Jonathan Schoop's power surge continues (O's win 1-0)

JUPITER, Fla. - Like his good friend Manny Machado, Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop is swinging a hot bat in Florida.

It doesn't matter whether it's the West Coast or East Coast of the state. As the Orioles began a two-day East Coast swing today, Schoop homered again.

He led off the top of the second with his fifth spring homer as the Orioles took a 1-0 lead on the St. Louis Cardinals. Schoop homered to left off a 1-2 pitch from St. Louis right-hander Jack Flaherty. Flaherty is ranked as baseball's No. 53-best prospect by Baseball America.

Schoop is on some power surge. He has now homered in his last three games over seven at-bats. He has hit four homers his last five games - that covers a span of just 13 spring at-bats. He began the day hitting .406 (13-for-32) with two doubles, four homers and seven RBIs.

On the mound today, right-hander Kevin Gausman made his fourth start, counting two Grapefruit League games and one simulated game.

He gave up a leadoff hit to right fielder Dexter Fowler in the last of the first, then retired eight in a row through two outs in the third with a fastball that touched the mid-90s. Schoop made a two-out error to extend the last of the third. He could not handle a liner off the bat off Fowler. But after a walk, Gausman escaped the jam to put up a zero and hold the 1-0 lead.

Others scheduled to pitch today include lefties Tanner Scott and Luis Gonzalez and right-hander Lucas Long.

The Orioles have a six-game winning streak riding this afternoon. They've scored 46 runs in that span and have a record of 12-8-1 overall.

Update: Gausman had a strong outing today. He ended it pitching a 1-2-3 last of the fifth to hold the 1-0 lead. He gave up just the two singles with one walk and one strikeout. He threw 80 pitches, 52 for strikes.

Over his past two Grapefruit League games (with a simulated game in between), Gausman has pitched eight innings, allowing two hits and no runs with one walk and six striekouts.

Gonzalez, who fanned 75 over 62 innings for Single-A Frederick last season, pitched a 1-2-3 sixth versus the top of the order for St. Louis.

A few Gausman quotes:

On his outing: "You know, early on I didn't have a good feel for my breaking ball. But it seemed like every inning it got better. That is all you can ask, is to make adjustments. I was real happy with that. Made some really good pitches in even counts, 1-1, 2-2. As a starting pitcher you need to win those counts."

On getting a lot of weak contact: "Yeah, I threw a lot of good sinkers in on guys' hands. Got Yadier (Molina) on two of them. Two weak ground balls. Lot of good things to take out of today. Lot of groundball outs."

Are you in good shape for the beginning of the season soon?: "Yeah, absolutely. I'm throwing everything. In years past, I kind of handcuffed myself and waited to throw my splitter. It is something that is a big pitch for me and I needed to start throwing it early. You know, first month of the season, last year it was one pitch I didn't have a good feel for at all. Threw some good ones today and my breaking ball is coming a long way too."

Update II: Jimmy Yacabonis pitched a scoreless seventh and Tanner Scott did the same in the eighth. O's still lead 1-0 headed to the ninth.

Update III: The Orioles hold on for a 1-0 victory.