masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgDon’t look now, but the Orioles have sole possession of third place in the American League East.
They’re not covering the lockers in plastic, but it beats a last-place tie.
Kevin Gausman threw 29 pitches in the first inning before settling down and working through the sixth in a 2-0 win over the Red Sox before 19,666 at Camden Yards. The Orioles won for the fifth time in six games and are three under .500 for the first time since Aug. 29.
Gausman earned his first win since Aug. 1 and Zach…

Don’t look now, but the Orioles have sole possession of third place in the American League East.

They’re not covering the lockers in plastic, but it beats a last-place tie.

Kevin Gausman threw 29 pitches in the first inning before settling down and working through the sixth in a 2-0 win over the Red Sox before 19,666 at Camden Yards. The Orioles won for the fifth time in six games and are three under .500 for the first time since Aug. 29.

Gausman earned his first win since Aug. 1 and Zach Britton recorded his 33d save.

The Orioles (70-73) posted their 10th shutout and are 12-17 in two-run games.

Gausman-Delivers-White-Sidebar.jpgGausman threw 14 pitches in the second inning and 12 in the third as he continued to blank the Red Sox, who are 4-10 against the Orioles this season. He allowed two hits, walked four and struck out seven over six innings before leaving with his pitch count at 109.

“He was good,” Showalter said. “I know he’s going to be a little frustrated with the walks, but he was solid. I thought he had probably his best secondary stuff of the year. You need it, especially when you go through those three left-handers there. They had five of them in there.

“Gaus was good. He shows you that ability to reach back and get a little extra when he gets some people out there. He had a couple big strikeouts, obviously. We did a nice job out of the bullpen, nice chain there and everybody did their job for the most part.”

Maybe the high pitch count and recovery indicate that Gausman is maturing as a pitcher.

“He was working with an extra day’s rest. His innings are in a good spot,” Showalter said.

“They made him work. When guys have good stuff, as a hitter you make a living out of swinging at stuff that appears as something you can put in play firmly. And the guys with the better stuff are going to have higher pitch counts, for the most part until they kind of figure things out. But I thought Kevin, he pitched as much as threw today. He had a lot of things at his disposal. He had a changeup and the split and spun a few balls, had a little more depth on it.”

Gausman hadn’t won in his last seven starts, going 0-4 with three no-decisions. He outpitched former Orioles farmhand Eduardo Rodriguez, who allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings.

“I turned to Wally (Dave Wallace) in the first inning, I think their pitcher had about 28 and Gaus had about 29, somewhere in there,” Showalter recalled. “I said, ‘Who’s going to have more pitches after the fifth inning?’ Of course, Wally said, ‘Their guy.’ What do you expect him to say? But it’s always good.

“Someone’s going to get a W if you win a game. I’ve said many times if a pitcher continuously pitches well, he’ll have a shot at his share of Ws, but it’s one of the things they probably have the least amount of control over sometimes. Are you going to catch the ball? Are you going to score runs for them? But if you consistently pitch like he did tonight, he’ll get his share of Ws.”

Brad Brach retired the side in order in the seventh, but the first two batters reached against Darren O’Day in the eighth. Xander Bogaerts struck out, and left-hander Brian Matusz retired David Ortiz on a liner to center and Travis Shaw on a grounder to first.

“Ortiz is a tough out,” Showalter said. “We were fortunate he hit it at somebody. Their guy put a good swing on the ball and Chris made good play. We were fortunate there. They stung a couple balls.”

Ortiz is 3-for-27 with two doubles and 13 strikeouts against Matusz.

“Tonight we were fortunate,” Showalter said. “He’s hit some balls hard that have been at people. You go through periods like that, but you’ve got to watch it. Just because it’s happened like that over a couple years, sometimes those things change. He’s had over 30-something plate appearances against him, so there’s not much secret what each guy is going to do. So it’s a tribute to Brian’s stuff, his presentation, because Ortiz is tough against left and right.

“We were fortunate tonight. He hit a ball on the button and Adam (Jones) was playing him where he’s supposed to be. He and Bobby (Dickerson) start at 11 o’clock in the morning putting people in the right place.”

jones-pointing-up-white-sidebar.jpgJones had a big RBI double with two outs in the seventh after his ground ball was booted by second baseman Josh Rutledge in the first, allowing a run to score.

“I thought Adam’s blow was really big, the second one,” Showalter said. “He had those three days off, then the next day we played I thought he was a little barky. But since that first day back he’s looked much like himself. It’s good to see. Hopefully, he can finish strong. We’re going to need him to make a run at this.”

They’ll also need closer Zach Britton, who nailed down his 33rd save by getting a strikeout and two ground balls in the ninth.

“I know we don’t take for granted what Zach has been doing for really two seasons,” Showalter said. “It’s really impressive. He’s got a good feeling for his breaking ball now which has really made it tough for the hitters.”

The Orioles won tonight without hitting a home run. They’re 62-38 when they homer.

“It’s just nice to get a win,” Showalter said. “We’ve got 19 more. Trying to win them all. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. (Joe) Kelly’s won seven in a row, another good pitcher tomorrow. He’s been real hot.”