The matchup was one the Pirates chose on purpose. Against Dylan Beavers, who has been in the major leagues for less than a month, Pittsburgh opted for deceptive left-hander Evan Sisk out of the bullpen.

But once again, as Beavers has managed so often through his first 21 games at this level, the Orioles outfielder came through. Beavers forced the count full, then got just enough of a sweeper in the middle of the strike zone for the ball to elude the outstretched glove of second baseman Nick Gonzales.

Jackson Holliday, who started at second, rounded third and scored the go-ahead run — and Beavers stood at first, the hero for a second straight game, even if this one didn’t occur in walk-off fashion.

Beavers’ knock pushed the Orioles to a 3-2 victory Thursday. It extended Baltimore’s run to eight wins in its last nine games, and the Orioles swept the Pirates with a trio of close games. Baltimore required walk-offs Tuesday and Wednesday, with Beavers’ hard-hit single the night before prompting a water cooler bath in foul territory along the right-field line.

“Obviously, we love when we’re able to go out and put up seven, eight, nine runs and blow teams out, but I think you really see the heart and the effort these guys put in in these close games,” left-hander Cade Povich said. “Obviously, with the walk-offs and even today, Beavs having the go-ahead hit as well, it just shows kind of the fight of this team, and I think it shows a lot for the future.”

Beavers wasn’t doused Thursday, but the early success is apparent nonetheless. He’s hitting .302 with an .872 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

And, once the Orioles captured a seventh-inning lead, scoreless appearances from right-hander Kade Strowd and left-hander Keegan Akin secured it. The bullpen pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings behind a solid outing from Povich.

“Just a lot of unknown for me on Aug. 1,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said of how the bullpen would look after the trade deadline. “To see a month, a month and a half into it, and these guys kind of formulating a competitive bullpen in the big leagues in the AL East, I think we are incredibly proud of these guys.”

As was the case for the first two games of the series, Pittsburgh and Baltimore benefited from stout efforts from their starting pitchers. Povich continued what right-handers Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells began this week, although right-hander Johan Oviedo matched him for the Pirates.

Oviedo and Povich both allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings with five hits against them. Povich generated 17 swings and misses, one shy of his career high, as he struck out six batters.

Mansolino said Povich relied on his swing-and-miss potential after falling behind in counts, which helped him to “kind of bail himself out.” Povich said his fastball command was shaky early in the game but he leaned on his curveball and changeup.

The Pirates broke through against Povich in the first inning via Gonzales’ RBI single, and the loudest contact against Povich came from Alexander Canario, when he throttled a 111.4 mph solo homer to left field in the third. But the Orioles matched that production with an RBI groundout from Emmanuel Rivera in the first and Coby Mayo’s run-producing single in the second.

That left the game to the bullpens, and Baltimore’s held strong. The Orioles relief corps has allowed just five earned runs, the fewest in the majors, in 36 2/3 innings in September.

“It’s easy to do well when you see the guy before you do well and the guy do well after you and it follows on to the next day most of the time,” Strowd said. “It’s been a fun last month.”

There wasn’t much offense to be had. There wasn’t much needed, anyway. Beavers did just enough by poking his RBI single through the infield, and the pitching did the rest.

“We score some runs on just kind of baseball-y plays,” Mansolino said. “We play defense. Baseball-y. The bullpen gets outs. It’s very baseball-y. And you add it all together and it’s three gritty wins for us against a team that had swept the Dodgers last week.”

This article has been updated.