BALTIMORE - When the Baltimore Orioles shipped Jeremy Guthrie to Colorado for Jason Hammel and Matt Lindstrom, the backlash was primarily negative.
The Orioles had jettisoned the closest thing they had to an ace for two pitchers with so-so track records.
Hammel owned a career ERA close to 5.00 and Lindstrom hadn't quite established himself as an elite late-inning reliever.
Over their first three weeks with Baltimore, the duo has made the post-trade digs seem silly, the latest example being Wednesday's 3-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays before 10,415 at Camden Yards.
Hammel (3-0) tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, walking one and fanning seven. He let just two runners past first, as he continued to be the team's best starting pitcher. Lindstrom did his part, striking out two in a dominant 1-2-3 eighth inning. He has yet to allow a run in seven appearances.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter has enjoyed seeing his team benefit from the deal already.
"Jeremy's going to pitch real well over there. He already is," Showalter said. "We look at it as quality for quality, So far, so good."
Hammel, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his team debut, has permitted one run and six hits in his first 15 frames at Camden Yards this season. In the process, he lowered his ERA to a rotation-best 1.73 through four starts.
That certainly has impressed his Orioles teammates.
"It's kind of the same story every time he goes out there. He strikes out a bunch of people, doesn't give up any runs, and he's really dominant," first baseman Chris Davis said. "He's fun to play behind because he's constantly going after hitter, he's keeping us in the ballgame, being aggressive, and it's fun to win when he's pitching."
Over Hammel's first six major-league campaigns, his lowest single-season ERA was 4.33 with Colorado in 2009.
Although the addition of a sinker has made the 6-foot-6 right-hander more commanding, so has his demeanor, which he said came from four years of making mistakes and learning what not to do.
"It took me a while to build confidence," Hammel said. "I got hit around a bit. Only when I started to care about being a pitcher did my confidence go up. Obviously, the results are showing it."
Pedro Strop tossed a scoreless ninth for his second save in as many nights, but this time it was a bit dicier. He let Adam Lind and Eric Thames start the inning with singles. But Strop then induced a fly out from Edwin Encarnacion and a double-play grounder from Brett Lawrie to end Baltimore's first shutout since Sept. 9, 2011 - also against Toronto.
The Orioles (11-7) have now won three straight, and improved to 4-1 against the Blue Jays (10-8) this season.
Hammel's strong pitching only needed modest run support.
After committing an error in each of the first two innings, Wilson Betemit responded in the second by mashing his second homer of the year, a solo shot to center field for a 1-0 Orioles lead.
Davis doubled the lead to 2-0 with a two-out solo blast to left in the fourth. It was his second of the year.
Adam Jones added the insurance run with a two-out RBI double in the eighth, scoring Nick Markakis from first.
To make that stand up, the two pitchers brought back for Guthrie had another banner day.
"The type of guys we have in here, we like to keep it loose and have fun," Lindstrom said. "So for Jason and I to come over and help this club, we're excited."
