Nine shutout innings by Gausman wasted in 12-inning loss (updated)

OAKLAND, Calif. - Nine shutout innings tonight from Kevin Gausman couldn't assure the Orioles of a victory. They couldn't end a game and a losing streak in regulation or beyond. Nothing is going to come easily. It's just the direction of the season.

Shut out through six innings by Athletics starter Trevor Cahill and six more by the bullpen, the Orioles finally ran out of chances. Khris Davis hit a two-run homer off Rule 5 pick Pedro Araujo in the bottom of the 12th to give Oakland a 2-0 victory.

Jed Lowrie singled with one out for the Athletics' first hit since the third inning and Davis reached the left field seats on a 3-1 fastball. They hadn't gotten a runner past first base all night.

Mychal Givens struck out five of six batters after relieving Gausman, but the Orioles fell to 8-25 with their 11th loss in 13 games, 17th in 20 and 19th in 23. They've dropped 11 in a row on the road.

Unbeaten in three previous extra-inning games this season, the Orioles walked off the field tonight with heads lowered and frustration mounting. Gausman gave them everything and it still wasn't sufficient. It still couldn't get them on track.

Hit on nights they don't pitch. Pitch on nights they don't hit.

The Orioles stranded two runners in the seventh against reliever Yusmeiro Petit and two more in the eighth after Adam Jones' one-out double and an intentional walk to Manny Machado. Chris Davis struck out for the third time - he voiced his displeasure over the call - and Mark Trumbo popped up.

Anthony Santander singled off Santiago Casilla with two outs in the ninth, the third time he reached base, but Jace Peterson popped up.

Casilla drilled Jones on the right hand or wrist with a 92 mph fastball in the 10th inning. Jones was in obvious pain, stayed in the game and didn't budge. Another runner stranded.

Trumbo led off the 11th with a bloop single against left-hander Danny Coulombe, but the next three batters struck out to raise the Orioles' total to 19. It swelled to 20 and the teams combined for 31.

Trey Mancini walked with one out in the 12th and pinch-runner Craig Gentry was thrown out trying to steal. That was the last gasp.

Gausman retired the last 12 batters he faced and 18 of 19 as the game moved into extras. He threw 113 pitches in a career-high nine innings and the 112th was clocked at 98 mph.

His previous high of 8 2/3 innings came on July 29, 2017 in Texas.

The Athletics managed only two hits off Gausman, singles by Marcus Semien in the first and Bruce Maxwell in the third, and they both came against the shift. He walked two batters and struck out six.

Manager Buck Showalter noted earlier today that Cahill is throwing more changeups this season, explaining the reverse splits, and the right-hander recorded seven of his career-high 12 strikeouts with the pitch over six innings. He held the Orioles to four hits and walked only one batter, but 98 pitches were his limit.

The more economical starter was on the other side, with Gausman completing the seventh inning at 91 pitches. He struck out the last batter, Mark Canha, on a 95 mph fastball. He got through the eighth on nine pitches to reach 100 and the bullpen remained quiet.

Nine in a row retired and 15 of 16 as the game moved to the top of the ninth. And another 1-2-3 inning to complete his night. The only element he lacked was run support.

Gausman retired the side in the second inning on 93 and 94 mph fastballs and overcame a leadoff walk in the fourth and a misplayed pop up by Machado that still produced a force at second base.

Another leadoff walk in the sixth, to Matt Joyce, was followed by Semien's long fly ball to right field that Santander ran down, a called third strike on Lowrie and a force at second on Gausman's 79th pitch.

Cahill matched his career high of 10 strikeouts with two outs in the fifth and fanned Mancini to end the inning. He struck out five of the first six batters he faced and retired eight in a row before Peterson singled with two outs in the third. Erase those thoughts of a no-hitter.

The first three Orioles struck out on changeups. Davis and Pedro Álvarez took sinkers for third strikes in the second inning. Cahill set up Davis with two straight changeups to start the at-bat.

Cahill was throwing 29 percent changeups before tonight, compared to 19.5 in his career. The Orioles knew it was coming - he threw 28 percent over his six innings - but couldn't do much with it.

Peterson stole second base after his single and Mancini walked, but Jones struck out. Peterson has four stolen bases in 10 games, leaving him one behind Gentry for the team lead.

Machado led off the fourth with a broken-bat single and was thrown out trying to steal second base. He signaled safe, umpire Chris Guccione did not. Trumbo doubled to center field with two outs and advanced on a wild pitch, but Álvarez struck out again.

Trumbo's double was his sixth hit in 18 at-bats since coming off the disabled list. It had an exit velocity of 112 mph.

