Garrett Crochet pitched like a $170 million man Wednesday night.

Two days after signing a six-year extension with the Boston Red Sox, the left-hander pitched a career-high eight scoreless innings in a 3-0 win over the Orioles to help hand them their first shutout loss of the young season. Baltimore starter Zach Eflin was solid, posting his second consecutive quality start to begin the year, but Crochet overmatched an Orioles offense coming off a 15-hit game.

“It’s pretty similar to what we saw last year in Chicago,” manager Brandon Hyde said, alluding to Crochet’s 11-strikeout performance against the Orioles last season with the White Sox. “We didn’t have much offense that afternoon there. Just tip your hat. That’s outstanding stuff — four pitches he throws for strikes with tempo, plus stuff, crossfire, physical. It’s a tough at-bat.”

Such has been the case for the Orioles’ lineup, which has alternated between scoring eight-plus runs and two or fewer through six games this season. Hyde stacked the lineup with eight right-handed hitters — including the switch-hitting Adley Rutschman — to get better matchups against Crochet. He dominated anyway, limiting the Orioles to three hits while racking up eight strikeouts on 14 swings and misses.

“His velo early in the season is a couple [mph] lower, but whatever,” left fielder Ramón Laureano said. “He’s still a presence there, and his cutter, which is like a slider — it’s a little turbo there that he has — just got to find a way to lay off those things. That’s what he showed, with eight righties in the lineup. You got to tip your cap to him at the same time.”

He was aided by a cool April evening with the wind blowing in that helped keep a couple of potential home runs in the ballpark. However, that didn’t stop shortstop Trevor Story from taking Eflin deep to left with a solo shot in the second — Story’s first home run of the season and just his sixth since the 2023 season after injuries limited him to 69 games the past two years.

The Red Sox then tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Second baseman Kristian Campbell, fresh off signing his own eight-year, $60 million extension Wednesday morning, smacked a one-out double off Eflin and scored on an RBI single by Ceddanne Rafaela. Designated hitter Rafael Devers came through after that with a run-scoring double, his first hit of the season after getting off to a 0-for-21 start amid being moved off his natural position of third base.

“I felt like I was commanding the ball pretty well,” Eflin said. “They came out aggressive, they came out swinging. I was able to get through three, four pretty quick, and then, it kind of caught up to me a little bit. They were putting some better swings on it, getting more of the barrel. Kind of a tough day, but show up tomorrow and win the series.”

After Eflin got through the sixth at 87 pitches, Hyde turned the game over to the Orioles’ bullpen and it did well to keep the game close. Bryan Baker continued to flash the high velocity that helped earn him a spot on the opening day roster with a 1-2-3 seventh. Gregory Soto then picked up three strikeouts in the eighth and Cionel Pérez allowed three walks — including the first by the free-swinging Rafaela in 160 plate appearances — but escaped the jam with an inning-ending double play.

Yet Baltimore never threatened to snatch the lead from the Red Sox, taking only one at-bat with runners in scoring position all evening and stranding four runners. All three of their hits — courtesy of Jordan Westburg, Ryan Mountcastle and Ramón Laureano — were singles. Closer Aroldis Chapman walked Rutschman in the ninth but struck out Tyler O’Neill and got Mountcastle to ground out for the first save of his Boston tenure and the 336th of his career.

“When you have a No. 1 on the mound, you have to battle,” Laureano said. “We know our lineup, whatever righty/lefty lineup they put, we know that we can slug, how everybody’s been saying, and do damage. But sometimes we need to play a little small ball, go the other way, take a walk, take a good at-bat, get the rhythm going for the next guy and things like that. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Postgame analysis

Hyde opted to bench young left-handed hitters Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad against Crochet, going instead with Mateo and Laureano in the lineup, respectively. The Orioles have taken this approach with many of their graduated prospects the past few seasons, limiting their at-bats against pitchers with the platoon advantage against them.

This has been the case particularly for their left-handed hitters, who naturally have more opportunities for at-bats facing right-handed pitchers. Hyde said before the game that Holliday wouldn’t be benched against all lefty starters — he was in the lineup Monday against Boston southpaw Sean Newcomb — but might get some days off like Wednesday when a tough left-hander like Crochet is on the mound.

While it might be frustrating for some fans not to see Holliday or Kjerstad, who also started against Newcomb on Monday, in the lineup every day, the Orioles showed with Colton Cowser last season and Gunnar Henderson the year before that they’re willing to play their young lefties more often once they prove they can handle right-handers. Though it might not happen in April, there’s a long season ahead.

What they’re saying

Hyde on what he’s seen from Baker early on this season:

“I was impressed with him in spring training. He came out right away throwing 98 [mph] early in camp, and that’s not usually — guys usually tick up throughout camp. He was ready to go. He’s continuing into this season. He’s had some really good appearances for us. He’s throwing his offspeed stuff for strikes and he’s 0-1. That’s the key to Bake is getting ahead of the count because he’s got good stuff, and he’s doing that so far this year.”

By the numbers

Cedric Mullins picked up his first web gem of the season in the sixth with a diving catch to rob first baseman Triston Casas of a hit and help Eflin notch his quality start. Statcast gave the play an 85% catch probability and Mullins put himself in a tough spot by taking a step back before sprinting in toward the ball, but he made up for it with his speed and covered all 78 feet he needed to make the grab.

On deck

The Orioles will wrap up their three-game series with the Red Sox on Thursday afternoon when Charlie Morton will look to bounce back from his rough Baltimore debut of last week. Boston right-hander Tanner Houck, who also struggled in his first outing of the season, is slated to start for the visiting club.

Around the horn

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson went 0-for-3 for Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday in what could be his final rehabilitation game before returning to the Orioles’ lineup. Hyde said the club would “see where he is” after the game before deciding whether to activate Henderson when first eligible to come off the 10-Day injured list on Thursday.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez threw a bullpen session at Camden Yards on Wednesday, his second time completing high-intensity mound work since suffering the elbow/tricep injury that sidelined him to begin the season. Rodriguez threw mostly fastballs but mixed in a couple of breaking balls as well.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/ByMattWeyrichand instagram.com/bymattweyrich.