Big night of offense carries O's to series-opening win

If there were any reasons for concern about the Orioles offense - and surely there were throughout Birdland after Thursday's loss - they were washed away for at least one night amid an avalanche of offense.

The O's kept scoring and kept hitting home runs in a 15-10 win over Boston Friday night in front of 33,136 at Oriole Park. The O's set a season high for runs and missed a season high for hits by one, producing 18. 

They tied a season high with five homers as Jorge Mateo, Anthony Santander, Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle and Ramón Urías all connected. The last three hit by Rutschman, Mountcastle and Urías went 422, 428 and 432 feet, respectively. 

Boston pulled within 10-9 during an ugly-for-the-Orioles five-run top of the fifth. But the O's washed away that bad taste by scoring five runs in their home half.

They moved to within 1.5 games of the third American League wild card spot and won for the 16th time in their last 21 home games.

Other notes from a big night on offense:

* The top six in the Baltimore order - Cedric Mullins, Rutschman, Santander, Mountcastle, Kyle Stowers and Austin Hays - combined to go 15-for-27 with four doubles, three homers, 12 runs and 10 RBIs.

* The O's offense went 18-for-40 on the night. And after the first five innings, O's batters were a combined 18-for-31 with six doubles and five homers, and they went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

* The club's 11 extra-base hits were the most since they also hit 11 on Aug. 16, 2015 versus Oakland. It was one shy of the team record of 12 EBHs in a game set on Aug. 17, 2008 at Detroit (seven 2Bs, five HRs), and matched Aug. 14, 2009 against the Los Angeles Angels (nine 2Bs, two 3Bs, one HR).

* The Orioles' 39 total bases were their most since they recorded 39 on Aug. 18, 2016 versus Houston. It is the 13th time in club history the O's had 39 or more. 

* The 15 runs are one more than the O's had scored in their four previous games combined, registering 14 as they went 2-2 in those games. 

* Rutschman hit his eighth homer, and all have been hit left-handed. Santander has 16 RBIs in 10 games against Boston. Mullins had two doubles and leads the team with 41 extra-base hits and 35 multi-hit games. 

On the farm Friday: Triple-A Norfolk beat Durham 9-8 at Harbor Park. The Tides (52-62) ended a three-game overall losing streak and an eight-game losing streak to Durham. Jordan Westburg drove in four runs with an RBI groundout and three-run homer. He hit the homer with 110 mph exit velocity and drove it 428 feet. It was his 10^th homer with the Tides and his 19^th on the season.

With the 19 homers, Westburg tied Stowers for the O’s farm lead. He also tied Stowers for the O’s farm lead with 51 extra-base hits.

Starter Mike Baumann went five innings, allowing six hits and two runs, and lefty Alexander Wells got the win in relief as he rejoined the Tides Friday. Wells allowed four hits and three runs over 2 2/3 innings.

Double-A Bowie won via a walk-off single by Connor Norby in the 10^th, 3-2 over Somerset. Earlier, Joey Ortiz (No. 15) and Maverick Handley (No. 9) hit solo homers for Bowie, now 55-57 overall and 28-15 in the second half. Lefty Cade Povich, moving up from high Single-A Aberdeen, made his Double-A debut for the Baysox. Povich gave up three hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts on 79 pitches for Bowie.

Asheville blasted Aberdeen 14-7 despite the IronBirds getting a two-run single from Billy Cook and a three-run homer from Connor Pavolony. The IronBirds are 68-44 for the year and 25-21 in the second half.

Low Single-A Delmarva doubled up Salem 6-3 on the road. Max Wagner had an RBI single for Delmarva, which added two-run singles by Frederick Bencosme and Elio Prado. Jud Fabian went 1-for-5, and is 9-for-18 since moving to Delmarva. Reese Sharp, in his pro debut, recorded a save with a scoreless ninth for Delmarva.

The O's Florida Complex League team swept a doubleheader, and top draft pick Jackson Holliday hit his first pro homer in the opener. He is 6-for-15 (.400) with an OPS of 1.217 in his first five games.