Gausman becomes option for Thursday's start

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles held Kevin Gausman out of his originally scheduled Triple-A start on Friday with the possibility of a rainout this weekend, but decided to keep their pitchers as close as possible to a schedule and went with Ubaldo Jimenez and Chris Tillman to start Sunday's doubleheader instead.

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"If we would have been at seven in the bullpen, we might have done it differently," Orioles manager Buck Showlater said of the decision, which saw the O's add reliever T.J. McFarland as the 26th man for Game 2.

"We are in a different situation [than Cleveland]," Showalter said. "Gaus is going to pitch a couple of innings today [at Triple-A], see what the weather brings."

By holding Gausman to 2-3 innings, however, he is an option to come up and start Thursday's game against the Rangers. Now that Tillman has been pushed back, the O's will need a starter for that game.

McFarland must be sent back to Triple-A after the game and this does not impact his current mandatory 10-day stay in the Minors. It's a loophole that allows him to be here for the second game of a doubleheader while continuing to work toward the 10-day time frame to be eligible to be recalled again. McFarland was optioned to clear a roster spot for Wei-Yin Chen on Friday.