Home runs by Santander, Mountcastle and Westburg lead Orioles to 6-3 win over Rays (updated)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Anthony Santander made loud contact, paused to watch the ball begin its flight toward the right field seats, and heard the ovation as he rounded the bases with his 13^th home run. Orioles fans packed the area behind the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field tonight, the usual turnout that makes the road venue feel like home – except for the catwalks, of course.

They stayed patient as the Rays fought back to tie and erupted again after Ryan Mountcastle broke it with a two-run shot in the fifth. And again after Jordan Westburg joined the double-digit home run club in the eighth.

And finally, when Ramón Urías squeezed a popup to end it.

Santander hit his fourth homer in the last seven games, Mountcastle bagged his fifth in the last seven, and the Orioles defeated the Rays 6-3 before an announced crowd of 17,822.

Westburg’s two-run shot to right field after Ryan O’Hearn’s leadoff double gave him 10 and made it easier for the Orioles to post their 40^th victory. They also knocked the Rays (31-32) below .500 again.

Craig Kimbrel notched is 14^th save and 431^st of his career. The bullpen finished with 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

"I think no matter who's in the lineup, one through nine is potentially dangerous," Westburg said.

Santander barreled a 93 mph fastball from Aaron Civale with the count 1-2. Colton Cowser singled, and he scored from first base with two outs on Urías’ double to left field. Cowser initially was called out on shortstop Taylor Walls’ relay but it was overturned.

"People were getting Santander out early in the year with elevated fastballs and he got one tonight above the zone and put it in the seats," said manager Brandon Hyde. "He's done that a few times now the past week or so. He's made a really nice adjustment where they're trying to crowd him and get him up out of the zone and he's gotten on top."

"It seems like he's heating up," Westburg said. "I've been able to hit behind him a lot recently and it just seems like his at-bats are ultra-competitive."

Gunnar Henderson led off the fifth with a single and Mountcastle wrapped a sinker around the right field foul pole, a grand distance of 333 feet, for a 4-2 lead.

Westburg loves driving the ball to the opposite field and he did it again in the eighth on Chris Devenski’s cutter.

"I talked about it in previous interviews last year when I was up, that's how it felt. It was a different person every night who contributed and I think it's the same this year. I really do," Westburg said.

"No matter where our lineup is, the person in the box with the opportunity, it seems like that guy usually comes through for us. And that guy could be anybody."

The Orioles have five players with 10 or more home runs. No other team in the majors began the night with more than three.

"Our lineup is really deep and we're really balanced," Hyde said. "It's great to get production from the bottom of the order. Ramón Urías huge hit. Westy with for me the biggest hit of the night there, giving us some breathing room, putting us up three and letting the bullpen relax just a hair."

The Orioles have hit at least three home runs in three straight games for the second time this season.

"Mounty backside, Westy backside, that's pretty impressive to do," said Cole Irvin. "We have a lot of pop. A lot of guys can hit homers in this lineup, and it's not one guy who's gonna carry that lineup, either. Everyone's going to do their part and do enough to get the job done each night.

"Anywhere in the lineup we can do damage and it's pretty fun to watch every single night. And you just don't know when we're gonna explode. It's pretty cool."

Civale has allowed a home run in his last nine home starts, the longest active streak in the majors per STATS and the fourth-longest in Rays history. Doug Waechter is first with 15, followed by Tanyon Sturtze and Jake Odorizzi with 12.

Civale drilled Mountcastle above the left elbow with a 93.4 mph sinker in the first inning. Mountcastle was 6-for-9 with two home runs against him before tonight.

No. 3 arrived four innings later.

Santander and Westburg singled with no outs in the fourth but the next three batters struck out, including Cedric Mullins, who’s 0-for-21 since his two-run triple on May 27 against the Red Sox.

Irvin came within an out of completing the sixth inning, but he surrendered three consecutive singles and left after 85 pitches. The last, an infield hit by Taylor Walls, reduced the lead to 4-3. The runners moved up on Gunnar Henderson’s throwing error.

Walls was playing in his first game this season after the Rays reinstated him from the 60-day injured list.

"His pitch count was so low because they were so aggressive," Hyde said. "They were hitting some balls hard there, but I thought he did a great job of really attacking the strike zone. Give them credit for being ready to hit from pitch one. They recognized probably from his last start that he throws a bunch of strikes."

Two of the three runs off Irvin were earned. He allowed eight hits, walked none and struck out six. His ERA is 2.87

"I'm fired up for Cole," Westburg said. "That's my guy, first and foremost. He just seems to get on the mound and have this bulldog mentality. ... Can't say enough good things about Cole as a person, and just what he's doing on the mound, too, is incredible."

Irvin faced the Rays on Sunday and allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings.

"Felt good," he said. "This start I felt a lot more like myself in terms of pitching in and out with a little bit more command. They're not an easy team to face twice in a week. Thought I did well.

"Found my back-spun four-seam fastball. It came up in velo a little bit, so excited about that. Started to feel more like myself this start than I have the previous two."

Jose Siri hit a 400-foot home run to left-center field at 105.1 mph with one out in the bottom of the second inning to slice the lead in half.

The Rays tied the game in the third on Yandy Díaz’s one-out single, Randy Arozarena’s double and Amed Rosario’s sacrifice fly.

Civale was done after throwing 105 pitches in five innings. Irvin was at 69 heading into the sixth.

Jacob Webb stranded two inherited runners from Irvin, with Cowser running down José Caballero’s fly ball in shallow left. Webb stranded one of his own in the seventh and Yennier Cano did the same in the eighth.

The bullpen has posted a 0.63 ERA in the last nine games.

"Huge four outs," Hyde said of Webb. "Comes in there with traffic. Cowser makes a really nice play on that ball in left field. Got a great break, and makeup speed to get to that baseball. Then goes back out and pitches a scoreless inning.

"They're tough to match up against because they've got dangerous left-handed hitters on the bench and you're kind of just waiting, so I thought our guys did a great job navigating through, and Craig did an awesome job in the ninth."

The Orioles have won six of nine games, seven of 11 and 11 of 15, and they improved to 15-6 in series openers.

"It feels tight, I'm not going to lie, especially in-division games," Westburg said. "The stress level's always a little bit higher, there's a little bit more weight to every pitch. These games mean a lot, and not only to us, to fans, to staff. It means a lot to everybody because we know this division is an absolute dogfight and it's probably going to come down to the very end of the season. While these games might not be one-run games, they certainly feel like it at times. As an offense, we try to keep our foot on the pedal the whole game because we know the team in the other dugout's doing the same thing. They're trying to come back, they're not wanting to lose these games. These games mean a lot to them, also.

"We got a good dose of it last year, we seem to be getting a good dose of it again this year. We've just got to keep playing well."

* Triple-A Norfolk’s Justin Armbruester allowed five runs and three hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.

Catcher Maverick Handley came out of the game after taking a foul tip off the mask.

Double-A Bowie’s Trace Bright allowed one run and three hits with six strikeouts in four innings. Catcher Samuel Basallo doubled and hit a two-run homer, his 10^th.

Max Costes singled twice and hit his first home run with High-A Aberdeen. Douglas Hodo III and Adam Retzbach also homered.