Showalter on Paredes, Gausman and more (O's down 3-1)
By Roch Kubatko
The Orioles currently lead the American League East by 14 games. They could become the first team to win the division by double digits since the 2006 Yankees (10).
The Orioles' next home run will be their 200th of the season.
Steve Pearce has hit three homers in the last two games. He's in right field again tonight while Nick Markakis receives treatment on his right shoulder.
"It's still sore," he said. "I'm glad it's my left arm because I wouldn't be able to throw right-handed right now. But it's just stiff and I'm going to get my treatment and see how it is tomorrow.
"I've got plenty of time to get ready."
Jimmy Paredes is batting fifth tonight. He hit third in an earlier game.
Not your prototypical middle-of-the-order bat, but the guy's 14-for-35 (.400) with four doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and eight runs scored in 11 games with the Orioles.
Paredes fits right in on a team where a different player seems to step up each night and contribute to the cause.
"It's such a snowball thing when you have the type of ability that people have at this level, the atmosphere," said manager Buck Showalter. "It's the culture that winning enough games to win our division creates. Everybody here has been the best of the best at some level, OK? Sometimes, there's such a fine line.
"Jimmy's 25 years old. It's not like he's 28, 29, 30. He's 25. He's got an option. I've talked to people about him. I talked to Bo Porter the other day for a half-hour about him, guys that have been with him and seen him more than we have. We're not thinking we're smarter than anybody else. We talked to Jeff Manto a long time about (Alejandro) De Aza before we did anything. But you don't become a prisoner to what somebody else (says). You've got to be careful about branding guys, saying this is the only thing they're ever going to be. Steve Pearce, whatever."
Paredes has hit in every spot in the lineup this season. He didn't have an at-bat in the fifth slot until tonight.
Kevin Gausman is seeking his eighth win of the season and his first since Aug. 17 in Cleveland. He tossed seven scoreless innings against the Yankees in his last start and didn't get a decision.
Gausman has worked at least seven innings in his last three starts.
Showalter is impressed with Gausman's willingness to learn.
"He asks as good a question as anybody on our staff," Showalter said. "He's one of those guys, during a game he'll ask Dave (Wallace) something about a situation, even when he's not pitching. Dave said, 'I don't know what kind of pitcher he's going to be, but boy, he asks good questions.' He's been a sponge.
"He's not out there with his top bullet every pitch. You guys have seen it sometimes. He's trying to save his bullets a little bit here and there. He's maturing. Think about the number of innings he's had compared to conventional thinking in the minor leagues. He's really, what, a senior in college? Maybe a year out? So, he's ahead of the curve."
The Orioles enter tonight's game ranked third in the American League with a 3.46 ERA.
"I was kidding Dave and Dom (Chiti) when we were first talking about doing this together," Showalter said. "We were upstairs and I was showing them the statues in left-center field. I said, 'You know, if you two guys figure out this pitching here, there will probably be a statue out there of you two guys.'
"I was thinking of some way to get a little statue. 'I can't do it out there, but here's your statue.' "
Showalter continues to pass down the credit for the Orioles' turnaround since his arrival.
"You go through a lot of things when things get better," he said. "I guarantee you can look back on people who took some bullets and made some tough decisions that may not have been popular at the time to get things right. Whether it be Dave Trembley or Andy MacPhail. Whether it be Rick Adair or Mark Connor. Everybody was a part of that, and Dave and Dom would be the first to tell you that.
"These people who smugly think they've been the guy, I mean... trust me, I know how it goes. There are some people in the past who have taken some real tough bullets, whether it be a scouting director that's no longer here or a farm director that's no longer here. Not everything they did was wrong. They did a lot of great things."
Update: The Orioles loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning and took a 1-0 lead on Nelson Cruz's infield hit.
Cruz has 104 RBIs this season.
Gausman retired nine of the first 11 Boston batters, but David Ortiz and Yoenis Cespedes hit back-to-back home runs leading off the top of the fourth.
Ortiz has eight 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons, the most in Red Sox history. He broke a tie with Ted Williams.
I find it disturbing.
Update II: The Red Sox scored an unearned run in the fifth and lead 3-1.
