Chris Tillman with a gem, Joey Rickard with a blast as O's beat Tampa Bay

Chris Tillman was dominant. Joey Rickard was clutch. That duo led the Orioles to a much-needed 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays tonight. The Orioles had lost the first two games of the series.

The Orioles ended a three-game slide and improve to 12-8. They completed a 2-4 road trip and will return to Camden Yards tomorrow night still in first place. The Birds are now 7-4 against American League East foes.

Steve Pearce came up with a pinch-hit RBI single with two outs in the ninth off Zach Britton. That kept the Orioles from posting their first shutout since last Sept. 14 against Boston. O's pitchers allowed just six runs in this series. Only two Rays runners reached second base tonight as Tampa Bay went 4-for-31 at the plate.

Tillman pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing just two singles as he improved to 2-1 with an ERA of 3.23. He walked two and struck out nine to tie his career high. He had last done that on Aug. 19, 2014 against the White Sox.

Tillman retired the first nine batters on 39 pitches and then pitched out a jam in the fourth. In that inning, a single and walk started it. But Tillman got a deep flyout from Evan Longoria, a strikeout of Corey Dickerson and foul popout from Desmond Jennings to end the threat. Tillman recorded his 58th-career Orioles win tonight, tying him for 17th on the club's all-time list with Ben McDonald.

The Orioles went to the top of the fifth in a scoreless game. To that point, they had scored just one run in their last 30 innings and had not homered in their last 38 innings.

All that would change with an unlikely hero.

With two outs and none on, Nolan Reimold drew a walk. Jonathan Schoop then snapped a 2-for-31 skid by punching a single into right field and Rule 5 pick Rickard came up.

Rickard, who hit two homers in the minor leagues in 396 at-bats last year, then unloaded on the first pitch from lefty Matt Moore. His three-run homer to left was his second of the year and gave the Orioles a 3-0 lead. Rickard was 2-for-22 until he hit that huge blast. And by the way, that homer came against his former organization. The Rays drafted Rickard in the ninth round in 2012.

The Orioles had scored two total runs the last three games and got three on one big swing. After Rickard's homer tonight, the last 13 Orioles to bat made outs. They had just three hits, but two came back-to-back in that fifth inning.

Now the Orioles begin a 10-game homestand tomorrow night against the first-place Chicago White Sox. Right-hander Tyler Wilson (1-0, 2.77 ERA) pitches against left-hander John Danks (0-3, 6.23 ERA).