Across his almost two years as Orioles manager, Brandon Hyde has never had a true closer. Instead, he¡¯s shown a preference to play the hot hand in high-leverage situations, trusting in different moments the bullpen arm who happens to be throwing best. That¡¯s led to a revolving door of pitchers thrust into the late innings of close games, from Mychal Givens to Richard Bleier to Cole Sulser, Tanner Scott and others this year.

It also helps explain the rapid ascent of Cesar Valdez from non-roster intrigue to impressive long man to high-leverage option, which the 35-year-old journeyman completed in roughly two weeks. The latest example of Hyde¡¯s trust came Thursday, when needing to cover both ends of a seven-inning doubleheader and cradling a tie game, he called upon Valdez in the top of the seventh in the opener against the Rays at Camden Yards.

What happened next was Valdez¡¯s first hiccup since arriving back in the Majors after three years away late last month. Valdez walked Randy Arozarena, then allowed a Martin Perez double and Yoshi Tsutsugo RBI groundout. Brandon Lowe¡¯s sac fly a batter later provided the final margin in Tampa Bay's 3-1 win, accounting for the first runs scored off Valdez in 12 1/3 innings this season.

? Box score

¡°He¡¯s been perfect, if not almost perfect, for us. I wasn¡¯t expecting him to have a 0.00 ERA at the end of the season," Hyde said. "He gives up a lot of soft contact and he¡¯s been great for us. He¡¯ll bounce back."

Held in check all evening by left-hander Blake Snell, the Orioles broke through in the sixth on Ryan Mountcastle¡¯s game-tying RBI single off Diego Castillo. Castillo had been summoned by Kevin Cash to hold a one-run lead after Andrew Velazquez bunted Pat Valaika into scoring position on Snell¡¯s 73rd and final pitch.

The Orioles managed only two singles over 5 1/3 innings against Snell, who struck out four and didn¡¯t allow a runner to reach third base.

Meanwhile, Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer was efficient in his third career start. Baltimore's No. 10 prospect per MLB Pipeline struck out six and walked three in five innings, with his only run allowed coming on Brett Phillips¡¯ RBI triple in the second. The 24-year-old now owns a 1.69 ERA.

¡°I take two things from this,¡± Kremer said. ¡°One, that I can still compete no matter what I have that day. And two, I need to be able to make adjustments quicker.¡±

Added Hyde: "He's soaking up all this experience, I think he¡¯s competing well. We¡¯ve been really impressed with his stuff, competitiveness and how he knows how to get outs."