Postgame Gausman, Machado, Showalter quotes (updated)

When he was sitting with an ERA of 6.60 in mid-June, you had to wonder if Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman would ever turn around his season. He may be doing that right now.

Today, he followed up Tuesday's start of 5 1/3 scoreless in Toronto with seven scoreless in the Orioles' 7-1 win over the Rays. The Orioles avoided being swept as Gausman allowed just two singles and fanned nine while improving to 5-7 with an ERA of 5.61. He's allowed no runs and six hits in 12 1/3 those last two games.

He slowed down a Tampa Bay offense that had produced six homers and 16 runs in winning the series' first two games.

"You know, just fastball command (was key)," Gausman said. "Being able to put guys away with it also. Had a good feel for my split and my changeup. Even my slider, too. Just think my first-pitch strikes were important, getting ahead always helps.

"I think you only get confidence from success. You have to have that first. Feel like I'm throwing the ball well right now and just gotta keep it going. Had a great second-half last year and looking forward to that and knowing I'm the type of guy that gets better as the season goes on."

Gausman threw 112 pitches and over half were four-seam fastballs, which topped out at 99 mph. Of his 34 splitters, 10 got swings-and-misses.

"That was fun to watch," manager Buck Showalter said. "That was impressive. I thought the seventh was the most impressive inning he had. The secondary stuff was really good today. It was probably the best secondary stuff he's had this year. What was it nine or 10 pitches first inning? I thought that set the tone."

Gausman tied season highs for innings and strikeouts and gave the Orioles just their fifth quality start in the last 26 games. It was just his fifth on the season over 18 starts.

Another good sign today was Manny Machado's three-run homer to cap a four-run third inning. He ended a 10-game homerless run and had been 1-for-19 his previous five games.

"Manny, believe me, he's had a lot of different emotions the first half of the season, and through it, there are quite a few people that would love to have everything that ... the defense he's played, the runs he's driven in, the power numbers with the exception of the batting average," Showalter said.

"Think about this - he's probably leading our club in balls hit hard that have been caught. Mental toughness comes from not going, 'Here we go again.' It comes from going back up there and hitting a ball on the screws for a three-run homer. That was the key offensive blow of the game."

Machado was asked how good it felt to get the homer today?

"If felt great to get the W," he said. "Felt good to play behind Gausy and the job he did on the mound. We know it's not going to be easy. Every win counts and hopefully we finish off this road trip before the break with a bang."

What about the Orioles' 40-41 record at the midpoint?

"It's just baseball," Machado said. "I can speak for myself, I don't pay attention to where we're at in the division. We know we've had a couple of bad weeks and months. We know we're a better team than this. It's just a matter of going out there and producing."

During his postgame interview, Showalter said the Orioles hope to get injured first baseman Chris Davis back from his oblique injury to begin the second half out of the All-Star break.

"If everything falls in place, then it would be the first game after the break that he would be active, if everything goes perfectly," Showalter said. "He will not be taking his All-Star break in someplace other than Frederick or Delmarva. Hopefully, the plan is for him to work out with us that last day. I think tomorrow is a big day. If he comes in and is not sore from the throwing - he was telling me how great his arm felt."

After winning back-to-back road series on their last trip in Tampa Bay and Toronto, now the Orioles play their next seven games at Milwaukee and Minnesota heading into the All-Star break.

Update: After today's game, the Orioles announced the acquisitions of left-hander Jason Wheeler from the Dodgers and right-hander Matt Wotherspoon from the Yankees, both in exchange for international signing bonus slots. Wheeler and Wotherspoon will be assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.