BALTIMORE -- There wasn’t much Baltimore’s lineup could do Sunday afternoon against one of the hottest starting pitchers in MLB.

Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller racked up a career-high 13 strikeouts over seven dominant innings and the Orioles were shut out for the third time this season as they fell, 4-0, in the series finale at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Baltimore scattered its seven hits -- all singles, other than Gunnar Henderson’s two-out double in the eighth -- and struck out 17 times.

The O’s (26-14) still took the set against the Pirates -- their ninth series victory in the past 10 -- after winning the first two games. But they couldn’t record their third sweep of the season.

Here are three takeaways from the conclusion of this weekend’s action vs. the Bucs.

1. The O’s couldn’t find a way to cool off Keller
Manager Brandon Hyde had watched video of Keller’s previous outing, which was a complete-game shutout against the Rockies last Monday. But it was different sitting in the dugout and seeing the 27-year-old carve through a talented group of Baltimore hitters with what Hyde described as “elite stuff.”

“That might be the best pitching performance of the season. That was a pitching clinic,” Hyde said. “We just had a tough time with him offensively. You tip your hat.”

The Orioles notched only four hits off Keller, and they were all singles (one each in the first, third, sixth and seventh innings). Because of that, they never had a runner advance past second base. That was different from the previous two nights, when they scored eight runs and belted three homers against Pittsburgh.

“When you've got a guy who has the stuff that he has and he's not making mistakes, it's going to make for a tough day at the plate for the offense,” catcher James McCann said.

2. Tough breaks prevented Gibson from keeping pace
O’s starter Kyle Gibson would have had to be nearly perfect to keep pace with Keller. That wasn’t the case for the right-hander, but he also didn’t have a bad outing, even though he allowed four runs over five innings.

All six hits yielded by Gibson were singles, three of which had an exit velocity of 94.3 mph or less, per Statcast. But each of them found a hole in Baltimore’s defense. And three of Pittsburgh’s runs came in the third, when it got an extra out after Bryan Reynolds reached base after a strikeout due to a wild pitch to open the inning.

“They kind of singled us to death today,” Gibson said. “A couple of them were really close. That’s baseball, right? A game of inches. A foot here, a foot there. Obviously, the game changes, but [that's] part of it.”

The Orioles’ three shutout losses have come in Gibson’s past three starts. He’s pitched 17 2/3 innings over that span and has received no offensive support. Baltimore last scored a run with him in a game during its April 27 win at Detroit.

3. More winning teams are coming on the schedule
Despite Sunday’s loss, the Orioles have handled the early portion of a challenging stretch on their schedule well. From May 5-28, they’re playing 22 consecutive games against teams that have a winning record.

So far, they’re 5-4 after dropping two of three to the Braves in Atlanta and then taking two of three against both the MLB-best Rays and Pirates at home.

Next up: The Angels (21-20), who will open a four-game set at Camden Yards on Monday night.

The series opener brings a highly anticipated pitching matchup. The Orioles will send right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (their No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 overall prospect) to the mound for his eighth career big league start, while the Halos will counter with two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, one of the game’s top stars.

"That's somebody that you argue is the face of baseball right now,” Rodriguez said. “Any time you step on a field or share a diamond with that kind of caliber player, you just know that you're in the big leagues and get ready for a dogfight."