“He’s right where he needs to be in the development of a good major league pitcher”.
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Kevin Gausman tamed the torrid Yankees hitters, Mark Trumbo lined his major league-leading 40th home run and Steve Pearce also connected as the Baltimore Orioles averted a bruising sweep, blanking NY 5-0 Sunday.
“Having fun is part of the game you know and right now we’re going out there and giving 100 percent and good things are happening”, he said Friday through an interpreter.
The Yankees (67-62) fell to 3½ games back of the second AL wild-card spot with the end of their four-game winning streak. He struck out nine and walked none to win his third start in a row.
“I’m seeing it clearly right now”, he said. He had been 0-16 with a 5.55 ERA since his last road win, including a 0-9 mark this season outside of Baltimore. He’d thrown well several times, but had nothing to show for it.
“Honestly, I came to see him”, said Bill Hale, 51, who made the drive to Yankee Stadium from Plainview Sunday with his wife, Rose Marie.
“He’s a stud”, said the newly signed Tommy Hunter, who returned Sunday to the Orioles.
Yankees rookie sensation Gary Sanchez doubled and singled. He had homered in three straight games and is hitting.405 in 22 games this year.
“It’s as good as I’ve seen to start a career”, manager Joe Girardi said. “For him to go out there and do that and step up on a day game after two losses, that’s what you’re supposed to get from a guy like him”.
Gausman’s last pitch resulted in a grounder that third baseman Manny Machado backhanded and threw from his knees from foul ground across the diamond for the out. Yovani Gallardo was down right very bad in his start against the Yankees on Friday, giving up six hits and eight runs in less than two full innings pitched in a 14-4 loss. The 29-year-old was rocked for six earned runs in each of his previous two turns but managed to escape with a pair of no-decisions. They dropped back to 3 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second wild card spot.
Batting leadoff for the first time in his 10-season career, Pearce had three hits.
Sanchez singled to lead off the fourth but was thrown out trying to take third on a subsequent hit. Adam Warren retired a batter, Ben Heller gave up two runs while retiring two batters and Blake Parker pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.
“I was just trying to go out there and be a stopper today”, Gausman said. “It’s such a lofty number”.
Hunter, cut by Cleveland on Thursday, officially signed with the Orioles before the game and worked the eighth. Mitchell has not pitched this season in the majors due to a foot injury sustained late in spring training.
“It took a really good throw and a really good play by Machado”, Girardi said. Chris Davis (109 in 2013), Jim Gentile (119 in 1961), Brady Anderson (120 in 1996) and Frank Robinson (123 in 1966) were faster. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings”.
“Sometimes you get these situations as a manager and it’s hard for some of the players involved”, Girardi said. He can come off the disabled list September 5, but Showalter said it would likely be a few days after that.
Orioles starter Kevin Gausman won his third straight start and was the culprit that prevented the Yankees from getting the three-game sweep.
Girardi had no issue with the play, he said, and called it a read by Sanchez, though it’s worth noting that a rookie would probably be looking to the third base coach for cues. Ronald Torreyes singled in the fifth, McCann singled in the seventh, and Sanchez doubled in the eighth.
Next, the Orioles face a potential make-or-break series that could well determine if they still have any shot of winning the American League East, as they’ll start a three-game set against the division-leading Blue Jays Aug. 29. LHP Wade Miley (8-10, 5.51 ERA) is 1-2 with an 8.18 ERA in five starts since Baltimore got him from Seattle at the trade deadline.
The Yankees were not down Sunday afternoon as they packed their bags for another trip to Kansas City and for three games at Baltimore.
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Starting pitcher Dylan Bundy, considered a saving grace for the Orioles’ inconsistent starting pitcher rotation, was no good in Baltimore’s 13-5 loss to the Yankees on Saturday.
