masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgIt was a walkathon by Orioles pitchers tonight in San Francisco. They walked a season-high nine batters. That was not a recipe to try and outscore Giants left-hander Madsion Bumgarner.
They could not do it in a 6-2 loss to the Giants. Coupled with Toronto’s win over Houston earlier, the Orioles (65-51) fell back into second place in the American League East by a half-game behind Toronto.
Losing pitcher Kevin Gausman had a wild ride indeed. He walked two in the first and escaped that jam, but a…

It was a walkathon by Orioles pitchers tonight in San Francisco. They walked a season-high nine batters. That was not a recipe to try and outscore Giants left-hander Madsion Bumgarner.

They could not do it in a 6-2 loss to the Giants. Coupled with Toronto’s win over Houston earlier, the Orioles (65-51) fell back into second place in the American League East by a half-game behind Toronto.

Losing pitcher Kevin Gausman had a wild ride indeed. He walked two in the first and escaped that jam, but a leadoff walk would score as part of Denard Span’s two-run single in the second inning. Gausman went four innings, faced 20 batters and had six walks, nine strikeouts. Just five batters put the ball in play. He threw 97 pitches.

He fell to 3-10 with an ERA of 4.04. He issued a career-high in walks, but tied his season high and was one off his career-high in strikeouts. Gausman fell to 0-9 in 13 road starts this year and he has not won away from home since Aug. 17, 2014, a span of 25 starts.

Span added a two-run single in the sixth off Vance Worley and Brandon Belt hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Ubaldo Jimenez. The Giants improved to 9-17 since the All-Star break.

Bumgarner gave up three hits over seven innings to get the win in his first-ever start against the Orioles. He is 11-7 with a 2.11 ERA. The Giants had lost his last five starts and eight of his last 10 before tonight.

The Orioles trailed 6-0 heading to the ninth, but loaded the bases with two outs. Ryan Flaherty’s pinch-hit, two-run single got them on the board and avoided a shutout. The Orioles were held to five hits on the night.

The Orioles fall to 26-34 on the road and to 4-5 on this trip. They are 7-5 against National League teams.

In the series finale on Sunday, Wade Miley (7-10, 4.98 ERA) pitches against right-hander Johnny Cueto (13-3,2.93 ERA).

Saturday’s game blog: After losing three straight at Oakland while scoring just three total runs, the Orioles have back-to-back wins at Oakland and San Francisco, scoring 14 runs in the two games.

After Toronto’s win today, the Orioles (65-50) begin this game tied for first in the American League East with the Blue Jays. San Francisco (65-50) begins today leading the National League West by one game over the Dodgers. The Giants are 8-17 since the All-Star break and are just 1-6-1 in their eight series after the break.

The Orioles are 7-4 versus NL teams this season, including a 5-1 road mark. They went 2-1 at Dodger Stadium, 2-0 at San Diego and won last night at AT&T Park,

Right-hander Kevin Gausman (3-9, 4.02 ERA) makes his career-high 21st start tonight and faces a four-time All-Star in left-hander Madison Bumgarner (10-7, 2.20 ERA).

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Gausman is pitching better lately, allowing four earned runs in 13 innings his last two starts. Over his last eight games, he has six quality starts and has gone 3-4 with a 3.54 ERA. He has allowed two earned runs or less in five of those games. Gausman ranks 12th among qualifying AL starting pitchers in strikeouts/walks ratio at 3.86 (112 K/29 BB).

But Gausman has not recorded a win in his last 24 road starts. His last victory away from home was on Aug. 17, 2014 at Cleveland. In those 24 games, he is 0-15 with a 5.58 ERA. In 12 road starts this season he is 0-8 with a 5.37 ERA.

In eight career interleague outings, he is 1-4 with a 5.22 ERA. As a batter, Gausman is 0-for-5 with a walk.

Bumgarner went 10-4 with a 1.94 ERA before the All-Star break. In five starts since, he is 0-3 with a 3.18 ERA. In 12 home starts, he is 5-3 with a 1.59 ERA and .178 average against. He has never faced the Orioles.

Bumgarner has a 1.002 WHIP with a 2.2 walk rate per nine innings and a 10.0 strikeout rate. Lefty batters have hit just .176 off him and right-handers bat .212. He is tied for first in the NL in complete games and innings, is third in ERA and strikeouts and fourth in WHIP.

Despite those standout numbers, the Giants are just 2-8 in his last 10 starts and have lost his last five. This is the first time they have lost five consecutive Bumgarner starts since Aug. 7-Sept. 3, 2013. On the year, the Giants are 13-11 in Bumgarner starts.

The Orioles are 4-4 on this road trip with two games to play and 26-33 on the road for the season.

Chris Davis is 6-for-11 with a homer over his last three games. Mark Trumbo is 3-for-8 with two homers and seven RBIs his past two games. Manny Machado is batting .326 with four homers and 11 RBIs this month. Adam Jones is batting .457 (16-for-35) with six multi-hit games during an eight-game hitting streak.

According to STATS, LLC., second baseman Jonathan Schoop owns the second-longest active games started streak in the majors with 115 starts. He trails Alcides Escobar (KC), who has 124 straight starts under his belt. According to STATS, LLC., Schoop is the only player in the majors to play every inning and each out of his team’s games this season.