O's game blog: A look at tonight's pitchers and some farm notes

The Orioles will try again tonight to start their series in Minnesota. Right-hander Kevin Gausman (0-1, 1.42 ERA) pitches against Twins right-hander Jose Berrios (1-1, 6.75 ERA).

Gausman has allowed just three earned runs in three 2016 starts and pitched eight scoreless innings against the Yankees in his last start. So far in 2016, left-handed batters are hitting just .118 (4-for-34) off Gausman with a .147 slugging percentage and .290 OPS. Right-handed batters are hitting just .188 (6-for-32) off him.

Berrios began the year at Triple-A Rochester and went 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA. In two starts with the Twins, he gave up five runs in four innings against Cleveland and then two runs in 5 1/3 innings versus Houston.

The 21-year-old Berrios is the Twins' No. 2 prospect, according to Baseball America, and he got the win over Houston's Dallas Keuchel in that last start. Berrios allowed two solo homers. He is the highest-drafted pitcher ever from Puerto Rico (32nd overall in 2012) and was the Twins' minor league Pitcher of the Year in 2014 and 2015.

The Orioles have won four of six games, are 18-12 overall and 5-7 on the road. Minnesota has the worst record in the American League at 8-23. The Twins have lost five in a row and nine of 10 games.

On the farm: Triple-A Norfolk (11-20) is playing a doubleheader today at home against Charlotte with T.J. McFarland and Odrisamer Despaigne starting those games.

The Tides took a 3-0 lead to the top of the seventh in Game 1 but gave up four to lose 4-3 as Oliver Drake suffered the blown save and took the loss. McFarland went 5 1/3 scoreless on five hits and 73 pitches. Xavier Avery and Jimmy Parades hit solo homers.

Heading into this twinbill, Sharlon Schoop (Jonathan's brother) has hit safely in five straight games, over which he's hit .391 (9-for-23) with two home runs and five RBIs. Schoop has hit .375 (12-for-32) with Norfolk this year. Garabez Rosa has hit safely in five straight, batting .318 (7-for-22). First baseman Trey Mancini has hit safely in four straight, over which he's hit .368 (7-for-19) with a homer, three doubles and two runs scored.

Double-A Bowie (14-16) hosts Hartford tonight at Prince George's Stadium. Last night, Hartford went 7-for-9 stealing bases. That is the most steals against the Baysox since 2005. Chance Sisco was catching for the Baysox as Hartford got the steals against Sisco and pitchers Jayson Aquino, Bobby Bundy and Donnie Hart. Even with last night's results, Sisco ranks second in the Eastern League with a 40 percent (14-of-35) caught stealing percentage. At the plate, Sisco is batting .448 (13-for-29) over his last nine games with four runs scored and five RBIs.

Single-A Frederick (12-18) hosts Wilmington tonight with right-hander Lucas Long (0-1, 4.20 ERA) on the mound. The Keys were no-hit for 6 2/3 innings Monday night and held to one hit in a 2-1 loss to Potomac.

Since last Saturday's eighth-inning blow-up, where Keys relievers allowed seven runs, the bullpen has picked it up. Dating to the ninth inning Saturday against Winston-Salem, Frederick's bullpen has posted a 1.11 ERA, giving up just three runs in 24 1/3 innings on 13 hits. That includes an active stretch of 16 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

Single-A Delmarva (17-14) lost 4-1 this afternoon at Asheville. Starter Reid Love allowed three runs and six hits over six innings with one walk and a career-high seven strikeouts. He is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.90. Garrett Cleavinger threw two more scoreless frames to lower his ERA to 2.29. Cleavinger has fanned 28 over 19 2/3 innings for the Shorebirds.

Shortstop Ryan Mountcastle paced the offense with a 3-for-5 game a day after his eight-game hitting streak was snapped. He is now hitting .405 (15-for-37) in his last nine games. Cedric Mullins recorded his seventh multi-hit effort of 2016 by going 2-for-5, while Yermin Mercedes also went 2-for-5 to bring his average for the season up to .364.