The last time Matt Harvey pitched his way into the win column, the COVID-19 pandemic didn¡¯t exist. TikTok wasn¡¯t cool. Zoom was just a verb, and not a particularly useful one. For the 2013 All-Star, the drought extended back into a world vastly different from the one we live in now.

That all changed on Tuesday, when Harvey notched his first victory in almost two years in the O¡¯s 7-5 defeat of the Marlins at loanDepot park. Holding Miami to three runs over five innings, Harvey benefitted from early run support and a successful O¡¯s bullpen, which held on to ensure Harvey¡¯s first win as an Oriole, and his first win since July 13, 2019. Harvey entered play 0-5 with an 8.16 ERA in 11 games (eight starts) for three different teams since then.

¡°It¡¯s been a while,¡± Harvey said. ¡°I actually can¡¯t even remember the last one I had. ¡­ With how last year went and not pitching very well, and getting a chance to come here and play, it means a lot. To be honest, I didn¡¯t know if it was ever going to happen again.¡±

It happened Tuesday courtesy of a team effort, and despite one potentially-troubling development. The Orioles used an early two-run Rio Ruiz double alongside solo homers from Trey Mancini and Freddy Galvis to put a five-spot on losing pitcher Nick Neidert, shortly after losing slugger Anthony Santander to a left ankle sprain in the first. Spotted a big lead and coming off a start when he showed flashes of his old self, Harvey then grinded through five innings, working around eight hits but walking none. He improved to 1-1 with a 5.12 ERA in four 2021 starts.

¡°I thought it was gutty,¡± manager Brandon Hyde said. ¡°That was a gutty performance. Five innings, had traffic in four of them. He pitched out of innings well. His fastball command wasn¡¯t as good as it has been. But he made pitches when he needed to and left with a 6-3 lead.¡±

A carousel of Baltimore relievers handled the rest, though Shawn Armstrong¡¯s latest shaky outing (2 walks, 2 runs, zero outs recorded) allowed the Marlins to inch within one run in the sixth.

C¨¦sar Valdez¡¯s four-out save made good on fine work by Adam Plutko, Tanner Scott and Paul Fry, giving the O¡¯s their seventh road win in 10 tries this season. They are 1-6 at home, where Valdez has only appeared twice. The soft-tossing righty is now 4-for-5 in save chances this year, with a 0.96 ERA in eight appearances.

¡°He¡¯s the best,¡± Mancini said. ¡°I love every time I see him coming in from the bullpen. He¡¯s not your conventional closer, but that doesn¡¯t matter at all. All that goes out the window when you get results. He makes a lot of guys look pretty silly up there.¡±

Perhaps it's fitting that it was Valdez, a 36-year-old journeyman who signed out of the Mexican League and thrives entirely on guile, who closed out Harvey¡¯s milestone win. They are the antithesis of each other, in terms of both career trajectories and how they succeeded when at their best.

Harvey was a phenom, atop the baseball world at age 23, all those years ago with the Mets. Valdez got a cup of coffee at 25, spent seven years trying to get back to the Majors, then three more pitching internationally before returning again. Harvey is a former power pitcher attempting, at age 32, to reinvent himself with diminished stuff. Valdez throws almost exclusively changeups, slower than any other reliever -- nevermind closer -- in the game, and is the best version of himself right now.

Both are in Baltimore searching for second -- third? Fourth? Final? -- chances. And both are making something of them.

¡°How I was throwing the ball in Spring Training and the last couple outings, there was some hope it was coming back,¡± Harvey said. ¡°It is a good feeling. There has been a lot of hard work put in, and it means a lot to get the first one out of the way.¡±