masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgAfter splitting the first two games of a four-game series, the Orioles host the Cleveland Indians tonight in Game 3 at Oriole Park. Right-hander Kevin Gausman (3-6, 6.60 ERA) faces right-hander Carlos Carrasco (7-3, 3.21 ERA).
The start of tonight’s game is being delayed by rain.
Gausman keeps working to turn around his season but just has not been able to do it. In three June starts, he is 0-2 with a 9.19 ERA and .391 batting average against. In his last start on Friday versus St. Louis, he…

After splitting the first two games of a four-game series, the Orioles host the Cleveland Indians tonight in Game 3 at Oriole Park. Right-hander Kevin Gausman (3-6, 6.60 ERA) faces right-hander Carlos Carrasco (7-3, 3.21 ERA).

The start of tonight’s game is being delayed by rain.

Gausman keeps working to turn around his season but just has not been able to do it. In three June starts, he is 0-2 with a 9.19 ERA and .391 batting average against. In his last start on Friday versus St. Louis, he gave up five runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Before that start, Gausman told me about some adjustments he was making in an attempt to get his season going in the right direction.

gausman-pitching-white-sidebar.pngGausman has struggled at times at the very outset of his games with an ERA of 7.20 in the first inning and 7.07 in the second. In eight home starts, he is 2-2 with a 5.09 ERA.

While he has held left-handed batters to a respectable .267 batting average, right-handed batters have hit .381 against him with an OPS of 1.012. He yields a .288 average when pitching with runners in scoring position.

Carrasco has had a strong season and is 5-1 with a 2.89 ERA and average against of just .190 in seven road starts. He allows a .220 average against lefty batters, .199 versus right and .245 when pitching with RISP.

The Indians (37-32) lead the American League Central by 1 1/2 games over the Twins. They have won eight of 12 games and had a six-game win streak snapped last night. They are 22-15 in road games.

At 35-35, the Orioles will try to get over .500 tonight. They begin play in fourth place in the AL East, four games behind co-leading Boston and New York. Boston lost to Kansas City this afternoon.

With last night’s 6-5 win, the Orioles improve to 11-3 against Cleveland since the beginning of 2015. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games against the Indians at Oriole Park and are 24-12 at home this season.

Last night was the Orioles’ first one-run game since June 6. They had gone a season-long stretch of 13 games between one-run decisions. They have won four such games in a row and are 12-8 for the year in one-run games.