The very early returns: Jason Garcia has pitched well for the Orioles

So far, so good for Orioles right-hander Jason Garcia.

The 22-year-old Garcia had not pitched above low Single-A level until Wednesday, when he threw a scoreless inning against Tampa Bay. On Friday, he pitched during the home opener, going 2 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and one run against Toronto.

Garcia recorded his first major league strikeout when he fanned Edwin Encarnacion in the sixth inning.

I asked Garcia if pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti have offered him several tips so far or if they have been less hands-on since he is new to them as a first-year Oriole. Maybe they need to see him pitch some before they do any tweaking or work with his mechanics or pitches.

"A little bit of both," Garcia said. "Been really working on command with the four-seam (fastball). Used to be a big two-seam guy, so trying to work with that. Try not to do too much, just stay in control with it."

Is it hard for him to learn and improve when he pitches fewer innings in a bullpen role and is a bit down the bullpen depth chart as a rookie with little experience?

"Even days I don't get out there, I still manage to get a lot of work in before the game. Even during the games, just watching you can learn a lot," he said.

The Orioles acquired Garcia via the Rule 5 draft from Houston for cash considerations. The Astros selected him fourth in the Rule 5 out of the Boston Red Sox organization.

Garcia went 3-2 with three saves and a 3.67 ERA in 14 combined games (seven starts) with Single-A Lowell and Greenville in 2014. He struck out 9.4 batters per nine innings and held right-handed hitters to a .189/.275/.236 line in 121 total plate appearances.

Originally selected by Boston in the 17th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Land O'Lakes High School (Fla.), Garcia has gone 15-16 with a 4.69 ERA in 73 minor league games (51 starts).

The Orioles were impressed by Garcia when he struck out 14 of 18 Birds batters during fall instructional league last year. Garcia had Tommy John surgery in May 2013 and by last June 13, he was back on the mound in a minor league game.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette talked about Garcia last December at the Winter Meetings when the O's added him.

"He's a Florida kid and completed his rehab from Tommy John," Duquette said. "So he's ready to roll. That was a scouting recommendation. Our scouts really like the quality of his pitches and his velocity is mid 90s and up with a good slider. So we'll get a chance to take a look at him this spring.

"Our scouts really like Garcia. He's got good stuff. He's not very tall, but he's a pretty impressive kid."

Speaking of impressive, that might describe the Orioles' win last night. Nice response by the Birds to a blowout loss in the home opener on Friday. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched seven scoreless innings and O's pitching gave up just three hits in a 7-1 win over Toronto. The night before, the Blue Jays offense produced 12 runs and 16 hits, including eight doubles.

Other notes on the Orioles:

* Alejandro De Aza began the Orioles' first inning with a solo homer, the team's first leadoff home run since Sept. 25, 2014, when Nick Markakis connected against the Yankees. It was De Aza's ninth career leadoff home run and first since June 19, 2013 at Minnesota.

* The Orioles were shut out 2-0 by Tampa Bay on Wednesday night. But in their other four games, they have scored a total of 24 runs.

* The Orioles have hit nine homers to start the year. Through five games last season, they had hit just two homers, both by Nelson Cruz. They didn't hit their ninth homer as a team last season until Game 12. With nine homers, the Orioles lead the majors leagues right now with one more than Kansas City and two more than Cincinnati, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado.

* Jonathan Schoop hit his first career grand slam in the fifth inning. It was the first Orioles slam since Aug. 31, 2014 when J.J. Hardy hit one against Minnesota. Schoop's four RBIs were a career-high. The Orioles are 16-2 in games in which Schoop homers. This was the third time in his career that he has homered in consecutive games and first since homering in three straight, Sept. 2-4, 2014 versus Cincinnati. He joins Steve Pearce (April 6-7) as the second Oriole to homer in consecutive games this season.

Radio show today: Join me later today from 12:30-1 p.m. when I'll be hosting "Orioles Baseball Tonight," the Sunday edition on the O's new flagship radio station, 105.7 The Fan. I'll be hosting this show that airs an hour before game time each Sunday on 105.7. My special guest today is O's executive vice president Dan Duquette.