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Tuesday night Orioles game thread: at Blue Jays, 7:07

The Orioles are in Toronto looking to stay out of last place as they open their series on Tuesday night. Kevin Gausman is pitching, so, you know, good luck with that.

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

It's time for the game we play once every five Orioles games, "What the heck is wrong with Kevin Gausman?" As you know, this is one of the key problems that has plagued the 2017 Orioles. It's been more than a month since Gausman's last quality start, and over that five start span, Gausman has a 7.09 ERA. Batters are .355 against Gausman in that span - that's no joke.

I'm sure a trip to Toronto is just what he needs to get that problem, whatever it is, figured out, right? Yeah, about that...

The Orioles face more problems than just their pitching staff, of course. When you look at a lineup where Adam Jones is the cleanup hitter even though he's not hitting like one in 2017, that's a problem. Same with Mark Trumbo in the #5 spot. But with so many underperforming Orioles, there aren't many better choices than that.

Anyway, if the Orioles win this game tonight, they'll be .500 again and from there they can start to imagine designs of a better place than that. If they lose, they will be tied for last place again. The choice is rather obvious. Whether they're up to it is another story.

Today's Lineups

BALTIMORE ORIOLES TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Seth Smith - RF Jose Bautista - RF
Manny Machado - 3B Russell Martin - C
Jonathan Schoop - 2B Josh Donaldson - 3B
Adam Jones - CF Justin Smoak - 1B
Mark Trumbo - DH Kendrys Morales - DH
Trey Mancini - 1B Troy Tulowitzki - SS
Welington Castillo - C Steve Pearce - LF
Hyun Soo Kim - LF Kevin Pillar - CF
Paul Janish - SS Darwin Barney - 2B
Kevin Gausman - RHP Joe Biagini - RHP