It’s been nine months and two days since the top prospect battery of Grayson Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman -- MLB's top pitching and catching prospects -- took the field together. On Friday night at First Horizon Park in Nashville, Tenn., they reunited with a productive outing.

Rodriguez, the No. 6 prospect in baseball, struck out five in 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking three batters in Triple-A Norfolk’s 1-0 loss to Nashville. Rodriguez lowered his ERA from 4.15 to 3.33 with the scoreless start, rebounding from allowing eight runs over his past two starts. The 22-year-old has fanned five or more batters in 14 consecutive starts, dating back to his last start with Rutschman behind the plate on Aug. 5.

“It’s huge," said Rodriguez about having Rutschman back. "He’s one of the best catchers that there is. Getting back, throwing in a game with him, it’s awesome.”

Rodriguez started his outing by giving up a leadoff single to Jonathan Davis, then picked him off five pitches later. After walking Brice Turang, the Brewers’ No. 4 prospect, he rolled a double play to end the first. The 6-foot-5 righty settled down in the second, striking out the side on 19 pitches.

“I really got the feel there for my delivery and the strike zone after the single," said Rodriguez. "We were able to sharpen everything up after that and roll through it.”

The second-ranked Orioles prospect cruised through the Sounds’ lineup in the middle innings, with his only blemish being a walk to Davis in the fourth. Rutschman, the No. 2 prospect in baseball, led off the top of the fourth with a 109 mph single, his only hit of the night in four trips to the plate, giving him a .406/.500/.563 slash line in nine games this year.

Rodriguez ran into a jam in the sixth inning, walking Andruw Monasterio and allowing a second single to Davis, ending his outing at a season-high 82 pitches. Reliever Isaac Mattson got Turang to ground into a fielder’s choice and escaped the inning unscathed. Turang would later prove to be the difference, driving in the game’s only run with a go-ahead single in the bottom of the eighth inning.

"There were some times where I kind of threw 0-2 type pitches, strike to ball, not necessarily in the right count. Some misses that next start, we’ll clean it up," said Rodriguez on his season-high three walks.

After dominating in his first three starts of the season, Rodriguez posted back-to-back starts allowing three or more earned runs for the first time in his professional career. His response on Saturday night was a good one, giving him 38 K’s to eight walks in 27 innings, a 1.00 WHIP and a .198 batting average against.

“I’m feeling pretty good. My arm's in shape, we’ve been taking it slow, I feel like I’ve been ready to make a big jump [in pitches] like tonight," said Rodriguez. "Obviously, you don’t want those [starts] to happen, but ultimately those are the starts that you learn the most from.”

With Rutschman’s return to Triple-A after a 10-day rehab stint at High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie, the Orioles’ prized battery of the future is on display once again just 250 miles south of Baltimore. With similar development schedules and a strong personal bond, the two future stars could move up to the Major Leagues together at any point this season.

“I think that would be the perfect ending to the Minor League careers and the perfect start to the big league ones. That’s something that’d be pretty amazing," said Rodriguez.