Orioles turn home run tables in 8-1 win (with quotes)

The record was inevitable, the only mystery surrounding the date of its arrival and who would be responsible on the mound and at the plate. It was coming as sure as nightfall.

The Orioles have tied the 2016 Reds for most home runs allowed in a season with 258. There are 35 games left on the schedule. They will claim it as their own, most likely while the Rays are in town beginning Thursday.

Manager Brandon Hyde will take plenty more like this one. How his team made the record an attachment tonight rather than the centerpiece.

The only mark on Aaron Brooks through five innings was Whit Merrifield's solo shot in the third and the Orioles hit four home runs of their own to defeat the Royals 8-1 before an announced crowd of 9,872 at Camden Yards.

Jonathan Villar clubbed a two-run homer off Mike Montgomery in the second inning, Anthony Santander and Renato Núñez went back-to-back in the fifth, and Hanser Alberto hit his second three-run homer in two nights to extend the lead to 8-1 in the sixth.

The bullpen didn't give up a hit in four innings and the Orioles improved to 41-86 and won their first series since taking three of four games in Anaheim July 25-28. Their 41st win last season arrived on Sept. 4 in their 139th game.

Villar's 17th home run of the season came after Núñez's leadoff walk and Pedro Severino and Stevie Wilkerson doubled later in the inning for 3-0 lead. In between was DJ Stewart's single, his fifth hit in the last three games, and an early break for second base that resulted in a caught stealing.

The Orioles loaded the bases, but Trey Mancini grounded into a double play.

Santander was 2-for-36 before homering to lead off the fifth and Núñez launched his 28th. The Orioles have hit consecutive home runs three times this season.

Left-hander Tim Hill replaced Montgomery in the sixth and Alberto watched a fastball land in the left field seats. He also extended his career-high hitting streak to 10 games.

Alberto went 0-for-2 with a walk against the first left-hander, but he wasn't going hitless against the second.

Merrifield led off the top of the third by clearing the left field fence for the record-tying 258th home run. Not the way Brooks wants to be remembered in Baltimore. But he also turned in his finest start with the Orioles, allowing one run and seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts in five innings.

A 20-pitch fifth raised Brooks' total to 92 and got Paul Fry into the game.

It took eight starts, but Brooks earned his first victory with the Orioles. His last win in the majors came against them on April 11 at Camden Yards while pitching for the Athletics.

Fry retired the side in order in the sixth and the only baserunner off Shawn Armstrong in the seventh came after Stewart dropped Jorge Soler's fly ball with two outs. Richard Bleier retired all six batters faced.

David Hess leads the club with 28 homers allowed and he started tonight at Triple-A Norfolk. Dylan Bundy is next with 25 and he made it through seven innings last night without an incident. Dan Straily is third with 22 and he's in the Phillies organization after being outrighted and traded.

Gabriel Ynoa is next with 21, followed by John Means (16), Asher Wojciechowski (12) and Tom Eshelman (12), the latter optioned to Norfolk.

Andrew Cashner gave up 11 and he's in the Red Sox bullpen. Mychal Givens has surrendered 10 to match his saves total.

Of the 37 Orioles to pitch this season, only Nate Karns, Hunter Harvey, Chandler Shepherd and catcher Jesús Sucre got away clean. They've combined for eight appearances and only Harvey remains on the roster.

Karns was released, Shepherd was optioned and Sucre was put on the restricted list at Norfolk.

Brooks appears to be staying in the rotation, getting some much-needed results after allowing 14 runs and 17 hits in his last two starts over 8 1/3 innings.

The home run is forgiven.

It's a 406-foot blip in an 8-1 win.

Hyde on game: "A series win, series win, so got good pitching tonight. Brooksie, five innings, one run, bullpen goes four innings, doesn't give up a hit or a walk, so they attacked the strike zone with a lead. We threw the ball well the last couple of nights."

