[Leftcoast]

Gausman 5 innings 2 runs one earned as you pointed out.  That’s ace like

1.80 ERA for the day

Just curious, did you watch the game?  The guy barely made it through 5 innings, was constantly in trouble, and lost control of both his pitches for a good chunk of one inning.  In short, he projected anything but "ace starter."  He needs to throw the splitter for a strike every now and then (meaning start it a bit higher in the zone); otherwise, the good teams will just wait him out.  And then jump on the fastball.

I'm not saying he doesn't have ace stuff - am saying he hasn't been pitching like an ace over the last 4-5 starts.

I watched and yes Gausman struggled as he has for his last five starts and didn't have many clean innings. He turned the game over to the bullpen after the 5th.  I'm not an expert but it looked like he fell back on his fast ball whenever he was in trouble and the announcers claim his splitter hasn't worked for him the last month.  He did help himself out with a hit in the middle innings.  

Ultimately Gausman managed a good outing based on the most important metric (runs allowed) without his best stuff.  He'll need more in the increasingly likely post-season.

[Leftcoast]

Gausman 5 innings 2 runs one earned as you pointed out.  That’s ace like

1.80 ERA for the day

Just curious, did you watch the game?  The guy barely made it through 5 innings, was constantly in trouble, and lost control of both his pitches for a good chunk of one inning.  In short, he projected anything but "ace starter."  He needs to throw the splitter for a strike every now and then (meaning start it a bit higher in the zone); otherwise, the good teams will just wait him out.  And then jump on the fastball.

I'm not saying he doesn't have ace stuff - am saying he hasn't been pitching like an ace over the last 4-5 starts.

I watched and yes Gausman struggled as he has for his last five starts and didn't have many clean innings. He turned the game over to the bullpen after the 5th.  I'm not an expert but it looked like he fell back on his fast ball whenever he was in trouble and the announcers claim his splitter hasn't worked for him the last month.  He did help himself out with a hit in the middle innings.  

Ultimately Gausman managed a good outing based on the most important metric (runs allowed) without his best stuff.  He'll need more in the increasingly likely post-season.