Santander was robbed of an extra-base hit in the third on right fielder Stephen Piscotty's leaping grab, but he doubled with one out in the fifth. The next two batters struck out, of course, and the game remained scoreless.

Petit hadn't walked a batter in 16 innings before tonight. He walked Alvarez and Santander in the seventh, but Peterson struck out again.

Gausman retired the side in order on 11 pitches in the fifth to leave him at 60 - 26 fewer than Cahill. He exited the game with his ERA down to 3.30 in 43 2/3 innings.

The first-half version of Gausman in 2018 has been a significant improvement over previous seasons. He posted a 5.85 ERA before the break last year and a 3.41 ERA in the second half. He had a 4.15 ERA in the first half in 2016 and a 3.10 ERA after the break.

The Orioles couldn't get him a win tonight. They couldn't get a win in 12 innings.

Update: Jones will undergo a precautionary X-ray on his wrist. He told manager Buck Showalter that he was fine, but the club isn't taking any chances.

"I'm pretty sure the wrist," Showalter said. "That's what he told me. I'm not 100 percent sure. I asked him when he was down there, 'Wrist?' And he goes, 'Yeah.' You've got so much adrenaline there and a lot of emotion, so they're going to get a precautionary X-ray just to be sure."

Gausman is the first Orioles starter to toss nine scoreless innings and not get the win since Zach Britton on May 12, 2011 against the Mariners.

"Ah jeez, what can you say?" Showalter said. "Unfortunately, their guy was really good, too. That was a guy who was one of the best pitchers in baseball a few years back. I know it's been a long road back for him, so you do understand that. I just wish it hadn't been against us, but both guys were good.

"Mychal Givens was real good, too. I thought Mike working on only one day, that's about as good as he's been all year. That was impressive."

Gausman got better as the game moved along.

"Last inning he threw his best fastball," Showalter said. "We get questions about his velocity and whatever. Kevin, he's kind of matured as a pitcher knowing that, he'll go get it when he needs to. Very much like Dylan. It's been fun to watch both of those guys mature in a lot of ways about pitching instead of throwing."

Gausman came out after 113 pitches and felt like he had more in the tank. His career high is 120.

"If it was up to me, I think starting pitchers should throw 130 pitches and you should kind of let us go a little bit more," he said. "The game is changing, but I think I have that old-school mentality, where when it's my day to pitch, I want to pitch the whole game."

Gausman didn't campaign to stay in the game.

"I knew I was done after that, just with my pitch count," he said. "I knew Khris Davis was going to be my last batter."

Asked about his increased velocity at the end, Gausman said, "That's one of those things, it's kind of like a shark that smells blood in the water. They're coming. I knew that was my last hitter and I wasn't going to get beat on a 91 down and away. I wasn't going to get cheated that last batter, for sure."

And he's determined to be better before the break.

"I'm really happy," he said. "Kind of all the time that I spent this offseason really trying to focus on my delivery and landing in the same spot every time has really paid off. That's something that, next offseason, I'll kind of really have to think about what I'm doing. But I feel good right now.

"I feel confident and comfortable with my mechanics and really right now I feel like I can throw any pitch in any count. It's always good when you feel that way."

Everyone on the visiting side would have felt better with a win.

"It's tough," Gausman said. "I think any pitcher will say if you're a starter and you go nine innings, I think you kind of expect to win the game. Obviously, we're scuffling right now. We've just got to keep grinding. That's really all we can do. We've got a game tomorrow and we play every day. We've got a quick turnaround and you've got to forget about it, but we just need to do something to kind of just get things rolling.

"It seems like we get guys on base and they kind of stay there. We've just got to be better at winning games, you know? That's what it comes down to. We've just got to be better at shutting the door and taking advantage of opportunities."

Trumbo described Gausman's outing as "incredible."

"He picked up speed as the game went," Trumbo said. "He had everything going. It didn't seem like they timed him up very well. He really executed nicely tonight. It's unfortunate we didn't get the win for him."

Showalter called upon Araujo in the 12^th and the game was done after three batters. Araujo retired Semien on a liner to third base, gave up Lowrie's single and fell behind 3-0 to Davis before the walk-off home run on a 3-1 fastball.

"Darren (O'Day) is down, (Miguel) Castro's down, (Brad) Brach," Showalter said. "Richard's been in three of the last four days. We get a lot of those short starts. We had our chances to win that game in nine, 10 innings.

"The only way I was going to use Richard potentially was if we went ahead and I was hoping we had enough lead we didn't have to do that, but it just didn't materialize. But we get some of the short starts, we get into a situation like this. But we had a lot of chances, not many, but some chances to push across a run if we get a big two-out knock, but I just feel for Gaus. That's about as good as you can see a starting pitcher pitch."