'Pen close to perfect as Orioles reach 70 wins

BALTIMORE -- Strong pitching from the bullpen proved to be the difference as the Orioles beat the Mets, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.

The Orioles, who swept the three-game series, became the second Major League team (after the Braves) to reach 70 victories this season. They have won 21 of their past 28 games dating back to July 5 -- the best record in the Majors in that span.

Baltimore right-hander Kyle Bradish pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings, but he struggled with his fastball command, throwing only 45 of 87 pitches for strikes.

“I would say it was the worst command outing [I] had this year,” Bradish said. “But I was able to make pitches when I needed to. … I gave the team the chance to win.”

Bradish got two quick outs to open the fifth, but then he loaded the bases on two walks and a single, ending his day. Left-hander Cionel Pérez came in and got DJ Stewart to ground out to second on a 2-0 sinker to end the threat.

“Cionel Pérez, the biggest out of the game in that bases-loaded situation,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.

Being put in that tight situation gave Pérez a lot of confidence.

“It means a lot to me,” Pérez said through interpreter Brandon Quinones. “It was a tight situation there, but we kept working. I was just focused on me. I was trying to pitch my best sinker in that situation. We got a ground ball, and sure enough, it worked out.”

Pérez pitched another scoreless inning. Cole Irvin, Shintaro Fujinami and Félix Bautista each pitched a scoreless frame, with Bautista picking up his 30th save of the season.

It was an impressive showing, and it was much-needed with usual setup men Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe given the day off.

“That was the best stuff we’ve seen from Fuji. Fantastic and dominating stuff, and then Félix closing it down,” Hyde said. “I was staying away from Cano and Coulombe, giving them two days off [including Monday’s off-day]. When you do that, all of a sudden different people are pitching in different spots in the sixth or the eighth.”

The Orioles finally broke through against Mets left-hander José Quintana in the fifth inning. With one out, Jorge Mateo hit a looper to center field that Rafael Ortega seemed to have a bead on, but the ball got past him and rolled to the wall for a triple. Adley Rutschman then hit a hard shot to third baseman Mark Vientos, who bobbled the ball before throwing out Rutschman, allowing Mateo to score.

Baltimore added to the lead in the seventh inning. Quintana left the game after putting runners on first and third with no outs. Trevor Gott induced a forceout from Ryan O’Hearn that scored James McCann.

“It takes a little bit of everybody to win on different nights,” Hyde said. “For me today … Jorge Mateo [showed] you the speed on the triple. On contact, he scored from third.

“James McCann once again -- he gets a big hit. He had a double to lead off the inning. So it’s not going to be the same guys every single night. That’s what good teams do. We have to do the little things to win.”