O's game blog: Kevin Gausman on the mound as O's go for sweep

The Orioles today look for their first four-game home sweep of the Detroit Tigers since April 17-20, 1992. They also look for a season-high eight-game winning streak. If they get the win, it will be the O's first eight-game winning streak since April 22-May 1, 2005.

Kevin Gausman (0-1, 2.16 ERA) makes his fifth start of 2016 today, looking for his first win, and pitches against Detroit right-hander Michael Fulmer (2-1, 6.00 ERA).

Gausman's lack of wins has not been because he has pitched poorly, as his ERA shows. Over 25 innings this season, he has allowed just 15 hits and a .170 average against with five walks to 23 strikeouts.

Two starts ago, Gausman pitched eight shutout innings against the Yankees. In his last start, he had a 3-1 lead in the sixth at Minnesota when he allowed a game-tying two-run homer to Trevor Plouffe.

Left-handed batters are hitting just .098 (4-for-41) against Gausman, while right-handed batters are hitting .234. Opponents are 0-for-12 against him with runners in scoring position and batting just .138 with runners on base. The Orioles are 2-2 in his four starts. Gausman is 0-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two home starts.

Fulmer began the year in Triple-A, going 1-1 with a 4.11 ERA with Toledo. He has pitched five innings in each of his three starts with Detroit. Over those 15 innings, he has allowed 24 hits and a .364 average against with six walks to 16 strikeouts.

Fulmer was ranked as the Tigers' No. 1 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. He was the Double-A Eastern League Pitcher of the Year last season. Fulmer was drafted 44th overall in 2011 out of an Oklahoma high school, where he was overshadowed by two other high school seniors in the state that year. One was Archie Bradley and other was Dylan Bundy.

The scouting report on Fulmer states that he pitches between 91 and 94 mph with his fastball, touching 97 with heavy sink. His second-best pitch is a power slider and he also mixes in a curveball and changeup.

The Orioles are now 8-3-1 in series and 16-5 at home. They've hit 17 homers over the last six games, including three games in that span of four homers or more.