O'Hearn homer breaks tie and Orioles increase division lead with 5-3 win (updated)

The Orioles accomplished a goal this weekend of leading their division.

Now, they want to pad it.

Gunnar Henderson singled and hit a 446-foot home run in the first two innings, and Ryan O’Hearn broke a tie in the sixth with a line drive off the left field foul pole in a 5-3 victory over the Rays before an announced crowd of 23,440 at Tropicana Field.

A 19^th series win left the Orioles with a 61-38 record, their most games above .500 this season. They’ve gone 6-3 against the Rays, with four remaining in September at Camden Yards.

Tampa Bay would need a sweep to claim the tiebreaker if the teams are tied. The Orioles hold a two-game lead as they board a flight to Philadelphia.

"Tough place to play, trouble playing here in the past, and we just played four really good games against a really good team," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Just really proud of all of our guys' efforts. It's going to take 26 or more the rest of the way. Everybody contributed. We did a lot of things well this series and hopefully we can keep it rolling into Philly."

"For some of the guys who don't have playoff experience like myself, it felt like a playoff game," Henderson said. "Getting a sense of what it feels like it just going to help us down the road."

Left-hander Colin Poche replaced starter Taj Bradley in the sixth, manager Brandon Hyde kept O’Hearn in the game, and the first baseman lined a two-strike fastball to the opposite field. It slammed off the bottom of the pole for a 4-3 lead, and O’Hearn smiled and pointed to the dugout as he reached third base.

"Homers like that are kind of funny," said O'Hearn, who was 1-for-9 against left-handers before today and owns only four homers against them in his six-year career. "Left-on-left, which, I don't face many lefties, and to shoot it down the line and it hits the foul pole, obviously great spot in the game to get a run there. But personally for me, it warranted a smile."

The 331-footer was the shortest homer by an Orioles player this season. O’Hearn hit one 339 feet on July 5 at Yankee Stadium.

"In a great spot here at this ballpark, and left-on-left," Hyde said. "Off a tough lefty, too. Tough time getting hits against in the past, and he backsides him with a homer off the pole. Good for Ryan. Ryan O'Hearn's gotten huge hits for us this year and he continues to be just an absolute gamer. And love the way he plays."

Hyde didn't pinch-hit with Ryan Mountcastle in that situation, anticipating Rays' pitching moves in later innings.

"Game continues, there's going to be a right-hander after that, his next at-bat," Hyde said. "Leading off the inning, maybe he can hit a foul pole homer."

O’Hearn is batting .370/.380/.696 with three doubles, four homers and 15 RBIs in 13 road division games. He doubled in the third inning and hit his eighth homer.

"I've been feeling confident," he said. "Definitely the way things are going right now is awesome. I'm trying to stay focused on the process and the work in the cage. As soon as you start patting yourself on the back too much, things can go south, so just trying to stay focused on the process. But I'm definitely enjoying the big hits and contributing."

Anthony Santander singled off Jason Adam in the seventh to score Colton Cowser for a 5-3 lead. Cowser struck out in the ninth but reached on a wild pitch, moved up on another wild pitch and Jorge Mateo’s sacrifice bunt, and was stranded.

Mike Baumann replaced Tyler Wells in the fifth and worked 2 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings to improve his record to 7-0. He tied his season high in innings.

"Player of the game for me," Hyde said. "That was two-plus innings right in the meat of the game there. Just did a great job keeping the score right there for us."

"I think that he's incredibly important because he kind of does everything," said Wells, who trains with Baumann during the winter. "He's one of the hardest workers I've ever seen in my life."

Yennier Cano made his third appearance in the series and retired the side in order with a strikeout, straddle and prolonged stare. Félix Bautista, pitching for the fourth time in five days, recorded his 28^th save.

"Baumann, giving it to those guys, that was huge," Hyde said.

"He's awesome. I love playing behind him," Henderson said. "It seems like everything he throws is 90-plus, and then he throws that curveball that's 89 and it's pretty gross. So, it's really awesome playing behind him."

Manuel Margot reached on an infield hit with one out, appearing to break his bat on a 99.8 mph fastball that he chopped over Bautista's head, and Yandy Díaz grounded a single into right field with two outs and Margot running. The Mountain struck out three to raise his season total to 96 in 49 innings.

