Jorge López makes strong case (O's win with Hyde quotes)

It was a night when the Orioles rotation competition got reduced by one pitcher. Meanwhile, another stated his case, pitching very well against an American League East rival.

Lefty Keegan Akin was optioned to Triple-A during a game where right-hander Jorge López was mowing down the New York Yankees in Tampa with pretty solid regularity.

López threw five scoreless innings, his best outing of a good spring, allowing just two hits, and he matched Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in a scoreless duel deep into the game. He walked just one and fanned three as he lowered his spring ERA to 2.75.

López has allowed one or zero runs in four of his six outings. His outing tonight was the longest by an O's starter in their 25 games this spring.

"I felt this was much stronger," López said during an in-game interview. "I felt this was the best feeling with rhythm and timing I've had all spring training. I had everything working. Even behind the count I had curveball and sinker down. They got a really tough lineup and you can't miss on the plate. It was one of the best I've felt - my body, arm and everything."

López threw 18 pitches in a scoreless last of the first. Aaron Judge doubled to right field with one out, but López got Brett Gardner and Giancarlo Stanton to ground out. He threw 11 fastballs in that inning, touching 94 and 95 mph.

López held the Yankees scoreless on 49 pitches through three innings. In the second, he pitched around a one-out error by second baseman Yolmer Sánchez. His 1-2-3 third ended with a called strikeout of Judge on a 96 mph sinker, per Statcast.

Sánchez's second error of the game came with two outs and none on in the fourth, and Mike Tauchman followed with a walk. The runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch. But Tyler Wade lined out to left on a 1-2 sinker as the game moved to the fifth at 0-0. López would end his night with a 1-2-3 fifth frame.

López threw 83 pitches, 52 for strikes. His most used pitch was his two-seam sinker, thrown 32 times. He averaged 93.5 mph and topped out at 95.7.

López, who is out of options, was asked if he feels he's made the club and should be part of the rotation.

"Like I said before, it's one decision I don't make," he replied. "But I feel I've been doing a good job with everything. Building my innings, building my strength. It's been there always. I just go out there and do my best. They know what I can bring to the game. I'm ready to help the team and execute every time I go out there."

The Orioles missed a scoring chance in the second inning against Cole. Maikel Franco and Rio Ruiz both reached on errors by shortstop Wade. But Cole got Austin Hays, Freddy Galvis and Chance Sisco and was at 34 pitches through two innings.

Cole pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings on two hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He threw 86 pitches and averaged 97.2 mph and topped out at 99.8, per Statcast.

The Orioles broke the scoreless tie and took a 3-0 lead in the seventh against Aroldis Chapman.

Ruiz singled and pinch runner Ramón Urías moved to second on a wild pitch. Hays singled to score him and moved to third on a double by Galvis. Wild pitches by Chapman would score the second and third O's runs.

Rule 5 pick right-hander Tyler Wells fanned two in a scoreless last of the sixth, getting Judge and Stanton on 95 mph fastballs.

The moves: Earlier tonight the Orioles made several roster moves, reducing their training camp roster to 36 players.

* They signed lefty Wade LeBlanc to a one-year major league contract.

* They placed first baseman Chris Davis on the 60-day injured list (lower back strain).

* They optioned lefty Keegan Akin, infielder/outfielder Jahmai Jones, and infielder Richie Martin to Triple-A Norfolk.

* They reassigned lefty Fernando Abad and infielder/outfielder Chris Shaw to the Twin Lakes camp.

So, LeBlanc is back and makes the 40-man, as does Matt Harvey. Akin, who allowed six runs last night, will start the year in the minors. Davis, as expected, goes to the 60. The 40-man roster is at a full 40 at this moment.

O's beat the Yankees: The final was 4-1 tonight in Tampa as the Orioles pitched a three-hitter and just missed getting their first shutout of spring training.

Wells had a very strong outing, throwing three scoreless innings that lowered his ERA to 1.00. He walked one and fanned six, with an average fastball velocity of 93, and he topped at 95. Wells threw 41 pitches and has made a strong case for a roster spot.

The Orioles' fourth and last run scored on Shaw's RBI single in the ninth.

Right-hander Gray Fenter, recently returned by the Cubs to the Orioles after they had selected him in the Rule 5 draft, started the last of the ninth. He allowed a leadoff double to Brett Gardner, and Gardner advanced to score on two groundouts. After Fenter pitched the bases loaded, Isaac Mattson replaced him and got a strikeout to wrap up the night.

The Birds are now 10-14-1 overall with three spring games remaining, and 2-1 versus New York. They play the Braves tomorrow night, with John Means getting the start in North Port.

The postgame quotes: After the game and with today's roster moves, the rotation situation has become more clear for O's manager Brandon Hyde. But he's not quite ready to announce it.

"Yeah, I think we have an idea," he said. "It's definitely becoming more clear. We just haven't talked to the guys yet, so I'm not ready to announce anything at this point. So, I think in the next day or two we'll have our starters for the first series.

Hyde on what made López so good?: "I thought aggressiveness with his fastball. Pitching to both sides of the plate. Saw a lot of fastballs in to the right-handers. Remember the Judge punchout, Stanton punchout both on fastballs in. Set him up with a nice breaking ball that he didn't leave in the middle, but on misses was down. But I really liked his fastball aggressiveness. Had a really good one tonight. At least from my angle. You could see the tilt in it with the two-seamer with a lot of run to it. But with Lopy, it's about aggressiveness in the zone and being able to pitch to both sides of the plate. He's got good secondary stuff and he showed that tonight."

Hyde on Akin being optioned: "We just thought that Keegan needed a little bit more time. We still think really highly of him. Talking to him this afternoon, it was about just being a little sharper with his pitches. Command wasn't quite there. Being able to locate to both sides of the plate. Like to see the improvement in his off-speed stuff, being able to land it for strikes. It was a little bit of a scuffle for him this spring. He's going to have time to go down there. And when he came to us last year, he was really ready to go and pounded the strike zone. Just looking for him to go down there and do what he did last year. And that's find a nice rhythm in his delivery and attack the strike zone."

Hyde on Wells: "Tyler Wells, put him in a tough spot, kind of the teeth of their order there. Tyler's got a good fastball. It's 95 but it plays up. He was getting his four-seam by guys at the top of the zone. Loved the way he landed some sliders. Flashed a curveball or two, which had really, really good shape. If he can land that, he's going to have a lot of success. Because the fastball really plays at the top. But yeah, threw strikes. Came in here without fear. Love the poise on the mound. Presence, a 6-8 guy that is spinning the ball at 95, and it feels harder from the side. It gets on hitters. Really like the poise with how he pitched tonight."