The first pitch thrown tonight by Orioles starter Shane Baz resulted in a 393-foot fly ball that Luis Robert Jr. ran down on the warning track in center field.

Mickey Gasper pulled Baz’s second pitch, also a four-seam fastball, onto the flag court in right field.

The contact was loud, the aggression immediate.

Baz’s recovery was swift.

The right-hander didn’t surrendered another run and lasted 6 1/3 innings for a quality start, but the offense disappeared on him again in the Red Sox’s 1-0 victory before an announced crowd of 19,821 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles (69-73) were shut out for the fifth time, lost their fourth game in a row and are three games behind for the last Wild Card after the Guardians swept the Tigers in a doubleheader.

“It’s always disappointing to lose four in a row, especially right now at this point in the season where we’re at,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “Yeah, it’s hard, and we’ve done it to ourselves. We’re here, and there’s a game tomorrow and we still have a chance, a good chance to kind of keep this thing going. Our guys have to turn the page quickly because tomorrow’s going to come and the next day. No one feels sorry for us. We have to go out there and still compete, and it gets tougher with Sonny Gray on the mound tomorrow.

“We have our work cut out for us, but our guys are ready for it. We just have to go out there and compete and put our best foot forward.”

Baz allowed four hits, walked two, struck out six and lowered his ERA to 3.91. He retired six in a row after Gasper’s homer and stranded two in the third inning in a jam created by Eli White’s one-out single and Jackson Holliday’s fielding error. Baz worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth and more trouble in the sixth on Gasper’s leadoff single, Leody Taveras’ error on the play, and a one-out walk to Wilyer Abreu.

Albernaz called upon reliever Alex Hoppe after Trevor Story’s one-out single in the seventh. The Red Sox loaded the bases and Adley Rutschman got ahead 3-1 before flying out.

“He definitely jumped me on that one, put a good swing on it,” Baz said of Gasper. “But that’s kind of my game, that’s how I pitch. I want to be ahead in the count, and I trust my stuff in the zone. I got a couple of great first-pitch outs later in the game, even first pitch of the game. But yeah, it was one of those days where I felt like I was commanding the ball well and able to change speeds and stuff. And yeah, that’s a good swing, and yeah, it ultimately decided it.”

Left-hander Ranger Suárez tossed seven scoreless innings with five hits allowed. He retired seven of the last eight batters and was done after 91 pitches.

The day began with Baz’s 3.27 run support average ranking second-worst in the majors. The Orioles have scored 10 runs while he’s in the game in his last eight starts.

“Shane was outstanding tonight,” Albernaz said. “I mean, the second pitch of the game. First-pitch out and then throws another fastball and Gasper was all over it. He did a great job today of mixing the pitches. Great to see him get his changeup going. Curveball was there. And he pushed into the seventh.

“It’s a credit to him. He knew where the bullpen was at and he felt good enough to go back out there. It was an outstanding outing from Shane. We couldn’t get anything going off of Suárez.”

Baz’s 15 losses, tied for the major league lead, don’t tell an accurate story.

“I mean, I think this is the best version that I’ve been of myself, just with the command, with the stuff, just my mentality of how I’m trying to pitch and how I’m able to stay locked in the whole game and stick to the game planning side of stuff,” Baz said. “I feel like I’m better than I’ve ever been at that. It’s just taking it one game at a time, and just trying to be as prepared as I can for my next start. Just really focusing on that. I was happy with today.”

Josh Walker struck out three batters in the eighth and stranded two. Blaze Alexander led off the bottom of the eighth with his third single and was erased on Robert’s double play grounder.

Alexander slid hard into second base, Nick Sogard didn’t appreciate it, and the benches and bullpens emptied. Contact wasn’t made at the bag. Alexander had to be restrained, waved both arms above his head and motioned to the crowd to stand up. Both teams appeared to be chirping again after the top of the ninth.

Jahmai Jones slid aggressively into Alexander last night, resulting in a crucial throwing error.

“I don’t think it dated back to yesterday,” Albernaz said. “I think Blaze, he slid in. I’m not sure who said what or whatever. I just know Blaze, he’s fiery, competitive, he’s trying to win at all times. I’m not sure what was said, but just two teams competing.

“I love what Blaze brings to the table. He’s just trying to go out there to win, nothing malicious. He’s a fiery competitor and he’s a winner, he’s a gamer. Everything. It’s awesome to have him on the team and it’s good to have him back. He brings a lot of energy.”

Alexander described what happened as “nothing.”

“I thought it was a clean slide into the bag and just getting stared at. I wanted to know why I’m getting stared at, and yeah, that’s really it.”

Carryover from last night?

“I mean, maybe a little,” Alexander said. “But I mean, I don’t know why they’re upset. I didn’t touch him. There was more contact on the play last night. And that’s it.”

Sogard offered his opinion.

“It’s a competitive game,” Sogard said. “He slid in pretty hard. I didn’t have a problem with his slide, but we turned the double play. I was just looking back to see how far he went. I don’t know if he liked me looking back. But that was pretty much it.

“I didn’t say nothing until he started talking. That’s about it. … I think he plays hard. He was kind of talking the whole game, to Ranger and the whole deal. I think that’s kind of, I don’t know if that’s his deal or what. But that’s about it.”

Aroldis Chapman retired the side in order in the ninth for his 32nd save. Alexander hoped the dust-up, or whatever moniker it earned, would spark a comeback.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said.” Obviously, Chapman’s coming in and get the crowd going a little bit. Yeah, you never know. Score two there and we win and it looks real good. But it is what it is. Back to it tomorrow, and we’ll be ready to go.

“Obviously, every game matters right now. Every win’s big, every loss is big, as well. We’ve just got to come play our baseball and come to win every day. That’s really it.”

Mayo’s soft sell

Coby Mayo is blistering baseballs against left-handed pitching this season, launching titanic home runs with extraordinary exit velos.

Mayo extended a rally in the third inning tonight with an infield single that moved Alexander from first to third base. Mayo poked a grounder to the vacated right side at a measly 47.7 mph with Sogard ranging too far up the middle.

Robert, also capable of inflicting serious damage upon southpaws, lined out to center field at 112.4 mph.

The lineup was set up perfectly for the Orioles with Mayo, Robert and Pete Alonso in succession, but the Red Sox maintained their 1-0 lead.

Mayo extended his hitting streak to a career-high nine games, but he batted again with two on and two outs in the fifth and grounded out on the first pitch.

Changing his tune

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson made an adjustment for tonight’s game, but it didn’t involve hitting mechanics.

Henderson switched his walkup song from Gwen Stefani’s “The Sweet Escape” to “Sweet Home Alabama” by southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The Montgomery native and graduate of John T. Morgan Academy in Selma was 2-for-16 in four games since going 4-for-4 with two homers and five RBIs Sunday in Sacramento. He flied out in his first at-bat, singled on an 0-2 count in the fourth inning, bounced out in the sixth and struck out in the ninth.

Down on the farm

High-A Frederick pitcher Harrison Kreiling was placed on the injured list earlier today.

The Orioles acquired Kreiling in the Taylor Ward trade with the Mariners. He posted a 6.75 ERA in four starts with Class A Delmarva and allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings in his only appearance with the Keys.

Michael Forret, reacquired by the Orioles in the Tyler Wells trade with the Rays, allowed two runs and three hits with three walks and four strikeouts in three innings.

Double-A Chesapeake’s JT Quinn tossed five scoreless innings and Frederick Bencosme hit his 12th home run.