Hyde on Brooks getting first win: "It was nice. I thought he battled, too. We scored three there in the bottom of the second, gives up that one in the third. For me, when he gets into trouble is when he starts overthrowing his pitches, and tonight he was really composed and not overcooking his slider, threw some really good ones and pitched five innings and did a great job."

Hyde on whether home run record easier because inevitable: "No, no. We've given up a ton of homers. What's the record? I don't even know what it is. How many? 258? So if it's 259 or 330, I don't care. I just want us to get better on the mound and obviously we have to finish this year and go into next year trying to do a better job of keeping the ball in the ballpark and staying off the barrel. But home runs are up.

"We play in a nasty division where guys are looking to launch the baseball and really, really good hitters, so we just have to do a better job going forward so the past is the past with the home runs. And we're all tired of seeing them and hopefully we can get better going forward."

Hyde on whether Alberto will stop hitting: "I hope not. Hanser's obviously, this is well-documented, but he's really taken advantage of his opportunity to play, gotten huge hits for us, got some sneaky power that I don't think anybody knew he had. Just playing baseball and obviously really fun to watch. And he comes with great energy and it shows on the field. I'm happy for him."

Brooks on whether relief to get win: "For me, coming over to a new organization I want to show positive movement forward and competitiveness. I feel like I'm finally moving toward that part of my game again. Yeah, it feels good."

Brooks on stranding runners with two outs: "Get us back in the dugout is my main thing I want to do. We're not going to win games if we're not inside scoring runs. It's huge. You obviously want to get 1-2-3 as many times as you can, but they put together some good ABs and battled. Fortunately, I was able to get some ground balls when I needed to."

Brooks on whether aware of homer record: "No, I didn't know. I had no idea. Obviously, I'm kind of new here, so stuff like that I don't really know. I think as competitors we go out there and we try not think about that type of thing and just try to make good pitches."

Bleier on if it felt good to have bullpen dominate: "I think for everyone, especially how it went in Boston for all of us in the bullpen. All of our outings got away from us, so it's nice to have a good bounceback outing and kind of get in there and not only put up a zero, but kind of dominate the rest of the game and shut it down and not really give them any hope."

Bleier on whether club is aware of home run record: "You know, we hear it a lot, I think, but it's not like we're ... I think we're all trying to keep the ball in the park regardless of the record or anything like that. I just think home runs are going to become more and more prevalent and we're not doing a good enough job of keeping the ball in the park and everybody's trying to hit them. But we're not really talking about it."

Bleier on winning at home after rough trip: "We had some tough matchups there and we had some games that got away from us and some games that we probably had a pretty good chance to win, so definitely a nice bounce back series here for the club. A lot of guys had nice games and a nice series overall."

Bleier on Alberto's success versus lefties: "I'm just glad I don't have to face him. The guy, it's like weak contact hits, home runs, everything time he touches the ball it's a hit. It's incredible. I guess he finds holes and puts it over the fence, too. It's impressive. It really is."

Alberto on figuring due for hit versus lefty after Montgomery: "Yeah, I think that was the right time because my last at-bat against a lefty in the game. And I don't waste time. Go up there and see a good pitch and swing."

Alberto on wanting to change singles reputation: "Yeah, you know, I set a goal, so I've got to complete the goals. I put a big swing there so to be close to my goal and I got a good result."

Alberto on his goal: "I wanted 10 home runs, and then after that I'll be blessed."

Alberto on whether he's always hit lefties this way: "Yes, I've always been successful against them, but I think this year way more successful. I don't think I've hit a lefty with that consistency like I've been doing this year."

Alberto on his secret: "I don't know. See the ball good, got a good plan and put a good swing. And the result has been really good."

Alberto on contributing to series win: "It's good. It feels good when you're on the winning side. The pitchers the last two games have been really, really good. Even in the first game (John) Means did a really good job. Our offense is there. So, hopefully, we can win the series against Tampa Bay."