More notes and quotes from Friday's win over the Rays

How many times have we seen the Orioles execute a relay play well to get an out at the plate or on the bases? Many times, but it is always important to play good defense and it is pretty critical when it happens to get the last out to preserve a one-run win.

We've seen Orioles closer Zach Britton pick up his team so many times that the reverse was probably due for Britton. The Orioles' game-ending relay play Friday night from left fielder Michael Bourn to third baseman Manny Machado to catcher Matt Wieters kept Britton from his first blown save since Sept. 20, 2015. It was the last play in the Orioles' comeback 5-4 win over Tampa Bay.

Yep, executing relays is pretty big.

"Yeah, absolutely," Britton said. "We practice it so much. We have some great arms in the infield and then obviously with Wieters too at the plate. So we have a really good combination. Adding Michael and even Drew (Stubbs) was a big plus for us defensively, especially late in games."

Bourn's plus speed enabled him to get to the ball off the bat of Alexei Ramirez before it could bang around in the left-field corner. Bourn has been an Oriole for 12 games over about two weeks now, but it's working out pretty well, right?

"They've been fun," Bourn said of his first dozen games here. "Always as a baseball player, as an athlete, you want to be playing in meaningful games towards the end of your season no matter what sport you play in. In baseball, it's August and September. You want to be playing meaningful games. It's fun to be a part of."

Bourn was asked about his ability to bring some needed small-ball elements to the team, like his sac fly that scored the go-ahead run in the last of the eighth.

"I play the game how it comes," he said. "Small ball, if I need to do that, I'll try to do that. Hitting, defense, whatever it is, I'm going to try to do all of it if I can. Of course you want it, but this team is known for hitting home runs. They lead the major leagues in home runs. We lead the major leagues in home runs. I don't consider myself a home run hitter.

"You're right, we do need it (small ball), but you've got to go with what you've been doing. I'm going to add what I can add. You can't change what you already do. Nobody goes up there trying to hit home runs, you just have the power. I've also seen them get base hits in big situations."

Britton is now 44-for-44 in save chances. He has recorded 46 consecutive saves dating to last Oct. 1. That is the seventh-longest streak in MLB history since the save became a statistic in 1969. Next on the list is Brad Lidge with 47 straight saves from Sept. 25, 2007 to April 13, 2009.

Britton's 44 saves are the fourth-most in team history:

51 - Jim Johnson, 2012

50 - Jim Johnson, 2013

45 - Randy Myers, 1997

The Orioles have played three consecutive one-run games, winning two of the three. They are now 17-16 in one-run games.

The Orioles are 12-5 against the Rays and have outscored them 89-56. The O's team ERA is 3.26 in the 17 games.

Evan Longoria was batting .193 (11-for-57) in 15 games against the Orioles in the season series with three homers and four RBIs before this series began. In two games at Camden Yards in this series, he is 5-for-9 with two homers and seven RBIs. Longoria's first-inning homer last night was his 34th and that is a new career-high. He has two first-inning homers in this series and eight on the year, his most in any inning.

The Orioles bullpen recorded two scoreless innings last night. Over the past four games, the O's bullpen pitchers have allowed one run over 12 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.73.

Jonathan Schoop drew a leadoff walk to start the Orioles rally in the eighth inning last night. The walk ended a streak of 62 plate appearances without one. Schoop had the ninth-longest active streak entering yesterday. He has a walk rate of just 3.1 percent this year while the league average is 8.3 percent. That is still a little above last season when Schoop's walk rate was just 2.8 percent.