O's game blog: Kevin Gausman on the mound in homestand opener

The Orioles have played much better at home than on the road this season. Tonight, they begin a seven-game homestand hosting Nick Markakis and the Atlanta Braves to start a three-game series.

Since losing 10 of 13 and 15 of 20 games, the Orioles have won their last two against the Rays. They ended a four-game losing streak Saturday and followed that up with Sunday's 5-2 win to improve to 48-49. The Orioles are 27-18 at home.

In the Tampa Bay series, O's pitchers allowed just six runs and 18 hits and pitched to an ERA of 2.08. Orioles starters gave up four runs over 20 innings as the team won back-to-back games for just the second time in 22 games.

The Orioles could use some improvement in their record in the first game of a series. They are 15-19 for the season, 0-3 in the second half and 1-6 in their last seven such games.

Tonight, Kevin Gausman (1-2, 5.18 ERA) faces Atlanta left-hander Alex Wood (7-6, 3.78 ERA). Gausman has made four starts for the Orioles. In his first two, he gave up two runs over 11 1/3 innings. In the last two, he has allowed 12 runs (11 earned) on 13 hits over 9 2/3 innings against Minnesota and the New York Yankees. In five interleague games, four starts, he is 1-3 with a 6.86 ERA and 1.66 WHIP.

Wood, who is making his 20th start, has allowed 10 runs and 16 hits in 12 1/3 his past two starts. In four July starts, he is 2-1 with a 6.87 ERA and .347 average against. He has recorded 10 quality starts for the season and the Braves are 8-11 in his starts. He is 3-3 with a 2.28 ERA in 12 career interleague games, including seven starts.

The Orioles will play a total of 20 games against National League opponents this season including the New York Mets (0-2), Miami Marlins (1-2), Philadelphia Phillies (3-1) and Washington Nationals (1-2) at Oriole Park and again in September at Nationals Park. Since interleague play began in 1997, the Orioles are 154-181. The Orioles went 12-8 in interleague games in 2014, setting a new club record for most interleague wins in a season.

Weekly winners: Two Orioles minor league players picked up weekly honors today. Triple-A Norfolk's Christian Walker was named Player of the Week in the International League and Double-A Bowie's Corban Joseph got the same award in the Eastern League.

Walker batted .414 (12-for-29) with three home runs, four doubles, nine runs and 10 RBIs in seven games and helped the Tides complete a 6-1 homestand. He had four multi-RBI games. Walker has hit safely in nine of his last ten games, batting .372 (16-for-43) with five home runs, five doubles and 15 RBIs.

Joseph hit .417 with five home runs, a double, triple, eight RBIs and eight runs scored during his big week. Released earlier by Atlanta, Joseph made his Baysox debut on June 17 and has hit .321 in 29 games with five home runs and 14 RBIs. The younger brother of Caleb Joseph, Corban has homered five times the last six games after not homering in his first 63 games of the year.