The Orioles begin their final home series of the regular season tonight by sending Kevin Gausman to the mound. Will they send Gausman to the bullpen for the Division Series or slot him in the rotation? The only guarantee so far is Chris Tillman pitching Game 1 on Oct. 2 at Camden Yards. Confirmation may come before the Orioles fly to Toronto for the final road series. I'm assuming that Wei-Yin Chen will follow him in Game 2. The Orioles won't go with a five-man rotation in the playoffs,...

We can laugh about it now. It was the afternoon of Aug. 24 and the Orioles lost 2-1 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Orioles were swept three straight and their American League East lead was down from nine games to six. There was panic coming from some circles. One poster wrote commented with this on that Sunday: * "As NO ONE sees us as a true threat despite being in first place. We are a mirage. So many think we still fold and blow this season. This is what others mean by run...

The Marlins greeted Miami native Gio Gonzalez rudely in the second inning. Jeff Baker singled to lead off the frame. Reed Johnson, who is replacing the injured Giancarlo Stanton, then smacked a double that bounced off the center field wall and the Marlins led 1-0. Gonzalez managed to get the next three outs to end the rally. Brad Hand has not allowed a hit in the first two innings. He has an 8.03 ERA in six starts versus the Nationals. Update: Anthony Rendon notched a base hit with one out...

Last night, none of the Nationals' regular starters played in the team's 3-1 loss to the Braves. Manager Matt Williams indicated most, if not all of the starters would return to the lineup tonight as the Nats begin a four-game series with the Marlins. First baseman Adam LaRoche is the lone starter that will be on the bench tonight. According to Williams, LaRoche is still battling a sore back which has plagued him for most of the month. "He's been battling that back issue for a while,"...

The Orioles are down to their last three home games of the regular season. Usually, that means lockers are emptied, boxes are loaded and players go their separate ways. Not so fast. The Orioles are hosting Game 1 of the Division Series on Oct. 2. Before that date, the club will hold its annual Fan Appreciation Celebration this weekend while hosting the Red Sox. According to a release sent out today by the Orioles, the three-day event includes "the chance for fans to be selected at random to...

MIAMI - Yesterday, Nationals manager Matt Williams hinted that most of the regular starters would return to the lineup. He didn't lie. All of the regulars are playing tonight except for first baseman Adam LaRoche, who will sit out his second straight game. LaRoche has been battling a tight back the last couple of weeks. Kevin Frandsen will take LaRoche's spot at first base. With LaRoche out of the lineup, catcher Wilson Ramos will bat cleanup. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez will pitch in his...

The Orioles had a celebration for the books Tuesday. By taking down the Blue Jays in front of a roaring crowd of 35,257 fans, the O's clinched the American League East for the first time since 1997. The party began in the first inning on Steve Pearce's huge three-run homer, and then there was no turning back. Tommy Hunter got Ryan Goins to ground out to Pearce in the top of the ninth to end the game. The 8-2 win was in the books, and the celebration started. The team flooded the field and...

MIAMI - The Nationals added some organizational depth at shortstop this afternoon, claiming Pedro Florimon off waivers from the Twins. The 25-year-old Florimon batted .092 (7-for-76) with one RBI in 33 games for the Twins this season and played 85 games at Triple-A Rochester, where he hit 257 with four homers and 29 RBIs. The switch-hitter came up through the Orioles organization before being claimed off waivers by the Twins in December 2011 and is a career .204 hitter with 10 homers and 57...

MIAMI - I had a conversation with a couple of fellow Nationals reporters yesterday evening after watching Blake Treinen carve through the Braves lineup over five scoreless innings. The topic was initially raised by The Post's Adam Kilgore, and got a few of us chatting. The main point in the conversation was this: Every team in the league would love a pitcher who can throw 98 mph with sink, with emerging offspeed stuff. But how many teams wouldn't see that pitcher as a major factor come...

Ever since its debut on the Diamond Vision scoreboard at Camden Yards on Friday, we've gotten a lot of requests for the "We Won't Stop" music video, the Orioles' thank you to their faithful fans that also serves as the team's anthem heading into the postseason. You've asked repeatedly for it. On Twitter. In the comments sections of our blogs. During our Facebook chats. During the wild celebration after Tuesday night's clincher, more than a few fans asked me when we'd be posting the...