Austin Hays needed just one pitch.

The Friday night crowd — thanks to a quick top of the first from Orioles starter Tyler Wells — was still milling around the concourse when Hays sent Daniel Lynch’s fastball hurtling toward left field. It veered right just enough to avoid the wrong side of the foul pole, giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

The Orioles offense has quieted since their hot start, but this quick jolt of energy, coupled with a strong start from Wells, gave them just enough to beat the Royals 3-2 in the series opener.

“Hays really sparked us tonight at the top of the order,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “It was nice to get a couple of runs early.”

Hays isn’t accustomed to the leadoff role. He’s done it on occasion, but most of his time is spent in the middle of the order. But, with Cedric Mullins on the injured list and Adam Frazier hitting only .191 against left-handed pitchers, the Orioles needed someone else to take that spot.

So in came Hays.

He keeps his approach the same when he’s hitting from that top spot, he said, and he was prepared to hit the first pitch if it was down the middle. Luckily for him, it was.

“Just sticking to the plan of get a pitch in the middle part of the plate and be able to do damage on it when it’s there,” Hays said.

Aside from the early home run, Hays also gave the Orioles a double in the fifth, which eventually turned into a run after an Anthony Santander double drove him home. Santander was on a 1-for-26 slump until that double.

The offense also got a boost from Gunnar Henderson, who had a career-high three hits and two stolen bases against a left-handed pitcher, a category he’s struggled against early in his career.

“To go left on left and square three balls up, that makes me feel really good for him,” Hyde said. “Also got a couple bags, that was fun to watch.”

As for Wells, he didn’t have his best stuff but still gave up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings. His fastball was off, forcing him to rely on his secondary pitches, and he said it took him until the fifth inning to get into a groove.

The first run came in the third, when Nick Pratto hit an RBI single. Wells steadied after that, though, and went on to retire 10 straight batters.

Things got dicey in the seventh, when Wells gave up back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases with two outs. Holding on to a two-run lead, Hyde sent in Mike Baumann to get the last out. One run came in on a wild pitch, but Baumann bounced back, going down 2-0 in the count on the next batter before throwing three straight 97 mph fastballs to get Nicky Lopez swinging to end the inning.

Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista wrapped up the game for the Orioles.

Danielle.Allentuck@thebaltimorebanner.com