BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles have confidence that Kevin Gausman eventually will emerge as a top-of-the-rotation starter. On Saturday, they saw a glimpse of that ability against Oakland. Gausman earned his first win as a starter while Adam Jones and David Lough each homered, leading the Orioles over the Athletics, 6-3. Called up from Triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day, Gausman (1-1) set career highs by pitching seven innings and striking out six. Gausman, the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft, gave up one run and four hits and walked one. He had made six previous starts in the majors over two seasons. "Its always huge when you get a win, especially against a team like the As," Gausman said. "Theyre playing great baseball right now. Its been a fun serious to watch so far. Hopefully, we can win the series tomorrow." Jones hit his ninth homer, a solo shot in the first. Lough, who entered the game batting just .184, hit his second homer. Still, Jones said the difference in the game was how Gausman contained Oaklands powerful lineup. "Hes getting the opportunity," Jones said. "This game is all about confidence. Its not about necessarily about stuff. Your stuff will get you here, but your confidence. "Now hes going to get his shot to start. I told him, Hey, go after him. Use your stuff. Youve got a good arm for a reason, so use your stuff and go after them. " Sonny Gray (6-2) allowed a season-high five runs and four hits and four walks in 5 1-3 innings, his shortest outing of the year. "I felt really good there early in the game, then it was like four or five hitters, and the game just kind of blew up on me right there," Gray said. "I just went out and started throwing balls, and I dont know why. I got behind a lot of hitters that inning, and it was just too many balls, then that one big hit." Coco Crisp got three hits for Oakland. He connected in the third for his fourth home run, and extended his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games. It was 1-all before Baltimore scored three times in the fifth to give Gausman a cushion. Lough drew a one-out walk and Caleb Joseph followed with a double, setting up RBI singles by Nick Markakis and Manny Machado. The As threatened in the sixth when Alberto Callaspo and Eric Sogard led off with singles and advanced on a wild pitch. Gausman escaped by striking out Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss. "Kevin was good, really good," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Got his feet on the ground. I thought Caleb and him worked real well together. I wanted Caleb catching him today. He had caught him, obviously, in Norfolk. "Good split, got enough breaking balls over to show a third pitch, established the inner half of the plate. Hes got pretty good stuff. He got in a couple situations and went and got another level, which was good to see." After a walk to J.J. Hardy ended Grays night, former Orioles closer Jim Johnson entered and allowed a two-run homer to Lough on his second pitch that extended Baltimores lead 6-1. Johnson got only two outs, allowing two hits. The As pulled within 6-3 in the eighth when Brian Matusz allowed a walk to Sogard and a double to Crisp. Darren ODay entered and gave up a two-run single to Kyle Blanks. "He pitched pretty well," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said about Gausman. "He hit 99 (miles per hour), and he started mixing it up and pitching a little differently. His two-seamer was significantly different from his four-seamer, in terms of velocity and movement. Then he started throwing his slider for a strike and putting away some splits." NOTES: Orioles RHP Miguel Gonzalez (strained right oblique) will throw a bullpen session Sunday or Monday and then could possibly begin a rehab start later in the week. ... Baltimore optioned LHP Tim Berry to Double-A Bowie to make room for Gausman. ... Oakland has homered in 15 consecutive games, eight games shy of the club record. . ... Oakland LHP Scott Kazmir (6-2, 2.40 ERA) faces Orioles RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (2-6, 4.39) in the series finale. ... Johnson faced his former team for the first time and drew a mixed reaction from the sold-out crowd. Custom Los Angeles Lakers Jerseys .C. -- Gleason Fournier scored the shootout winner as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-3 Friday in American Hockey League action. Wilt Chamberlain Lakers Jersey . Mark Teahen scored the go-ahead run in the home seventh on an error by Scott Sizemore, who had knotted the game with a solo homer in the previous half- inning. Paul Konerko then hit an RBI single which proved to be the winning run. http://www.lakersteamofficial.com/Michae...