Kevin Gausman talks about his outing tonight at Bowie

BOWIE, Md. - Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman took another step tonight toward what he hopes will be a return soon to the O's starting rotation, even if the box score didn't look very good for him.

Pitching for Double-A Bowie against Binghamton in a rehab start while on the major league DL, Gausman got his work in, threw all his pitches, expanded his pitch count and touched 97 and 98 mph on the generous stadium radar gun. But he also gave up four runs on two homers over 3 1/3 innings and left trailing 4-0 to the Mets after throwing 61 pitches, 35 for strikes.

His final line showed him giving up four hits and four runs with no walks and four strikeouts in his first appearance for Bowie since May 13, 2013.

He threw all his pitches, working in his changeup and his curveball. His said he threw six breaking pitches, all curveballs and no sliders tonight.

Two Binghamton batters jumped on two Gausman fastballs that found a lot of the plate. Aderlin Rodriguez hit a solo homer in the second after Gausman had retired the first five batters. With one out and none on in the fourth, he gave up two singles and then a three-run shot on a 3-1 pitch to Mets shortstop Josh Rodriguez.

O's manager Buck Showalter will sometimes say hitters like to ambush a pitcher and jump on a fastball. Did that happen to Gausman tonight?

"Yeah, I think just about every pitch," he said with a laugh. "And I understand it. Any time I ever pitched against a rehab guy I wanted to show him up and I wanted to pitch better than him. I think guys kind of elevate their game, especially if they look up on the radar gun and see I'm throwing pretty hard. I think they say, 'OK, I am going to look fastball.' But that is no excuse, you still have to make your pitches. I think guys in the big leagues do that also. Just have to be better with command."

Gausman fanned two in a 1-2-3, 15-pitch first inning. He threw 14 pitches in the second, 17 in the third and 15 to four batters before Marcel Prado replaced him in the fourth.

"Overall, I felt I threw the ball well until that fourth inning," he said. "Left a couple of pitches up and got behind the second hitter and threw some nice changeups they laid off. The two homers were pretty center-cut fastballs, you know, in fastball counts. So I have to be better commanding them.

"Physically, I felt really good. I felt like the ball was coming out really well and felt like I commanded the ball on the inside part of the plate to right-handed hitters which is good. Had a little trouble going in on lefties, but threw some good pitches for strikeouts.

"The (hot) weather kind of drug me down a little bit. A couple of times I had to step off the mound and take a little more rest than I normally would. But that is what Chris (Tillman) has to deal with right now too. That is part of the game and you need to be ready for it."

Gausman said he is not sure when and where he will pitch next, although he felt certain he was not in the mix to start Sunday for the Orioles. He will be back in the O's clubhouse tomorrow and will meet with Showalter and pitching coach Dave Wallace to discuss his next step as he continues to build up his pitch count and innings throwing as a starter.

He said tonight he was disappointed he didn't pitch better for the Baysox, who are in second place in their division and have a pretty competitive manager.

"I wanted to come down here and pitch well for these guys," Gausman said. "The biggest thing is, I know (Baysox manager) Gary Kendall, he wants to win every game. He'll tell you when you (stink). Luckily, he didn't tell me, but I already know that I didn't pitch very well tonight.

"That is the way he is and that is the way he was when I played with him in 2013. You love when you have a manager like that. You have to respect that is the way he goes about it."

The Baysox were held to four hits and lost 6-0.