It’s all but over for the final statistical goal for the Kansas Cit

y Royals. One more loss — whether it’s Wednesday in a series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park Miles Mikolas Jersey , or down the final stretch — and “100” will pop up in the loss column.Pittsburgh, however, still has one hope alive. That, is finishing above .500.Pittsburgh (76-74) knocked off the Royals (52-99) in its final at-bat in each of the first two games of the series. Tuesday, it was journeyman Ryan Lavarnway’s RBI single in the 11th inning for a 2-1 win.Article continues below ...The Pirates have won four in row, five of six and 10 of 13 on their way, they hope, to at least 82 wins.“It’s always important to have a winning season,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “When things are taken off the table — to win the division is taken away — we are trying to win every game we play.“There is a level of competition that you like to keep in place when you’re playing teams that are fighting: the Brewers, the Cubs, the Cardinals. Different storyline here (against Kansas City).”The Pirates’ 76 wins eclipses by one their total in 2017.“We don’t need to get a shirt that says, ‘Let’s win’ or ‘We need to win 82,'” Hurdle said. “We had this conversation when I first got here. I get that. I think there’s always a sense of winning more games than you’re losing when you get to that point where it’s real. It’s real for us now. We want to win more than 82 games. However http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , our focus is to win more games than we lose right now because of where we are.”Both teams got good roster news Tuesday. Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, who missed Monday’s game because of illness, played. Pirates infielder/outfielder Adam Frazier, who left Monday’s game after fouling a ball off his right knee, pinch-hit and stayed in the game Tuesday. And Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez was a late scratch Tuesday because of lingering issues with a left thumb sprain, but he entered the game off the bench.Wednesday, Kansas City right-hander Heath Fillmyer (3-1, 4.76 ERA) is scheduled to face Pirates righty Chris Archer (4-8, 4.66 ERA).Fillmyer, who has never faced Pittsburgh, is coming off his longest outing of the season, a 6-4 win Thursday over Minnesota when he gave up four runs and five hits in a career-high 7 1/3 innings. “He threw the ball really well,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We wanted to get him through the eighth Jason Motte Jersey , but he started to labor.”Archer, meanwhile, is running out of chances this season to prove himself as a worthy trade acquisition. He will be making his ninth start since he joined Pittsburgh from Tampa Bay July 31 and is 1-3 with a 5.49 ERA with seven homers allowed, including 0-2 in his past six starts.His last time out, he struck out eight but gave up four runs in five innings in a 7-4 loss Friday at Milwaukee.Archer is 1-4 with a 4.50 ERA in six career starts against Kansas City, all while with the Rays. Baseball’s winter meetings begin today in Las Vegas. The Orioles are the only team there that has no manager. They probably won’t have much to do."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Commentary & AnalysisOrioles ProspectsOrioles Game RecapsOrioles News and RumorsCamdencastBird DroppingsMonday Bird Droppings: Where the Hall of Fame has two new ex-OriolesNew,608commentsBaseball’s winter meetings begin today in Las Vegas. The Orioles are the only team there that has no manager. They probably won’t have much to do.The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on Sunday night, one more name to have interviewed for the manager’s job:Around the blogO’sphereWhat to watch as Orioles head to first winter meetings led by GM Mike Elias (Baltimore Sun)If you get any WWE-related jokes about the new Orioles GM, this is for you.Bundy on importance of veteran catcher, Mancini on role and rebuild (School of Roch)He responded to a question about the importance of a veteran backstop with, “Very.”How important is MLB managerial experience in selection of a new O’s skipper? (The Athletic)Dan Connolly also wanted an experienced GM. In that case, I think we’re better off with what we got instead.Taking stock of the O’s current catching situation (Steve Melewski)Consider me uninterested in the list of free agent catchers.Birthdays and anniversariesThere is one current Oriole who has a birthday today. Happy 28th to catcher Austin Wynns.Several former Orioles also have birthdays today. They are: 2018 Rule 5 failure Nestor Cortes Jr., 2011 four-gamer Pedro Florimon http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , and 1996 outfielder Luis Polonia.Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: American School for the Deaf founder Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (1787), computer programming pioneer Ada Lovelace (1815), poet Emily Dickinson (1830), movie man Kenneth Branagh (1960), and drummer Meg White (1974).On this day in history...In 220, the throne of the Han dynasty in China was usurped by Cao Pi, King of Wei. Thus began the Three Kingdoms era, as the rulers of Shu and Wu had their own designs.In 1520, Martin Luther responded to a papal bull, Exsurge Domine, which called for him to recant his Ninety-five Theses or face excommunication. His response was to publicly burn a copy of the bull in Wittenberg.In 1884, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was first published.In 1936, England’s King Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication Brett Cecil Jersey , opting to relinquish the throne after Parliament refused its assent to his planned marriage to twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. His brother, Prince Albert of York, became King George VI the next day.In 1968, a lone robber disguised as a policeman managed to pull off a heist in Tokyo, Japan for about 300 million yen, or over $800,000 in dollars at that time. The crime, which is the largest theft in Japanese history, was never solved.**And that’s the way it is in Birdland on December 10 - or at least, unless something happens later, which since it’s the winter meetings, you never know. It might. Have a safe Monday.