TAMPA — Matt Thaiss had no choice but to put his head down and retreat back to the dugout after swinging wide on Dean Kremer’s splitter.

It was the fourth inning in a 1-1 game, and with two outs and Tampa Bay runners on first and third, this was a crucial at-bat with control of the game at stake. Thaiss and Kremer battled, with Thaiss fouling off six in a row to extend the at-bat before Kremer finally got him with that splitter.

Instead of the Rays breaking open the inning, Kremer was able to put an end to the threat, and he walked off the mound visibly pumped up. And because he kept things in check, he not only saved his own start but the Orioles’ chance at winning, which they went on to do, beating the Rays 5-1 to even the four-game series.

“It was big,” Kremer said of the strikeout. “The last handful of starts that I’ve had where I’ve given up three or four in the same inning and being able to limit it to one and keep us in it was big for me.”

After that crucial at-bat, the Orioles took the lead in the fifth with a Colton Cowser solo home run to center field. And in the sixth, Ramón Laureano, for the second time Tuesday, hit an RBI single to drive in Jordan Westburg. Gunnar Henderson added another run in the seventh, hitting a single to bring in Dylan Carlson, and Jackson Holliday hit an RBI single in the ninth to send in one final run.

The Orioles offense went 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position, a category they struggled with earlier this season. Westburg and Carlson each had three hits.

“I think that’s how you win games in the big leagues,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “You beat teams with two-out RBIs. If you have two-out RBIs and the bullpen throws the ball good, you’re going to win a lot of games. We need ‘em to do it and they did it, and it’s a nice win for us.”

All of that was possible due to Kremer’s ability to limit the damage in the fourth. While Kremer’s value has been in his durability this season, especially as starting pitching injuries have continued to pile up — Cade Povich on Monday became the latest pitcher to hit the IL — he has had a tendency of late to let one bad inning to ruin an outing.

Last time out, against the Tigers, it was four runs in the fourth, which would end up being the only runs Detroit would score in their win. In his start before that, against the Athletics, he again let in four runs, this time in the third. He would allow just one other run that day in the Orioles’ 5-4 loss.

On Tuesday, Kremer would complete five innings, allowing just the one run, striking out four and walking two.

“He held his emotions in check, kept everything together, made a big pitch,” Mansolino said. “He’s been in this league for a little while now, so when he gets in those kind of sticky spots, we all trust him and feel good about him. Not surprising, but we liked it.”

Kremer passed the game off to Keegan Akin, Gregory Soto, Bryan Baker and Félix Bautista, who combined for four scoreless innings to close it out.

“They’ve been really good here for three or four weeks,” Mansolino said. “I think when the bullpen got built, this was kind of what we thought it might be, and it’s kind of happening right now right in front of our eyes.”