thinks he's doing.

Before the masses start thinking that there's a rift between Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds and manager Buck Showalter, let's squash that -- and tell you about what you don't see on television. What you did see Friday night in the Orioles' 13-inning 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park was Reynolds hit his first homer of the season, a booming shot over the Green Monster in the third inning that ended a personal 0-for-13 streak and a 76-at bat homerless drought going back to last season (Watch the video by clicking HERE )

Orioles manager Buck Showalter will have a lot of issues to deal with over the course of spring training - which officially begins today - but he doesn't seem the least bit worried about his starting rotation, even though he concedes that there are a few things he might have to worry about. “We're probably at 9, 10, 11 guys that we're looking at," he said Tuesday. “You've got to say 'What if?' If [Jason Hammel] has a knee issue or Miguel [Gonzalez] has some issue or [Wei-Yin] Chen or something, we'll be able to move in a lot of different directions.

Before today's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Orioles manager Buck Showalter got on top of his pregame soapbox and talked about how most barehanded plays don't need to be made. He reminisced about his days as an analyst at ESPN and about how he thought the network too often fell in love with a barehanded play that was more style than substance. But third baseman Manny Machado's ninth-inning barehanded throwout of  Desmond Jennings in Tuesday's 5-4 win over Tampa Bay wasn't one of those plays.

Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez said there really is no time when it is not on his mind - even when he is on the mound, even when he is turning in what was arguably his best performance of the year in a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night. Sometime in the next week or so, the 29-year-old Gonzalez will become a father for the first time. Limiting Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and company to four hits, one walk and one run in eight standout innings pales comparatively.

One day after a strong defensive and offensive performance by Alexi Casilla, the reserve second baseman's name wasn't in the Orioles' starting lineup Monday. It likely would have been, but Casilla jammed his right index finger in a ninth-inning steal attempt Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Although he was supposed to test the finger while playing catch before Monday's contest, Casilla said pre-game that he didn't think he would be able to start without dealing with some pain.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, who has spent most of this season at the team's spring training facility in Sarasota, Fla., rehabbing a right hamstring injury, visited with the club Friday and hopes he can complete his rehabilitation with the team. Roberts had surgery May 9 in Dallas and was given an estimated recovery time of at least six weeks. Roberts said he's been doing some light jogging, playing catch, hitting off a tee and has progressed to hitting off coaches over the past few days.

The big story for the Orioles at steamy Camden Yards on Sunday was Kevin Gausman, the mega-talented young righty who means so much to this franchise going forward Give Gausman credit for a terrific outing (six innings, five hits, one earned run, no walks, four strikeouts) in the Orioles' 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. But give Buck Showalter a ton of credit, too, for sticking with the kid after he got lit up in his first two major league outings. Remember what happened to Gausman against the Washington Nationals last week?

It didn't take the Detroit Tigers long to remind the Orioles that momentum and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. The Orioles were flying so high after Friday night's ninth-inning comeback that the air apparently got a little too thin. The big-swinging Tigers pierced the sky four times in an eight-run explosion in the top of the fourth inning that all but evened the series before late-afternoon shadows could reach the pitcher's mound. The assault was so quick and unmerciful that it rendered Tigers ace Justin Verlander almost irrelevant.

The last time Orioles closer Jim Johnson had walked off the mound, it was after his fourth blown save in five opportunities Sunday, when was unable to preserve a three-run ninth-inning lead in a 6-5 walk-off loss to Toronto at Rogers Centre . But when Johnson took the mound in the ninth inning Wednesday night, he was greeted by a chorus of cheers and a loud ovation from the Camden Yards crowd. Minutes later, the right-hander shut the door on a 9-6 victory over the Washington Nationals with a quick, 11-pitch inning that ended with a three-pitch strikeout of second baseman Danny Espinosa for his 16th save of the season.

Check out this banner of Orioles manager Buck Showalter that allegedly will be hung at Camden Yards sometime between now and Opening Day. Well, Baltimore, are you ready?

Orioles manager Buck Showalter was tossed in the top of the sixth Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels after complaining about home plate umpire Angel Campos' strike zone. When Campos called a pitch that appeared to be well off the plate a strike against Nick Markakis in the sixth, Showalter yelled something and was immediately ejected. It was his first of the season and 20th of his career for Showalter. John Russell took over managing duties. Showalter has been displeased with the strike zones in each of the games during the Angels series.

WASHINGTON -- After Kevin Gausman's indoctrination into the big leagues hit a thoroughly rough patch Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals, Orioles manager Buck Showalter was definitive in saying that the heralded right-hander will remain in the Orioles starting rotation. Gausman was shelled for seven runs over four innings in a 9-3 loss at Nationals Park, but Showalter said that the 22-year-old will make his next scheduled start Sunday against a Detroit Tigers team that leads the majors in batting average (.284)

Welcome back to the bar. Pull up a stool and let's talk a little Kevin Gausman. I keep wanting to write “Orioles top pitching prospect Kevin Gausman,” but that's not the case because the currently injured Dylan Bundy holds that crown. Gausman was No. 2 in Baseball America's Orioles rankings this year, though this spring a lot of scouts and baseball people began flip-flopping the two. One scout said he'd throw himself off the stadium roof if Bundy had better stuff than Gausman.