BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez shut down Tampa Bay for eight innings and reliever Darren O'Day escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the ninth.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis also hit his fourth homer in the last four games.

Despite all of that, Baltimore needed J.J. Hardy's single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull out a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.

Hardy missed the first 25 games with a shoulder injury and has struggled at the plate since his return three weeks ago. He went 1-for-4 against the Rays, and the winning hit raised his average to .197 as he keeps trying to fix things on offense.

"It's been a grind, and I'm working at it every day," Hardy said. "It's going to come. It's going to come soon."

Some of it came in the at-bat against right-hander Steve Geltz, who came on to face Hardy.

Right fielder Travis Snider led off the ninth with an infield single against right-hander Brandon Gomes (1-2). Pinch-runner Everth Cabrera replaced Snider and moved to third when Davis greeted left-hander Xavier Cedeno with a single to right. Geltz entered to face Hardy and the shortstop lined his winning single to left on a 1-0 pitch.

The Orioles (23-24) gave manager Buck Showalter his 400th win with the team and 1,282 in his career, moving him into sole possession of 35th place all time.

The Rays (24-25) have lost six straight games and continued to struggle on offense, as they have most of the season, but nearly put together a winning rally in the ninth against O'Day (1-0).

Tampa Bay loaded the bases with no outs before O'Day rebounded to strike out two and get first baseman Jake Elmore to ground into an inning-ending force play.

"Obviously, it's frustrating," Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. "Bases loaded, no outs in a tie ballgame. You've also got to give credit to the guy on the mound. He's been very successful here for quite some time. We knew, even in that situation, we had our hands full."

Gonzalez also came up empty despite his best start this season. The right-hander gave up one run and three hits in eight innings -- with six strikeouts and no walks -- but didn't get a decision despite throwing 65 of 96 pitches for strikes.

"Miguel was the difference," Showalter said. "That's impressive. In the American League East, guys see him so much. There's no secrets. Miguel was as sharp as you want to see."

The lone blight on Gonzalez's scoresheet came when right fielder Steven Souza Jr. hit a second-inning solo homer that gave the Rays a 1-0 lead.

Tampa Bay starter Nathan Karns limited the Orioles to one hit through six innings, but Davis tied the score in the seventh with a solo homer to right off right-hander Kevin Jepsen.

Karns, who has allowed two runs or less in his last six starts, struck out seven with two walks, permitting just one runner to get into scoring position. He, too, ended up with a no-decision.

"I felt great," the right-hander said. "We went through six in a 1-0 ballgame. We have a great bullpen. They made a call to give it to them."

Souza Jr. had not been in the starting lineup since spraining his left wrist last Saturday.

Baltimore could not get a hit until the fourth when Snider lined a leadoff single. Davis added a two-out walk, but Karns ended the inning with a strikeout of Hardy.

The Orioles did not get their second hit until the Davis game-tying homer in the seventh.

NOTES: Orioles manager Buck Showalter said that, if everything holds, C Matt Wieters will return to the lineup next Friday. Wieters is rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery last year and has not played for the Orioles since May 10, 2014. He'll still play a few more rehab games before joining the Orioles next week. ... The Orioles' victory on Thursday gave Showalter 1,281 for