Kevin Gausman on his outing, Adam Jones on Gausman and the win

Kevin Gausman picked up his first major league win as a starter tonight. But for a few moments in the top of the sixth inning, he was thinking like a reliever. It helped him get out of a second and third, one-out jam in the Orioles' 6-3 win over Oakland. "When I got into a little jam in the sixth, I kind of went back to when I pitched out of the bullpen last year," Gausman said. "Guys on second and third, one out, that is when you have to bring your 'A' game. Pitching out of the bullpen last year kind of helped me to dig deep and get my best stuff right there. "That was huge. (Josh) Donaldson, that's exactly what I was trying to do (get the strikeout). It's a pitch that he hadn't seen up to that point. Threw my best split (change) right there and threw my best fastball to (Brandon) Moss. Huge win against the A's, they are playing great baseball right now." Gausman's back-to-back strikeouts of Oakland's No. 3 and 4 hitters was big for him during a night when he went seven innings and gave up just four hits and one run. "Yeah that was pretty fun. Packed place tonight. Everybody wants a Manny (Machado) bobblehead," Gausman said. "Think we did a great of scouting these guys. Just pitched in effectively and mixed in all my pitches." Gausman recorded his second career quality start and became the first O's pitcher since May 17 to go seven innings or more. The O's had gone 18 games without such an outing. As the game went on, he mixed in more secondary pitches. "They were great," he said. "Mixed in 0-0 sliders real good, kind of get me overs. I had my split (change) tonight. I didn't even throw any circle changes tonight, which is a little bit different for me. I didn't want to get beat on my worst secondary pitch. That was big for me, especially the second and third time through the lineup. "This was the first time I've thrown seven innings all year, here or Triple-A. When you get to that point, you kind of find out things about yourself you hadn't known." Center fielder Adam Jones, who homered and drove in two runs, had a nice view of Gausman's 102-pitch outing. "He was throwing strikes and attacking hitters. They are the No. 1 team in the AL in on-base percentage and he limited that. Went after them and used his defense," Jones said. "He's getting the opportunity. This game is all about confidence, not necessarily stuff. He knows he will get a shot to start. I told him, 'Go after them, use your stuff. You've got a good arm for a reason, so use your stuff and go after them.' " The Orioles have homered in a season-high seven games in a row and have scored 38 runs over their last six games. Tonight's win came in front of a crowd of 44,202 which is the third sellout of the season. "I knew they were coming for Manny's bobblehead. Great evening. Felt like being home in San Diego with this weather. Great evening," Jones said. The O's put up six tonight against Oakland, which leads the AL in ERA and had an ERA of 2.43 over the last 27 games. Is facing Oakland's staff a good test for an O's offense starting to hit its stride? "Whole year is a test. You can't say this one thing. Whole year is a test," Jones said.