For a group that entered Monday' game with a 5.52 ERA, the Orioles' bullpen gave the team an outing it badly needed in its 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals.
There were tense moments throughout the three innings pitched by the pen, but Mychal Givens, Donnie Hart, Brad Brach, and Zach Britton combined to allow a run on two hits with five strikeouts.
For Buck Showalter, it was a reward for managing his bullpen in the disastrous series loss to the Houston Astros. He set up his situational, high-leverage arms to be available all at once for what was a necessary win.
"We were trying to piece together the outs there," Showalter said.
For Givens, who allowed a home run but struck out two in the seventh inning, the outing was a microcosm of his season. His 11.12 strikeouts per nine innings was sixth-most among American League relievers with at least 50 innings pitched this season, and that total rose Monday.
But Nationals shortstop Danny Espinosa homered from the left side to continue his issues with opposite-side batters. He's fared better against them of late, but still entered the day with lefties batting .354 against him.
His opposite in that sense is the left-handed submariner Hart, whose task was to face two left-handers to open the eighth inning. He gave up a leadoff double to second baseman Daniel Murphy, but changed the course of the inning by throwing behind Murphy at second base on a comebacker by right fielder Bryce Harper for a big first out.
"That was important for him," Britton said. "He did a really good job. People don't realize how hard that play is. When you field it, your first reaction is you want to get rid of a ball. He made Murphy make a decision on where he was going to go and he made a great play. That's a huge out if you look at how the game turned out."
Brach, who entered Monday with a 4.15 ERA in the second half after earning All-Star honors with a 0.91 mark in the first half, took over after that play got a groundout. He then issued a two-out walk before winning a seven-pitch battle against first baseman Ryan Zimmerman.
Zach Britton did what was expected of him in an 11-pitch, 1-2-3 ninth inning. He has now converted 38 straight saves to start the season. On Monday he overcame the fact that he had recorded just one out since Aug. 14.
"I felt a little rusty, I guess, but I threw a bullpen before the game and I think that kind of helped a little bit," Britton said. "There's things that I can do to stay ready. I always say I want to be out there more often, but sometimes it doesn't happen. Sometimes, they come in short bursts where I'll have three or four outings in a row, or a week off. It's kind of something I've gotten used to at this point."