masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgKevin Gausman picked up his second win tonight. A superb effort wasn’t wasted. The media can move onto another topic.
Gausman tossed seven scoreless innings and the Orioles remained in first place with a 5-2 win over the Indians before 31,946 at Camden Yards. The Orioles now lead the American League East by 1 1/2 games over the Red Sox, who lost Saturday night.
The Orioles came within a strike of posting their fifth shutout of the season, but Lonnie Chisenhall delivered a two-run double off…

Kevin Gausman picked up his second win tonight. A superb effort wasn’t wasted. The media can move onto another topic.

Gausman tossed seven scoreless innings and the Orioles remained in first place with a 5-2 win over the Indians before 31,946 at Camden Yards. The Orioles now lead the American League East by 1 1/2 games over the Red Sox, who lost Saturday night.

The Orioles came within a strike of posting their fifth shutout of the season, but Lonnie Chisenhall delivered a two-run double off Brad Brach, who hadn’t allowed an earned run since June 16 in Boston, a span of 15 appearances. Zach Britton recorded another one-out save, giving him 32 saves to start the season to tie Willie Hernandez (1984) for the most by a left-handed reliever.

Britton also notched his 105th career save, tying him with Tippy Martinez for third place on the club’s all-time list. He hasn’t surrendered an earned run over his last 33 appearances since May 5.

Britton grimaced and limped off the mound after trying to field Juan Uribe’s grounder up the middle. He told reporters afterward that it was a leg cramp and he should be fine on Sunday.

The Orioles improved to 56-40 overall and 35-14 at home. They’ve scored at least five runs in back-to-back games for the first time since July 6 and 8. They’ve scored at least five on back-to-back nights for the first time since June 28-29.

Mark Trumbo hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his 30th this season, and Pedro Alvarez hit his 12th leading off the seventh, a shot measured at 449 feet. The Orioles have taken 3-0 leads in the first inning on consecutive nights.

Trumbo hadn’t homered in the first inning this season before doing it the last two nights. He’s homered in consecutive games six times this season.

Trumbo’s 30 home runs are tied for sixth-most in Orioles history for a player in his first season with the team. Nelson Cruz was the last to do it in 2014.

“He’s putting together a year worthy of a lot of consideration,” said manager Buck Showalter. “Just like to me, if Chris Davis doesn’t win a Gold Glove, no one’s watching. Trum, he’s been very valuable. He’s been a real consistent human being. He likes to compete. He doesn’t like to fail. It’s an honor to be around him.”

Trumbo-Runs-Orange-Sidebar.jpgOne of the key moments in the game occurred in the first inning when Davis beat out a double play ball to bring home a run and Trumbo followed with a two-run shot. Davis hustled up the line in typical fashion.

“Huge,” Showalter said. “Chris runs balls out. I know he’s upset. He’s frustrated now. There’s not a first baseman in the league who would outrun him to first base on that ball. That’s the thing that makes a difference. CYA. Always cover yourself. People from Baltimore have a long memory and so do his teammates. Chris doesn’t give in.”

Gausman improved to 2-7 with a 3.77 ERA. He allowed four hits in his seven scoreless innings, with three walks and seven strikeouts. The 116 pitches were a career high.

The future is now for the Orioles with Gausman following Dylan Bundy in the rotation. Bundy, another former first-round pick, allowed only an unearned run in five innings last night.

“He pitched as well as Dylan did last night,” Showalter said. “Really nice to see two young guys kind of taking their experiences up here and kind of move them forward with some success.”

Gausman retired the side in order in the seventh, striking out Tyler Naquin and leaving to a standing ovation.

“I thought the last inning, which kind of reminds me of Chris (Tillman), we’ve said many times, sometimes his last inning is his most impressive,” Showalter said. “He was going to go hitter-to-hitter that last inning and he didn’t let me move off the bench, which is always a good thing.”

Showalter doesn’t want to Gausman/Bundy pairing to be carried too far.

“It doesn’t mean X is going to happen the next time they pitch,” Showalter said. “There’s going to be another challenge around every corner and you can’t dwell on successes and failures here. They fought their way through some things. I’m not going to group them together. Two different guys with different backgrounds, but they both really pitched the last two nights and that was good to see. And we’ll need another good pitching effort tomorrow in order to compete with them.”

Showalter also tires of the media’s obsession with Gausman’s failure to be rewarded more consistently for outstanding performances.

“I’m happy to see the Orioles get the win and so is Kevin,” he said. “I’m telling you, it’s not a topic or a theme. I understand that that’s something that’s consistently appearing and I’m sure because we talk about it a lot in here, but I’m happy that he got a return for a really good outing.

“Reminded me a lot of Dylan. It didn’t matter if we scored three runs in the first inning or not, he had the same look on his face every inning. That’s a good hitting team over there and that makes it doubly impressive. Tough night to pitch, tough night to grip the ball.”

We were constantly reminded over the winter how Gausman needed to take the next big step in his career.

“He’s already taken the step just as far as innings and now it’s time to take the governors off of him and let him go,” Showalter said. “He’s taken a step. He’s competing, he’s taking the ball every fifth day. It got delayed a little bit because we wanted to be cautious with it and we know how long the season is. He’s taken the step. It’s more of a graduation step than it is …

“I wasn’t putting expectations that he was going to do something statistically a lot better than last year. It was more he was going to take the step of getting a chance to show what he can do without worrying how many innings do I have, how many pitches can I throw? It’s kind of, ‘Let’s go.’ And that’s kind of where we’re trying to get with Dylan, too.”

Orioles starters have a 2.94 ERA in the last 11 games. Right as trade talks have heated up.

Nice timing, for sure.

Note: Reliever Darren O’Day will be activated on Sunday or Monday. He won’t pitch in another rehab game.