O's game blog: O's starters have four straight quality starts

The Orioles and Yankees will not start on time today. There is a message on the scoreboard that reads: "Ladies and gentlemen, the start of today's game is being delayed by the threat of inclement weather. We are monitoring the national weather service reports and will keep you advised of an expected start time as soon as possible. We thank you for your patience and understanding."

Orioles starting pitchers have recorded a season-best four consecutive quality starts. Right-hander Kevin Gausman (3-4, 4.31 ERA) needs a bounce-back outing today to make that five in a row. After losing 4-1 last night, the Orioles (17-40) host the New York Yankees (36-17) this afternoon, weather permitting.

Gausman was a pitcher on a bit of a roll....until his last outing. On Sunday at Tampa Bay he gave up six hits and seven runs over 2 2/3 innings and his ERA jumped from 3.48 to 4.31. For Gausman it was a season-high for runs allowed and a season-low for innings pitched.

Before that game he had gone 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA his previous eight starts with six quality starts in that span. Gausman has allowed two earned runs or less six times his past eight starts. But the two times that didn't happen he gave up six and seven runs.

The right-hander has allowed a .246 average versus lefty batters, .301 against right-handers and an average of .304 when pitching with runners in scoring position. The Orioles are 4-7 in his 11 starts.

Today he will be making his 24th career appearance (18th start) against New York. He is 7-5 with a 3.53 ERA. Last season he went 1-2 with a 9.27 ERA in five starts. When he faced the Yankees April 6 in the Bronx, he gave up two runs over five innings.

Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (6-2, 4.62 ERA) starts for the Yankees. In his last start Sunday against the Angels he gave up one run and three hits over six innings on 104 pitches. He has six quality starts and is 4-0 with a 4.91 ERA in six road outings.

Lefties bat .226 with an OPS of .692 off him and right-handed batters hit .216/.710. He allows an average of .265 when pitching with runners in scoring position. Tanaka is 2-3 with a 3.65 ERA in nine career starts against Baltimore, with seven quality starts. He is 27-13 with a 3.67 ERA in 52 career starts versus the AL East.

New York is now a Major League-best 25-2 when its starting pitcher goes six or more innings. The Yankees are a season-high 19 games game over the .500 mark and they are 12-9 versus AL East teams.

The Orioles have lost six in a row. This is their fifth losing streak of at least five straight. They've scored seven runs in those six losses and 24 their past 12 games. They have scored three runs or fewer in 14 of the last 16 games, going 4-12 in that span.

Manny Machado connected on his 17th home run of the season last night, a solo homer in the first inning. Machado is batting .333 (17-for-51) with seven home runs, eight runs and 11 RBIs in the first inning and his seven home runs in the first inning lead the majors. He's batting .371 (36-for-97) with 11 homers in 27 home games. Machado has three home runs against New York this season and 19 for his career in 91 games - his most against any opponent.

On the farm, Single-A Frederick outfielder Ryan McKenna leads the Carolina League in hitting (.365), hits (76), OBP (.448), and runs (46). His 76 hits rank second in all of minor league baseball, trailing only Double-A New Hampshire's Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (79). The Keys' right-hander Michael Baumann is tied for the second most wins in minor league baseball, with seven. He's gone 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA in three starts with Frederick and 7-0 with a 1.43 ERA overall.

Single-A Delmarva first baseman Seamus Curran and outfielder Zach Jarrett lead Orioles minor leaguers with 10 home runs each, good for third-most in the South Atlantic League. Curran leads all Orioles minor leaguers with 36 RBIs. Infielder Kirvin Moesquit leads the SAL in stolen bases with 23 and ranks fourth in the minor leagues.