BALTIMORE_The New York Yankees have seen enough of Kevin Gausman.
The Baltimore Orioles right-hander has had his way with the Yankees in his past two starts, and on Saturday night at Camden Yards held New York to just two singles through six scoreless innings in a 2-0 Orioles win in front of an announced crowd of 30,855.
The win gave the Orioles (74-61) their first series win against a division opponent since their first series after the All-Star break after five straight series losses against American League East rivals. It also pulled them within two games of the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays, who lost Saturday. The Orioles maintained their dominance of the Yankees at home, winning their 20th game in 26 meetings between the teams at Camden Yards since the beginning of the 2014 season. It was the Orioles' third consecutive shutout win against the Yankees.
Gausman struck out eight on the night, five of those strikeouts coming with Yankees hitters flailing at his mid-80s splitter. But Gausman's entire arsenal was working Saturday. The 25-year-old mixed his fastball with his slider and splitter as he struck out the first four batters he faced and had six strikeouts before completing the third inning.
Saturday's performance came after Gausman pitched seven scoreless innings in a 5-0 win last Sunday at Yankee Stadium that prevented the Orioles from being swept in the Bronx. Over his past two starts against the Yankees (69-65), Gausman has thrown 13 scoreless innings, striking out 17 with just two walks. In five starts against the Yankees this season _ all of them quality starts _ Gausman owns a 0.80 ERA.
Gausman (7-10) won for the fourth straight start, lowering his season ERA to 3.58. He hasn't allowed a run over his past 19 innings.
He could have gone deeper Saturday had it not been for a 30-pitch fourth inning in which he stranded the bases loaded. He filled the bases with one out, but struck out Starlin Castro and induced a flyout from Brian McCann to escape the inning.
Gausman was at 101 pitches through five innings, but manager Buck Showalter sent him back out for the sixth and the right-hander rewarded that faith. He needed only eight pitches to retire the Yankees in order and walk off the field to a standing ovation.
The Orioles stranded nine base runners on the night, including five in scoring position, but didn't need much offense to back Gausman. The Orioles scored their first run in the fourth when Mark Trumbo scored on Chris Davis' broken-bat bloop single to right and Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge's ensuing misplay on the hit.
Adam Jones, playing in his second game back from a hamstring injury that kept him out for five games, hit his 25th homer of the season off Yankees starter CC Sabathia with two outs in the fifth.
The Orioles bullpen pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Gausman, with Mychal Givens and Brad Brach each tossing a clean frame before closer Zach Britton notched his 40th save in as many chances this season.
Jones had his second straight two-hit game since returning from injury, following up his two-hit game Friday, when his two-out RBI single opened the doors for a six-run second inning in an 8-0 win over the Yankees.
Jones followed his leadoff single in the third by jumping on a 1-1 letters-high fastball from Sabathia and sending it into the left-field stands in the fifth.
Jones is 10-for-23 over his past six games and has hit safely in 10 of his past 12 games.
Third baseman Manny Machado added another dazzling play to his defensive highlight reel, snagging Brett Gardner's grounder down the line on the run in the fifth and while stepping into foul ground throwing across his body to first.
The speedy Gardner was initially ruled safe, but the call was reversed following an Orioles challenge. The review was just 38 seconds, showing that Machado's throw reached Davis, who went into full extension to reach for the ball, beat Gardner's foot to the bag.
