Orioles turn to Gausman tonight

A shift in baseball's pitching climate no longer has Orioles fans wondering whether Kevin Gausman is envious of Dylan Bundy's emergence in the rotation.

I read the tweets and blog comments. It was a topic.

Gausman was inconsistent and Bundy was the feel-good story of 2016 with his change in roles in mid-July and his three-start stretch the following month when he permitted three runs in 18 2/3 innings.

Bundy's accomplishments shouldn't be ignored. The kid has thrown 104 2/3 innings after the Orioles were hoping to get 60-75 out of him as a reliever, hoping to keep him healthy and set him up to compete for a starting job in spring 2017.

Following last night's 5-2 loss to the Red Sox, Bundy told reporters that he felt "physically great."

"My arm's feeling great," he said. "Still doing my workouts, my sides in between starts. So there's no issue there."

No matter what happens the rest of the way, the season has been a tremendous success for him and optimism should run high next season. But the Orioles are in a pennant race and they need production from their rotation.

Enter Gausman, who hasn't allowed a run in four of his last five starts. In those five outings, he's permitted three runs and 26 hits with seven walks and 32 strikeouts in 33 innings.

The Red Sox can vouch for him. They were shut out over eight innings Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

Gausman's ERA has dropped from 4.11 on Aug. 18 to 3.43 as he approaches his 28th start. He's 7-4 with a 2.58 ERA since the All-Star break. He's 6-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 11 home starts.

He's exactly what the Orioles need as they try to stay in the division race.

Gausman is 3-3 with a 4.01 ERA in 13 career games (eight starts) against the Red Sox. David Ortiz is 8-for-21 with three doubles and two home runs, Dustin Pedroia is 6-for-20 with a home run, Mookie Betts is 6-for-17 with two home runs and Jackie Bradley Jr. is 0-for-9 with five strikeouts.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is 2-7 with a 4.98 ERA in 17 starts, but he's here to remind us of the Andrew Miller trade.

Rodriguez shut out the Athletics on one hit over eight innings on Sept. 4. In his next two starts, he allowed three runs (two earned) over six innings in Toronto and four runs and eight hits over 2 1/3 innings against the Yankees.

Rodriguez is 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA in three starts against the Orioles this season and 1-3 with a 4.30 ERA in six career starts.

Adam Jones is 4-for-13 with a double and home run, Chris Davis is 2-for-14 with six strikeouts and Jonathan Schoop is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts.

Left-handers are batting .293 against Rodriguez and right-handers are hitting .243.