Hours before first pitch, Orioles hitting coach Brady North downplayed the severity of Pete Alonso’s and Samuel Basallo’s slumps. Just wait, North said. It’s early, and any conclusions regarding how these challenging stretches for two of Baltimore’s middle-of-the-order thumpers would not hold value in the long term.

The wait lasted less than an inning.

Alonso and Basallo combined to be the sort of 1-2 punch the Orioles envision striking many times this season. Alonso walked with two outs in the first. Then Basallo saw an elevated sinker from right-hander Adrian Houser and throttled it to the left-center bullpen for a two-run home run.

The immediate offense laid the path for left-hander Cade Povich and the Orioles to secure a series-ending 6-2 victory Sunday against the San Francisco Giants, during which Alonso found his own breakthrough moment with a runner in scoring position.

“These day-game rubber matches, winning these are really important. When you look at over the course of a season, yeah, you could come and let one slip here and there, but every single one matters towards the end of the year, and we came ready to play today,” Alonso said. “We didn’t let this one slip. We played great ball.”

Before the Giants lifted Houser in the fifth inning, Alonso fell into an 0-2 count. That has happened quite a bit lately. But, even though Alonso swung at the looping curveball well below the strike zone, he barreled it well enough to pull it down the line for a two-out, two-run double.

The swings from two of Baltimore’s most pivotal hitters showed a few things. One, don’t throw an elevated fastball to Basallo unless you, like Houser, would like to see it leave the park in a hurry. Two, especially at this early juncture of the season, a slump lasts only as long as a batter’s next plate appearance. And, three, if Baltimore’s lineup can click at the same time, there could be a whole lot of loud contact.

When asked who Basallo reminds him of from a hitting perspective, Alonso came up empty.

“His ceiling is beyond sky high,” Alonso said. “There’s really, like, no comp in my mind. Thank God we got him for a while on our team. He has the potential to create his own path, and if you have no comp for you, I think that’s a good thing.”

Of course, this win showcased the kind of complete performance the Orioles haven’t frequently put together this year. Povich led those efforts. On the southpaw’s 26th birthday, he spun 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball. The best sign was that Povich didn’t issue a walk — which can be his undoing.

When Povich’s command is where it was Sunday, he can force whiffs and weak contact. Povich forced 17 swings and misses, with his curveball generating seven of those. And, while San Francisco knocked eight balls at 95 mph or harder, the Giants managed only five hits against him.

When manager Craig Albernaz approached the mound with two outs in the seventh, he paused before reaching for the ball. Albernaz clapped, building the ovation for Povich around Camden Yards. And, when Albernaz took the ball finally, he didn’t let Povich depart for the dugout until he had pounded his chest with his hand.

“As he walked away, I just told him, ‘Just take that in, that’s cool,’” Albernaz said. “You know, it’s very rare in this game where you kind of get to feel that, so he was well deserved and the fans were awesome.”

The complete performance allowed Baltimore to secure the series win, and the Orioles have won five of their last six games to reach 8-7. They have trodden water thus far, as right-hander Chris Bassitt said Saturday night. Perhaps key hits from Alonso and Basallo are signs of a more dignified stroke, with a focus on propulsion rather than survival.

Before Basallo’s two-run shot, Alonso laid off a close ball on a full count to earn his walk. At times this season, Albernaz said, Alonso has expanded his zone because he’s trying to do too much. Because he passed the bat to Basallo, the Orioles placed a two-spot on the board.

“I’m ready to contribute in any way that I can and help this team win,” Basallo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I’m going to be ready to go each and every single day.”

And, in the fifth, Alonso showed he can produce even if his zone is wider than it ideally would be. He swung at Houser’s breaking ball and lined it to left field, which scored two. For insurance runs, Coby Mayo drove a second RBI single in as many games and Colton Cowser beat out an infield single in the seventh, which plated the sixth run.

The hyper analysis that is possible this time of year works both ways. On one hand, the poor starts from Alonso and Basallo were apparent. They entered with sub.-200 averages, and each had an on-base-plus-slugging percentage at .522 or below. On the other hand, a strong day at the plate can be a sign of what’s to come — and they can heat up in a hurry.

“It’s a long season,” Alonso said. “But I think, for us, if we can just be battle tested the whole year and play our best baseball towards the end, that’s ultimately the goal. The whole point is to win the whole thing at the end of the year, hold up the trophy. So for us to be battle tested, to be resilient, to have those characteristics, is obviously super important for getting to the postseason.”

This article has been updated.