Showalter on Kim, Gausman, Asher and Brach (O's up 7-5)

The Orioles' lineup includes Hyun Soo Kim, who's starting on consecutive nights for the first time since May 4-5. It led to a humorous exchange between manager and player.

Kim singled last night, smoked a ball to center field that was caught and made a couple of nice plays in left field.

"I asked him the day before yesterday, 'You remember how to get out there?' He thought it was funny," said manager Buck Showalter.

Kim returned the joke today, pretending to hyperventilate after Showalter walked past him in the hallway and said, "Two?"

"No, he's good," Showalter said. "He played well last night."

The Orioles need Kevin Gausman to step up tonight after another disappointing start on Sunday, when he failed to hold a five-run lead in Kansas City and was done after 3 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs and nine hits and threw 58 of 93 pitches for strikes.

As usual, Showalter will be looking for improved fastball command. That's usually where it starts.

"He can compete with that. Most pitchers can," Showalter said. "And if he can get something soft over, slow them down now and then."

Alec Asher tossed a scoreless inning last night and continues to impress the Orioles with his versatility, quick recovery between outings and fearless nature.

Asher always insists that he's available, no matter how many pitches he threw the previous night.

"It hasn't been an issue for him," Showalter said. "They know that if they pitch a long outing, we need a pitcher and they say that they need a day or two ... They understand what's going on. Sometimes you have to cut between some bravado there that has an ulterior motive.

"I'm sure you've noticed out of the 'pen that his velocity has ticked up. I know the advance reports and scouting when we were talking about acquiring him, where he was at. Out of the bullpen he's ticked up a couple of notches.

"The thing about Asher is he has a really good delivery. He's got about as good a delivery as we've got on our club. That allows him to locate. That was really intriguing to us."

Brad Brach retired the side in order last night with two strikeouts following three consecutive outings that saw him give up runs. The blown save in D.C. still resonates, and he surrendered a grand slam to the Tigers' J.D. Martinez in his next appearance after inheriting a bases-loaded jam.

The Orioles needed him to be good last night. Brach needed it, too.

"It would be easy to say, 'Not really, he's been doing it at a high level three or four years,'" Showalter said. "You know, they're human beings. Think about, you've had a so-so outing or a poor one statistically and you have to sit on it for four or five days.

"Brad's the type of guy who will complain about going three up, three down and throwing almost 20 pitches. But I think probably it is (important). I'm not going to downplay it, but the next day is the next day.

"Did you see his velocity? He was getting after it. Not that he doesn't."

Update: The Jays loaded the bases with no outs in the first and settled for one run on Kendrys Morales' double play. Kevin Gausman struck out Justin Smoak with a 98 mph fastball after falling behind 3-0.

Gausman threw 22 pitches, 11 for strikes.

Meanwhile, the Orioles placed Triple-A Norfolk infielder Paul Janish on their taxi squad. No idea why, but he's apparently in Baltimore.

Janish is batting .255/.364/.378 with six doubles, two home runs and 16 RBIs in 34 games with the Tides.

Update II: Mark Trumbo singled into left field to score Adam Jones in the bottom of the first and tie the game 1-1. Jones reached on an infield hit and Manny Machado singled.

Update III: Machado led off the bottom of the third inning with his 10th home run to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead.

Update IV: Trumbo followed Machado's walk in the fifth inning with a two-run homer to give the Orioles a 4-1 lead, but Justin Smoak hit a solo home run with one out in the sixth.

Update V: Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer off Mychal Givens in the seventh to give Toronto a 5-4 lead.

Two of the runs were charged to Richard Bleier after J.J. Hardy's throwing error and a walk.

Update VI: Welington Castillo hit a three-run homer off Danny Barnes in the bottom of the seventh to give the Orioles a 7-5 lead. Castillo has three homers in the last two nights.