MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Gausman has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal season for the Baltimore Orioles Authentic Jaire Alexander Jersey , who bring the worst record in baseball to Target Field on Saturday as they continue a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins.
Gausman takes the mound with a 2.76 ERA in his last five outings and is fresh off perhaps one of his best starts of the year. He held the Los Angeles to one run and two hits and didn’t walk a batter in eight innings on July 2 for his first victory since May 11 — a span of nine starts — and is now 4-6 with a 4.05 ERA this season.
“I felt like early on in the season, I kind of put together a little bit better of a month, but I feel like I’m throwing the ball well,” Gausman said. “I feel really good in my delivery, and ever since I went hands over the head,
“I feel like this has just been night and day, able to command the ball and really all my off-speed pitches. That’s the key word — consistency. You’re always trying to be the same guy every five days.”
Orioles manager Buck Showalter thinks Gausman’s success this season is overlooked in part because of the team’s record, but also because of the competition he has faced.
“I don’t chuckle or eye-roll or any of that stuff,” Showalter said. “When I hear people kind of negative, Kevin has cut his teeth in the American League East and he’s kind of a good hardened to it. This guy doesn’t dwell around too much on successes and failures.”
Success has been hard to come by for the Orioles lately and failure has been plentiful.
Baltimore’s loss Friday night in Minnesota extended its losing streak to four games. The Orioles have dropped 11 of their last 12 games and 22 of their last 27 overall while winning only two in their last seven series.
They’ll try to turn that around Saturday against Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson, who has been the poster child for lack of run support this season.
He has allowed more than three runs in a game just once since May 18 — a span of eight starts — but has taken the victory just twice. In the six other games, the Twins have averaged just 1.8 runs.
Gibson hasn’t let the tough luck get to him.
“We’ll start being on the right side of these games,” Gibson said. “We’ve just been running into some pitchers throwing the ball well and caught a couple tough breaks offensively.”
His last two starts haven’t been among his best. He allowed a season-high five runs and 11 hits against the White Sox on June 27 in Chicago and the Milwaukee Brewers followed by tagging him for four (three earned) in five innings earlier this week in Milwaukee.
Saturday will mark Gibson’s ninth career start against the Orioles. In the eight previous meetings Terrell Edmunds Color Rush Jersey , he’s 3-2 with a 5.06 ERA.
He faced them once already this season, throwing six no-hit innings with six strikeouts on March 31 in Baltimore.
Shohei Ohtani might not be able to pitch right now, but he can still hit.
At least, that’s what the Los Angeles Angels are counting on as they try to get back into the American League’s wild-card race.
The two-way Japanese sensation was activated from the disabled list prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the host Seattle Mariners. Ohtani batted sixth and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts as the Angels lost 4-1.
It was Ohtani’s first game since June 6, when he suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow
“Hopefully it’ll be a good spot (in the order) for him to hit,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia told MLB.com before the game. “But we’re also just trying to get him acclimated. You don’t want to put too much pressure where he’s to say, ‘I’ve got to do so much,’ because he’s hitting higher in the lineup. I think it’s a good spot for him to see some pitches.”
The Angels went 8-14 while Ohtani was out and dropped 11 games behind Seattle in the chase for the AL’s second and final wild-card berth.
Ohtani, who batted .289 with six home runs and 20 RBIs in his first 34 games of the season, was cleared to begin hitting last week. He took batting practice and faced live pitching in simulated games over the weekend.
“He’s not being rushed,” Scioscia said. “He had a very aggressive workout this weekend and was cleared by our medical department. He would not be playing here if he wasn’t cleared by our medical department. We’re very comfortable that he’s ready.”
When Ohtani (4-1, 3.10 ERA) will return to the mound is another question. Angels general manager Billy Eppler said last week that Ohtani would be re-evaluated in three weeks to determine whether he’d be able to pitch again this season.
The Angels didn’t announce right-hander Garrett Richards (4-4, 3.42 ERA) as Wednesday afternoon’s starter until after Tuesday’s defeat. Richards is 6-4 with a 3.05 ERA in 20 career appearances against the Mariners Mike McGlinchey Color Rush Jersey , including 12 starts.
Richards has already faced Seattle twice at Safeco Field this season. He beat the Mariners 5-0 on May 4, allowing four hits in 6 2/3 innings with one walk and eight strikeouts. On June 13, he lasted just two innings in an 8-6 loss, giving up two runs on four hits.
Right-hander Mike Leake (8-4, 4.01 ERA), who has won five of his past six decisions, is scheduled to start for Seattle. He’s 3-1 with a 2.49 ERA in four career starts against the Angels. He suffered the loss in the 5-0 defeat on May 4, allowing three runs on seven hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings. But he beat Los Angeles 6-3 on June 12, allowing one run on four hits in six innings.
The Mariners have won a season-high eight straight games.
“It’s a real good run we’re on, coming off a sketchy run on the East Coast (losing five of six to the New York Yankees and Boston),” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “The guys bounced back … it’s not always pretty, but we certainly compete very well.”
