TAMPA, Fla. — Things seemed a little too easy for the Orioles.

After dropping four in a row, including the first two out of the All-Star break, they had Trevor Rogers cruise through six innings and a 5-2 lead with the offense showing spunk thanks to home runs from Jackson Holliday and Alex Jackson. A person not named Jackson, All-Star Ryan O’Hearn, also hit a home run as they scored more runs in six innings than they had in their four previous games combined.

Then the sky opened, as the Florida sky does so often, and a pop-up storm arrived. The players, seemingly convinced it would be short, stayed put, watching from the dugout as it began to rain and the grounds crew at George M. Steinbrenner Field struggled to put the tarp out, even swallowing one of their own. He popped up at the end, sticking the landing.

But soon a dark cloud from the east appeared and it became clear this delay wasn’t ending anytime soon. The players retreated inside to play cards as water piled up, an early getaway day no longer feasible. Interim manager Tony Mansolino wandered the clubhouse, trying to keep things light.

Over two hours after, the sky finally cleared. One by one, the Orioles players came out of the clubhouse, the delay so long they had to complete their pregame warm-ups again as if they were starting all over.

Two hours and 36 minutes later, players and the smattering of fans remaining returned to the stadium. Everyone, that is, except for Mansolino and outfielder Ramón Laureano, who were ejected in the third inning. Laureano threw his helmet down in frustration after striking out, to the dislike of umpire James Hoye, and Mansolino was thrown out defending his right fielder.

“Ramón Laureano is a guy we love, that’s passionate, that’s a leader, that does so many things right,” Mansolino said. “James Hoye is a great umpire and it just was a tough situation and it just turned out the way that it did.”

So, with bench coach Robinson Chirinos at the helm, it was time to turn to the bullpen. Rogers’ day was long done — he was at 91 pitches after six, and it might have been over regardless of the delay.

“I gave it everything I had that last inning,” Rogers said. “Execution-wise was really important today. Stuff-wise was probably one of my least-quality outings in terms of stuff. But against that team, going six full innings with two runs and giving my team a chance to win, I’ll take that any day.”

He allowed two runs on five hits, loading the bases in the first but getting out of the jam without giving up a run. The Rays scored one run off Rogers in the third on a Junior Caminero single and another in the fourth as Danny Jansen homered.

When the game resumed in the seventh, the Orioles’ three-run lead was in the hands of a bullpen that blew the game the night prior. This time, it fared much better, allowing them to escape with a 5-3 victory. Yennier Cano pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, and Andrew Kittredge allowed a base hit but nothing more.

Five hours after the game began, Félix Bautista took the mound to try to wrap it up. It wasn’t easy — it was his first time pitching in 10 days, and it showed as his velocity hovered around 94 mph on his sinker as opposed to his usual 97-98 mph average. Mansolino and Laureano sat together inside, with Laureano breaking down the biomechanics of the pitching delivery to Mansolino, who was stressing as he watched his closer try to wrap things up.

“It was actually the perfect distraction to have in the inning,” Mansolino said.

Bautista let in a run, then gave up a single and a walk. With two outs, the Rays had runners on first and second with Yandy Díaz, their top hitter, at the plate with a chance to walk it off. Bautista walked Díaz to load the bases, setting up a matchup with Caminero, who already had two hits.

Bautista got behind 3-0 before the umpire gave him a generous strike call. Bautista then got Caminero to swing on two pitches — both of which were far out of the zone — to get the out and give the Orioles the win.

It wasn’t easy. But, finally, they were off to Cleveland with their first win in over a week, just a whole lot later than they intended.

“We’re obviously up early this morning and that awesome rain delay right there in the middle probably didn’t help, but I’m proud of the way we came back out, had competitive at-bats there and had a chance to score a couple more runs but ultimately came out with the win,” shortstop Gunnar Henderson said.

This article has been updated.