A look at the gas man, minor league pitching rotations and more

So last night, Kevin Gausman took the role and morphed into Kevin Gasman.

He threw smoke and was clocked at 100 mph on the MASN radar gun and 101 mph on the Tropicana Field stadium gun. He was rested and ready, and it showed. He did make one bad pitch, and it went over the wall for a two-run homer, but the velocity was impressive.

Triple digits, yikes.

Well, while we all wait (especially some fans nervous about this) for Gausman to enter the rotation at some point, let's not forget he how much he can impact and help the Orioles win several games along the way.

He can be a bridge to the late-inning relievers as he was last night and he can pitch in late relief. He could pitch long relief. He could enter just about anywhere they need him. For now, he's pitched in one game and he helped his team get one win. That does mean something.

During spring training, I asked Gausman if he has a favored velocity. By that, I didn't mean to ask how hard he could throw it, but if there is a velocity he favors - one that gives him some juice on his pitches but also solid movement at a speed where he can really command the pitch consistently. Has he found that yet?

"I really haven't," he said. "I don't really look at velocity very often. Every day and every outing is different. There are days you will feel bad but are still throwing pretty hard. You just want to have as good of fastball command that you can have."

He might not look at velocity but he had a lot of us looking at it for him last night.

Some other notes on last night's win:

* Steve Pearce hit a two-run homer in the second inning, which gave the O's a 6-0 lead. They didn't know it at the time, but they would really need runs five and six.

Pearce became the sixth Oriole to homer in the first two games:

1994 - Rafael Palmeiro
2006 - Melvin Mora
2012 - Nick Markakis
2013 - Chris Davis
2014 - Nelson Cruz
2015 - Steve Pearce

* The Orioles' first four batters had hits last night and then they got just two more the rest of the game. So the Orioles went 4-for-4 at-bat to start the night and then 2-for-26 after that. After Pearce's homer in the second, they went 1-for-20 the rest of the game.

*On June 6 last year, the Orioles were 30-29, in third place and a season-high 6 1/2 games out of first place. With this 2-0 start, they are 68-37 (.648) since.

In the minors: In an exhibition game last night, Triple-A Norfolk beat Norfolk State 3-0. Seven Tides pitchers combined to hold Norfolk State to four hits. Seven pitchers worked an inning each in the seven-game game as Chris Jones, Steve Johnson, Michael Bowden, Patrick McCoy, Chaz Roe, Daniel Rodriguez and Oliver Drake took the mound for the Tides. Proceeds from the game, which drew 6,766 at Harbor Park, benefited the Spartans baseball program.

Meanwhile, in Salisbury, the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds beat Salisbury University 13-1 in an exhibiton game. It didn't count, but in his first at-bat in a Shorebirds' uniform, 18-year-old third baseman Jomar Reyes hit a solo homer. Conor Bierfeldt added a two-run homer and Logan Uxa a three-run shot for Delmarva. Bennett Parry gave up one run and three hits over five innings.

Double-A Bowie and Single-A Frederick did not play exhibitions. But they did hold media days yesterday. Here are the stories I filed from Bowie and Frederick.

Here are the rotations and order for the O's full-season affiliates that play season openers on Thursday:

Norfolk: Tyler Wilson, Mike Wright, T.J. McFarland, Zach Davies and Eddie Gamboa.

Bowie: Tim Berry, Elih Villanueva, Branden Kline, Parker Bridwell and Dylan Bundy.

Frederick: Mitch Horacek, David Hess, Luis Gonzalez, Jarett Miller and Sebastian Vader.

Delmarva: John Means, Tanner Chleborad, Brian Gonzalez, Matthew Grimes and Bennett Parry.