O's rotation gets on a roll and a take on Mike Wright's debut

Don't look now, but Orioles starting pitchers are starting to get on a roll. Mike Wright's Sunday outing was outstanding, but it was only the latest in a series of pretty strong starts by the rotation.

Here are the updated rotation numbers through Sunday:

* Four consecutive quality starts with a rotation ERA of 1.24.

* Six quality starts in the last eight games with an ERA of 2.72.

* Thirteen quality starts the last 18 games with an ERA of 3.10.

O's starters have now pitched seven innings or more four straight games for the first time this year. It started on Wednesday against Toronto, when Miguel Gonzalez went 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run against Toronto. Then on Friday, Wei-Yin Chen went seven, allowing two runs versus the Angels. On Saturday, Ubaldo Jimenez went seven innings, allowing two runs, and Wright pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings yesterday.

Had Chris Tillman gotten one more out - he went 6 2/3 innings on Tuesday versus Toronto - the Orioles would have six consecutive starts of seven or more innings.

For a rotation that has been criticized for not getting deep into games, this is a nice improvement and will be quite meaningful if they continue to eat innings like this for much of the rest of this year.

O's starters seven-inning outings:

* Four times in seven starts - Jimenez
* Three times in seven starts - Chen and Gonzalez
* One time in seven starts - Tillman
* One time in six starts - Bud Norris
* One time in one start - Wright

The O's are 9-4 when their starter pitches seven innings or more.

Meanwhile, Sunday sure was a special day for Wright, who pitched so well and showed such poise in his major league debut.

When you consider the pressure alone of making your first major league start, coupled with the O's losing Friday and Saturday and that he was pitching on 10 days' rest, that was pretty special.

It is always even more exciting when the player making his debut is a home-grown product, and in Wright, you have a pitcher drafted by the Orioles in round three of 2011 out of East Carolina -someone that has seen every level on the O's farm from the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League to short-season Single-A Aberdeen to Single-A Delmarva to Single-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk.

Several managers and coaches that worked with Wright along the way and had at least a small hand in helping his rise to the majors must have been smiling yesterday.

That list includes people like Gary Kendall, Ron Johnson, Orlando Gomez, Blaine Beatty, Kennie Steenstra, Scott McGregor and Mike Griffin. And that list doesn't include every single coach that worked with Wright.

The most credit goes to Wright himself for the hard work to get to this point. On the radio yesterday before the game, I said if Wright pitched well, some would be ready to pronounce him the club's next Cy Young winner and if he did not, they'd say he is not ready for the majors.

There should not be an overreaction either way - good or bad - to one start. But it was a special performance and had to be meaningful to the organization to see one of their own do that.

The O's feel there is more where that came from, with others like Tyler Wilson and Zach Davies waiting for their chance. There is good pitching depth at the top levels of the farm and these pitchers are forcing their way toward the majors. They will be getting a chance because they deserve it, not because they are a warm body and the O's need a pitcher from the farm.

From the archives: Click here to read an article and interview I did with Wright in Aberdeen just about two months after the O's drafted him in June 2011. He was selected by then-scouting director Joe Jordan and signed to a bonus of $363,300 by then-area scout Chris Gale. In the fall of 2013, I interviewed Wright for this article, where he looked back at the season that ended with him winning the Jim Palmer Award as the Orioles' minor league Pitcher of the Year. Wright pitched well in spring training this year and I talked to him back in March in this article.