O's game blog: Kevin Gausman faces Nats in Game 2 of series

After the Orioles posted a 4-3 win at Camden Yards last night against Washington, they host the Nationals again tonight to end a two-game series and an eight-game homestand. They are 2-5 on the homestand, going 0-2 versus the Red Sox, 1-3 against the Astros and 1-0 against the Nats.

Tomorrow night this four-game stretch moves to Nationals Park for two more games before the Orioles play the Yankees this weekend at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles hit two homers last night and have hit 17 over their last five games, 24 in 12 and 36 in the past 18 games. They lead the majors with 194 home runs with Toronto second at 179 and Seattle third at 175.

The Orioles are on a pace to hit 253 homers for the season. That would be the fifth-most by a club in MLB history and second-most by an Orioles team. The 1996 Orioles hit 257.

Tonight's pitching matchup features two young and hard-throwing right-handers. Kevin Gausman (4-10, 4.11 ERA) pitches for the Orioles and 22-year-old Reynaldo Lopez (2-1, 4.37) goes for the Nationals.

Gausman is 4-1 with a 2.73 ERA in nine home starts, with six quality starts this season. Opponents are batting .229/.271/.395 against him at home this year and he has fanned 50 with 12 walks over 59 1/3 at Oriole Park. He is 13-8 with a 3.09 ERA in 38 career outings at OPACY. Gausman has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his last seven starts overall.

Gausman has gone 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two career starts against the Nationals. He is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA with 15 strikeouts in two interleague starts this season and Gausman has gone 1-5 with a 5.15 ERA in nine career interleague games (eight starts).

Lopez made 18 starts in the minors this year with 14 at Double-A and four at Triple-A. He is a combined 5-6 with a 3.17 ERA on the farm in 2016. In 102 1/3 innings he has walked 32 and fanned 122 with a WHIP of 1.16.

In his first two big league starts he allowed nine runs over 8 2/3 innings. But in his last two - both against Atlanta - he has pitched 14 innings allowing nine hits and three runs (two earned) with four walks and 13 strikeouts.

In the small sample of those four MLB starts, Lopez allows a .180 batting average versus lefty batters, .368 against right-handed hitters and .179 when pitching with runners in scoring position.

Mark Trumbo hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning Monday night. Trumbo's last seven hits have all been home runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that marks the longest such streak this season. Two players had streaks of seven or more consecutive hits which were home runs last year: Lucas Duda of the Mets (eight in a row) and the Joc Pederson of the Dodgers (seven). Trumbo and Chris Davis each had streaks of six straight hits that were home runs prior to Monday's game. While Trumbo extended his streak to seven, Davis' streak came to an end after going 1-for-3 with a double.