Wells didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning – a two-run homer by Díaz that tied the game. He walked a season-high four batters and hit two in 4 1/3 innings.

The Rays scored with two outs in the fourth on two walks and Brandon Lowe’s fielder’s choice grounder. Wells also walked Jose Siri before striking out Manuel Margot to strand two runners.

Wells nailed Harold Ramírez on the left arm in the first inning and Isaac Paredes on the batting helmet in the second. Díaz drove a changeup 424 feet to left-center field in the fifth, the 23^rd homer surrendered by Wells, and Hyde came out of the dugout after Wander Franco popped up.

"Just didn't have a good rhythm," Wells said. "I felt like I put in a lot of really good work between last start and this start, and out there today, it didn't quite translate. Obviously the walks, the hit batters, not what I want, and ultimately I paid for it. Very frustrating to say the least, but I'm not going to look at the negatives too much. I'm going to continue to take positives out of it and say I did make some progress on some things that I was working on. And I'm just going to continue to keep working."

Wells completed five innings in his first 18 appearances, but he’s totaled 6 1/3 in the last two while allowing eight runs. Hyde removed him today after 77 pitches.

"Like last time, command wasn't really there," Hyde said. "He doesn't normally hit guys or walk people. The league leader in WHIP for a reason. ... That's kind of why I took him out of the game, just because it wasn't a normal Tyler Wells outing. We'll continue to monitor him. He's thrown a lot of innings (111). Not used to this many innings, but we need him."

"I feel good," Wells said. "I didn't have any issues. I feel strong. I think that right now it's more or less just maintaining my delivery. That's really the only thing for me. As the year goes on you continue to develop bad habits that kind of creep their way in and you don't really recognize them. I'm starting to recognize them now."

Henderson led off the first with an infield hit against rookie Taj Bradley and scored on Adley Rutschman’s double, a 109.3 mph line drive into right-center field. Adam Frazier doubled with two outs in the second and Henderson walloped a curveball, watching it soar to right-center field and strike the D ring.

The huge contingent of Orioles fans erupted behind the visiting dugout.

"I felt like I got that one pretty good," Henderson said. "That was the first time I've hit the catwalk. I've never done that in BP, so that was pretty cool to see that."

Only 38 players hit a ball off the farthest catwalk from the field coming into the season.

"That was loud and far," Hyde said.

Told of the distance, he said, "I'll take the over on that. Check the Statcast at The Trop. That was loud and a beautiful swing."

Henderson has 16 home runs this season to rank second on the club behind Santander’s 17.

There's a much more important race unfolding.

The only other time that the Orioles won a four-game series in St. Petersburg was April 10-13, 2006. They hadn't won three games in a series here since May 6-8, 2014. The last time they didn't lose or split a series of at least three  games here was June 23-25, 2017.

"It was a grinder, every game," O'Hearn said. "They've got a really good team over there, and so do we. ... It's only July, we've got a long way to go, but definitely take a win here on the road against these guys and feel good about ourselves."

* Here are the starters for the series in Philadelphia:

Monday: RHP Dean Kremer (10-4, 4.80 ERA) vs. LHP Cristopher Sánchez (0-3, 3.06 ERA)
Tuesday: RHP Kyle Gibson (9-6, 4.76 ERA) vs. RHP Taijuan Walker (11-4, 4.11 ERA)
Wednesday: RHP Kyle Bradish (6-6, 3.05 ERA) vs. LHP Ranger Suárez (2-5, 4.07 ERA)

* Austin Voth allowed one run and two hits with two strikeouts in two innings in his rehab start at Double-A Bowie. Harrisburg leadoff hitter Robert Hassell III homered on Voth’s second pitch.

Jackson Holliday started at second base and had two hits. Shortstop Joseph Rosa went 3-for-3, and Billy Cook hit his 12^th home run.

Triple-A Norfolk’s Heston Kjerstad doubled twice and singled. Connor Norby drove in two runs.

Drew Rom allowed six runs in five innings. T.J. McFarland made his Norfolk debut and tossed a scoreless inning with one walk.

Silas Ardoin hit his fifth homer for High-A Aberdeen.