BOSTON _ Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman spent the first half of this season answering queries about receiving poor run support and his inexplicable road losing streak.
Now, Gausman has put all those questions behind him, having emerged as the Orioles' top starting pitcher as his team grinds through a pennant race.
On Wednesday night, he was matched up against American League Cy Young Award candidate Rick Porcello, who won his 20th game of the season Friday and was 13-0 this year at Fenway Park.
But the 25-year-old right-hander bested Porcello, tossing eight scoreless innings to lead the Orioles to a 1-0 victory over the division-leading Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night in front of an announced sellout crowd of 37,973 at Fenway Park.
Gausman (8-10) allowed just five base runners on the night on four singles and a walk, while one batter also reached on a fielding error by Matt Wieters in the first.
Four of Gausman's past five starts have been scoreless outings of at least six innings. Over that span, Gausman's ERA is 0.82, having allowed just three runs over 33 innings.
With the win, the Orioles (80-65) finished their pivotal three-city, nine-game road trip to face the Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers and Red Sox with a 6-3 record, winning all three series of a road trip for the first time this season.
The Orioles now trail the Red Sox by just one game in the American League East and have sole possession of the first of two AL wild cards, leading the Toronto Blue Jays by one game.
The only run the Orioles needed was Mark Trumbo's solo home run to open the second inning, his major league-leading 42nd homer of the season off Porcello.
Gausman's recent dominance has been mainly against fellow AL playoff contenders. He posted back-to-back scoreless outings against the New York Yankees, followed by a six-inning, three-run quality start against the Detroit Tigers before his latest gem, dominating a Boston lineup that leads baseball in most offensive categories.
The Orioles are just 5-33 when scoring two runs or fewer this season. Three of those wins were started by Gausman.
Gausman didn't allow a hit until Mookie Betts' two-out single in the fourth inning, and didn't let a runner reach scoring position until the seventh.
He was the beneficiary of some sparkling defense behind him. Third baseman Manny Machado made a sliding and spinning snag of Betts' two-out one-hopper to end the first inning and shortstop J.J. Hardy made a nice running play on Xander Bogaerts' grounder in the sixth, receiving a short-hop snag from Chris Davis at first to complete the play.
Boston's best threat against Gausman came in the seventh, when the Red Sox put runners at the corners with two outs. But Gausman ended the inning by striking out catcher Sandy Leon on three pitches.
Gausman, who rarely shows emotion on the mound, emphatically pumped his fist after striking out Leon swinging on a splitter following two mid-90s fastballs.
