After his outing last Tuesday Jorge López pitched prior to Monday, López sat incredulous in an oversized T-shirt, shaking his head into the Zoom camera. Hours earlier, López had cruised through four innings in an eventual loss to the Mariners, only to hit a wall in the fifth. It was a familiar feeling, one López was tired of. Five times in his first six starts this season, López failed to complete five innings, often watching his stuff, command or some combination lose form in the final frame. When pressed, he could not pinpoint a reason why.

The Orioles were also similarly puzzled. López 's stuff has ticked up all year in terms of both velocity and spin, allowing him often to dazzle early in games. His trouble was sustaining it. That’s why they saw so much cause for optimism Monday night, when López’s finest outing of the season set the foundation for Baltimore’s 4-1 win over the Red Sox at Oriole Park.

“[I'm] so happy for Lopey,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He got over the hump tonight.”

Pitching into the sixth for the first time in 2021, López twirled 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball opposite Martín Pérez, striking out five while allowing four hits and walking none.

López needed just 71 pitches (52 strikes) to record 17 outs, giving way to Tanner Scott only after surrendering Xander Bogaerts’ two-out, two-strike double in the sixth. Scott made quick work of Rafael Devers to end the frame, before three other O’s relievers combined to record the final nine outs in order.

Trey Mancini hit the go-ahead homer in the sixth, then added another run-scoring hit in the eighth, after Cedric Mullins hit one of the strangest triples to spark a two-run insurance rally. Taken together, the result was Baltimore avoiding a four-game sweep with one of its cleanest, crispest wins of the season.

“We pitched so well tonight,” Hyde said. “I was so impressed with Lopey’s stuff. Once again, throwing 97 [mph], throwing sinkers, utilizing all pitches.”

The difference this time being that when faced with adversity in the middle innings, none of them wavered.

López's four-seamer eclipsed 97 mph in the first, and he maintained that velocity into the fifth. His curve showed similar bite (spin, horizontal break) in the second and in the sixth. He found himself in just one three-ball count, and didn’t issue a walk for the first time since Sept. 29, 2019 -- a 13-start span.

After Hunter Renfroe doubled to lead off the fifth, López poured in first-pitch strikes to the next three hitters, striking out Bobby Dalbec and Marwin Gonzalez to escape unscathed. He got Dalbec fishing on a wicked changeup that darted down and in to the right-handed slugger, then he got Gonzalez swinging through a 96.3 mph sinker that ran toward the outside corner.

“I was going to do anything I could to get him through that inning,” Hyde said. “I was hoping we would have a little more of a lead and maybe a little cushion for him, but like normal, we didn't. I'm proud of him for getting through five and into the sixth inning, so I think he feels good about that.”

Said López: “I've been battling the last couple games, and getting through that inning gave me more confidence to just keep pushing and pushing.”

Entering play Monday, 11 of the 19 earned runs allowed by López this season occurred in the fifth inning. Opponents were hitting .571 with three homers (8-for-14) in the frame, compared to .187 with four homers against him in all other innings. He now owns a sixth-inning ERA for the first time in 2021. It is 0.00.

“He was really good, the best I’ve seen him,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I know this kid from back home [in Puerto Rico], and he was amazing.”