On Thursday, in the series finale against the Detroit Tigers, Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino tried using an opener for Dean Kremer to counteract Detroit ace Tarik Skubal.

It failed.

But on Sunday Mansolino gave it another try. This time, it gave them the intended outcome. With Scott Blewett as the opener and Cade Povich, the scheduled starter, coming in in the third inning, the Orioles beat the Angels 11-2 to sweep the series as Povich put together one of his better outings of the season and a grand slam from Gary Sánchez, leading a lineup without four of its heaviest hitters, put the game out of reach.

It was the Orioles’ third sweep of the season.

“I think going into today, on the outside, if somebody’s looking at that lineup, you probably don’t know what to expect,” Jordan Westburg said of a lineup that didn’t include Jackson Holliday, Ryan O’Hearn, Colton Cowser or Adley Rutschman. “But in here I think there’s a trust and a knowledge of how talented and fierce everybody is and how much we like to compete. Like I said, that energy that we’re playing with is awesome.”

Mansolino’s goal with having left-handed pitcher Keegan Akin open the game for Kremer was to force the Tigers to switch up their lineup and eliminate optimal matchups for them. On Sunday, the use of the opener was to shorten the game for Povich. Although he’s excelled in the first inning of his outings — he’s allowed just two earned runs all season — his numbers skyrocket as it gets later in the game and he faces the lineup for the second and third times.

“If Blewett got used the last couple days, we probably wouldn’t have done it today,” Mansolino said. “You know he’s kind of the right guy to do it. He’s built up a little bit; it’s a really right-handed lineup. It worked out, and you know it’s not something every single time you say, ‘hey, let’s do an opener,’ I think it’s got to kind of line up and, when it makes sense, then you go for it.”

So with Blewett eliminating the first 2 2/3 innings, Povich entered in the third with a runner on second. Povich said he kept his process the same; the only thing that was different was the timing of when he began warming up. This was a new situation for him — he couldn’t remember the last time he entered a game with a man on base — and although he let that inherited runner score, Povich didn’t allow a batter to reach until the sixth.

With the Orioles up 5-2 after an early home run from Ramón Urías and RBIs from Ramón Laureano, Cedric Mullins and Coby Mayo, Taylor Ward opened the inning with a single and Jorge Soler walked. Luis Rengifo then hit a single to load the bases with one out in what would end Povich’s day.

But this was, in a way, Mansolino’s intended outcome. Although Povich was in the game for only 3 2/3 innings, tossing 57 pitches compared to his usual 80 to 90, Mansolino was able to take Povich out in a key spot before things got out of hand without worrying about how it would impact his bullpen usage. Seranthony Domínguez came in to strike out the first two batters he faced to end the threat.

“Have one out and then obviously would love to get a ground ball so I could still stay in there, but our bullpen’s been lockdown, so Ser did an unbelievable job, and whoever came in after me I knew was gonna find a way to get me out of that,” Povich said.

Instead of the Angels getting within reach, the Orioles retained their 5-2 lead, and they quickly halted any momentum the Angels were trying to create. In the bottom half of the inning, Sánchez hit the grand slam to make it 9-2. Sánchez, who was activated on Saturday after over six weeks on the injured list, has home runs in back-to-back games.

Westburg added a two-run home run in the eighth, his seventh of the season.

The Orioles have won 11 of their last 15, but a bigger challenge awaits this week as they head off to face American League East competitors in Tampa and New York.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re kind of in it in a weird way,” Mansolino said. “There’s some belief in there. It’s like, now if we can get five under [.500]. If you get to five under, all of a sudden, eyes are open and you can kind of see it a little bit. Really happy to be where we’re at, really happy with how we played. We’ve got a really big challenge coming up on this road trip, and then we come home and we have another challenge. The schedule the rest of the way is a gigantic challenge, but with the way we’re playing, if we keep it up, we’re going to be just fine.”

This article has been updated.