CHICAGO -- A pitcher is as good as his defense.

For the Orioles, their defense came to play on Thursday night to capture their 7th shutout of the season (and 2nd straight) in a 4-0 win against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“We played incredible defense,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We were playing gold glove defense and they won us the game tonight.”

Dean Kremer -- who went 5 2/3 scoreless innings allowing just seven hits and one walk with four strikeouts -- Felix Bautista, Dillon Tate and Jorge Lopez all combined for the shutout. But they couldn’t have done it without the stellar play from their defense, especially their outfielders.

"Unbelievable," Kremer said. "Every single one of them out there, Austin [Hays], Cedric [Mullins] and Anthony [Santander] went and got it today."

Here’s how each of those players made their mark on Thursday’s game:

RF Austin Hays
Right fielder Austin Hays, fresh off a cycle on Wednesday night, is a candidate for an All-Star spot this July. Hays added more to his resume after two spectacular plays in the field on Thursday.

"He’s making a defensive play a night and he made two tonight,” Hyde said.

In the 8th inning, Hays robbed Jake Burger’s liner to right field with a crucial catch. With a runner on first and only one out, a miss by the 26-year-old and the whole game changes.

But Hays hustled at 28.4 ft/sec, covered 75 feet of outfield grass and leaped to make the incredible diving catch. He also recorded his sixth outfield assist of the season in the fourth inning when he threw out Gavin Sheets at the plate in the fourth inning.

His throw home came in at 96.4 mph, the second-fastest outfield assist by an Oriole since 2016 (Hays has the top mark as well at 97.6 mph). That marked his sixth assist of the season, ranking him second in the American League and tied for third in the Majors.

“I’m sure Austin is excited because he loves to throw,” Hyde said. “He’s got so much carry and the accuracy, you just don’t see that very often.”

Wednesday’s cycle and Thursday’s defensive display in back-to-back days have Hays pushing for an All-Star Spot.

“He’s just a fun guy to watch and you get excited any time a ball is hit his way,” Adley Rutschman said.

CF Cedric Mullins
Hays wasn’t the only Oriole outfielder who showed his glovework against the White Sox. His neighbor in center field, Cedric Mullins, had his speed all over the field.

After Hays' incredible grab in the eighth, Mullins followed that up with his wheels to save another run in the eighth. Gavin Sheets -- with an exit velocity of 99 mph -- sent the ball deep into right-center at 373 feet.

But Mullins, who has 15 stolen bases this year, used his speed and sprinted 29.1 ft/sec (30 ft/sec is considered elite), covering 87 feet in 4.3 seconds. The 27-year-old tracked it down -- rather easily -- to end the inning.

It was the second time in the game Mullins used his legs to help the O's. In the sixth inning, the center fielder was forced to use his speed when José Abreu crushed a 103.7 mph fly ball to (again) right-center. And (once again), Mullins did what he does best: make the catch while covering 102 feet in the process.

“We took away multiple extra-base hits,” Hyde said.

LF Anthony Santander
Anthony Santander didn’t get much action in left field on Thursday. But when he did, he made the most of it.

With a runner on first and just a three-run lead in the seventh, Santander had just 3.5 seconds to catch Andrew Vaughn’s line drive in left field. He sprinted, caught the ball and ended the inning.

“It’s fun to watch those guys track down balls today,” said Rutschman, who did the bulk of the offensive work with a homer and career-high three RBIs in the victory. “They just do a phenomenal job. Big key moments today and a huge shift when they were able to track down those balls in the outfield.”