Bradish leads Orioles to 1st shutout of season in 1-hitter over Yankees

BALTIMORE -- The storylines surrounding the Orioles’ early struggles have been consistent during the first month-and-a-half of the 2026 season.

They’re not playing clean enough baseball. Their starting pitching has been disappointing (particularly the performances of projected co-aces Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish). They’re not hitting left-handed starters. They’re not scoring enough early. Their injuries are again beginning to pile up.

That last one remains true -- the injured list has grown to 13 players with the addition of outfielder Dylan Beavers (right oblique strain), the 19th Oriole to spend time on the IL this year.

The others? Baltimore might have helped quell some of those concerns Wednesday afternoon.

The O’s played one of their best games thus far in the series finale vs. the Yankees at Camden Yards, cruising to a 7-0 win for their first shutout victory of the year. Bradish tossed six dominant innings and Adley Rutschman hit a two-run homer as Baltimore took two of three from American League East rival New York.

It can’t be overstated how much this type of performance was needed for Baltimore (20-24) -- as fans frustrated by the past seven weeks can attest. The O’s first meeting with the Yanks, truthfully, couldn’t have gone much worse. The Bombers (27-17) swept a four-game series in the Bronx from May 1-4, a set in which the Orioles didn’t lead even once.

The O’s won in impressive fashion on Monday, spoiling left-hander Ryan Weathers’ no-hit bid in the seventh and then winning, 3-2, thanks to Coby Mayo’s go-ahead three run homer later that inning. After Tuesday’s 6-2 loss, Baltimore bounced back beautifully by beating lefty Max Fried, who yielded three runs in three innings before exiting due to left elbow posterior soreness.

That’s right -- two Orioles wins against two left-handed starters after they lost their first nine games in which their opponent began with a southpaw on the mound. Fried allowed an RBI double to Coby Mayo in the second before Rutschman (sac fly) and Pete Alonso (single) each drove in a run in the third.

But Bradish’s performance might have been the best part about Wednesday’s well-rounded win. The 29-year-old right-hander looked more like the pitcher who placed fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting in 2023, and he was among the best pitchers in baseball (when healthy) -- not the one who had 5.03 ERA through seven outings before a 10-strikeout quality start (seven innings, three runs) vs. the A’s last Friday.

This time out, Bradish was even better. He didn’t allow a hit until Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s one-out double in the fifth, which ended up being New York’s only knock of the day. Bradish racked up seven strikeouts and benefited from his increased curveball usage for the second straight start.

Through Bradish’s first 74 MLB starts, he had never once generated more than seven whiffs with his curveball. He had nine last Friday and eight more on Wednesday.