BALTIMORE -- The surprise success being had by Albert Suárez during his return season to MLB isn¡¯t coming as much of a surprise anymore.

At this point, the Orioles are expecting these types of outings from the 34-year-old right-hander.

Su¨¢rez turned in yet another scoreless gem on Sunday afternoon, blanking Boston for six innings in Baltimore¡¯s 4-2 win at Camden Yards. He extended his scoreless streak to a career-long 17 2/3 innings, as his previous best was a 12 2/3-inning run from May 10-31.

Not bad for a hurler who, before this year, hadn¡¯t pitched in MLB since 2017. Now Su¨¢rez is pitching in the most meaningful games of his career amid a pennant race, trying to help the O¡¯s (73-52) win a second consecutive American League East title.

¡°For me, I don¡¯t see it as ¡®big games,¡¯ just a game where I have to go out there and then give everything I¡¯ve got,¡± said Su¨¢rez, who spent the previous five seasons in Japan (2019-21) and Korea (¡®22-23). ¡°So for me, I think every game is a big game, and obviously, if the team wins, we feel good about it.¡±

The beginning of Su¨¢rez¡¯s latest scoreless stretch coincided with his Aug. 6 emergency start in Toronto, where right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (right lat/teres strain) was scratched only minutes before the game. Su¨¢rez stepped up and delivered five dominant frames, then followed that with a career-long 6 2/3-inning performance at Tampa Bay last Sunday.

Of Su¨¢rez¡¯s 17 starts, eight have been scoreless. No pitcher in MLB has more scoreless starts in 2024 (with a minimum of two innings pitched in each outing), as Cincinnati¡¯s Hunter Greene, Atlanta¡¯s Reynaldo L¨®pez and Seattle¡¯s Bryce Miller are tied for second with seven.

¡°That¡¯s an amazing stat. I heard about that before his last one,¡± manager Brandon Hyde said. ¡°I thought the fastball once again got better as the game went on. His pitch mix has really improved over the course of this year. A lot more confidence in his changeup.¡±

Su¨¢rez scattered seven hits, didn¡¯t issue any walks and notched a season-high-tying six strikeouts, while lowering his ERA to 3.18 over 25 games.

¡°Today, we were just shut down by Mr. Su¨¢rez,¡± Boston first baseman Triston Casas said. ¡°He pitched a really good game, keeping us off-balance with the changeup and honest with the cutter.¡±

Su¨¢rez induced 16 whiffs, including 11 with his four-seam fastball -- both matching career highs. Of his 99 pitches, 60 were four-seamers.

All season, Su¨¢rez has leaned on his reliable heater, which averaged 94.8 mph and maxed out at 97.3 on Sunday. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound righty feels the pitch is improving because of the work he¡¯s been doing in the weight room in between starts.

Is it possible that Su¨¢rez -- despite some rough patches while bouncing back and forth from the rotation and the bullpen earlier this year -- is now only getting better?

¡°For sure,¡± catcher Adley Rutschman said. ¡°It seems like he just comes out with a convicted plan every single time. I think that he trusts that his stuff is good, and everyone else around him believes it and he does, and he¡¯s doing great.¡±

Despite Su¨¢rez¡¯s previous two scoreless outings, the O¡¯s lost each of those games -- 5-2 to the Blue Jays on Aug. 6 and 2-1 to the Rays last Sunday.

This time, the Orioles gave Su¨¢rez ample run support. Rutschman opened the scoring with a fifth-inning leadoff homer off Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford. Then, Baltimore plated three runs in the sixth, a rally capped by Gunnar Henderson¡¯s 33rd home run of the season -- a two-run shot off left-hander Bailey Horn.

With Rodriguez on the injured list for the second time -- and Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells all out for the season after undergoing UCL surgeries in June -- the Orioles likely wouldn¡¯t be a top AL contender if not for Su¨¢rez. He has repeatedly stepped up big for the staff, and especially over the past two weeks.

Baltimore, which split the four-game set, has won the season series vs. Boston (65-58) by improving to 7-3 against the Sox with only three meetings remaining (Sept. 9-11 at Fenway Park). That means the O¡¯s would have the edge in any potential standings tiebreaker between the two teams.

As the regular season winds down over the next six weeks, Su¨¢rez will get plenty of opportunities to deliver more strong starts to cap his comeback campaign. And after a long, multi-country journey, he¡¯ll continue to be thankful each day he pitches.

¡°It means a lot. Every time I¡¯m out there and being able to help the team, I give everything I got,¡± Su¨¢rez said. ¡°To me, it¡¯s a positive thing. And then, if I get positive results, it¡¯s even better.¡±