BALTIMORE -- Tigers catcher John Hicks was smiling as much over Brandon Dixon’s go-ahead home run Wednesday as he was over his game-tying homer an inning earlier.

“We fought back, tied it up, and then the Bandit hit the homer,” Hicks said after their 4-2 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Wait, the Bandit?

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It would be great if the nickname stemmed from Dixon’s penchant for go-ahead home runs, now three in as many weeks. But it really came out of a dugout exchange in a game when they were both on the bench.

“That was kind of an accidental nickname,” Hicks explained. “One day we were sitting on the bench together, and [bench coach Steve] Liddle looked over and goes, ‘Dixie!’ Me and Dixon both looked over, because Dixie/Hicksy.”

Realizing the confusion, Liddle called out Dixon’s first name, but in his Tennessee accent.

“He goes, ‘Bandon,’” Hicks said. “And I’m like, ‘Did he just call you Bandit?’”

Hicks has tried hard to get the nickname to catch on ever since. With each game Dixon steals, the nickname seems like a better fit.

Wednesday’s comeback win earned the Tigers their first series victory since taking two of three from the Royals May 3-5. That series, too, turned on a Dixon homer, a walkoff shot in the rubber match in that case. He slugged a pinch-hit home run to move the Tigers in front against the Mets last Saturday.

“I think they’re just kind of happening at the right time, I guess,” Dixon said.

For a team that needs offense wherever it can find some, it'll take it, which is why Dixon keeps finding his way into Detroit’s lineup lately. For a club that hadn’t won back-to-back games since sweeping a doubleheader in Boston on April 23, and that didn’t win any games on its last homestand, the Bandit has come to the rescue.

“He’s been doing good for us,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We’ve been moving him around, trying to keep him in the lineup. That shows you why. He’s been putting some good swings out there.”

Dixon started Wednesday’s series finale in right field, his fourth different position in his fourth consecutive start. The consistency is his place in the middle of the order; he batted fifth Wednesday behind the veteran duo of Nicholas Castellanos and Miguel Cabrera.

“I think every time he plays, he makes our lineup different,” Cabrera said.

The Tigers have built their batting order around RBI opportunities for Castellanos and Cabrera, but they’ve had to rotate hitters behind them to try to extend the run production. Niko Goodrum spent most of the opening month there, then Ronny Rodriguez rode a hot streak into the cleanup spot. Now, it’s Dixon’s turn, his power providing a threat in a Tigers lineup that ranks last in the American League in home runs.

Dixon’s fifth home run tied him for second on the team behind Rodriguez. It also matched his total from last season in 74 games with the Reds.

“I knew my role coming here. My job is to just do my best when I get the chances,” said Dixon, a waiver pickup last fall whom the Tigers kept on their 40-man roster in search of depth and versatility.

The Tigers' offense looked dormant for seven innings against O’s starter John Means and Mychal Givens until Hicks, 1-for-12 on the road trip, led off the eighth with a no-doubt drive into the left-field seats off Givens.

"That was a good swing by Hicks,” O’s catcher Austin Wynns said. “You know what, tip your hat to him, because that was a down, executed pitch, and he got the head out.”

Castellanos, who doubled in Detroit’s lone run off Means, led off the ninth with a four-pitch walk off Brendan Kline. Cabrera just missed a chance at a big hit, flying out to right. Dixon jumped a first-pitch slider over the plate and sent it a projected 398 feet.

“I figured one of the first couple pitches would be a slider,” Dixon said. “He threw one or two to Miguel, and that’s kind of his out pitch. And they’ve been throwing me a lot of sliders this series, so I was looking for it.”

As the ninth-inning drive to right-center field carried out of Keon Broxton’s reach and over the fence, the crowd at Camden Yards was quiet enough to hear some of the dogs from the Bark at Oriole Park promotion. By contrast, the Tigers' dugout erupted, letting loose some of the emotion that seemingly had been sapped by a humid night and hotter pitching.

Few were happier than Hicks, whose nickname for Dixon looks more fitting with each heist of a lead.

“I’m trying to get it to take over,” Hicks said. “It’s starting to take hold.”