O's game blog: Kevin Gausman gets start in Toronto series opener

TORONTO - The Orioles' last road trip of the 2016 season begins tonight at Rogers Centre as the Orioles (85-71) and Toronto Blue Jays (86-70) start a big three-game series. It could possibly be a preview of the American League wild card game a week from today.

The Orioles were off Monday and moved to within one game of Toronto for the first AL wild card spot when the Blue Jays lost to the Yankees. The Orioles are 7-9 against Toronto on the year, going 5-4 at home and 2-5 at Rogers Centre where they have lost seven of their last nine games.

The Orioles enter this series off a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, where they scored just 11 runs in three games, but their pitchers gave up just four runs over 30 innings with four walks and 35 strikeouts.

O's hitters enter this series on a run of 15 straight games with nine or fewer hits. It is their longest stretch of the season without a double-digit hits game.

Over the last nine games, O's batters have 58 hits and a .200 team average, scoring 23 runs. The O's have scored three runs or fewer in eight of those nine games. In that span, they are batting just .102 (5-for-49) with runners in scoring position.

Right-hander Kevin Gausman (8-11, 3.57 ERA) gets the start tonight and faces Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez (13-2, 3.12 ERA), who ranks third in the AL in ERA.

Gausman has thrown four scoreless starts over his last six games, going 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA. In 13 starts since the All-Star break, he is 7-5 with a 2.94 ERA. He has allowed two runs or less in seven of his past 10 starts.

Gausman's 0.82 ERA from Aug. 23- Sept. 14 was the second-lowest mark among qualifying pitchers (minimum 20 2/3 innings pitched) in the major leagues (and lowest among qualifying American League pitchers).

In three starts on the season at Toronto, Gausman is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. In 11 career games (six starts) versus Toronto, he is 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA. In seven games (four starts) at Rogers Centre, he is 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA.

In 52 career outings (34 starts) against AL East opponents, he has gone 13-13 with a 3.60 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 220 innings. Gausman is 9-12 with a 3.60 ERA and 14 quality starts in 34 career starts against the AL East.

Sanchez is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in three September starts. In 10 starts in the second half, he is 4-1 with a 3.41 ERA. In 12 home starts, his record is 5-1 with a 3.93 ERA. He has made four starts on the year against the Orioles, going 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA. In 12 career games (seven starts), Sanchez is 4-2 with a 4.20 ERA against Baltimore.