Gausman gets win, Young homers as O's take series opener

Kevin Gausman pitched well against another division-leading team and Delmon Young hit a two-run homer in the first inning as the Orioles beat Toronto 4-2 in the opener of a key AL East series at Camden Yards. With the win the Birds moved to within 3 1/2 games of the first-place Blue Jays. They are 15-7 at home against Toronto since the start of the 2012 season. Baltimore pitchers have allowed three runs total the past four games. Meanwhile, Toronto (39-29) lost for the fifth time in six games and has scored just nine runs in that time. Gausman went six innings allowing five hits and one run with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches and improves to 2-1 with an ERA of 3.71 over three 2014 starts. Tonight the Blue Jays' No. 3-4-5 hitters - Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind - went 1-for-9 against Gausman. Toronto scored on an RBI single by Melky Cabrera in the fifth inning and that ended a 19-inning scoreless streak for O's pitchers. Over his last two starts against first-place teams in Oakland and Toronto, Gausman has pitched 13 innings allowing nine hits and two runs. O's starters have worked 27 innings the last four games, allowing 19 hits and two runs and with an ERA of 0.67 in that stretch. The Orioles provided some early offense for Gausman tonight. Nick Markakis led off the first with a single and scored on Young's two-run homer to left off Mark Buehrle. It was Young's fourth career homer in 46 at-bats off Buehrle. Manny Machado doubled and scored on a Caleb Joseph RBI single in the second for a 3-0 edge. The O's fourth run scored on Markakis' RBI double in the seventh. With that hit Markakis moved ahead of Brian Roberts for seventh on the Orioles' all-time hits list. He now has 1,453 hits, two behind Ken Singleton, who holds sixth place. Buehrle, tied for the majors league wins lead with 10, falls to 10-3 with an ERA of 2.28. He had allowed two earned runs of fewer in 11 of 13 starts and had a streak of eight consecutive quality starts end tonight. The O's are now 26-9 when scoring four runs or more. The Orioles improved to 4-3 against Toronto, 15-15 at home, 7-4 in June and 34-31 for the season.