Davis hits 30th, but small ball big in O’s rout of Nats

BALTIMORE — The Orioles have relied on a simple formula for most of the season, trying to outslug their opponents. But they deviated from the norm Tuesday night, tallying their first seven runs without a homer in combination with six shutout innings from starter Kevin Gausman to beat the Nationals, 8-1.

Baltimore continues to get the best of Washington in the Battle of the Beltways, sweeping the two games at Camden Yards this season. Since 2012, the O’s are 16-6 against the Nationals.

Entering Tuesday’s contest, the O’s had blasted 17 homers over their previous five games and a Major League-leading 194 on the year. But they used nine singles and three doubles to rack up the runs until Chris Davis’ solo shot, his 30th homer of the year, in the eighth. Leadoff man Adam Jones led the attack, matching a career high with four singles.

“We’ve got a lot of professional hitters here who know how to hit with men in scoring position, not just homers,” Jones said.

O’s slugger Mark Trumbo, whose previous seven hits were home runs entering the night, broke the streak with a first-inning RBI single. He added another single in the third.

Gausman scattered six hits and two walks over six innings for his fifth straight win at Camden Yards. Nationals right-hander Reynaldo Lopez, meanwhile, lasted just 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits.

“He was facing some veteran hitters that can hit,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. “He could have put them away. He’d get two strikes, but we knew they were a very good offensive team. He was facing some veteran hitters that knew what they were doing.”

The Orioles weren’t able to make up ground in the American League East despite the victory, as Boston and Toronto claimed victories. Baltimore sits two games back of both teams, while holding onto the second Wild Card. After starting their homestand 1-5, the O’s managed to win the final two games.

“It’s a really good team,” O’s manager Buck Showalter said. “They’re one of the best teams in baseball and in that league, so it was tough. We caught a couple young pitchers, but we had a couple young pitchers, too, that did well.”

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