Givens on winning his duel with Betts (plus other notes)

There has likely never been a visiting hitter to produce such prolific stats at Oriole Park through the years as much as Boston's Mookie Betts last year.

In back-to-back games at Camden Yards last May 31 and June 1, Betts went 5-for-8 with five home runs and seven RBIs. Coming into last night's game, he had an 11-game hitting streak at the ballpark, batting .488 (21-for-43) with eight homers and an OPS of 1.623.

Betts' eight homers (in 10 games) at Camden Yards in 2016 tied for the most-ever by a Boston player in one year at an opponent ballpark. Jimmie Foxx hit eight homers in 1939 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

So with those numbers as a backdrop, Betts moved toward the plate in the eighth inning last night with Boston behind 2-0. The Red Sox had runners on first and third and Buck Showalter replaced lefty Donnie Hart with right-hander Mychal Givens.

All Givens needed to do was get Betts out and keep the Orioles' shutout and lead intact. On a 1-1 count, Givens busted Betts inside with a 96 mph heater that Betts popped up meekly toward second base for Jonathan Schoop to make the easy catch. Three outs later, the Orioles had their shutout. Betts is now just 1-for-7 in his career versus Givens.

Somehow with the crowd going crazy and the game on the line and facing an Orioles killer, Givens kept his composure and made a big pitch. How did he stay so calm out there?

"Just Buck (Showalter) putting me in those situations and getting me comfortable. Been ready the last few times. Just go and attack hitters and get the job done," Givens said.

"I've faced Mookie for the last two years. Just go in there and attack him with my strength and try to get a weak swing." Givens did just that.

The kid seemed to relish the big moment and challenge.

"Yeah. You just stay in the moment, trust your stuff and try to pick up the guy you came in for," Givens said simply.

This was the Orioles' second shutout over the last three games, and the team's pitchers have allowed just one run over their last 33 innings, a stunning run of pitching excellence.

"It's been good. We are not really thinking about it. Just take pride in what we do. Take the baton and do your job when you get a chance," Givens said of the great pitching roll the team is on.

Last night it started, again, with the starter. Right-hander Dylan Bundy went seven innings plus one batter and allowed six hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Over his past two starts, he's thrown 13 scoreless innings at Toronto and Boston.

Through four starts, he is 3-1 with an ERA of 1.37. Bundy ranks tied for first in the American League in wins and seventh in ERA. So yeah, pretty good start for the kid.

"I don't know if it means a whole lot to me but just more to the team. Like I've said before, I always want to go six innings and try to give my team a chance to win. I was able to do my job tonight," Bundy said simply in a night of stellar pitching on the field with only a few words off it (in the postgame clubhouse) from O's hurlers.

"(Brad Brach) is picking up right where Zach (Britton) left off and doing a great job. Givens and Donnie came in and really closed the door tonight," Bundy said.

Ubaldo Jiménez, Wade Miley and Bundy have pitched to an ERA of 0.40 in starting the last three games for the Orioles. They've combined to pitch 22 2/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and one run.

O's starting pitchers have recorded seven quality starts over the last eight games, the only exception being when Kevin Gausman allowed eight runs Tuesday at Cincinnati. In the seven starts - not counting Gausman's outing - O's starting pitchers have allowed six runs over 47 innings for an ERA of 1.15.

The Orioles offense has scored just nine runs over the last four games and the team is still 3-1 in those games. O's fans could get used to more pitching like this.

As they wake this morning, they find it's another day with their team in first place atop the AL East. The Orioles own baseball's best record at 11-4 and lead the East by 1 1/2 games over the Yankees, two over the Red Sox, 3 1/2 over the Rays and by eight games over the Blue Jays.

Click here to check out more clubhouse quotes from late last night with Manny Machado on his slide into second base in the eighth inning and with Bundy on his latest strong outing.