The last time Tyler Glasnow faced the Orioles, the right-hander allowed two runs and fanned a career-high 13 over seven innings. On Friday, Glasnow racked up the strikeouts again, sending 10 O's batters down on strikes over five innings in the Rays’ 2-1 win at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

With the victory, the Rays’ magic number to clinch the American League East shrunk to five, with eight games left in the regular season. Tampa Bay also jumped to the AL's No. 1 seed with the White Sox 7-1 loss to the Reds on Friday.

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“That was really encouraging,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Glasnow. “His stuff looked really, really good all night long. I don’t know if the gun readings were accurate, I’m assuming they are, but he was 97-100 [mph]. It didn’t look like a lot of fun at-bats.”

Glasnow ran into some trouble in the second inning, as the Orioles loaded the bases with no outs. The right-hander, however, was able to keep the O's off the board, showing why he has some of the best stuff in the AL, particularly with his four-seam fastball.

After Chance Sisco led off the inning with a single, Glasnow walked Austin Hays and gave up a Rio Ruiz single that loaded the bases. But as he ran into some trouble, Glasnow leaned on a fastball that has lit up the radar gun since he made his Major League debut with the Pirates in 2016.

Glasnow threw a first-pitch curveball to Bryan Holaday, but that was the last one he saw during his at-bat. Glasnow went with four consecutive four-seam fastballs to strike Holaday out looking. The velocity on those pitches: 97.8, 99.8, 98.4 and 98.9.

“Today, I felt loose and I had no tension, and I feel like that’s where the velo comes from,” Glasnow said. “I don’t think the effort level was any higher. If anything, it was a little bit more relaxed. But I think as the year goes on, the things me and [pitching coach Kyle Snyder] are working on have started to take shape a bit better.”

Andrew Velazquez followed Holaday, but he was yet another victim of Glasnow’s fastball. Glasnow again opened the at-bat with a curveball in the dirt, but he then attacked Velazquez with the fastball, striking him out on a 98.8 mph heater. Just four pitches -- and three fastballs -- later, Glasnow got Cedric Mullins to fly out to Randy Arozarena in left field to end the threat.

Glasnow threw 67 fastballs on Friday, landing 45 for strikes. His fastest pitch was recorded at 100.9 mph, a 2-2 pitch to DJ Stewart in the first.

“Getting out of that second inning was a big step for me,” Glasnow said. “It was like a good growth moment, as Kyle would say. But I think after that second inning, I got back in rhythm and was efficient, so I’m happy with that. As long as I’m trending in the right direction, it’s fine.”

Once Glasnow set up the O’s hitters with the fastball in the early innings, he went to his other main weapon: the curveball. Of the 10 strikeouts Glasnow recorded on Friday, six came on the pitch, including his last five punchouts.

“From the side, it’s the most devastating two-pitch combo that you see,” Cash said. “I know the height has a lot to do with that, being 6-foot-9. What he creates as far as a fastball that rides around letter high and gets a lot of swings and misses, and then he throws the breaking ball off that, it’s a pretty lethal combination.”

Glasnow will likely have just one more start before the Rays prepare for a postseason run. With the way he has pitched this season, there’s a good chance he will get the nod in one of the first two games of the Wild Card Series.

“He’s out there throwing 99 to 100 [mph] tonight and it’s very, very downhill,” said Orioles outfielder Austin Hays, who homered off Glasnow in the fourth. “He throws that 12-6 curveball from the same tunnel. It’s a tough at-bat from the first pitch. You’re just battling the whole time.”