Pedro Álvarez on last-minute start and Kevin Gausman on outing

A surprise last-minute starter at third base today, Pedro Álvarez hit two more homers to back Kevin Gausman and the bullpen. He helped lead the Orioles (8-20) to a 5-3 win over Detroit to take two of three in the series.

The late notice was OK with Álvarez as he replaced Danny Valencia, who sat out with a tight hamstring, in the lineup. So Álvarez wound up getting a start against a lefty starter and playing in the field, as well.

"It was fine," Álvarez said. "You have to be ready for stuff like that to happen. Obviously, it doesn't happen very often. Just put on my jock strap and cup and headed downstairs.

"We've been working at it every day (on defense), there and first. In terms of that, it was no surprise to me and was ready for the opportunity when it came. It is always fun to go out there. Hope to get more chances."

On Friday night, Álvarez hit two homers in a 6-0 win; today, he hit a 432-foot, two-run homer in the second and added a much shorter homer that just made the flag court in right for a solo shot in the eighth. That one added a key insurance run to make it 5-3.

Alvarez went 4-for-7 with four homers and six RBIs this weekend, homering twice in each game as the Orioles won Friday and Sunday. Today was his 15th career multi-homer game. It led the Orioles to their first home series win.

"Every win is important," Álvarez said. "Obviously, depending on the environment and time of the year, some wins have more emotional weight on them. But this is a big win. A big series win. Go to the West Coast and try to carry this momentum."

Orioles manager Buck Showalter is a fan of Álvarez, that is clear. Showalter admires how he went back to Triple-A last year and played 138 games with Norfolk to work his way back to the majors.

"I just think that was circumstantial," Álvarez said of his 2017 time on the farm. "My duty was to continue to play so I could get up here again. You know that's what I did last year. I continued to play baseball and continued to try and get better. The intent and focus was the same - just as if I would have been in a big league clubhouse. You know, I just knew that in order for me to be back here again, I was going to have play baseball somewhere. Just continue to get better and get reps. That was it.

"I always trust in myself and my abilities, no matter if it's going well or not going well. You can't control the results, that you have four home runs in three games. Try to put myself in the best position to succeed every time I see a pitch."

Today, he made a few plays in the field at third, although a couple of his throws made first baseman Trey Mancini work on the back end. But the outs were recorded.

Meanwhile Gausman had another decent outing, allowing five hits and one run over 5 2/3 innings to improve to 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA. Brad Brach replaced him and got a key strikeout to strand the bases loaded in the Tigers sixth.

Gausman averaged 93 mph on his fastball today, touching 96 mph, and he threw the four-seamer early and often - in fact, on 28 of 36 pitches the first two innings.

"Yeah, I had pretty good fastball command right out of the gate," Gausman said. "You know, just tried to watch what (Chris) Tillman did the other night. As the game went on, he threw a lot more off-speed and that was something I wanted to do."

It was a third straight solid start for Gausman since he made a windup adjustment, taking his hands over head as he goes through his motion.

"I just feel like I'll get more confident and more comfortable the more outings I have with it," he said. "Second time facing a lineup doing it was good and I felt like I got better as the game went on today. Had a really good feel for my slider and threw a pretty high percentage of them today and got a lot of outs on it. Unfortunately, wasn't able to get through six. They did a good job of fouling off pitches and I got into some 3-2 counts, but I thought it was a good overall."

Gausman has lowered his season ERA in each of his six outings and his ERA is 2.81 his past four starts. With the win today, the Orioles will now fly cross-country tonight to start a West Coast trip on Tuesday. They'll do so after just their second series win of 2018.

"Yeah, it's huge," Gausman said. "First series win here at home. In the rubber match, you are always trying to pitch well and win that last game. I just wanted us to have some good vides on our trip to California. We lose that game, it's a tough five-hour trip. So now we have a happy flight and hopefully can hit the ground running."