The chants rained throughout the stadium.

“Gary, Gary, Gary,” the fans yelled in support of backup catcher Gary Sánchez.

His defensive skills, including a delayed tag earlier this week, have left question marks. But his hitting? He’s proven to be a clutch bat that the Orioles need, and the crowd recognized that after he did it again Friday. His home run provided the push the Orioles needed to take the lead in the fifth inning and beat the Rays in the first of a three-game series, 22-8.

“It’s a three-run home run every night, it feels like right now,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Gary’s a proven hitter in this league, and he’s feared when he walks in the box. It’s a presence in there for every pitcher in this league.”

It was just the third time in franchise history that the Orioles have scored 22 or more runs in a game and the first since 2000. They tallied season highs in runs (22), hits (21), doubles (9) and extra-base hits (14).

“I’m proud of our hitters,” Mansolino said. “We were on the other side of this not too long ago in both ways — blowing an eight-run game and then the game in Boston where we gave up more points, I think, or more runs. Just happy for the guys."

It was a feat that, earlier in the game, seemed out of reach for the Orioles. Midway through the top of the second inning, it was more than clear that Tomoyuki Sugano was on his way to the worst start of his short MLB career.

He had already allowed six runs — a career high — off three home runs, putting the Orioles in a hole that, for a team that was nearly no-hit three times in one week, is usually impossible to climb out of.

Sugano wasn’t his best — and he hasn’t been as of late, either, the Orioles opting to give him another two days of rest. But that extra time didn’t translate to results.

After he pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, Sugano opened the second by allowing a leadoff home run to Jonathan Aranda. Josh Lowe followed with a solo home run later in the inning, and Brandon Lowe provided the most damage with a three-run shot. All three home runs were off Sugano’s cutter.

“Just a few command misses,” Sugano said through interpretor Yuto Sakurai. “That’s something I have to improve, and also getting ahead of the count is also a key to my success moving forward.”

When the Orioles got to the bottom of the second, they were already in a 6-0 hole. The last time they faced Rays starter Ryan Pepiot, they managed only one run and four hits across eight innings. But on Friday they fared much better. They chipped away at him, a series of walks and RBI doubles getting them right back into it, forcing Pepiot out after 1 2/3 innings.

By the end of the third, it was 6-5, the momentum swinging in the Orioles’ favor.

Sugano allowed one more run in the fourth before ending his day after five innings, the seven runs allowed a career high. His ERA is 4.06, so the Orioles no longer have a starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.0.

Due to the offense’s explosion, he still walked away with the win. In the fifth, Ramón Laureano and Colton Cowser hit back-to-back doubles to kick off the inning to get them within one. Then Sánchez provided the boost to get them over the edge, hitting a two-run home run to make it 8-7.

With the lead now theirs, the Orioles would only continue to add on, scoring three runs in the sixth and four in the seventh. Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday hit homers in the eighth to really put it over the edge.

“I’m proud of our guys, kind of getting slapped in the mouth there and then being able to respond with the four-run inning and being able to continue to scrap,” Cowser said. “We know what that team’s capable of, so it was one of those things where we got the lead, we wanted to continue to put our foot down and have the throttle going.”

And, to cap what was already a memorable day, Coby Mayo, facing Rays infielder José Caballero, sent what Statcast categorized as a 62.1 mph slider towering into left field. It got just enough pull and sway to land on the right side of the foul pole, giving the Orioles a 22-8 lead and, more important for Mayo, his first major league home run.

“You never know how it’s going to happen, how it’s going to come, when it’s going to come, and for this to come in this kind of fashion goes to show you life is just so crazy and unexpected,” Mayo said. “You can never predict what’s going to happen. An awesome moment, obviously, no matter who it’s off of. It’s a really cool thing.”

This article has been updated.