BALTIMORE -- The Rangers' offensive struggles continued Thursday night against the Orioles until their cleanup hitter came through with the big blast that put them over the top.

No not Joey Gallo or Hunter Pence; they are both on the injured list. Nomar Mazara? He is dealing with a sore oblique muscle and not in the lineup. Josh Hamilton? Still retired.

This home run was delivered by rookie Nick Solak, his second in 16 Major League games since being recalled from Triple-A Nashville. Solak, who started at designated hitter, put Texas ahead with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh, and the Rangers went on to a 3-1 victory over the O's at Camden Yards.

• Box score

“Yeah, drive in some runs, score some runs, and do it with a homer,” Solak said with a smile. “It's what cleanup hitters do.”

Left-hander Kolby Allard earned the win by holding the Orioles to one run over 6 1/3 innings. He allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out two. Allard is now 4-0 with a 3.78 ERA in six starts since being acquired from the Braves on July 30.

Texas trailed 1-0 going into the seventh and had managed just one single though six innings against Baltimore left-hander John Means. Solak was 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a groundout off Means’ changeup in his first two at-bats..

But Solak was ready when he came to the plate with one on and one out in the seventh. Means threw a first-pitch changeup and Solak hit it into the seats in right-center to give the Rangers a lead.

“I saw a lot of pitches in both of those at-bats,” Solak said. “Saw some good 3-2 changeups just off the plate. He was doing that with a lot of our guys just mixing speeds mixing location, spotting up. Finally, in that inning he made a mistake, and I got to it.”

Spoken like a true cleanup hitter, even if he doesn’t profile as one as a middle infielder. But Solak does have a combined 46 home runs over the past two years in the Minor Leagues after hitting only 10 over three years at the University of Louisville.

“I think I've just kind of grown into it,” Solak said. “I think I've always had the ability to hit and drive the ball around the field. I'm getting a little stronger and staying in a similar approach, I think, has helped some of those balls in the past that were in the gaps go over the fence. I think maybe getting a little stronger, getting a little older, sticking to my approach more often and looking for balls to drive. I think that has helped contribute to be more balls flying out of the park.”

Rangers manager Chris Woodward said there is a good reason why Solak is hitting cleanup.

“The quality of his at-bats,” Woodward said. “Putting him in the middle of a lineup, that’s a lot to ask for a young guy, but he keeps coming up with grinder hits. Today with the big home run. He just controls the strike zone and gets his swing off on good pitches. He was mad he let them get him on those changeups, and then he ends up hammering a changeup to right-center.”

Solak provided the right-handed pop Texas has been looking for all year, especially when Pence is out of the lineup. Woodward said he needs that right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup between Willie Calhoun and Rougned Odor so opposing teams can’t overwhelm them with left-handed pitching.

Solak is now hitting .321 with two home runs and seven RBIs in 16 games. He also has a .528 slugging percentage and has shown no signs of being intimidated by the surroundings or the daunting task of hitting cleanup in a Major League lineup.

“Wherever I'm at in the lineup, I'm trying to put together good at-bats,” Solak said. “Trying to find ways to get on base, score runs and drive 'em in. Wherever that is in the lineup, I'm willing to do that. Throughout my career in the Minor Leagues, I've hit leadoff through nine. I've probably hit in every spot at some point in my career, so, you know, cleanup is one of those spots that I've been lineup before, so nothing changes.”

That’s all the manager is looking for from any hitter.

“I have asked our guys, no matter where I hit you, just be you,” Woodward said. “Do what you do. Obviously he hasn’t been rattled at all. He is not putting too much pressure on himself. He is just trying to have quality at-bats. He really hasn’t struggled yet, so I don’t know what it will look like when he struggle. I’m not bothered by that. He did what a cleanup hitter does, comes up and hits a home run in the cleanup spot to get us a win.”