After near panic set in last weekend with the Orioles being swept by the Chicago Cubs while having three former teammates dominate them on the mound, and having their lead in the American League East dwindle, the O’s returned home and returned to their winning ways this week against the Tampa Bay Rays. Their lead in the East has also grown to seven games over the New York Yankees.
The Orioles continue their 11-game homestand tonight with the start of a four-game set against the Minnesota Twins over the Labor Day Weekend holiday.
Gausman hitting a wall?
The Orioles have been EXTRA careful this year monitoring Gausman’s innings so he would be able to pitch through the regular season and into October. In his next start, which is scheduled to be Monday, Gausman will go over his 2013 innings pitched of 129 2/3. Around this time last season, Gausman was pitching out of the bullpen so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the grind is getting to him.
Gausman says he feels great, so we have to take him for his word, but he is 2-3 in August with an ERA of 4.15. Gausman has yet to make it out of the sixth inning in those five starts and has thrown a lot of pitches early in those games, preventing him from pitching deeper. Still, Gausman hasn’t walked a batter in his last two games and has struck out 11 over that span.
At this point, I think he is going through a stage where his pre-game bullpen sessions are not translating early in the game and it is taking him a couple of innings to figure it out. This is what Chris Tillman went through earlier this season.
Speaking of Tillman…
Chris Tillman has been elite
Yes, I used that word and it was not about Joe Flacco. After struggling in May and giving up five earned runs on June 5th, Tillman has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last 15 starts. Tillman struggled with his command for much of the season as well, but since a three-walk performance on July 12th, Tillman has walked one or none in six of his last eight starts.
Tillman’s August ERA of 1.26 is better than the following “elite” American League starters: Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, Chris Sale, David Price, Hisashi Iwakuma, Jeff Samardzija, and Felix Hernandez.
Let that sink in.
Nick Markakis struggling at the plate
Since going 3-for-5 against the Chicago White Sox while hitting AND robbing home runs, Nick Markakis has gone 3-for-39 to see his average dip from .297 to .281. He had been hitting at or near .400 for the first part of August, but during this stretch, Markakis went on a career-long 0-for-21 skid. It would be a shame to see this slump ruin what has been a huge bounce back season for the right fielder. Markakis has played Gold Glove-caliber right field, been a great presence at the top of the lineup, and has even seen his power come back. Hopefully this funk ends tonight and Markakis gets back to the guy we have seen throughout this entire season.
