Irvin 'leaving nothing behind' each time out

OAKLAND -- The Orioles surely aren't planning on making a habit of having their wins come down to the wire the way they have recently. But Baltimore has nevertheless found ways to win in do-or-die situations, pulling out three victories in extra innings in the past week.

The Orioles plated five runs in the 10th inning to secure a 7-2 win over the A's on Saturday night at the Coliseum, backing another solid start from left-hander Cole Irvin. Baltimore has won five of its past seven series and added a half-game to its lead over Tampa Bay in the American League East.

"Really, it was up and down the lineup," catcher James McCann said. "There's a walk by [Adley] Rutschman, a big hit by Mounty [Ryan Mountcastle], then guys having quality at-bat after quality at-bat. That's just kind of the way this team's been operating all season long, honestly."

As the Orioles authored their MLB-best 40th road victory that brought them a season-high-tying 29 games over .500, there were many key contributors: McCann, whose three RBIs led the team, Mountcastle, who drove in the game-winning run in the 10th, and Austin Hays, who plated a pair of runs, including a funky solo homer that lodged in the left-field foul pole in the fourth inning.

The way manager Brandon Hyde saw it, though, the game was decided on the mound: "Our pitching won us the game tonight."

That started with Irvin, who turned in another fine start after being reinserted into Baltimore's rotation as a sixth starter. The 29-year-old lefty, who spent the prior two seasons with the A's, followed up last Saturday's five scoreless frames against the Mariners with five innings of one-run ball in his first start at the Coliseum since being traded to the Orioles in January.

In five appearances (two starts) in August, Irvin has permitted just two runs (one earned) across 14 innings, striking out 14 against two walks. He allowed his sole earned run this month when he served up a solo home run to A's utility man Aledmys Díaz in the second inning on Saturday night.

"It was attack, attack, attack," McCann said. "[Díaz's homer] didn't deter him from pounding the strike zone with all of his pitches."

Since Irvin isn't fully stretched out, his night ended at 77 pitches. The bullpen handled things the rest of the way, allowing one run through the final five innings on Díaz's second homer of the night, a game-tying solo shot off Shintaro Fujinami in the sixth.

"[Irvin] did a nice job of limiting anything and really gave us a chance to win," Hyde said.

Irvin has looked a lot more like the pitcher the Orioles acquired from the A's lately, and he attributed some of his recent success to his cutter.

"It's honestly been a very quality pitch away to lefties and righties, and I've had back-to-back starts where I've faced an all-righty lineup," Irvin said. "It's very effective, and with the ability to throw the four-seam in, that's also helped. I wasn't doing that early in the year.

"So I'm back to kind of doing a lot of things that were my strengths. That has a lot to do with it."

In two seasons with the A's from 2021-22, Irvin went 19-28 with a 4.11 ERA across 62 starts. Last year, as Oakland trudged its way to 102 losses, Irvin had his best campaign in the big leagues so far, recording a sub-4.00 ERA for the first time and setting career highs in strikeouts (128) and innings pitched (181).

One of Irvin's worst starts in an Orioles uniform came when he faced the A's for the first time at Camden Yards on April 13, surrendering six runs across four innings and subsequently being optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. That performance, he admitted, provided some added motivation to be better this time around.

Irvin has had ups and downs in his first season with Baltimore, from the demotion to a move to the bullpen, but he's determined to find his form from his two years in Oakland. And hopefully, he'll take it to a new level with the Orioles.

"Each time they give me the chance to take the ball, I'm leaving nothing behind," Irvin said. "Maybe that's part of the reliever side of things, getting that experience. But I'm having a lot of fun with this ballclub, and like I said, all that matters now is winning and winning a lot."