Beckham and Gausman stand out in shutout (with quotes)

BOSTON - Eduardo Rodriguez must have believed, with every fiber of his being, that a ninth consecutive four-seam fastball would elude Tim Beckham's bat. He took a stance from the stretch.

Rodriguez kept delivering them today in the top of the second inning, and Beckham fouled off five in a row before launching No. 9 over the Green Monster in left field, the ball slamming off the National Car Rental sign to keep it from bouncing along Lansdowne St.

Beckham chose to get the insurance runs.

The Orioles held their second early lead in less than 24 hours - the same five-run margin after two innings - and Kevin Gausman blanked the Red Sox through 7 2/3 in a 7-0 victory before a sellout crowd of 36,655 at Fenway Park.

Jonathan Schoop homered in the eighth inning and the Orioles claimed their second consecutive series for the first time since July 28-Aug 2, when they took two of three in Texas and swept the Royals at home. They've won three games in a row and four of five while improving their record to 64-65 overall, 26-39 on the road and 29-22 versus the American League East.

The Red Sox were 40-22 at home when the series began, the most wins in the league, but they've been outscored 23-3 in two games.

A win on Sunday would put the Orioles at .500 for the first time since Aug. 7. They moved within two games of the second wild card with the Twins losing earlier this afternoon.

Schoop's solo shot off Brandon Workman, measured at 414 feet by Statcast, gave him 95 RBIs to break a tie with Roberto Alomar for the most by an Orioles second baseman. Schoop has 28 home runs to tie Manny Machado for the team lead.

Gausman, working on six days of rest, allowed four runs, walked three and struck out five. He's turned in five scoreless outings this season and his ERA dropped to 4.98, getting below 5.00 for the first time since April 13.

Manager Buck Showalter removed Gausman after Mookie Betts' two-out single up the middle. Richard Bleier stranded Betts, with Chris Davis making a nice diving stop to deny Andrew Benintendi.

The Orioles grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning against Rodriguez, their former Double-A pitching prospect, with Mark Trumbo and Craig Gentry collecting RBI singles. Adam Jones led off with a double and Davis walked with one out. Gentry's hit was a two-out blooper into center field.

Up came Beckham, who struck out looking to begin the game. He kept fighting off fastballs before squaring up one and increasing the lead to 5-0.

Beckham has 18 home runs this season, the last six this month with the Orioles. He was 10-for-20 against left-handers after the at-bat and showing no signs of deferring to J.J. Hardy when the veteran comes off the disabled list.

The inning could have taken a bad turn for the Orioles. Jones got caught in a rundown between second and third on Trey Mancini's comebacker to Rodriguez, but Davis walked to put another runner in scoring position and Trumbo delivered the RBI single to left field.

Gentry came through from the ninth slot and Beckham almost put a hole in a sign with a 93 mph heater off his bat.

The Orioles took a 7-0 lead in the ninth off Fernando Abad, with Gentry's two-out double scoring Trumbo, who had three hits.

Gausman walked two batters in the third inning, but he also struck out three, including Benintendi on a 98 mph fastball to end the threat.

Mitch Moreland's infield single leading off the fifth was only the second hit for the Red Sox, and Christian Vázquez walked with one out on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. Eduardo Núñez, able to play today after leaving last night's game with wrist and thumb injuries, grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

Today's results gave Gausman six quality starts in his last eight outings. And he was allowed to stick around past the second inning after being ejected in his last appearance at Fenway Park on May 3.

Rodriguez made it through 6 2/3 innings despite a five-run, 40-pitch second. He allowed only three hits after the second, but the Orioles won another game and a series.

They're 2-0 while wearing their Players Weekend garb. The bright orange is a nice accessory to a lighter mood.

Showalter on Beckham fighting off pitches in second and homering: "Don't ask me. I was the dumb guy. I gave him the take 3-0, so ... No, Timmy's brought a lot for us, especially in that leadoff spot. It's allowed us to get Adam where he needs to be and it's really made things fit well offensively. We knew in a 4 o'clock start, about the second or third inning through the seventh inning it's really hard to see here, so you better get your damage done early."

