Showalter on Gausman, defense and a 5-0 win

Pitching and defense made the difference for the Orioles today in Game 1 of their doubleheader against the Rays.

It used to be a tradition in Baltimore and the Orioles turned back the clock and the Rays, winning 5-0 before 18,229 in a makeup game from April 9.

Tampa Bay has lost nine in a row. Meanwhile, the Orioles have won three straight and hold a two-game lead over the Red Sox in the American League East.

Kevin Gausman turned in his second scoreless outing this season without walking a batter. He held the Yankees to three hits over eight innings on May 5.

Today's effort included 7 2/3 shutout innings and only four hits allowed, with no walks and seven strikeouts to lower his ERA to 3.93. He retired 12 in a row until Jaff Decker's leadoff single in the eighth.

Gausman hadn't won since Game 2 of a Sept. 28 doubleheader against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. It has to feel good, if only to avoid more questions about the drought.

"I feel good for the team," Showalter said. "Kevin has to answer those questions because that's a topic, but the topic is because he's pitched well and that part of the stat column hadn't shown up yet. But it will. That's the one thing they control, if they continue to pitch well. I was kidding him, if they had a short 8, we would have LSU'd him there in the ninth. We'd have let him go back out there.

"He felt good. He got the opportunity for him to have an extra day of rest if we so choose. We'll see how Chris (Tillman) does tonight."

Gausman was frustrated in Texas that he couldn't hold an early 3-0 lead. He took control this afternoon.

"He was proactive instead of reactive," Showalter said. "That's what we always stress about all phases of the game. Be in places where you're supposed to be before a ball gets thrown away and you're not backing up. Be proactive.

"He was frustrated, not about the changeup home run in Texas, but what happened after that. He gives up a line drive in the eighth inning (today) and all of a sudden he gets a double play ball. He made a lot of pitches that kept them from getting any momentum."

The Orioles flashed more leather than (insert joke here). Everyone in the infield made at least one dazzling play, including first baseman Chris Davis, who slipped and fell on his back in the ninth inning but still tossed the ball to Oliver Drake covering the bag.

Gausman was really good, but he also was working with a sturdy safety net.

"I'm sure he'll talk about it. All of our guys do," said manager Buck Showalter, whose team improved to 43-30 to move 13 games above .500 for the second time this season.

"Those are the days where you're watching a guy pitch, doing well at his craft and watching the guys play defense. I can't tell you how many above-average defensive plays there were. Even a routine play in right field fighting that sun, there's no routine play there. That was fun to watch. The field's a little dried out and windy. You're not sure what kind of hops you've got.

"Their guy (Evan Longoria) made a heck of a play on that double play ball. Not many people catch that ball. There's probably, between the two teams, seven or eight great plays today. That's one of the separators up here. Like I was (saying) today, the difference is, when you have guys that have some power and can defend, it's a real separator."

Mild exaggeration alert: Jonathan Schoop ranged so far to his right to rob Oswaldo Arcia, he almost bumped into Hyun Soo Kim.

"There's some guys that can get to it, but most of them can't finish it off," Showalter said. "It's kind of like a pitcher who can get ahead in the count, but can't finish him off. We're lucky to have him. It's a strength of ours. I think our pitchers should take a lot of confidence in it, if they can stay down and keep the ball in the ballpark. It's not as easy as it sounds."

The left side of the infield is again in the Gold Glove hands of J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado. No disabled list. No suspension.

"We haven't had them together much," Showalter said. "You can tell Manny's got a lot of life to his legs right now. It's an asset for us, but it doesn't keep us from winning games, an excuse, if they're not there. It's not a given when they are playing. The other team is good, too. When these get going, I hope they get out of town before they do."

Machado has now hit safely in eight of his last nine games, batting .450 (18-for-40) with four doubles, three home runs, five RBIs and 10 runs scored since June 11.

Schoop extended his hitting streak to seven games, batting .483 (14-for-29) with a .516 on-base percentage and .793 slugging percentage. He's batting .337/.383/.570 (29-for-86) in his last 23 games, including eight doubles, four home runs, 14 RBIs, six walks and 19 runs scored.

Hardy is 8-for-27 with two doubles and three RBIs scored since coming off the disabled list.