BALTIMORE — This time, the Orioles’ bullpen was lights-out.

Late innings have been an adventure for Baltimore over the last couple of weeks, but manager Brandon Hyde showed which relievers he had the most faith in Wednesday by trotting out Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez and Seranthony Domínguez to close out a tight 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals and secure a split in their two-game series.

A pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning supplied by Jackson Holliday and Adley Rutschman gave the Orioles some breathing room late, but it was their bullpen who passed the most important test — even if Craig Kimbrel got the night off. Cano and Pérez both retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth innings before Domínguez picked up his second save since being acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies ahead of the trade deadline last month.

Gunnar Henderson supplied the Orioles with some early offense in the first, launching a two-run home run off Nationals starter DJ Herz that landed on Eutaw Street beyond right field. The 419-foot blast was Henderson’s 30th of the season, making him the third player 23 years old or younger in Orioles history to hit that many in a single campaign and only their fourth shortstop behind Cal Ripken Jr. (1991), Miguel Tejada (2004) and J.J. Hardy (2011).

It was just the fourth home run in Henderson’s past 40 games, a stretch in which the reigning American League Rookie of the Year Award winner has hit .287 with a .773 OPS. While that’s hardly an ugly stat line, Henderson has fallen behind the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the AL Most Valuable Player Award race. He finished 1 for 3 with a walk to improve his OPS to .925, eighth-best in the AL.

The Orioles’ offense didn’t tack on another run until the seventh, but that was just fine for starter Dean Kremer. Coming off a pair of poor outings in Cleveland and Toronto, Kremer scattered five hits and two walks over six innings for his first start with one run or fewer allowed since July 3. The right-hander was a ground-ball machine, inducing nine outs on the infield grass — tied for the second-most ground outs he’s accrued in a game this season.

Kremer mixed all five of his pitches throughout the contest, leaning most heavily on his splitter (34%) and sinker (21%). He wasn’t missing many bats — Kremer picked up six whiffs on 45 swings — but he managed to limit the hard contact. The Nationals went 0 for 4 with runners on against him, stranding five base runners.

Washington’s lone run off Kremer came in the second. Right fielder Alex Call skied a flyball deep to right field that popped in and out of Anthony Santander’s glove as he tried to make a running catch near the wall. Second baseman Luis García Jr., running off the crack of the bat with two outs, scored from first.

That score held through the end of Kremer’s outing. Baltimore’s offense only mustered two hits against Herz after the first inning, though one of them was a single by Coby Mayo in the fifth for the third base prospect’s first big league hit. Making his first start at Camden Yards, Mayo pulled a line drive to left field to end an 0-for-16 start to his MLB career. The ball made its way back to the Orioles’ dugout as the home crowd of 26,479 gave the 22-year-old a standing ovation.

However, Mayo was thrown out at second on a double play, and the Orioles couldn’t bring Henderson around to score after he drew a one-out walk in the sixth. That put the game in the hands of Baltimore’s bullpen, a group that has been tested of late with Kimbrel and newly acquired left-hander Gregory Soto struggling in big spots.

Hyde didn’t turn to either of them Wednesday. He gave the ball in the seventh to Cano, who faced the bottom of the Nationals’ lineup and didn’t let a ball make it out of the infield in a clean frame. Cionel Pérez got the eighth to face the top of the order — including a pair of lefties in CJ Abrams and James Wood, who combined to go 7 for 9 on Tuesday — and saw similar results with two strikeouts and a groundout.

Between their appearances, the Orioles’ offense showed life against the Nationals’ bullpen by plating two runs in the seventh. Colton Cowser and Mayo drew a pair of one-out walks off reliever Robert Garcia and they each came around to score. Holliday brought Cowser home on an RBI single up the middle and Adley Rutschman hit a flyball to center field off Jacob Barnes that was deep enough to score Mayo from third.

Domínguez got the save opportunity over Kimbrel, leaving the struggling closer in the Orioles’ bullpen after he allowed the winning run in a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays for his latest appearance on Sunday. Domínguez allowed a leadoff walk to designated hitter Andrés Chaparro but struck out García and got catcher Keibert Ruiz to ground into a game-ending double play.

The Orioles (71-50) ended a two-game losing streak with the win. Baltimore has not won or lost more than two in a row over its past 21 games. The club will look to carry that momentum into a four-game AL East division series this weekend against the Boston Red Sox with Zach Eflin scheduled to start Thursday opposite Nick Pivetta.

Around the horn

— Orioles reliever Danny Coulombe has begun throwing as part of the “entry stage” of his throwing program, Hyde said before the game. Coulombe underwent surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow in June. Right-hander Jacob Webb, who is dealing with elbow inflammation, is scheduled to throw this weekend after avoiding surgery. Both pitchers hope to return in September.

— Hyde, Henderson, center fielder Cedric Mullins and Kimbrel were among the Orioles to attend Ravens’ training camp Wednesday. Hyde watched 11-on-11 drills with coach Jim Harbaugh; the two Baltimore coaches exchanged “culture stuff” with Hyde joking that he picked up some “Ravens secrets.”

— The Orioles announced their probable pitchers for this weekend’s series against the Boston Red Sox, highlighted by Corbin Burnes getting the start for his bobblehead night at Camden Yards on Friday. Eflin will open the series opposite Pivetta with Albert Suárez starting Saturday and Trevor Rogers on Sunday.

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