Gausman on Gausman (Orioles lose 9-5)

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Minnesota Twins have scored twice off Orioles minor league pitcher Tyler Wilson to build a 9-4 lead in the ninth inning. Kevin Gausman never imagined that he would stay in major league camp for more than a week or two, but he made today's start with less than a week remaining before the 25-man roster must be set. "Right after (Dylan) Bundy left, I thought, 'All right, a couple more days.' But I'm definitely happy with it. Don't get me wrong, it's been a blast. I definitely wasn't expecting it," he said. "It was fun to be around, a fun group of guys. I would say most of these guys are pretty young and that's why it was so much fun to be around them. You don't get any guys who have huge heads or don't want to talk to you because you're the rookie, stuff like that. It's been awesome on the field. It's been fun to just face guys that I watched on TV last year, and get some success against them is definitely good going forward. "I've learned a lot. Probably learned more in my 'pens and things like that then the games. Things happen in the game that you can't really control. But you know I've learned so much, pounding the strike zone, keeping guys off balance. Guys at this level, you can make great pitches and they're going to hit doubles. So, not much you can do about that." Gausman admitted that it will be a letdown of sorts going from major league camp to the minors. "Yeah, of course, but I really wasn't expecting to make the team," he said. "Going forward, I guess I'll see what happens. I definitely won't have any bad taste in my mouth or anything like that." He'll miss getting the rookie treatment from the older players. "They've been all over me, but it's been fun," he said. "They've really helped me out, just kind of things on the field, being on time, things that you can control. Because as a pitcher, there can be things that you can't control out there on the mound. But they've been awesome, they've been fun and it's definitely been a blast all spring." Gausman said he threw "pretty well" today. He was charged with three runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings, with no walks and three strikeouts, leaving his spring ERA at 3.94 in 16 innings. "Definitely not my best, but I felt good. Pretty happy with it," he said. "I threw some good pitches. To be honest, that last inning, both the doubles were perfect pitches and that's the pitch I wanted. They just kind of went with it. That's what those hitters are taught to do. Not much you can do about that." Update: The Orioles lost 9-5. Steve Pearce had a two-out RBI single in the ninth.