ST PETERSBURG, Fla — The Orioles faithful at Tropicana Field announced their presence loud and clear Friday night.

The “O” during the national anthem was noticeably loud for a road ballpark, although less so given the Tampa Bay Rays’ historically abysmal attendance.

A contingent of Baltimore fans sat all over “The Trop” to make up a solid portion of the announced 17,822 in attendance, with their orange shirts standing out among the many empty blue seats and their occasional “Let’s Go O’s” chants taking hold.

The only thing louder was the ball coming off the Orioles’ bats.Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle and Jordan Westburg each hit homers to lead Baltimore to a 6-3 win over the Rays. Santander struck first with a solo shot in the second, while Mountcastle’s two-run homer in the fifth broke a tie and Westburg’s two-run, opposite-field blast in the eighth provided welcomed insurance.

“No matter who’s in the lineup, one through nine is potentially dangerous,” Westburg said. “Last year when I was up, that’s kind of how I felt. It was a different person every night who contributed, and I think it’s the same this year. No matter what our lineup is, the person in the box with the opportunity, it seems like that guy usually comes through for us. And that guy could be anybody.”

The power surge is no surprise. Baltimore leads the major leagues with 98 long balls in 62 games, extending its lead to five ahead of the New York Yankees. They have five hitters with 10 or more homers, including all three sluggers who went deep Friday, Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. The only run the Orioles scored that didn’t cross the plate via homer was on Ramón Urías’ second-inning double.

“Our lineup is really deep. We’re really balanced,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I thought that was a really well-played game. I thought we pitched extremely well, and we got some timely hits.”

Starting pitcher Cole Irvin was far from remarkable, surrendering eight hits and 10 batted balls above 95 mph. But he battled through those hard hits for another solid start — an early season trend that’s becoming a regular occurrence. Irvin (6-2) allowed three runs (two earned) across 5 2/3 innings.

The fact that two earned runs across 5 2/3 frames results in Irvin’s ERA increasing — it’s now 2.87 — is further evidence that he’s not the same pitcher he was last season. Over his past 43 1/3 innings as a starting pitcher, Irvin has a 1.25 ERA, including 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball against the Rays last weekend.

“I felt good. This start, I felt a lot more like myself in terms of pitching, in and out with a little bit more command,” Irvin said. “They’re not an easy team to face twice in a week. Thought I did well. Rutsch called a great game, offense did great things, defense was there. All around great game for the team. It was a lot of fun.”

Jacob Webb relieved Irvin with two runners in scoring position in the sixth, escaping the jam with a lineout by José Caballero that left fielder Colton Cowser deftly tracked to catch. Webb stayed in to pitch the seventh, and setupman Yennier Cano and closer Craig Kimbrel followed with scoreless frames to slam the door.

Kimbrel’s three-up, three-down ninth served as a bounce back from his blown save Wednesday. The save is the 14th of his season and 431st of his illustrious career.

The win is the Orioles’ 40th of the season. In 2021, when they went 1-18 against the Rays, Baltimore didn’t win its 40th game until Aug. 26. At 40-22, Baltimore is 3 1/2 games back of the American League East-leading Yankees (45-20).

If the Orioles win any of the next three games at “The Trop,” they will extend their franchise-record streak of avoided series losses against the AL East to 21. The last time they dropped a divisional series was April 2023.

While the club is 14-6 against the AL East this season, Westburg said the games don’t feel that way.

“It feels tight, I’m not going to lie, especially these in-division games,” Westburg said. “The stress level is always a little bit higher. There’s a little bit more weight to every pitch. These games mean a lot, and not only to us, but to fans, to staff. It means a lot to everybody, because we know this division is an absolute dogfight, and it’s going to come down to the very end of the season.”

NOTE: Kyle Bradish is getting two extra rest days and will take the ball Saturday, while right-handers Grayson Rodriguez and Corbin Burnes will start on turn Sunday and Monday, respectively, Hyde said.