Harvey's strong outing strengthens bid for rotation spot

Matt Harvey looks like he's moving away from his uncertain status and toward a locker in the visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park.

Harvey was signed by the Orioles to a minor league deal in order to compete for a job, not simply to get ready for opening day. A disastrous spring would have put him back on the market.

The results keep getting better.

Harvey held the Yankees to one run and hit - Gio Urshela's solo home run - over four innings in a 2-1 win at Ed Smith Stadium. Rule 5 pick Mac Sceroler replaced him to start the fifth with the score tied.

"I was just looking at Matt's numbers here - 92-95 (mph)," manager Brandon Hyde said in his Zoom call. "I didn't think he had the good breaking ball tonight, but he had a really good changeup, a lot of swings and misses on the changeup, as well as some bad swings. Like we talked about last time, he's been working on that two-seamer. The two-seamer had a lot of dive to it with some over-the-top swings, as well as some swings and misses versus left-handers.

"Four-seamer was up to 95 and he had a good two-seamer and changeup tonight. He's going to compete. He battled, didn't let the home run faze him. Gave up a few hits, but competed in the strike zone and left after four really good innings."

In his last two starts, Harvey has allowed three runs and six hits in eight innings and maintained velocity that's impressed Hyde. He's walked one batter and struck out six.

"Honestly, coming in I didn't really know what to expect," Harvey said in his Zoom call. "I had gone up, obviously, to New Jersey and worked on mechanics and throwing there, and pretty soon after that I came here and kind of had to get it going. I think, mechanically, the work that we've been doing is definitely paying off. I'm feeling like it's very close, and each time out it's getting more comfortable and I'm able to read hitters a little bit more and kind of get back to what I used to do."

Like make opening day rosters and pitch in the rotation?

"None of that's my call," he said. "I have to come in here every day and get my work done and just keep working and progressing, and I feel like I've done a pretty good job of doing that. I guess if there's something I could control it was me coming in every day and working hard and putting myself in a position to make the right decisions. So I think I somewhat did that pretty well.

"Obviously, there's no settling, and whether it's a decision that they make to have me on the squad or not, my goal is to keep coming in and working hard and get those mechanics solid so I can attack hitters and go after people."

Harvey had a walk and two strikeouts in the first inning and Urshela led off the second with a home run to center field. Harvey hit Derek Dietrich and retired the next three batters on a fly ball, liner and popup.

Two ground balls to Freddy Galvis and one to Ramón Urías in the third ran Harvey's streak to six batters in a row. Two grounders and a fly ball in the fourth made it nine straight.

"He's been really good," Pat Valaika said in his Zoom call. "I faced him maybe two years ago and he's throwing a lot harder now. Moving the ball. He's got a really good idea where his pitches are going and he seemed completely in control all night. I didn't feel like I was playing defense for all that long. It was a crisp pace, he was getting the ball and throwing it. He did a really good job tonight."

Said Harvey: "I think stepping back and realizing that pretty much every starter nowadays is throwing mid-to-upper 90s and whatnot. I wouldn't say I was the first one to ever do it, but it seemed like I kind of started the trend with that. I'm not throwing 100 (mph) anymore, I don't quite have the hop and all that stuff like I used, but I think really, digging down and actually pitching is kind of what I have to do. I can still get low-to-mid 90s, which is definitely, I feel, playable. Just have to be a little bit more fine with location. With that sinker now, I think being able to use the four-seam off that and throw the changeup off the sinker and really kind of learn to pitch all over again and not just throw.

"There were games I remember the fastball was so good that I really only threw fastball/slider and got away with it, and now I've got to pitch more. It's definitely becoming fun again to figure that out. ... It's exciting to finally be able to feel my mechanics are working in the right direction and be able to pitch again.

"It's been a long time, it's been a rough couple years but I think we're definitely finally moving in the right direction."

The Orioles tied the game in the third on Chance Sisco's leadoff walk, Valaika's double and Urías' ground ball. Valaika homered off Jonathan Loaisiga in the fifth for a 2-1 lead and walked in the seventh.

Nice timing for a player who's trying to lock up a utility job.

"I learned this in college; I had a really good mental-skills coach and his focus was on controlling the controllables, and that's so far out of my control," Valaika said. "All I can do is show up every day and give my best effort and work hard and just let my abilities play."

Sceroler followed a scoreless inning in his last appearance on March 10 with two more tonight. He allowed one hit and struck out Gary Sánchez to end the sixth and lower his ERA to 10.38.

The nephew of former Orioles pitcher Ben McDonald is still paying for that March 5 game in Dunedin when he allowed five runs in one-third of an inning. His other three appearances have been scoreless.

Rule 5 right-hander Tyler Wells struck out Mike Ford and Mike Tauchman and stranded a runner in the seventh. He struck out Socrates Brito to open the eighth and stranded another runner after second baseman Adam Hall's fielding error.

Wells has allowed one run and struck out six batters in six innings.

"Very impressive," Hyde said. "They're facing some Yankees regulars. A lot of guys are going to be in the lineup. I thought they worked ahead nicely. I like Tyler Wells' competitiveness. I thought he threw some good off-speed. All three pitches for strikes that we hadn't really seen and he did that tonight, as well as a live fastball at the top of the zone.

"Sceroler did a really good job, also, facing the meat of the roster, forcing contact early. He was up to 95, as well, so both guys did a nice job against some good Yankees hitters."

Dillon Tate hit Sánchez and struck out three batters in the ninth.