masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgKevin Gausman had a streak of three straight quality starts end this afternoon. He was struggling almost from the start, allowing two runs and four hits in the first inning as the Orioles lost 8-3 to St. Louis.

“From the first inning on, it was kind of a battle of keeping my pitch count down,” Gausman said. “I did a good job of bouncing back in the second inning. That first inning was a rough one.

“It kind of seemed like wherever they hit the ball, we didn’t have a guy there. Sometimes…Kevin Gausman had a streak of three straight quality starts end this afternoon. He was struggling almost from the start, allowing two runs and four hits in the first inning as the Orioles lost 8-3 to St. Louis.

“From the first inning on, it was kind of a battle of keeping my pitch count down,” Gausman said. “I did a good job of bouncing back in the second inning. That first inning was a rough one.

“It kind of seemed like wherever they hit the ball, we didn’t have a guy there. Sometimes it happens that way. That’s what you love about baseball and sometimes it’s what you hate about baseball.”

gausman-pitching-white-sidebar.pngGausman falls to 6-4 with a 3.90 ERA. He allowed eight hits and three runs with two walks and six strikeouts. He threw 104 pitches.

He made 37 pitches, just 21 for strikes, in the first inning, which ended when center fielder Adam Jones threw Matt Holliday out at the plate for an inning-ending double play.

“That definitely got me off the hook,” Gausman said. “I think I was like at 37 pitches with one out in the first inning. That’s pretty ridiculous. I think I gave up three consecutive broken-bat base hits. Good pitches, I thought I pitched pretty effectively that first inning. Hats off to them. They just kind of made contact and fouled some good pitches off, but Jonesy kind of got me off the hook right there.”

Gausman got into two other jams after that opening inning, but gave up just one more run and felt he kept his team in the game.

“That’s really been the story of my last three starts,” he said. “My last three starts have all kind of been a grind. I’ve kind of been battling myself a little bit at times. I think part of it is I’ve been walking some guys in some bad situations.

“I knew after the first inning, I probably wasn’t going to go seven, possibly even six. So, I just kind of tried to pitch effectively when I was in there. I tried to keep them and us where we were at.”

There were some soft hits early today off Gausman, but they count, too, and he was not focusing on that much after his outing today.

“Yeah, sometimes you throw a bad pitch and they crush it and your guy pulls back a home run,” Gausman said. “It’s like I said, that’s baseball.”

Gausman is now 4-3 with a 4.38 ERA at home. His six strikeouts tied his career-high at Oriole Park (also June 6 vs. Oakland) and his eight hits allowed were also a career-high at Camden Yards.

Orioles pitchers threw 191 pitches today, setting a new season-high for a nine-inning game and surpassing the previous season-high of 190 set on April 18 in Boston. The club’s overall season-high is 234 pitches thrown during a 12-inning game in Boston on July 6.

The Orioles have recorded 10 or more hits in three straight games, tied for the second-longest streak of the season. The season-high is five straight games from May 18-23.