SARASOTA, FLA. — Orioles starter Kevin Gausman was angry at himself, but it wasn't because he gave up a towering home run to Pittsburgh Pirates star Andrew McCutchen in his second Grapefruit League start. He was more disturbed by the leadoff walk to catcher Francisco Cervelli that set up the two-run blast that marred an otherwise strong performance.

“He's a perfectionist type,” manager Buck Showalter said soon after Gausman pitched four solid innings in the Orioles' 9-3 victory at Ed Smith Stadium. “Almost to a fault. It's not good enough. He's a tough grader of himself. That's why you trust that he's got a chance to be as good as he's capable of being.”

Gausman flew through the first three innings before giving up three runs in the fourth. The two that scored on McCutchen's home run were the first he has given up in six exhibition innings.

“I felt really good,” Gausman said. “This is my second game, really. I felt good to get through four innings. That was my end goal. Even my last inning, I gave up a couple of runs, but I only did it in 17 pitches. That's a goal of mine is to not let the inning just kind of completely get away from you. You're going to give up runs, but if you can minimize your pitches in every inning, you're still going to go deep in the game and kind of give your team a chance to win, so I felt good about that.”

Orioles starters have struggled through the first half of the exhibition schedule, but Gausman has been one of the exceptions. He said he's confident the performance of the rotation will improve over the final 21/2 weeks of camp.

“I would say so,” he said. “It's definitely a process. Early on, a lot of guys are kind of fine-tuning mechanics, just trying to find everything. It's a little bit different in spring training. It's a different schedule, different everything, so it takes a little bit to get used to it. But I know we're all excited to get the regular season started and get the ball every fifth day.”

Kim coming around?Hyun Soo Kim delivered his first multihit performance of the spring and seems to have a knack for getting on base without hitting the ball hard. His first hit was a soft liner that Jordy Mercer leaped to glove, but the ball popped out. His second hit was a sharp grounder to the hole on the left side that third baseman Cole Figueroa got a glove on before it skipped away.

Kim went hitless in his first 23 at-bats and has not hit the ball with authority, but lately he has quietly made good on the on-base potential the Orioles want him to display. He has reached base eight times in his past 16 plate appearances.

Showalter, who sat down with Kim and his interpreter Tuesday night to discuss his progress, said Wednesday's performance was the best Kim has looked at the plate this spring.

McFarland returns: Left-hander T.J.?McFarland made his first exhibition appearance since experiencing elbow soreness 10 days ago. He pitched a perfect seventh inning.

“It was good to get Mac out there,” Showalter said. “He was crisp and felt real good afterward, so that's a good sign.”

McFarland took the mound after Dylan Bundy pitched two scoreless innings, which set him up to get the victory when the Orioles stormed back from a three-run deficit with four runs while he was the pitcher of record.

“That's about Dylan's best,” Showalter said. “I talked to him a little bit today about his tempo. I thought his tempo was a lot better. And I know after his last outing he was really wanting to get extended, which we were able to do today.”

Walker happy with left field debut: First base prospect Christian Walker said Wednesday morning that he was happy for the opportunity to audition in left field Tuesday at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin. It has been a few weeks since the subject was broached by Showalter, and he was ready to take the idea from theory to reality.

“It's just been a conversation and a couple days of work,” Walker said. “I'm happy they got me some game action. ... I feel that's a good way to learn. And if there is a time of year to learn, it's now.”

The Orioles want to expand Walker's skill set to improve the chances of getting his bat into the major league lineup on a team that has a surplus of first basemen since Chris Davis re-signed and the club added Mark Trumbo and Pedro Alvarez. Walker showed again Wednesday how far he has come at the plate, hitting a three-run homer to break open the game against the Pirates.

Walker was asked whether he felt comfortable while the Toronto Blue Jays were peppering left field in the early innings of Tuesday's game. He certainly didn't embarrass himself, even making an outfield assist when he threw out Troy Tulowitzki trying to go from first to third in the first inning.

“As comfortable as I could be,” Walker said. “I played a little bit in college. I've been shagging a lot the last couple days, so as far as fly balls and routes, I felt pretty good.”

Around the horn: Left-hander Brian Matusz, who has been recovering from a back strain, is expected to get back into exhibition action this weekend. ... Jimmy Paredes' wrist is out of the cast, and the team believes he might be ready to resume baseball activities in about a week.

peter.schmuck@baltsun.com

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