Gausman falls short of quality start, but leaves with lead (O's win 7-6 in 12th)

BOSTON - Orioles starter Kevin Gausman was bringing some serious heat during today's game against the Red Sox, his fastball touching 100 mph as he carried a shutout into the sixth. He didn't make it through the inning, however, and he won't be credited with a quality start. He'll gladly take a win and another turn in the rotation. The Orioles scored four runs in the top of the seventh and lead 6-1. Gausman was charged with one run in 5 1/3 innings, on David Ortiz's RBI single off left-hander T.J. McFarland with runners on the corners. Mike Napoli grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the sixth and complete Gausman's line. Making his sixth start this season for the Orioles, Gausman allowed one run and four hits over 5 1/3 innings, with two walks and a season-high seven strikeouts. He threw 104 pitches, 64 for strikes. Jackie Bradley Jr. worked an 11-pitch walk in the fifth, which inflated Gausman's count. Brock Holt walked leading off the sixth and Dustin Pedroia singled with one out. Manager Buck Showalter played matchups by bringing in McFarland to face Ortiz. He must have figured it was too soon for Brian Matusz, especially with Napoli standing on deck. Gausman has been charged with one run or fewer in four of his six starts this season. He could stay in the rotation or be optioned again as Bud Norris comes off the disabled list Tuesday and the Orioles approach the All-Star break. The Orioles will call up a reliever at some point while downsizing their rotation, as they've done in the past during the break. Lots of moving parts. Should be interesting to see whether Gausman is impacted. The Orioles loaded the bases against Jake Peavy with one out in the sixth, and Caleb Joseph lifted a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. Steve Pearce and Adam Jones singled off reliever Burke Badenhop in the seventh, and Nelson Cruz delivered his 71st RBI of the season with a single into center field. Cruz has three hits today and is 8-for-9 over the past two games. Jones is 17-for-35 during a 10-game hitting streak. J.J. Hardy greeted reliever Junichi Tazawa with a two-run single, and he moved to third on Manny Machado single. Machado is 2-for-4 today on his 22nd birthday, and he has 14 hits in his last 39 at-bats. Ryan Flaherty grounded a single into right field to increase the lead to 6-1. The Red Sox finally made it back to their dugout when Joseph flied to center and Bradley Jr. threw out Machado at the plate. It's Maine Day at Fenway Park today. Flaherty did his home state proud. Accoring to Elias, Cruz's streak of seven at-bats with a hit was the most for the Orioles since Derrek Lee also had seven in a row on June 17-18, 2011. The franchise record is 10 by Ken Singleton on April 26-28, 1981 Update: Gausman won't get a win today. The Red Sox sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the seventh to tie the game 6-6. The bullpen hasn't been up to the challenge today. Showalter used McFarland, Ryan Webb, Brian Matusz and Tommy Hunter in the inning. McFarland was charged with two runs and Webb three. Ortiz had an RBI single off Matusz, making him 2-for-23 with 13 strikeouts against the left-hander. Update II: We're going to extra innings with the score tied 6-6. Brad Brach tossed a scoreless ninth despite allowing a hit and walking a batter. Joseph threw out Pedroia trying to steal. Brach hasn't allowed a run in his last seven appearances over 10 innings. Update III: David Lough led off the top of the 12th inning with a triple off Red Sox reliever Edward Mujica and scored on J.J. Hardy's single to break a 6-6 tie. Lough entered the game in the bottom of the seventh as a defensive replacement for Delmon Young in left field. His last extra-base hit came on June 7, when he homered against the Athletics. Brach tossed three scoreless innings, raising his total to 12 in his last seven appearances. He can register his fourth victory in his last seven outings. He got the win in Game 2 yesterday with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Brach threw 45 pitches today. Update IV: Game over. The Orioles take the series with a 7-6, 12-inning win over the Red Sox. Zach Britton records his 14th save. Brach gets his fourth win in his last seven outings. The Orioles are 48-40 overall and 25-19 on the road. They're eight games above .500 for first time since the end of the 2013 season. Lough not only scored the go-ahead run following his triple, he threw out Ortiz trying to stretch a single into a double in the bottom of the 12th. Big day for a guy who began the game on the bench.