Kevin Gausman on his outing tonight, plus other clubhouse quotes

After pitching 6 1/3 scoreless innings tonight against a Texas team that had hit 10 homers the last three nights, O's right-hander Kevin Gausman is - for now at least - staying on the team.

He will fly with the Orioles to Chicago tonight and await word on what the next move for him will be. Will he stay in the rotation? For now, he remains an Oriole and said that is encouraging.

"Yeah, it is. Packed a bag just in case. Didn't know. You know it's all about keeping those (bullpen) guys fresh. We had a lot of guys pitch today, so if we need to make a move, we'll make a move," he said after the Orioles' 2-0 loss to Texas.

Gausman tied his career high with seven strikeouts tonight and threw 95 pitches, 63 for strikes.

"I felt good," he said. "Tried to challenge their hitters and tried to shut down the middle of their lineup. Those guys kind of beat us up a little bit the first two in the series. That was my focus going in, and I like facing lefties. To have all those lefties in that lineup was something I definitely liked. I felt good physically, and my arm feels great. My defense made some huge plays for me."

This was Gausman's third career scoreless start and first since Sept. 12, 2014. Did he make a statement to remain in the rotation?

"I don't know about making a statement, but I just wanted to pitch well," he said. "I just want to pitch, whether it's here or Triple-A. I just want to throw a lot of innings. Going on the DL was something I didn't plan. I wanted this to be the year I could get close to 200 innings, but now it's not going to happen. Now I want to get more innings and help the team win.

"I just wanted to establish the fastball tonight and go from there. Against lefties I have my changeup and split to go with it. Had the split tonight and also the fastball up was working. I wanted to elevate on them and then throw splitters down in the dirt. That was the focus going into it."

Elsewhere around the Orioles clubhouse:

Adam Jones on the game overall: "Both starters dealt. Gausman was throwing strikes and kept us involved. (Yovani) Gallardo spotted up, he was painting away all day and kept us off the barrel. It was the first one who was going to crack, and unfortunately it was us. Just a well-pitched game on both sides that was going quick. I know the commissioner is happy about that."

Jones on the Orioles' defense tonight: "Defense is what we pride ourselves on. Defense takes effort, and we care about defense. It has gotten us where we are at and keeps us afloat some days when our offense and pitching isn't in synch. Our defense is always there."

Jones on the O's first series loss in a month: "You know the most important thing is to win series. You obviously can't sweep everybody. If you win the series, you'll probably have a good shot come September first to see where you're at in the standings."

David Lough on his great catch in the second inning: "I was just trying to make a play for my teammate. I bring my glove to work every day and try to get better defensively in batting practice, taking balls off the bat. Just went for the ball and was able to make a good catch. It's unfortunate that Gausman pitched such a good game, and we couldn't get any runs for him."

Lough on Gallardo: "He was mixing it up. Seems like a lot of guys were a little off-balance. He has great numbers and went out and did his job tonight."

Chaz Roe on taking the loss: "Tonight was just a little flat. Sinker was not sinking, it was moving side-to-side. I left some pitches up in the zone and they got hit. That leadoff walk got me. Leadoff walks always find a way to score. When you give up runs, you just have to come out tomorrow and prove yourself even more."