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BALTIMORE (AP) — The Houston Astros aren’t going to simply go through the motions while closing out the regular season.Houston’s game against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night was postponed by rain http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/myles-garrett-jersey , meaning the Astros will squeeze in four games over the final three days, including a doubleheader on Saturday.The 54 postponements in the major leagues this year are the most since 58 in 1989, the commissioner’s office said.Houston will squeeze in four games over the final three days, including a doubleheader on Saturday.Not a problem for the AL West champions, who open the Division Series on Oct. 5 at home against Cleveland.Gerritt Cole (15-5), who was slated to start Thursday, will instead pitch Friday night. Justin Verlander (16-9) will start the opener on Saturday (the makeup of Thursday’s rainout) and Dallas Keuchel (12-11) will pitch in the nightcap.“It’s important to them to get their regular work because we’ll have a week off,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “There are also personal goals. Gerrit is trying to get 200 innings and Justin is still in consideration for the Cy Young.”The Astros have already clinched the second seed in the AL Authentic Myles Garrett Jersey , already have 100 wins and need only to avoid injury through the weekend.But they can’t afford to lose their focus, even against the worst team in the major leagues.“I have stressed to them not to get sloppy,” Hinch said. “You don’t want to play like it’s spring training, then go have to go back into playoff mode.”Simply put, winning is still important.“I don’t want them to get into bad habits,” Hinch said. “We have to play the games and you have to keep your edge. You can’t not compete.”Hinch said his starters will continue to see action, even if it’s for just part of the game.Josh Reddick, Jose Altuve Jarvis Landry Jersey Elite , Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa were among those in the starting lineup Thursday.The Orioles, meanwhile, are just striving to reach the finish line of the worst season in franchise history. Baltimore 46-112.TRAINER’S ROOMAstros: The wife of RHP Charlie Morton gave birth to a girl on Thursday. Morton could pitch the regular-season finale on Sunday.Orioles: RHP Miguel Castro (knee) remains sidelined. His status for this series is uncertain.UP NEXTAstros: Cole is 5-0 over his last seven starts. He stands 5 2/3 innings short of reaching 200 for the season.Orioles: Rookie David Hess (3-10, 5.14 ERA) starts Friday night. He has one victory since May 25. The Chicago Cubs find themselves in the midst of a stretch in which getting a chance to catch their breath hasn’t been easy.And while Hurricane Florence and accompanying storms threatened to prevent the Cubs and Washington Nationals from playing a makeup game Thursday at Nationals Park, it now appears everything is a go.Rain that hovered over Washington, D.C. last weekend forced the Cubs to make a quick trip east that is being sandwiched between Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers and the start of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds that starts Friday at Wrigley Field.Article continues below ...Already in a hectic stretch, Thursday’s game will make the 30th straight day the Cubs have played while they have seen their lead over the Brewers in the National League Central dwindle to one game.“I love my teammates but seeing them 30 days in a row is not what I intend to do on a daily basis,” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo told reporters http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/jarvis-landry-jersey , according to the Chicago Tribune. “The one day away from them goes for two weeks seeing them.”The threat of hurricane-like weather along the East Coast kept Thursday’s game in question before it was determined that the most serious conditions will steer clear of Washington. Earlier this week, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein asked for a common-sense solution and argued that forcing the Cubs to play the makeup game Thursday seemed unreasonable.“I know (MLB) would not send us into a situation with any danger or risk,” Epstein said in a radio interview on Chicago’s 670 The Score on Wednesday. “And then I cannot imagine that they would send us into a situation where there’s a chance of rain given what we experienced in Washington last weekend and given the situation that would create 30 straight days with a game scheduled in the middle of a pennant race, which is just about unprecedented.”Mike Montgomery (4-5, 3.85 ERA) will start for the Cubs on Thursday, making only his third start since Aug. 7. Montgomery surrendered a pair of earned runs over four innings in his last start and will face Washington for the first time as a starter in his career.The Nationals, who took two of three games in last weekend’s rain-shortened series, have won five straight games after sweeping a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Stephen Strasburg finished off the sweep Wednesday with a seven-inning masterpiece in Washington’s 5-1 victory.Before Wednesday’s game Authentic Jarvis Landry Jersey , the Nationals activated right-handed pitcher Jeremy Hellickson from the disabled list after he had been sidelined with a right wrist injury. Hellickson, who had been part of the starting rotation, will return in a role that manager Dave Martinez told reporters Wednesday remains “up in the air.”“At the moment right now, we’re taking it one day at a time,” Martinez said, according to the team’s official website.Hellickson said he prefers to return to his previous role.“I’m a starter — never came out of the bullpen,” Hellickson told reporters, according to MLB.com. “I’m a starter so I don’t think (heading to the bullpen) is something I really want to do.”Joe Ross (0-0) Authentic Bradley Chubb Jersey , who is coming off Tommy John surgery last year, will start Thursday. Ross faced the Cubs last week but had his outing wiped out after 1 2/3 ininings when rain forced the game to be postponed. Ross is 0-2 with a 3.44 ERA in three career starts against the Cubs.