BALTIMORE (Interstat) — The Baltimore Orioles scored five runs in the sixth inning to break a tie game and beat the Kansas City Royals 8-2 on Sunday afternoon at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The Orioles, who improved to 46-51, completed a three-game sweep of the Royals and handed Kansas City its fifth consecutive loss. The Royals fell to 38-59.

Baltimore right-hander Shane Baz turned in a strong start, allowing one earned run on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings while striking out nine, but did not factor into the decision. Grant Wolfram earned the win with two-thirds of a scoreless inning, striking out one, to improve to 2-2. Kansas City left-hander Matt Strahm took the loss, falling to 3-3 after surrendering five runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief.

Baltimore’s Leody Taveras went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs, including a two-run homer in the second inning that put the Orioles ahead for the first time. Samuel Basallo added a solo homer in the seventh, part of a 1-for-5 day. For the Royals, Lane Thomas collected three hits in four at-bats with an RBI double and a run-scoring single.

Kansas City struck first in the top of the second. With two outs, Josh Rojas reached on a throwing error by Baltimore third baseman Blaze Alexander. Isaac Collins followed with a triple to right field that scored Rojas, giving the Royals a 1-0 lead.

The Orioles answered in the bottom of the second. Alexander led off with a sharp single, and Taveras launched his fourth home run of the season to center field, scoring Alexander and putting Baltimore up 2-1.

Kansas City tied the game in the top of the third. Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a double, advanced to third on a groundout by Jac Caglianone and scored on a single by Lane Thomas. Vinnie Pasquantino singled to put runners on the corners, but Salvador Perez and Michael Massey failed to drive in the go-ahead run, leaving the game tied 2-2.

The score remained deadlocked through the fourth and fifth innings. Baz and Kansas City starter Seth Lugo traded zeros, with Lugo striking out six over four innings while allowing two earned runs on four hits. Baz worked out of a jam in the fifth after Thomas doubled with two outs, striking out Pasquantino to end the threat.

The game turned in the bottom of the sixth. Strahm entered to relieve Kansas City reliever Steven Cruz, who had a scoreless fifth. Alexander greeted Strahm with a leadoff walk. Tyler O’Neill singled to right, putting runners on first and second. Taveras then singled to center, scoring Alexander to give Baltimore a 3-2 lead. O’Neill advanced to third on the play.

Jeremiah Jackson followed with a ground-rule double to right-center field, scoring O’Neill and sending Taveras to third. Gunnar Henderson singled to center on Strahm’s next pitch, scoring Jackson to make it 5-2. Taylor Ward walked, loading the bases with one out. Dylan Beavers struck out, but Pete Alonso ripped a single to right that scored Henderson, giving the Orioles a 7-2 lead. Alonso was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double, ending the inning.

Baltimore padded its lead in the seventh. Basallo led off against Kansas City reliever Dan Altavilla with a line-drive home run to center field, his 16th of the season, making it 8-2.

The Royals threatened in the eighth when Salvador Perez doubled with one out, but he was stranded. Kansas City went down in order in the ninth, with Rico Garcia pitching a scoreless inning for Baltimore.

Baltimore used five pitchers overall, with Anthony Nunez striking out one in a perfect seventh and Andrew Kittredge tossing a scoreless eighth. The Orioles finished with 12 hits to Kansas City’s nine. Attendance was announced at 31,355, and the game lasted 2 hours, 59 minutes.

The Royals return home to face the San Diego Padres on Friday, while the Orioles begin a road trip against the Houston Astros the same day.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Baltimore 5, Kansas City 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Baltimore a 57.40 percent probability of winning. Baltimore was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 10 went under the over-under line of 9.5.