Andrew Cashner on his tough O's debut and other clubhouse quotes

On a night when the Orioles got just three hits - none in the first seven innings - their starting pitcher gave up three home runs. That was a not a good combination as Minnesota beat the Orioles 6-2 at chilly Camden Yards.

Making his Orioles debut tonight, right-hander Andrew Cashner gave up the trio of homers. Over five innings he allowed six hits and five runs (four earned) on 79 pitches. Not once last year did he yield three homers in a game and he only had two games among 28 starts in which he even gave up two longballs.

Miguel Sanó hit a solo homer in the first off Casher, and two more solo homers followed. One by Jason Castro in the second and one by Max Kepler in the fourth.

"My sinker was kind of flat," Cashner said. "I think I needed to do a better job of getting on top of it. It's not a great start, but there's a lot to build off it. I was really excited (for the first start). I like this team and a lot of the guys in here. I've just got to pitch better for us to be where we need to be."

For a pitcher who doesn't yield a lot of homers, this was a rare night. The last time Cashner gave up this many was when he allowed a career-high four while pitching for San Diego against the Dodgers on July 8, 2016.

"It's frustrating. It's a small park. A few of those balls if they go a couple of inches in or away it's an out. But it just comes down to making better pitches. I was surprised my sinkers didn't run more," he said.

Coming into this start, Twins righty Kyle Gibson had a career 5.89 ERA against Baltimore over seven starts. But it seemed his strong finish to the 2017 season (an ERA of 3.57 his last 12 starts) carried over to this one.

He no-hit the Orioles over six innings. He did walk five and had six strikeouts in a 102-pitch outing. No batter he walked could advance even to second base. The Orioles went 0-for-18 against him.

"He was on today," said O's second baseman Jonathan Schoop. "His curveball was working sharp, sinker ball, four-seamer. Every pitch was working for him. Sometime you've got to take your cap off and forget about the day and let's get them tomorrow.

"It's all about winning. If he can throw a perfect game, whatever, forget about it. There's only relief when you win. They didn't get the no-hitter, but we still lost. We want to win."

Trey Mancini's liner to left with two outs in the sixth almost ended the no-hit bid at that point. But Twins left fielder Eddie Rosario reached down and gloved the ball for a second. He then bobbled it but snared it for the out. It was that kind of night for the O's offense.

"It was pretty fitting, I'd say. It was a great catch, have to tip my cap to him," Mancini said of Rosario's play.

Reliever Ryan Pressly got five outs, starting in the last of the seventh, and the O's were looking at being no-hit for the eighth time in team history. But Schoop's single with two down in the eighth ended that. An inning later Tim Beckham's two-run shot to left off Gabriel Moya got the O's on the board.

There were two happy and relieved pitchers in the O's clubhouse postgame. Two Rule 5 picks, lefty Nestor Cortes Jr. and righty Pedro Araujo, made their major league debuts. Cortes allowed a run in two innings and Araujo pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.

No one could blame Araujo for trying to contain a smile in the losing team's clubhouse. This time last year he was with Myrtle Beach in High-A ball. A reporter asked him the difference between the Carolina League and the American League?

"No difference," he said through interpreter Ramon Alarcon, still beaming.

Well, with 11 pretty solid pitches, he made it look that way anyway.