The Orioles’ highest-scoring inning of the year powers their blowout win vs. Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ringing around Tropicana Field during the sixth inning, the echoing thunder within this domed ballpark had as much to do with Baltimore’s bats as it did the oncoming thunderstorm.

It boomed and darkened — the light-colored roof, new this year after a hurricane ripped it from its moorings, showed the progress of the oncoming storm. And, within this ballpark, the cracks that supplemented the cacophony outside came from the Orioles. They just kept hitting. They poured on runs in the third game of a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays with their most dominant showing in some time.

Behind an offense that produced its highest-scoring inning of the season, the Orioles beat the Rays for a third straight game. After a pair of narrow wins, this one was a 10-2 blowout that featured multiple RBIs from four hitters.

The most notable of those came in a pair of at-bats from Jackson Holliday. Early in the infielder’s career, he has been subject to a fair bit of platoon-splitting — late in games, when a left-handed reliever enters, he has been lifted from those adverse matchups.

Except Sunday, he wasn’t.

Rays manager Kevin Cash pulled right-hander Freddy Peralta in the fifth inning to set up the matchup game. He brought in left-hander Garrett Cleavinger to face Holliday. Holliday singled anyway, lining a game-tying RBI knock into center field.

Pete Alonso soon after handed left-hander Trevor Rogers a lead. He took advantage of the left-handed matchup to drive a two-run double.

Alonso, who was hobbled with a calf cramp late in Saturday’s win, played his 540th consecutive game Sunday as the designated hitter. He made his presence felt by reaching base four times — two walks, one hit-by-pitch and that double.

That three-run fifth was just an appetizer for the raucous sixth against left-hander Steven Matz and right-hander Joe Boyle.

The half inning dragged on for the Rays, lasting well over 20 minutes. Tampa Bay required 59 pitches to get through it, and all the damage came with two outs.

Leody Taveras singled, and Colton Cowser — also facing a southpaw in a matchup he infrequently gets — hit a towering two-run homer to right field. That was just the start.

Coby Mayo singled. Yohel Pozo walked. Holliday lined a two-run double into right-center field, and Pozo’s unorthodox slide at the plate worked, with his hand sneaking in before the tag.

Then Alonso walked. And Gunnar Henderson walked. And, with bases loaded, Christian Encarnacion-Strand — who started the inning with a lineout — pulled a ball that just sneaked inside third base for a three-run double.

Finally, Boyle struck Dylan Beavers out to end the seemingly never-ending inning.

Holliday’s performance atop the lineup Sunday was perhaps most promising. The former first overall pick is still just 22 and, as such, there have been plenty of ups and downs in his short time in the majors. But his two key hits elevated his average against lefties to .265.

More and more, Holliday is proving himself as an everyday player. Since July 1, he’s hitting .287. And, although these are just three games in Tampa Bay, they bode well for what Baltimore hopes is a late push for the postseason.

The Orioles are 61-63. They haven’t played anywhere near a consistent level. And yet the mediocre American League means they are right in the center of a mass of teams fighting for the final wild-card spot.

Maybe this offense can make more noise, as it did in the fifth and sixth innings Sunday. In a flash, perhaps a challenging season will change into something a whole lot more electrifying.