Hellickson shines in debut and Orioles sweep (with quotes)

The pressure of joining a new team couldn't fluster Jeremy Hellickson. Nor could a 35-minute rain delay in the third inning or an opponent that, before arriving in Baltimore, was the hottest team in baseball.

Hellickson's debut was a rousing success, with the veteran right-hander shutting out the Royals over seven innings to continue the rotation's roll in a 6-0 victory at Camden Yards.

The Orioles completed the sweep and have won five in a row, their longest streak since a six-game run from May 4-9. With a 53-54 record, they're one game below .500 for the first time since July 2.

Tonight's outcome was the seventh shutout and also left the Orioles 2 ½ games back for the second wild card.

This is the second three-game sweep of the Royals in Baltimore in the last two seasons, and it comes amidst the criticism over the Orioles' decision to regard themselves as contenders at the non-waiver trade deadline.

Mychal Givens retired the side in order in the eighth and lowered his ERA to 1.86 in 53 1/3 innings.

Chris Davis' two-run double in the bottom of the eighth and Tim Beckham's RBI triple allowed Zach Britton to sit down and put Darren O'Day into the game for the last three outs.

Hellickson allowed five hits, walked one, struck out three and threw 62 of 94 pitches for strikes. He headed for cover in the third after retiring the first two batters on a strikeout and fly ball. Play resumed and Hellickson gave up a single to Whit Merrifield and allegedly hit Melky Cabrera on the foot, all the hopping around convincing the umpires to give him first base. Eric Hosmer flied to left and the rally died.

The biggest jam led to the best escape act. Cabrera walked to lead off the sixth inning and Hosmer doubled. With two runners in scoring position, Hellickson retired Salvador Perez on a pop up to the mound, struck out Mike Moustakas and retired Jorge Bonifacio on a grounder to first.

A standing ovation was followed by another one after Hellickson retired the Royals in order in the seventh while Givens warmed in the bullpen.

The rotation has allowed only three earned runs in the last 35 2/3 innings.

Toting a well-earned reputation as a fly ball pitcher, Hellickson recorded 10 of his outs through the air. He almost ran over Manny Machado to catch Moustakas' popup in foul territory. But he also induced a double play grounder from Alcides Escobar after Bonifacio singled.

Hellickson kept getting outs and keeping his pitch count under control. He retired the side in order in the fourth on nine pitches and stranded a runner in the fifth to leave him at 63.

The guy can fill up a strike zone.

Royals left-hander Jason Vargas retired the side in order in the first inning, but the Orioles struck for three runs in the second. Beckham, in his second game since Monday's trade, doubled into the right field corner to score Trey Mancini. Caleb Joseph homered to left field with two outs, giving him 22 RBIs on the season.

No need to rehash last year's total.

Adam Jones walked to lead off the third, moved up on a wild pitch and advanced to third base with one out, but the Orioles failed to build on their lead. A two-out intentional walk to Mancini was followed by Davis' strikeout.

The Orioles didn't need any more runs, though more would come later. They just needed Hellickson to keep the rotation churning, to instill more hope that the front office made the right decisions at the deadline.

So far so good.

So much farther to go.

Showalter on whether Hellickson came as advertised: "We hope so. We got to see him do it a lot to us, especially at their park. You get older and get a little wiser and know more is not always better. He had good command of all his pitches. They couldn't take one out of play. A little cutter here and there and located his fastball. He and Caleb worked well together. The changeup. You've really almost got to add an inning to that because of the rain delay. He threw the equivalent of probably one inning inside getting ready. Fortunately, it wasn't a very long rain delay."

On whether the delay made it harder for Hellickson to maintain focus: "Jeremy's always had that presentation from both dugouts. Not a whole lot seems to bother him. He's always been pretty consistent with his emotions. It seems like. I don't know him that well. But from watching him in the other dugout and now watching here, it's pretty matter of fact. He knows what he's got to do and who he is and what he's not. I think as long as you communicate with him and let him know what's coming, all the players. Our people are real good with the rain and understanding when we're going to play again and how long it might be. We were fortunate they do a great job with it, the crew. It was a good call."

On sweeping team that had won 10 of 11: "We talked about it in the advance meeting with the pitchers and the position players that we were facing probably as hot a team as there was in the American League and they're pitching ... Vargas and Jeremy are a lot alike in how they pitch. It's just one's left-handed and one's right-handed. I'm proud of that, knowing as we get into August and September, knowing the opportunities to make up some ground are going to be fleeting. I don't need to remind them of that. But it was a good team playing well and we held our own against them."

On Beckham: "He did a good job of being under control. He made a great read early on a line drive to third base that a lot of people get doubled up on that. Tim is 27 now, he's starting to grasp some of those things. We think the timing is good for him to get where he's capable of getting. We have obviously a good opportunity for him."

On when he allows himself to think starters rolling again and 'pen set up nicely: "End of September. Pitching is so hard. To put together long runs of good pitching out of five or six guys is really a challenge. But right now they seem to be feeding off each other. Chris (Tillman) gets a chance tomorrow to get back where he was before he had that outing in Texas."

Hellickson on whether he was nervous: "Last night I had some nerves, but once I got out there I felt fine. I've been traded before, just not in season to a team that is playing as well as we are, that has a chance to make the playoffs. So just a little nervous last night, but I felt really good today."