WASHINGTON -- Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish have done a lot together this year. They spent the offseason as workout partners at Push Performance Gym in Tempe, Ariz. They were also locker mates in Spring Training. And they even roomed together in Sarasota, Fla., during camp.

Now, the right-handed duo has paired together again to pull the Orioles’ rotation out of an early-season funk.

After Kremer tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings Tuesday at Nationals Park, Bradish followed his friend with a gem of his own. He came off the injured list and delivered six tremendous frames on Wednesday night, guiding Baltimore to a 4-0 victory and a two-game sweep of Washington.

The Orioles haven’t allowed a run in 26 consecutive innings dating back to Sunday, when the White Sox plated four in the first and were blanked over the final eight frames.

It’s the first time Baltimore has notched back-to-back shutout wins since last Sept. 22-23 vs. Houston -- games also started by Bradish (8 2/3 innings) and Kremer (his first career shutout). Since June 2022, the O’s have recorded 14 shutout victories, 11 of which have been started by either Bradish or Kremer.

“Going behind him, I like to be out there and watch the game, because I know what he’s trying to do, and it helps me prepare for the next outing,” Bradish said of observing Kremer's start in the opener. “Seeing him being out there and having success, he’s a really good competitor and has got really good stuff, so it was awesome to see him have that success [Tuesday].”

Bradish then continued the positive momentum on Wednesday. He gave up five hits (four of which were singles) and issued only one walk while striking out six. It was his first start since April 3, when he exited his season debut at Texas after taking a 104 mph liner off his right foot. He spent the minimum 15 days on the IL due to a contusion.

Although Bradish allowed at least one baserunner in each of his six innings in his return, he escaped numerous jams to keep the Nats off the board. With runners on the corners and one out in the second, Bradish got CJ Abrams to ground into an inning-ending double play. In the sixth, Cedric Mullins made a nice running grab in deep center field to retire Keibert Ruiz for the final out, stranding a man at third and preserving Bradish’s sterling night.

Of Bradish’s 92 pitches, he threw 29 four-seam fastballs, which averaged 93.8 mph and maxed out at 95.7 mph. His breaking stuff was even better. He threw his curveball 26 times (a career-high 28 percent usage rate) and induced five whiffs among nine swings against it. His slider generated five whiffs on eight swings.

Because Bradish went only 1 2/3 innings in his first appearance of 2023, he said it feels like that outing “didn’t really happen.” But he was off to a strong start before getting hurt -- retiring five of the seven Rangers batters he faced -- and had an impressive spring. So it wasn’t surprising to see him pick up where he left off prior to the injury.

“Outstanding effort,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “You saw what we could be [with] Kremer and Bradish, what they did the last couple games. Fun to watch young guys kind of come into their own. They both have great stuff, and [had] two really well-pitched games.”

For much of the first three weeks of the season, Baltimore’s starters have struggled to get deep into contests and haven’t produced the type of results the club had hoped to get out of the unit. That’s why the Orioles’ rotation ERA still sits at 5.79 through 18 games.

Kremer (27 years old) and Bradish (26) showed the past two nights they’re capable of again pitching the way they did down the stretch last season, which would be a huge boost for a Baltimore staff with a ton of potential.

“I faced them last year on the other side of things. It was like, ‘Whoa, where’d all these guys come from?’” said second baseman Adam Frazier, who hit a two-run homer in support of Bradish on Wednesday. “I kind of knew we had some talent, and I feel like a lot of them are breaking the surface on what they can do.”

Bradish believes that’s going to continue to show deeper into the season.

“We have a lot of really good arms on this team, and everyone’s kind of putting it together,” Bradish said. “I think, going forward, you’re going to see a lot more of this.”