Cole Irvin extended his scoreless innings streak by allowing just two hits over 6 1/3 innings Friday night, combining with three relievers as the Baltimore Orioles shut out the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Adley Rutschman snapped a scoreless tie with a seventh-inning RBI double and scored on a homer by Ryan O’Hearn as the Orioles won for the fourth time in five games. The Reds have lost three straight and six of eight.
Rain forced a delay of more than 2 1/2 hours before the game began.
Irvin (3-1) walked none and struck out four. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last 20 innings dating back to the fourth inning of a start against the Minnesota Twins on April 15.
The left-hander retired 17 straight batters between a first-inning single by Elly De La Cruz and De La Cruz’s one-out double in the seventh. Yennier Cano replaced Irvin, and got out of the jam by retiring Tyler Stephenson and Christian Encarnacion-Strand on grounders.
Danny Coulombe tossed a perfect eighth inning and Craig Kimbrel, pitching for the first time since he exited an outing against the Oakland Athletics with a sore back in a blown save on Sunday, struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth to earn his eighth save.
The Orioles left five runners in scoring position against Reds starter Hunter Greene and Fernando Cruz in the first six innings before breaking through against Emilio Pagan (2-2) in the seventh. Jorge Mateo led off with a single, stole second, took third on a fly out by Gunnar Henderson and scored on Rutschman’s double.
O’Hearn homered eight pitches later.
O’Hearn, Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle had two hits apiece for the Orioles.
Greene gave up five hits and four walks while striking out five over 5 2/3 innings. He has thrown 14 2/3 straight scoreless innings dating back to April 22.
