Austin Hays homered on the first pitch thrown by Kansas City starter Daniel Lynch, Tyler Wells took a three-hitter into the seventh inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the struggling Royals 3-2 on Friday night.

Gunnar Henderson had three hits, stole two bases and scored a run for the Orioles, who have won two straight for the first time since May 24-25. Coming off a victory at Milwaukee, Baltimore never relinquished the lead after Hays’ leadoff shot inside the left-field foul pole.

Wells (5-2) allowed two runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking one. The 6-foot-8 righty was lifted with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh with the score 3-1.

Mike Baumann threw a wild pitch to let in a run before striking out Nicky Lopez.

Baltimore then turned to its potent 1-2 punch out of the bullpen to seal the victory. Yennier Cano worked a scoreless eighth to lower his ERA to 1.06 and Félix Bautista got three straight outs in the ninth for his 17th save.

It was the seventh loss in eight games for the Royals, whose 18-45 record is second-worst in the majors next to Oakland.

Seeking his first win in 14 starts since last Aug. 1, Lynch (0-2) gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings. It was his third start of 2023 following a lengthy stay on the injured list with a rotator cuff strain.

UP NEXT

Royals: RH Brady Singer (4-4, 6.45 ERA) starts Saturday in the second game of the series. In his only previous appearance against Baltimore, he allowed seven runs in two innings on July 17, 2021.

Orioles: LH Cole Irvin (0-2, 10.38) will be recalled from Norfolk on Saturday to make his first start in the majors since April 13.