A look at Kevin Gausman's home versus road stats, plus other notes

In the first two innings last night, it didn't look like Kevin Gausman was on his game. The Orioles right-hander allowed a run in the first and threw 35 pitches as Texas cut the O's two-run lead into a one-run game in the second.

But without warning, Gausman got locked in. After throwing 50 pitches over those first two innings, he needed to throw just 58 more pitches over the next five innings. With Texas left-hander Cole Hamels getting locked in himself, the Orioles needed Gausman's big outing to win 3-2 last night.

This was much better than Friday's game at Toronto, where Gausman allowed three homers in the first inning to the first five batters. Gausman has allowed two runs or fewer in three of his past four starts and has quality starts in five of his past seven outings. He had a bad night at Rogers Centre, but he certainly bounced back last night.

By the stat sheet, Gausman is a very different pitcher at home this year. While he is 0-7 with a 5.62 ERA and .309 average against in 11 road starts, Gausman is much better at Oriole Park. In eight home starts, he is 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA and .224 average against.

In Gausman's last three home starts he has allowed no runs over 7 2/3 innings against Tampa Bay, no runs over seven innings versus Cleveland and two runs over seven innings last night against Texas. That is an ERA of 0.84.

Gausman was at a loss Wednesday night when asked to explain why the difference is so vast in his home and road stats.

"I wish I knew, but I don't," Gausman said. "I don't know if I just feel comfortable pitching here. Or, maybe I know the ballpark plays pretty small and maybe that's why I keep the ball down more here than anywhere else. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

"But this was a great team win the and obviously the defense came through big. (Matt) Wieters had some huge blocks and that play in the ninth too. When you have (Jonathan) Schoop and J.J. (Hardy) up the middle, you always feel comfortable with a guy at first. Anytime you can get a ground ball, it doesn't matter how hard it's hit, it kind of seems like they knock it down and get you a good chance to get two."

Gausman has allowed nine of his 20 homers in the first inning this year. But he keeps the ball in the park much better at home, where he has allowed 1.03 homers for every nine innings pitched compared to 2.18 per nine innings away from home.

More notes on the Orioles:

* Since losing five in a row, the Orioles have won three straight, outscoring their opponents 14-5. The Orioles had allowed 30 runs during the five-game loss streak.

* The Orioles tagged a rare one-run loss on Texas last night as the Rangers are now 23-8 in one-run contests. The Orioles are 13-10.

* O's pitchers have held Texas to three runs on 10 hits and a team batting average of .172 in this series.

* Orioles third baseman Manny Machado doubled in the bottom of the first inning, his 31st double of the season in 101 games. He hit 30 doubles in 162 games last season. Machado has hit safely in 10 of his last 13 games, batting .271/.364/.479 (13-for-48).

* Catcher Matt Wieters has recorded at least one RBI in a season-high-tying three straight games. He also did that from April 4-8.

* The Orioles are 39-16 at home and are 13-2-3 in 18 home series. They have won this series by taking the first two games. At Oriole Park, the Orioles are 8-2 their last 10 games and 22-6 in their last 28.

* The O's last three starting pitchers - Chris Tillman, Dylan Bundy and Gausman - have allowed four earned runs over 19 2/3 innings for an ERA of 1.83.

* Chris Davis stole second base in the bottom of the sixth inning, his first stolen base of the season. It was his first steal since Aug. 19, 2015 versus the New York Mets.

Nearly perfect: Right-hander Tyler Wilson got the start for Triple-A Norfolk last night at Durham. He pitched five perfect innings and then Edgar Olmos came on. He pitched three perfect innings. So when new Tide lefty Tom Gorzelanny took the mound for the bottom of the ninth inning, he had a 6-0 lead and was three outs from a three-pitcher perfect game.

But the Tides didn't get it.

Gorzelanny retired the first batter he faced, but Eury Perez reached on a one-out fielding error by third baseman Michael Almanzar to break up the perfect game. Juniel Querecuto then singled through the left side and the no-hit bid ended too. But he retired the next two hitters to complete a one-hitter for the Tides and Wilson got the win.

Christian Walker had a two-run single while Corban Joseph added a two-run homer for Norfolk. Francisco Pena and Trey Mancini hit solo homers for the Tides.