Hearing from Showalter, Gausman and Jones after 3-2 loss

OAKLAND - The Orioles don't score runs for Kevin Gausman and he doesn't win on the road. Pick your favorite story angle.

Gausman won't join you. Manager Buck Showalter also prefers to stay out of it.

Gausman left tonight's game after six innings with the Orioles trailing the Athletics 2-1, and they finished on the wrong end of a 3-2 score at Oakland Coliseum.

"He pitched well again," Showalter said. "It was good to see. He had little hiccup last time out, but he threw the ball good. We just didn't mount much offensively.

"The three hits we got to load the bases (in the third) were pretty cheap variety, too. We had some good people up, just didn't have a chance to get a hit there, maybe open it up and get some breathing room. Kevin hasn't had much breathing room."

Yeah, what's up with that?

"It's not really something ... It's something you'll ask about and he'll probably say the same thing," Showalter replied.

"It's just a part of baseball. I don't think our guys get up in the morning and say, 'Kevin's pitching today. Let's not score any runs.' Sometimes, it can work the other way, but it's not really a topic for us. If he continues to pitch well, he'll get his share."

Gausman hasn't won on the road since April 2015 and he hasn't won a road start since August 2014.

"Yeah, I've pitched well in some outings on the road. Some I haven't at all," he said. "I don't really have anything to say about that."

Gausman allowed two runs and six hits in six innings, with two walks and six strikeouts. He was done after 100 pitches, including 55 for strikes, and fell to 3-9 with a 4.02 ERA.

"I felt locked in from the first pitch on, really," he said. "Had a really good split tonight. Kind of relied on that more than anything. And it was really good against right-handed hitters. When my split's going good against righties, that's when I know it's on."

Stephen Vogt hit a game-tying solo home run leading off the fourth inning after Gausman got ahead 1-2 in the count.

"I was trying to throw a fastball up," he said. "I felt like I had him set up for it and didn't get it up there. Kind of left it middle-middle, really, and I think he was looking for a fastball and obviously didn't miss it."

The Orioles didn't do much with Kendall Graveman, settling for an RBI popup from Manny Machado in the third inning. Machado homered off reliever Ryan Dull in the eighth inning.

Graveman usually gets knocked around by the Orioles.

"He wasn't sinking the ball like he was tonight," Showalter said. "If you see a lot of ground balls and everything, you'll know he's on top of his game and he was."

Machado is on top of the baseball world with four home runs in his last two games.

"I don't know if anything surprises me anymore that he does," Gausman said. "He's one of the best in the game. Obviously, his ability has always been great, but really the last two years it seems like he's got a great idea what the pitcher's going to throw at him. You don't see him take many ugly swings and misses where he spins around anymore. Kind of seems like he has a good idea up there all the time."

Adam Jones had three of the six hits off Graveman, who completed seven innings.

"He pounds the strike zone," Jones said. "That's what I've seen out of him the first start against him, looking over tape. He just pounds the strike zone. He uses his sinker, he uses his infield, and tonight we hit some balls on the button, but right at them. We had some opportunities, just didn't come through."

The loss left the Orioles tied with the Blue Jays for first place in the American League East and lowered their road record to 24-31. They piled on the runs yesterday in Chicago, but the offense got quiet again tonight with Gausman making the start.

"It's just part of the game," Jones said. "It's crazy. Yesterday, we scored 10 runs. Today, we scored two. Sometimes, you think we wished we could have used some runs from yesterday, but it's just how the game works.

"(Gausman's) been throwing the heck out of the ball. Tonight, threw the heck out of the ball. He's controlling what he can control, and that's on the mound. As an offense, we've got to clean it up when he's out there starting because he's been giving us some really, really good quality starts."

Machado will try to add to his home run total Tuesday night. It swelled to 26 tonight with a 446-foot shot.

"Since he's come up to the big leagues, he's been quite an impressive player," Jones said. "He's only going to get better and better. That's the scary part."