The Orioles had clung to a one-run lead over the Nationals for five innings. After a two-run shot to Eutaw Street from Gunnar Henderson in the first, they hadn’t put multiple runners on base.

But, in the bottom of the seventh, Baltimore’s offense finally clicked again. After back-to-back walks from Colton Cowser and Coby Mayo, Jackson Holliday singled to send Cowser home.

Then Ryan O’Hearn pinch hit for Austin Slater and delivered an infield single, running around Nationals pitcher Jacob Barnes to reach first base.

Mayo then scored his first major league run after tallying his first career hit earlier in the game, running home on a sacrifice fly from Adley Rutschman.

The burst of offense in the seventh inning sealed the Orioles’ 4-1 victory over the Nationals on Wednesday night. They split the two-game series and collected their first victory of the homestand.

After Tuesday night’s 9-3 loss, manager Brandon Hyde said he thought his team had inconsistent pitching and was not “moving the line offensively.” Wednesday night, both areas rebounded as solid pitching from Dean Kremer and timely hitting gave Baltimore the victory.

The win on Wednesday felt like a “normal baseball game,” Hyde said, something the team hasn’t played a lot of recently he said. This time, it was all there: solid pitching, strong defense and a productive offense.

The Orioles’ offense felt more typical of what the team has done this season thanks to Henderson’s home run, just his second since the All-Star break. The shortstop finally hit the 30-homer mark and said he is ready to get going again.

“Finally glad to kind of get over that little hump and starting to feel really good in the box,” he said.

After 14 hits and nine runs the previous night, it was clear Washington’s offense posed a problem its record didn’t reflect.

Kremer delivered a strong performance against the team’s young hitters, pitching six innings and allowing one run. He collected his first win since exactly one month ago, when Baltimore beat the New York Yankees 6-5.

The Nationals’ lone run of the game came in the second inning when an Alex Call double allowed Luis Garcia Jr. to score.

The Orioles’ one-run lead fell in trouble multiple times as the Nationals continued to put runners on the bases. But Kremer forced ground balls that the defense easily converted into outs.

The biggest threat came in the fourth inning, when a Keibert Ruiz single was followed by a double from Call, putting runners at second and third with two outs. However, Kremer forced a groundout to end the inning.

Hyde called Kremer’s outing his best performance of the season, citing his increasing confidence in his splitter as one of the reasons.

“Definitely after I came back from the IL [injured list], I started getting a lot more comfortable with it and on where it’s going, and it got a lot more consistent,” Kremer said.

After Kremer exited, relievers Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez and Seranthony Domínguez finished the job. None of them allowed a hit in the final three innings, flattening any hopes of a Nationals comeback.