Darren O'Day on his strong outing and the challenge of facing Miguel Cabrera

Chris Tillman had another outstanding outing for the Orioles last night. He went seven scoreless innings to improve to 5-1 with a 2.58 ERA. The Orioles have won seven of his eight starts this season. That was one impressive stat for Tillman.

But he doesn't get his latest win if the Orioles' late-inning relievers don't do what they usually do: get big outs with little margin for error.

No margin for error really, as Darren O'Day and Zach Britton got the last six outs, throwing a combined 18 pitches, 17 for strikes.

On Thursday night, O'Day came on the eighth to protect a 7-5 lead. He walked the first batter but then retired Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos to hold the lead. Last night, on in the eighth to protect the 1-0 advantage, he gave up a leadoff single to Jose Iglesias. But once again, he pitched around it. O'Day got Ian Kinsler to hit into a fielder's choice, with Chris Davis making a strong throw to second to cut down the lead runner. Then O'Day struck out J.D. Martinez and got Cabrera to ground out.

Another impressive eighth for O'Day, who is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA and two saves. O'Day loves the challenge of protecting one-run leads. He did it again last night

"You know, that is a great lineup, so it's exciting to be in a tight game with them," he said. "Lot of hitters that you just enjoy facing off with since they are such good hitters, cerebral hitters. Iglesias hit a good pitch, and then, as I tend to like to do, I make it harder on myself and had to pitch with a guy on base the whole inning. But made some good pitches and got through it."

Cabrera came up as the go-ahead run. If he hits it out there, all that Tillman did goes down the drain. But O'Day kept Cabrera in the park and got the big out. Once again, O'Day relishes such a challenge.

"I've had at-bats against Miggy where you walk up there and you wonder what he is looking for," O'Day said. "If he doesn't get it, he might walk back to the dugout. And other ones, whatever you throw, he is going to hit. Yeah, it is exciting to face him, it really is. I was cussing at that ball to stay fair, the ground ball to third base. (Ryan) Flaherty was over there and made a nice play and I got to go in the dugout and watch Zach pitch."

Sounds easy enough for O'Day, who has put together 15 scoreless outings in 16 games this year. Over 14 1/3 innings, he has walked four and fanned 18. He yields an average of just .130 (3-for-23) when pitching with runners on base.

Coming off his first All-Star appearance last summer and armed with a new four-year contract, O'Day is getting the job done for the Orioles once again. In his last 30 games since Sept. 4, 2015, he has pitched to an ERA of 1.29 and the Orioles are 28-2 in those 30 games.

More notes on the Orioles:

* Tillman has allowed just one home run all year over 45 1/3 innings. He has put together two scoreless starts over his past four games. Tillman has recorded five straight quality starts, going 4-0 with a 1.64 ERA. In six home starts, he is 4-0 with a 1.89 ERA. He has allowed one run or less five times in eight games.

* During their six-game win streak, the O's have allowed just 15 runs and pitched to a team ERA of 2.33.

* The O's bullpen has recorded six straight scoreless games, covering 14 2/3 innings. That has lowered the 'pen ERA from 2.54 to 2.20. That is the best bullpen ERA in the majors.

* Adam Jones hit the 200th homer of his career last night and his 197th with the Orioles. Over his past four games, Jones is 9-for-18 (.500) with three homers and seven RBIs. He is batting .407 (11-for-27) during a six-game hitting streak.

* Last night's victory was the Orioles' first 1-0 win over the Tigers since Sept. 23, 1981 in Baltimore. It was the Orioles' second 1-0 win this year and second over the last eight games. They beat the Yankees 1-0 in 10 innings on May 5.

* The Orioles are now 12-6 in games decided by one or two runs.

* At 22-12, the Orioles have eight of 10 and 11 of 15 games and lead the American League East by one game over Boston. They have the second-best record in the AL and the third-best in the majors. The Chicago Cubs are first with a .765 winning percentage at 26-8, followed by the Chicago White Sox at .667 with a 24-12 mark and the Orioles at .647.