O's game blog: Gausman faces Boston; today's minor league results

The Orioles send struggling right-hander Kevin Gausman (1-2, 7.50 ERA) to the mound tonight at Fenway Park. The Orioles and Boston have exchanged 5-2 wins the past two nights. Gausman will be making his seventh start.

As play begins tonight the Orioles (16-9) and New York Yankees are tied for the American League East lead. Both are 2 1/2 games ahead of Boston, 3 1/2 up on Tampa Bay and eight games ahead of Toronto.

Comparing Gausman's first three and past three 2017 starts:
First three: 3.94 ERA, no homers allowed, .281 avg. against, gave up two runs or less twice.
Last three: 11.57 ERA, six homers allowed, .375 avg. against, five or more runs allowed three times.

In the past three starts, Gausman is 0-2 and has allowed 18 runs and 24 hits over 14 innings. He's allowed five homers in his past two games. Gausman led the staff with 18 quality starts last year, but has just one so far. The Orioles are 3-3 in his six outings. He lost to the Red Sox on April 23, giving up five runs over 5 1/3 innings. In 15 career games versus Boston, he is 3-5 with an ERA of 4.69.

Left-hander Drew Pomeranz (2-1, 4.15 ERA) is set to make his fifth start of the year and third versus the Orioles. In those two starts against Baltimore, he is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA, allowing three runs over 11 1/3. In six career games, he is 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.111 WHIP.

Pomeranz has reverse splits. Left-handed batters are hitting .333 against him and right-handers just .203. Opponents are just 2-for-18 (.111) against him when he pitches with runners in scoring position.

Pomeranz features a fastball that averages 92 mph. He throws it 53 percent of the time and uses his curveball 44 percent of the time. Opponents bat .233 versus his curveball.

Busy day on the farm: As all four O's affiliates played this afternoon, a real highlight came at Double-A Bowie. The Baysox lost an 11-9 slugfest to Erie, but right fielder Tucker Nathans went 4-for-5 with three homers and five RBIs. Nathans hit a three-run shot in the first inning and added solo home runs in the fifth and ninth.

Nathans became the fifth player in Baysox history with a three-homer game and the first since Brandon Waring on Aug. 29, 2013 against Binghamton. Others to hit three for Bowie were Mike Berry at Portland (May 11, 1997), Calvin Pickering versus Akron (July 29, 1998) and Nolan Reimold versus Akron (Sept. 4, 2008).

Second baseman Adrian Marin went 4-for-5, scored three runs and is batting .318. Catcher Austin Wynns went 1-for-4 and is batting .365. Bowie today added catcher Yermin Mercedes from Single-A Frederick.

The Triple-A Norfolk Tides beat Charlotte 5-4 this afternoon, pinning a loss on top prospect Lucas Giolito, who gave up five runs over 4 1/3 innings. The Tides improved to 10-15. Tides starter Chris Lee allowed 10 hits and four runs over 3 1/3 innings. His ERA is up to 6.75. Stefan Crichton got the win with a 2 1/3 scoreless innings and Jimmy Yacabonis went 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his fifth save in five chances. On the year, Yacabonis has thrown 13 1/3 scoreless innings on three hits.

David Washington and Paul Janish homered off Giolito. For Washington, it was No. 4 and for Janish No. 2. Washington and Drew Dosch had two hits.

Frederick lost 4-3 at home to Myrtle Beach. Right-hander Ofelky Peralta retired the first 12 Myrtle Beach hitters, but went on to allow four runs and two homers over 5 2/3 innings. Mitch Horacek replaced him with a 3 1/3-inning scoreless outing.

Outfielder Josh Hart went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and is batting .353. Catcher Stuart Levy had a double and RBI and the Keys are now 14-13.

Single-A Delmarva routed Columbia 10-3 to improve to 13-14. The Shorebirds scored six runs in the first inning, four on Gerrion Grim's grand slam, his third homer of 2017. Jake Ring and Jerry McClanahan added solo homers. Ring and Chris Clare added two RBIs each and center fielder Ryan McKenna had two hits. Winning pitcher Lucal Humpal allowed eight hit and two runs over six innings and he is 1-2 with an ERA of 3.78.

This date in O's history: On this date in 1982, left-hander Mike Flanagan faced the minimum 27 batters as the Orioles defeated Seattle 6-0 at Memorial Stadium. Flanagan gave up three hits and a walk‚ but two double plays‚ a pickoff and a caught stealing attempt erased all baserunners