ST. PETERSBURG -- Taj Bradley had every right to be proud of his start last Thursday in Oakland. He struck out the first six batters he faced and racked up a career-high 11 overall in the Rays’ series-splitting win over the A’s.

Instead, Bradley was noticeably frustrated after that outing. Two fifth-inning walks stuck with him more than any of those 11 strikeouts. He said he moved on as soon as he left the ballpark last week, but the rookie right-hander couldn’t shake the feeling that he didn’t do his job by pitching only 4 1/3 innings.

“Strikeouts are cool, but I mean, I was still kind of upset about that outing because I didn't fulfill what I feel like my duty is to go five,” Bradley said Tuesday afternoon.

How did Bradley respond? With the best start of his young career.

Bradley pitched a career-high six innings with eight strikeouts and no walks in the Rays’ 7-2 win over the Orioles on Wednesday afternoon before a crowd of 19,493 at Tropicana Field. The 22-year-old top prospect’s first Major League quality start snapped Tampa Bay’s first three-game losing streak of the season and restored the Rays’ American League East lead over Baltimore to five games.

“Going into the sixth, I was just more happy than anything -- and more happy about no walks than eight strikeouts,” Bradley said. “This is No. 1 right here.”

Bradley was outstanding from start to finish in his 10th career start. He permitted only three hits, with the Orioles’ lone run coming on a Ramón Urías homer to lead off the third inning. He didn’t let that faze him at all as he retired the next 10 batters in a row.

Bradley cruised through the outing on only 83 pitches, throwing no more than 18 in any inning and never facing more than four batters in a frame. He threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 21 hitters he faced, putting himself ahead in counts to make full use of his entire arsenal.

“He was using that cutter to both sides of the plate and throwing strikes early in counts and then throwing some wipeout stuff with two strikes,” Orioles outfielder Austin Hays said. “We just had a hard time really stringing together some hits against him.”

Bradley’s fastball averaged 95.7 mph and topped out at 97.4, and he made good use of his cutter (which he threw 20 times), curveball (19) and changeup (13). Once thought of as a two-pitch starter in the Minors, Bradley finished two strikeouts with each of his four pitches against the Orioles.

“That’s a good mix to me,” said Bradley, whose 71 strikeouts are the most through 10 starts in franchise history. “I threw everything in different counts, and started off hitters offspeed and finished with the fastball and vice versa.”

Bradley’s legitimate four-pitch mix and unpredictability remind Rays catcher Christian Bethancourt of someone else on Tampa Bay’s staff.

“You've got the right-handed [Shane] McClanahan right here,” Bethancourt said. “That's how I see him.”

Bradley said he didn’t specifically use his last start as motivation. But manager Kevin Cash praised the pitcher’s level-headed, even-keeled nature and even noted before the game that Bradley’s critical evaluation of himself is “probably what makes him good.”

Sure enough, after walking 10 batters over his past three starts, Bradley cut out the free passes and ran into only four three-ball counts all game.

“It's pretty electric stuff,” Cash said. “He's a good pitcher now, and he's only going to continue getting better.”

The Rays gave Bradley an early lead by putting up four runs in the second inning against Orioles starter Tyler Wells, who entered the day with an MLB-leading 0.86 WHIP. Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes got the inning started by pulling back-to-back homers out to left field, the fifth time this season Tampa Bay has gone deep in consecutive plate appearances.

After capitalizing on Wells’ mistakes over the plate, the Rays made the most of his misplays in the field. Baltimore’s pitcher whiffed on a Manuel Margot comebacker, walked Taylor Walls then retired Bethancourt on a flyout that advanced both runners. Jose Siri then hit a chopper in front of the plate, scoring Margot, and Wells’ wild throw past first base allowed Walls to score from second.

“Sometimes, you've just got to put enough pressure on the defense,” Cash said. “I know [Siri] didn't square it up, but it's a lot of speed. There's a lot of chaos and panic that goes on when he puts the ball in play.”