Kyle Bradish returns with six scoreless as O's blank, sweep the Nationals (updated)

WASHINGTON – The Orioles got one of their starting pitchers back tonight, and it was a welcome sight for them to see right-hander Kyle Bradish on the mound. He was activated off the injured list and pitching for the first time since taking a liner off his right foot April 3 at Texas.

And they got back the Bradish that pitched to a 3.28 ERA in his last 13 starts of the 2022 season.

Tonight, he threw six scoreless innings as the Orioles beat Washington 4-0 to sweep a two-game series by throwing back-to-back shutouts.

O’s pitchers have thrown 26 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to the second inning on Sunday versus the White Sox in Chicago. Their rotation ERA was 6.75 to start this series, but Bradish and Dean Kremer combined for 12 2/3 scoreless innings against the Nationals.

They also saw the home run ball return to their offense tonight, and that was a welcome sight as well.

But on a down note, O’s shortstop Jorge Mateo - who is off to a great start, batting .370 with a 1.078 OPS to rank second in the league - left tonight’s game after he batted and grounded out to end the top of the second. He slowed up running to first base, and the Orioles later announced Mateo was experiencing right hip discomfort.

Manager Brandon Hyde said it's too soon to know if the Orioles will have to make a roster move before this weekend's series in Baltimore.

“Not right now. The off-day plays in our favor and we’ll kind of go from there," he said. 

Adam Frazier took Mateo's spot in the batting order and would deliver a big swing for the Orioles later in the game.

Bradish allowed five hits in his six-inning outing, which produced the Orioles' fourth quality start of the year. He walked just one and fanned six on 92 pitches, throwing 59 for strikes. He has thrown 7 2/3 scoreless innings on the year after leaving his first start in the second when he took a Jonah Heim liner off his foot.

“Outstanding effort," Hyde said. "Thought he really settled in second inning on. First inning, I thought he was up in the zone a little bit, fastball was kind of up and hung a slider there early, but after that, his fastball was moving both sides of the plate. Tough to hit with good off-speed stuff as well.

“We pitched extremely well this series, obviously, and really happy with how we played the last couple of games."

Bradish said it was great to be back, and that he tried to emulate his friend Kremer's performance last night.

“I think the biggest thing was just being back out there," Bradish said. "Been a long time coming. Felt like I hadn’t thrown since spring training. And obviously, mixing well and all my pitches were working tonight.

“Going behind (Kremer), I like to be out there and watch the game. Because I know what he is trying to do and it helps me prepare for the next outing. Seeing him having success, he’s a really good competitor, so it was awesome to see him have that success yesterday." 

The Orioles began the day ranking first in the American League and third in the majors in drawing walks, and they used three of them to move ahead 1-0 in the top of the third off Nats lefty MacKenzie Gore. Gore entered this game with a 6.0 walk rate in three starts, and his bases-loaded walk when facing Adley Rutschman put the Orioles ahead 1-0 on Rutschman’s 14^th RBI.

But the rally probably should have produced more. Two walks and a James McCann single loaded the bases with no outs. Then Austin Hays bounced into a force at home and Rutschman walked on a 3-2 slider. But Gore got Ryan Mountcastle on a grounder for an inning-ending double play as the O's settled for only a single run.

But in the next inning, Frazier’s two-run homer to right on a high breaking ball from Gore gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead. His second homer of the season came on a 2-2 curveball and traveled 377 feet to score Anthony Santander, who had walked. 

"Fun," Frazier said of entering off the bench and making a big contribution. "Hope Jorge is all right. He’s had such a big impact on the team. To be able to come in and have an impact was fun."

Gunnar Henderson's RBI single gave the Orioles an unearned insurance run in the ninth and completed the scoring. 

The O’s defense, inconsistent to start the year, had some good moments in this win. They turned an inning-ending double play behind Bradish to end the Nats second. And center fielder Cedric Mullins made a nice running catch in deep center to end the sixth and strand a runner at second. 

O's pitching held down a team that has been struggling to score. The Nats rank 26th in the majors at 3.65 runs per game and fall to 0-10 this year when scoring three or fewer. They are 5-13 overall and 2-9 at home. 

Right-hander Yennier Cano came up big again for the Orioles, stranding two runners and getting two big outs to end the eighth after lefty Cionel Pérez walked two. Mike Baumann pitched the ninth for Baltimore to complete the five-pitcher, six-hitter in two hours, 26 minutes.

The Orioles entered this series scoring 5.88 runs per game, second best in the majors. They got just five in this series, but their pitching made it stand up as they moved to four games over .500 and won for fifth time in six games and the seventh time in their past nine games. They now have their first three-game win streak of 2023.

"You saw what we could be, Kremer and Bradish the last couple of games. Kind of fun to watch young guys come into their own. They both have great stuff. Two really well-pitched games," said Hyde.

The Orioles are now 7-4 on the road and concluded a 4-1 road trip with this win. 

The Orioles improved to 53-39 all-time against the Nats.