Makeup game and Matusz

The Orioles were supposed to be off today. So why am I driving to D.C. again and parking in a sketchy lot? Blame it on the rain. The Orioles and Nationals are playing a makeup game caused by a July 8 postponement. It's not a fair trade-off, since everyone drove to D.C. that night and waited out a delay that lasted approximately 72 hours. Felt like work. Anyway, Kevin Gausman is 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA in four road starts this season. His only career start against the Nationals ended poorly. Well, it began poorly and got steadily worse. Making only his second major league start, Gausman allowed seven earned runs and eight hits over four innings on May 28, 2013 in D.C. He served up home runs to Adam LaRoche, Tyler Moore and Roger Bernadina. There won't be a Sharknado 2. Bernadina no longer is in the organization. Nats right-hander Tanner Roark is 11-6 with a 2.74 ERA in 21 outings. The Orioles' offense is scuffling, for sure, but they don't get all the blame. They keep facing quality starters. Roark has never faced the Orioles. None of their hitters have an at-bat against him. As I've asked before, what could go wrong? Orioles batters have struck out at least seven times in 15 straight games, matching the club record set in May 2012. Zach Britton recorded his 23rd save yesterday and extended his scoreless streak at home to 27 appearances, tying Brian Matusz's club record. Speaking of Matusz, he didn't allow a run in 11 appearances in July spanning 8 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out 13. Matusz also tossed a scoreless inning in his only appearance this month, though he put two runners on base. I'm not taking inherited runners into account here, and I recall a bases-loaded walk last month. I also recall that Matusz was getting squeezed by the plate umpire to the point where he could have filed charges. But I digress... Matusz posted a 7.94 ERA and 1.853 WHIP in 12 outings in June and opponents batted .327/.386/.673 against him. They batted .133/.188/.167 against him in July. Matusz credits side work with bullpen coach Dom Chiti for the improvement. "Actually, I've been working with Dom a lot, just working on kind of using my legs a little bit more and being more athletic out there on the mound and being strong," he said. "We've been doing some drills that have really been helping that out. "I obviously came off a rough month and it really was frustrating. It's never fun. You want to go out there and help your team win. To have a month like that is never fun. So, I made a huge effort to really work with Dom and get better and be able to be strong, be athletic and make good quality pitches." Matusz and Chiti spent a considerable amount of time in the video room, trying to figure out why the lefty didn't feel quite right on the mound. "It didn't feel like the ball was coming out explosively," Matusz said. "Just talking with Dom, talking about how I need to use the lower half a little bit better to get some life behind the ball. Working with him has really helped. I feel like the ball is coming out with some extra life this last month and I was able to attack with aggressiveness and confidence." The Orioles added a fourth left-hander to the bullpen when trading for Andrew Miller, who retired the Mariners in order yesterday on 10 pitches. He looks like the same dominant reliever as the one who left Boston. "I think what it does is it makes this team better," Matusz said. "Look at Andrew's numbers over there in Boston, doing it in the American League East. Putting that in our bullpen is only going to make us a better team. "He gives us some more left-handed options later in the game. Andrew even has success with right-handed hitters, so it gives us that option. It makes our team better." Matusz, Britton, Miller, Darren O'Day, Tommy Hunter, Brad Brach and T.J. McFarland. Does this bullpen stack up against any other in baseball? "Absolutely," Matusz replied without hesitation. "Oh yeah. Any day of the week."