O's game blog: Kevin Gausman gets start versus Toronto

With their seven-game win streak gone as of last night, the Orioles will try to start a new one tonight when they host Toronto. The Blue Jays scored all their runs with two outs in Thursday's 11-8 win.

The loss dropped the Orioles record to 68-66. They are third in the American League East, eight games back of Boston and 3 1/2 behind second-place New York. Minnesota continues to hold the second AL wild card and leads Los Angeles by 1 1/2 games and the Orioles by 2 1/2.

Even in a loss last night, the Orioles scored eight runs on 16 hits. Over their past eight games, the Orioles are batting .340 as a team, have scored 70 runs and hit 19 homers. During those eight games, they are batting .373 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles homered twice on Thursday to bring their season total to a major league-leading 205 home runs. The O's also lead the majors in homers since the All-Star break with 82. They have led the league in home runs in three of the past five seasons (2016, 2014, 2013), finishing second (2012) and third (2015) the other two years. The Orioles have hit 10 homers the last three games, 24 in the past 10 and 30 in the last 13 games.

Shortstop Tim Beckham batted .394/.417/.646 in 29 games in August. His .394 average and 50 hits each led the majors for the month, his 10 doubles were tied for third and his .648 slugging percentage ranked eighth in the AL. Third baseman Manny Machado batted .341/.348/.690 for the month. Machado's 35 RBIs led the AL and ranked second in the majors. His 12 home runs in August were tied for the league lead and his slugging percentage of .697 ranked fourth.

The Orioles were 9-3 this year versus Toronto until the Blue Jays won the opener of this four-game series. Toronto entered the series with six losses in its last seven road games with 10 losses in its past 12 games overall.

Right-hander Kevin Gausman (10-9, 4.98 ERA) tonight will make his 29th start for the Orioles. He pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday at Boston and gave up just four hits on 117 pitches. The result dropped his ERA under 5.00 for the first time since April 13.

Gausman has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his past eight starts, going 5-2 with a 2.26 ERA. He has 11 quality starts on the year, but six over those past eight games. In four 2017 starts against Toronto, he is 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA.

Right-hander Joe Biagini (3-9, 5.40 ERA) gets the ball for the Jays and will make his 39th appearance and 13th start. In a start on Sunday versus Minnesota, he gave up five runs over 3 2/3 innings. In his 12 starts only, he is 2-8 with a 6.02 ERA. In five career games (one start) against Baltimore, he is 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA over 10 innings.

GCL note: Second baseman Max Hogan of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Orioles has been named a postseason All-Star. Drafted in round 32 in June, the 23-year-old Hogan hit .310/.452/.519 in 40 games. The lefty batter was drafted out of Missouri Southern State.