A few notes on another O's road win

It was a night where the defense behind him was shaky at times. And the Orioles almost let a five-run lead get completely away. But his offense did provide a nice early lead. And that led right-hander Matt Harvey to his first win as an Oriole. And his first win for anyone since July 13, 2019.

That was for the Los Angeles Angels then against Seattle. Harvey had lost his last five decisions since, dating to July 18, 2019.

The Orioles beat Miami 7-5 to get the opener of this brief two-game series.

The Orioles scored three runs in the first and two in the third to lead 5-1 and Harvey was on his way to a win. He went five innings, allowing eight hits and three runs with no walks and four strikeouts. He improved to 1-1 with an ERA of 5.13 after throwing 82 pitches, 50 for strikes.

The Orioles improved to 8-9 for the season, 3-1 on this road trip and 7-3 in road games.

The win came with a price. Right fielder Anthony Santander suffered a sprained left ankle when he tried to get back to the first base bag on a pickoff throw in the top of the first. Austin Hays, just activated off the injured list today, replaced him. Then Hays promptly made a leaping catch in right near the wall in the last of the first. It saved at least one run and the O's led 3-1 heading to inning two.

A few more notes on the win:

* When Rio Ruiz produced a two-run double in the O's first, it gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead and snapped a 2-for-25 run over his past nine games for Ruiz. He began this game batting .133.

* The Orioles improved to 5-1 when they score first and to 7-2 when they score four runs or more.

* The Birds hit two homers for the sixth time this season. Both came in the top of the third against Miami starter Nick Neidert. Trey Mancini blasted a 3-2 slider 422 feet to center for a 4-1 lead and his fourth. Three batters later, Freddy Galvis hit a 3-2 changeup 369 feet to right-center as the O's led 5-1 on his second home run.

* In the eighth, Galvis had a big RBI single to produce an insurance run for a 7-5 lead. Galvis went 2-for-3 and is 9-for-17 over his past five games with three doubles, a triple, two homers, six runs and three RBIs.

* In beating Miami, the Orioles got a win against the club they have their worst win percentage against. It was .235 coming into this game with the Orioles 8-26 versus Miami all-time and 2-13 in Miami.

* Miami falls to 7-9 overall and to 3-7 at home. Of their nine losses, seven have been by two runs or less.

* The O's bullpen allowed two runs tonight, both charged to Shawn Armstrong. Relievers allowed an earned run for the first time since Game 1 of the doubleheader with Seattle on Thursday.