Mookie Betts scored from first base on Ortiz's two-out single to right. He would have been out at the plate, except Caleb Joseph dropped Christian Walker's relay throw.
Ortiz held at first base. No sense trying for the double, right?
Gausman has been charged with three runs (two earned) and seven hits in five innings, with no walks, three strikeouts and two home runs. He's thrown 91 pitches, 62 for strikes.
Jimmy Paredes is batting fifth tonight. He hit third in an earlier game.
Not your prototypical middle-of-the-order bat, but the guy's 14-for-35 (.400) with four doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and eight runs scored in 11 games with the Orioles.
Paredes fits right in on a team where a different player seems to step up each night and contribute to the cause.
"It's such a snowball thing when you have the type of ability that people have at this level, the atmosphere," said manager Buck Showalter. "It's the culture that winning enough games to win our division creates. Everybody here has been the best of the best at some level, OK? Sometimes, there's such a fine line.
"Jimmy's 25 years old. It's not like he's 28, 29, 30. He's 25. He's got an option. I've talked to people about him. I talked to Bo Porter the other day for a half-hour about him, guys that have been with him and seen him more than we have. We're not thinking we're smarter than anybody else. We talked to Jeff Manto a long time about (Alejandro) De Aza before we did anything. But you don't become a prisoner to what somebody else (says). You've got to be careful about branding guys, saying this is the only thing they're ever going to be. Steve Pearce, whatever."
Paredes has hit in every spot in the lineup this season. He didn't have an at-bat in the fifth slot until tonight.
Kevin Gausman is seeking his eighth win of the season and his first since Aug. 17 in Cleveland. He tossed seven scoreless innings against the Yankees in his last start and didn't get a decision.
Gausman has worked at least seven innings in his last three starts.
Showalter is impressed with Gausman's willingness to learn.
"He asks as good a question as anybody on our staff," Showalter said. "He's one of those guys, during a game he'll ask Dave (Wallace) something about a situation, even when he's not pitching. Dave said, 'I don't know what kind of pitcher he's going to be, but boy, he asks good questions.' He's been a sponge.
"He's not out there with his top bullet every pitch. You guys have seen it sometimes. He's trying to save his bullets a little bit here and there. He's maturing. Think about the number of innings he's had compared to conventional thinking in the minor leagues. He's really, what, a senior in college? Maybe a year out? So, he's ahead of the curve."
The Orioles enter tonight's game ranked third in the American League with a 3.46 ERA.
"I was kidding Dave and Dom (Chiti) when we were first talking about doing this together," Showalter said. "We were upstairs and I was showing them the statues in left-center field. I said, 'You know, if you two guys figure out this pitching here, there will probably be a statue out there of you two guys.'
"I was thinking of some way to get a little statue. 'I can't do it out there, but here's your statue.' "
Showalter continues to pass down the credit for the Orioles' turnaround since his arrival.
"You go through a lot of things when things get better," he said. "I guarantee you can look back on people who took some bullets and made some tough decisions that may not have been popular at the time to get things right. Whether it be Dave Trembley or Andy MacPhail. Whether it be Rick Adair or Mark Connor. Everybody was a part of that, and Dave and Dom would be the first to tell you that.
"These people who smugly think they've been the guy, I mean... trust me, I know how it goes. There are some people in the past who have taken some real tough bullets, whether it be a scouting director that's no longer here or a farm director that's no longer here. Not everything they did was wrong. They did a lot of great things."
Update: The Orioles loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning and took a 1-0 lead on Nelson Cruz's infield hit.
Cruz has 104 RBIs this season.
Gausman retired nine of the first 11 Boston batters, but David Ortiz and Yoenis Cespedes hit back-to-back home runs leading off the top of the fourth.
Ortiz has eight 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons, the most in Red Sox history. He broke a tie with Ted Williams.
I find it disturbing.
Update II: The Red Sox scored an unearned run in the fifth and lead 3-1.
Mookie Betts scored from first base on Ortiz's two-out single to right. He would have been out at the plate, except Caleb Joseph dropped Christian Walker's relay throw.
Ortiz held at first base. No sense trying for the double, right?
Gausman has been charged with three runs (two earned) and seven hits in five innings, with no walks, three strikeouts and two home runs. He's thrown 91 pitches, 62 for strikes.
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