Rodriguez retires 18 of 20 batters and Orioles post ninth shutout in 9-0 win (updated)

If the remaining weeks also are designed to aid the Orioles in setting up a playoff rotation, Grayson Rodriguez is manipulating them in the best possible way.

Rodriguez is providing a ringing endorsement for minor league resets, too, dominating the White Sox tonight by retiring 18 of 20 batters in six scoreless innings.

Ryan O’Hearn came through again with a two-run single in the third, DL Hall retired all four batters he faced, and the Orioles defeated the White Sox 9-0 before an announced crowd of 12,325 for their ninth shutout.

The Orioles are 82-49, tying their season high of 33 games above .500 and giving them back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2012-14. They improved to 29-14. And they won’t get swept in 82 straight series.

The lead over second-place Tampa Bay increases to 2 ½ games.

"I mean, it’s a big deal to get a win in the big leagues, so I’m happy about us winning tonight’s game," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Got off to a great start to this series, especially after we didn’t play our best baseball yesterday. So, happy with how we swung the bat tonight. Really happy with how we pitched. We played really good defense. We have a long way to go, but to have 82 wins up to this point is a real credit to a lot of people in that clubhouse."

Anthony Santander concluded an 11-pitch at-bat against Edgar Navarro in the eighth with a three-run shot to right field for his 25^th homer.

Rodriguez disposed of the first 11 batters before Luis Robert Jr. doubled off the left field wall. He retired seven of the last eight, striking out Lenyn Sosa with a 99.7 mph fastball to end the fifth and Oscar Colás on a changeup to start the sixth.

Korey Lee walked with one out as the only other Chicago baserunner. Rodriguez struck out Tim Anderson at 97.7 mph, retired Andrew Benintendi on a ground ball and tipped his cap to fans who stood to cheer him.

"He’s pitching with a lot of confidence right now," Hyde said.

How much confidence is Hyde gaining in the rookie?

"It’s hard not to with all of our guys," he said. "We’re throwing the ball well. Our starting rotation has done a fantastic job. They’re keeping us in the baseball game.

"Grayson continues to get better. All of our guys have improved this year, our young guys. It’s been fun to watch."

Rodriguez has posted a 2.83 ERA in eight starts since returning to the Orioles and completed at least six innings in the last four. He’s registered five quality starts in his last six outings, and his August ERA is 2.64.

"I think it's just kind of learning as you go," Hall said. "Everybody has a different path. For him, it was just minimizing the mistakes with two strikes, and I think, obviously, he's doing a great job, and that's something that I knew all along he would eventually get to. So, it's just exciting to see it pan out."

The finished product hasn't arrived yet.

"I think fastball command needs to get better," Rodriguez said. "I think we still have a long way to go with that. Kind of eliminating some of those wasted pitches above the zone, really just kind of getting back down at the knees, wherever the catcher is setting up. That’s something we’re still going to keep working on."

It's much better than his earlier stint, when, as he put it, there were "a lot of fastballs right down the middle."

"Trying to eliminate that now," he said. "Working both sides of the plate, up and down. At least we’re just getting close. That’s what we’re trying to do. It’s something we’re going to spend a lot of time on in the bullpen because as we come down the stretch here, it’s going to be pretty important."

So is Rodriguez, who had velocity and the ability to change speeds on his side. He struck out Benintendi and Robert in the first inning with 99.7 mph heat. Yoán Moncada fouled off a 100.1 mph fastball and 84.8 mph changeup in the second and flied out on another changeup. The last two pitches to Gavin Sheets, who also flied out, were clocked at 100.4 and 100.7 mph.

The three outs in the third came on Rodriguez’s slider, changeup and 99.4 mph fastball. He threw 42 pitches, five in triple digits. The White Sox didn’t come close to reaching base.

Robert lined a slider 398 feet, at 106.8 mph off the bat, over Ryan McKenna’s head and off the wall. The only hit Rodriguez would surrender.

The defense offered the usual support, with Mullins sprinting into left-center in the fifth to catch Moncada’s 374-foot fly ball.

Asked about his confidence level, Rodriguez said, "I guess with that defense, it’s pretty high. Cedric tracking down a pretty well-hit ball out there in deep left-center field. The infielders have been great. With those guys behind me, it’s pretty high."

Jacob Webb worked two-thirds of an inning after a 110.3 mph line drive from Robert nailed him in the back. Webb crouched on the mound as head athletic trainer Brian Ebel came out of the dugout, threw two warmup pitches and coaxed a 5-4-3 double play from Eloy Jiménez.

"He got hit right below the shoulder blade there, so it got a lot of meat and not so much bone," Hyde said. "He got lucky."

Hall stranded a runner and breezed through the eighth, striking out Lee on a nasty changeup. He pitched in the same game as Rodriguez for the first time, first-round selections of the old regime in 2017 and ’18 impacting the present and, it’s hoped, the future.

"It’s a lot of fun," Rodriguez said. "It’s something we’ve talked about for a while. We were just joking out it just now. Having him back up here, it’s helping us both out a lot."

"It's something that I actually talked about for the last like two days," Hall said. "Just to be in the same game as him and it be in the big leagues is awesome. It's something we talked about for years, so it was great.

"We're blessed and fortunate to be in this position and finally getting to do it."

O’Hearn reached on an infield hit leading off the second and Mullins doubled on a line drive to center field. Michael Kopech retired the next three batters without surrendering a run, getting a ground ball, strikeout and fly ball.

Kopech wasn’t as fortunate in the third.

Adley Rutschman and Santander singled, Ryan Mountcastle walked to load the bases with one out, and O’Hearn punched a fastball into center field for a two-run single.

O’Hearn also drove in two runs yesterday with a pinch-hit home run.

He was involved in a strange play when Mullins grounded to second baseman Lenyn Sosa, who threw to shortstop Tim Anderson for the attempted force play. O’Hearn thought he was out, took a few steps toward the dugout, then turned and was tagged on the back.

The initial ruling was safe on a fielder’s choice before replay overturned the call. It goes down as a force, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Orioles scored twice in the fourth, the rally beginning with McKenna’s one-out walk and stolen base. He tagged on Rutschman’s fly ball and scored on a wild pitch, Gunnar Henderson singed and swiped his second base of the night, Santander walked, and Mountcastle singled for a 4-0 lead.

McKenna had a two-run single off Navarro in the eighth. Santander fouled off four pitches in a row before launching a sinker onto the flag court.

The at-bat consisted of the most pitches resulting in a homer by an Oriole since Santander's 12 in June 2022 in Seattle.

Rodriguez and the ‘pen didn’t need more than one run tonight.

The playoff Orioles look like they’re going to need Rodriguez.

How many times has Hall witnessed this version?

"A ton," he said. "Obviously, it's a lot of fun to see."