Showalter on Gausman improvement: "The world's full of people that, we can't live in a world that there's - I don't want to say 'panic' - but you've got to trust players. They've got to trust you. I see all the work that he and Roger do. You knew it was there. He's working on six days' rest and I told you our guys really have responded well to that. That's why I was able to give him a little longer leash today. But Kevin never gave in. And he's getting the type of return you should get for that type of location."

Showalter on Gausman locating fastball: "I was telling him, and I've heard the good pitchers like Curt Schilling talk about it, that the ability to get back in a count with a well-located 2-0 fastball is huge. When you show guys you can do that. And he and Caleb did a nice job of slowing them down when they were rushing and rushing them when they were slowing down. It's a cat-and-mouse game all game long with pitchers."

Showalter again on Beckham: "Obviously, he's been great in a short sampling. He's fit in pretty seamlessly. You can tell he wants to take advantage of this fresh start with some people that he knows. We're in need of what he brings."

Showalter on Schoop passing Alomar: "Pretty good company. Real good company. I thought you were going to say Rich Dauer. I wonder who's third? I looked out there about Adam passing Cal Ripken, all-time RBI leader, those are the things that really get your attention, because there's not a better second baseman all-around than Robbie Alomar was. But there's a chance someday they'll be talking about Jonathan like that."

Gausman on outing: "Early on, I was kind of all over the place. Every fastball I threw was kind of riding up and in on a righty, and Caleb (Joseph) had to tell me after the second inning, he was like, 'Hey, we've got to start hitting our spots. We've gotten through two innings, but to be able to go deep in the game against these guys, that's what you've got to do.'

"It seemed about the fourth or fifth inning was when I really kind of found my fastball command. I had a real good feel for my split early on. I feel like we had a good scouting report on these guys and I had a good feel for what I wanted to do."

Gausman on improvement in second half: "Obviously, to get to where I'm at right now, throwing the ball better than I was in the first half, I wouldn't say that I'm proud of myself, but I'm proud of myself for not just letting it be a whirlwind and a snowball effect and kind of just let the season get away from me. We're still playing meaningful games right now, and we need not just me but all the starters to really kind of pick it up. If we're going to make the playoffs, starters are going to have to do their part. That's the biggest part. We have to win games like today. You get a lead early, you've got to be able to kind of shut the door."

Gausman on Beckham: "I think he's doing a lot more than anybody expected him to do coming over here. We've played against him a lot. He's obviously playing with his hair on fire right now. It's really exciting to watch. It just seems like he fits in really well. You see him and Schoopy and Manny kind of joking around in the infield. That's something that Manny and Schoopy have always done. I think he kind of fits in really good. Anytime you see a guy have success and have big hit after big hit for your team, you're excited for him."

Beckham on at-bat: "I was just battling, man. Once you get down 3-2 and you have runners in scoring position. I knew the first at-bat, he struck me out looking on a fastball out that was probably a ball. I didn't want him to get me looking on a fastball out again. He kept going in. I just wanted to foul them off until I get a pitch I can handle, do something with."

Beckham on taking advantage of opportunity: "It's been really fun. We're playing winning baseball, and when you're winning everything's better. It makes the clubhouse more loose, makes our on-the-field play more loose, and we're relaxed and we're playing good ball now."

Beckham on Gausman: "Being on the other side facing him, it's always a tough day. Every at-bat, you're going to have to battle. He has plus stuff. It's fun playing behind him when he's on like that."

Beckham on club: "We have a pretty put-together lineup. One through nine can bang the ball around the ballpark, and when we're on, it's fun to watch and fun to be a part of. It doesn't matter who's on the mound. If we come to the park, and we're ready to hit, we're going to swing it that day. Our pitchers the last two days have been stellar, and that's all you can ask for."

Beckham on batting leadoff: "It's cool, it's cool. I like it. I like batting leadoff because you can set the tone with the first at-bat of the game. That's something I like to do. If I see a pitch up that I can drive, I'm going to take an aggressive hack at it. We're an aggressive lineup, and we don't want to let a fastball pass, so we're going to be swinging out of the chute."