O's game blog: Kevin Gausman faces the Rays at the Yard

After putting up 15 runs and 15 hits in Friday's victory, the Orioles host the Tampa Bay Rays tonight in the third game of this four-game series. The Rays won 4-3 in Thursday's series opener, and the Orioles won 15-5 last night.

Since the All-Star break, the Orioles have scored seven or more runs three times in seven games with a team average of .279, 12 homers and 40 runs. In the last three games, the Orioles are 12-for-26 (.462) with runners in scoring position, leading to 25 runs.

The Orioles (30-74) have won two of three. Don't print playoff tickets just yet. Over longer stretches they have lost eight of 12 and 15 of 21 games. They are 18-35 at Oriole Park.

Right-hander Kevin Gausman (4-8, 4.54 ERA) will make his 21st start tonight. He is 0-2 with a 9.34 ERA over his last two starts, which have been sandwiched around the All-Star break. In those games versus Philadelphia and Boston, he has thrown 9 2/3 innings, allowing 15 hits and 10 runs. In his previous six starts, Gausman went 1-1 with a 3.13 ERA.

While Gausman has a 6.02 ERA in day-game starts, he is 2-5 with a 3.67 ERA in 12 night-game starts. In 11 games at home he is 4-6 with a 4.66 ERA and has allowed 12 homers in 65 2/3 innings.

Tampa Bay will use another so-called opener tonight, right-hander Ryne Stanek (1-2, 1.86 ERA), who gets his 15th start in 33 games. For the season he has thrown 38 2/3 innings, giving up 22 hits with 16 walks, recorded 49 strikeouts and has allowed opponents a .161 batting average.

In his 14 starts, Stanek is 0-1 with a 1.31 ERA and 27 strikeouts to eight walks in 20 2/3. Stanek has an ERA of 0.00 pitching in the first inning. Over 14 opening innings he's allowed seven hits and six walks with 20 strikeouts.

Since the debut of the opener strategy on May 19, the Rays lead the majors with a 3.16 ERA, ahead of the Dodgers (3.24) and Yankees (3.38).

Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop homered for the fifth consecutive game with his one-out solo shot in the fifth inning Friday, his 16th homer of the season and sixth in his last seven games. He is the first Oriole to homer in five straight games since Chris Davis did it June 7-12, 2016.

Schoop becomes the eighth second baseman in major league history to homer in five consecutive games - tying the record for longest streak by a second baseman - and the first since Brian Dozier did so in September of 2016. Schoop now has a 10-game hitting streak and is batting .386 (17-for-44) during this stretch.

The Major League record for most consecutive games with at least one home run is eight, and has been done three times: Dale Long (PIT, 1956), Don Mattingly (NYY, 1987) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (SEA, 1993).