The Baltimore Orioles fell to the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night, 5-1. However, Orioles starting pitcher Kevin Gausman felt that his outing went pretty well.
After the game was delayed by 44 minutes, Gausman’s final line for the game was 5 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, three runs, three earned runs, two batters walked, a home run, and a season-high nine strikeouts. This was the first time since May 23rd against Minnesota that an Oriole’s starter has held the opponent scoreless in the first four innings.
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“With the way things were going… really throughout the whole season so far, I’m pitching well and just one inning kind of gets away from you,” said Gausman.” “I had a really good feel for my fastball, my fastball up, my splitter down.”
At one point, Gausman gave up three consecutive hits.
“Those three hits that I gave up in a row were all fastballs that were trying to go up. They were up, but not higher than high. So obviously I’m upset about that, but I’m more upset about leading off with a walk. Walking him, starting off the sixth inning and not being able to go through six… obviously I’m trying to get through six right there and give the bullpen a little break.
Gausman wasn’t completely discouraged with his outing. He would speak about the bright side of his outing.
“You take the positives and try to forget your negatives,” Gausman said. “I think one of the huge positives to take out of this was that I’m throwing the ball really good right now. Things kind of went my way tonight. I felt like I was in a lot of 0-1, 0-2 counts. So it’s one thing to get to those counts, I just gotta be a little bit better about throwing pitches in those counts and pitching good with two strikes.”
He spoke a little more about his hits that were given up in the sixth.
“I’m trying to throw a fastball really high, every single one of those right there. I had three chances to do it and you know these guys are the best hitters in the world for a reason. You make mistakes against them like that, they’re gonna make you pay for it.”
He was also asked about his outing against the left-handed hitters, citing his improved spliter against Cleveland’s hitters in Wednesday’s game.
“That’s another thing, said Gausman. “There were a lot of lefties in their lineup tonight and I knew that it was going to be a big pitch for me. I was really happy with it against right-handed hitters. I threw some really good ones to Encarnacion. That’s a big pitch for me, especially the way that these guys are in this division. Those big, power, right-handed hitters… if I can throw that, kind of down and away, coming back to the plate, then I’m going to be successful a lot of times. That’s a big pitch for me, that’s one of the positives to take out of tonight’s game.”
Baltimore has now allowed five-or-more runs in 18 consecutive games. For these Orioles pitchers, something has got to give. Luckily for them, Gausman has shown that he can be effective and this may give him and the other Orioles pitchers confidence for future outings.
Photo via (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo)
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