Gene Sweeney Jr. / Baltimore Sun
If you still doubt that Miguel Gonzalez (pictured) has nerves of steel and pitches with a very high level of concentration, you weren't paying attention over the past week. He's the main reason that the Orioles had such a strong week and moved comfortably into second place in the AL East. He pitched eight strong innings against the Angels and then came back to pitch into the seventh and win Sunday's series finale against the Red Sox. Overall, the rotation was 4-1 with a 3.56 ERA in the seven games, but that doesn't even tell the whole story. Nearly half of the earned runs surrendered by the rotation were given up by Freddy Garcia, who still pitched well enough to go 1-1 in two starts. The top three -- Gonzalez, Chris Tillman and Jason Hammel -- were 3-0 with a combined 2.73 ERA and Kevin Gausman pitched well in the opener against the Red Sox. Grade: A-
Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Even with Pedro Strop trying without success to pull himself together, it was a very strong week for the bullpen. Jim Johnson (pictured) saved four games in four tries to move back into the major league lead with 25. Darren O'Day and Tommy Hunter continue to pile up solid outings. Troy Patton contributed two scoreless outings. And Rule 5 guy T.J. McFarland did a terrific job in a lengthy performance Saturday and pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in two outings. The bullpen combined to go 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Take away Strop's four-run blowup Wednesday and the rest of the relief corps was 1-0 with a 1.52 ERA. Grade: A-
Every Monday during the regular season, columnist Peter Schmuck grades the cumulative performance of the Orioles in six major areas during the previous week.