-Lakers-Jersey/. And it showed Thursday night. The Canadiens, playing in their second game in as many days, however, got a good performance in the end from their backup goaltender as he filled in for an injured Olympic gold medallist . Kobe Bryant Lakers Jersey . Villa has already confirmed his short-term deal and the Daily Mirror reported early Tuesday that Lampard will join him as both build up match fitness ahead of moves to the new Major League Soccer franchise New York City. James Worthy Jersey . - Defensive end-linebacker Mike Neal apparently is returning to the Packers.The voting results for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced on January 8 in the new year. Unlike last year when nobody got in, there have been estimates of as many as five getting voted in this time around and as few as one, Greg Maddux. Going over the list of players already in Cooperstown, I found it interesting that four went by the nickname "Kid" or "The Kid". They would be former Expos and Mets star Gary Carter, the Brewers Robin Yount, the immortal Red Sox legend Ted Williams and one you may not be as familiar with, Charles "Kid" Nichols. "Kid" Nichols began his career in the Majors in 1890 and was through in 1906. But the numbers he put up were truly remarkable. Starting in 1890, with the Boston Beaneaters in the National League he went 27-19 with a 2.23 ERA. In seven of the next eight seasons he won 30 or more games. He finished his career with 361 victories against 208 losses and a 2.96 ERA. Not only that he started 562 games over his career and finished 532. In other words he pitched complete games in about 95 per cent of his outings. Granted it was a different era. In his first three seasons, 1890-92, the distance from the pitching mound to home plate was only 50 feet. Nevertheless Nichols was the main reason the Beaneaters won three consecutive pennants. After that though the mound was pushed back to its current distance of 60 6" but Nichols remained every bit as dominant. The funny thing is Nicholls wasnt physically imposing. It has been estimated he only weighed about 138 pounds when he broke in with Boston and looked like a teenager, hence the nickname "Kid". "Kid" Nichols threw straight over the top and threw few if any breaking pitches. He and others have credited this for his durability and good fortune in avoiding injuries. He had impeccable control, and an uncanny ability to change speeds on his fastball. Nichols was almost lost in the annals of baseball history and didnt get into the Hall of Fame until 1949 when he was selected by the Veterans Committee. One of the loudest voices in getting him elected was a charter member of the Hall of Fame was none other than Ty Cobb. The most amazing fact about "Kid Nichols" is that he won his 300th game when he was only 30 years old. Again, there is a bit of a caveat. During his career teams usually only carried five pitchers at most and depending on circumstance you could be pitching every second or third daay.dddddddddddd Still the numbers he put up and the career he had was amazing. Heres the thing Im wondering about. Its "Kid" Nichols Canadian connection. Baseball Reference.com claims he went to secondary school at Queen Elizabeth High School in Surrey, BC. If you click on the school name, Nichols name comes up along with another former Major Leaguer who attended the same school, Kevin Nicholson. Nichols was an American born in Wisconsin, who spent part of his youth in Kansas City. I can find no mention of how he wound up in a Canadian high school. Interesting to say the least. I also wanted to mention another "Kid" who is not in the Hall of Fame. You might remember the name "Kid" Gleason. He was the manager of the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox, of the "Black Sox" scandal infamy. Gleason played no part in throwing the series to the Cincinnati Reds, in fact he called out some of his own players for tanking after they played a brutal first game of the World Series. Well before that series, Gleason was a decent player in his own right. In 1890 for instance, he pitched 506 innings and completed 54 of the 55 games he started. Gleason was also a decent position player over part of his career in addition to being a manager. It was said he was every bit the fiery competitor Cobb was, if not more so. Bringing Back Banks It seems only fitting, when Disney is releasing the movie "Saving Mr. Banks" about the making of the "Mary Poppins" movie, the Blue Jays should be shooting out a lifeline to a Mr. Banks of their own. Theyve signed right-hander Josh Banks, a pitcher they originally drafted in the second round in 2003 to a minor league deal. Banks only pitched in three games for the Jays back in 2007, then bounced from San Diego to Houston and finally to the minor league systems of the Giants and Orioles. He was actually released by the Os on March 31, 2012. So why is he back? Well back in the day Banks could throw eight pitches including a knuckleball. Now at age 31 he has re-invented himself as a knuckleballer. The Jays are hoping theyve caught "Lightning in a Bottle" on this one. Altogether now, the Jays have three knuckleballers in their organization, R.A. Dickey, Tomo Ohka who is coming back as a knuckler at age 37, and now Josh Banks. If Banks makes it after three years out of the Majors maybe Disney will come calling about another movie. 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