WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Coby Mayo is running hot and hotter this spring.

Mayo followed his 111 mph single yesterday in Jupiter with a long homer, a looping hit and a line drive single this afternoon against the Astros at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.

Can’t stop him, can’t contain him.

The home run was the first for Mayo and he didn’t get cheated. He jumped on a first-pitch sinker from Lance McCullers Jr. and drove it 434 feet to left field after Bryan Ramos’s leadoff single.

The game-tying blast was 108 mph off the bat with a 31-degree launch angle.

Left fielder Jose Loperfido didn’t pretend that he might have a chance to make the catch. He didn’t have time for any dramatics. The ball got out in a hurry and was headed for the Astros clubhouse beyond the grass berm.

The pitch hung on the inner half of the plate, long enough for Mayo to send it flying inside the foul pole. He paused to admire it. Some fans gasped.

Mayo poked Bryan Abreu’s changeup to right field for a leadoff single in the fourth. His exit velocity was only 64.7, and the ball traveled a mere 166 feet.

Go big and small before going back home.

Batting again with the bases loaded in the fifth, Mayo lined Bryan King’s fastball into left field to score Will Robertson (hit by pitch) and Colton Cowser (double).

Mayo improved to 12-for-25 (.480) with a 1.164 OPS as the game moved into the later innings. He also stole his first base, putting on another show for family and friends.

Update: Mayo singled again in the seventh, at 103 mph to right-center field, to drive in another run and make him 13-for-26 this spring with three doubles, a home run, 10 RBIs, only one strikeout and a 1.195 OPS.

The 13 hits and 10 RBIs from Mayo, who lives about an hour away in Coral Springs, easily lead the team.

“It’s been awesome,” said Dylan Beavers. “You know, last year when things weren’t going exactly his way, he was same guy every day and he trusted his process and worked hard. And obviously remained a great teammate, no matter how he was doing. So it’s exciting to see a guy like that having some good success and get him some confidence going into the year.

“Obviously he’s an outstanding hitter, so I’m excited to see how it goes through the regular season.”

*Levi Wells retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced today, the exception coming on an error. He made a nice showing in his first spring start, allowing two runs and three hits in 3 2/3 innings and exiting after 66 pitches.

Wells had a difficult first inning, beginning with Loperfido’s leadoff double and continuing with Yordan Álvarez’s walk and Christian Walker’s run-scoring double. Cam Smith reached on a generously scored infield hit, the ball caroming off third baseman Bryan Ramos’s glove, and Houston led 2-0.

Yainer Diaz grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

“A little bit uncomfortable with my first professional start,” Wells said. “As I kind of ran through the routine, I gained more and more confidence and then I was able to kind of get off the ball, trust my stuff later in the game. I was able to establish some of those lines where I wanted to establish and I felt really comfortable to where I could be a little more intentful to those lines.

“Feels good to be able to start and have some success for my first time. Super thankful for the opportunity the Orioles gave me. Let me start this game versus come out of the ‘pen the last couple outings.”

The 24-pitch first inning also included Jose Altuve’s strikeout. The at-bat must have felt surreal to Wells, who was 13 years old when he met Altuve at 3K Sports in Pasadena, Texas.

Wells became a huge Astros fan, with his high school about 30 minutes outside of Houston.

“I got a picture with him, and I’m like taller than him and 13,” Wells said, laughing. “I still have that picture. Just really cool to face one of my hometown heroes, hometown team.”

Wells made his own trip today, down memory lane as he recounted his love of the “Killer Bees” – Lance Berkman, Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.

“A lot of pride, a lot of commitment, a lot of time spent over at Minute Maid growing up as a kid,” he said. “It’s a dream come true.”

Ten of Wells’ 20 pitches thrown in the second inning came during Jax Biggers’ at-bat. Wells retired the side in order, getting Biggers to finally ground out.

Will Robertson dropped a fly ball in left field in the third, causing Wells to face four batters in the inning. The 11 pitches increased his total to 55.

The first two batters were turned away in the fourth and Wells came out of the game. He tossed two scoreless relief innings against the Pirates in his first spring appearance and was banged up in the rematch in Bradenton, allowing four runs in 1 1/3.

“He’s been impressive, just like our young prospect guys with (Luis) De León and Nestor (German) and Trey (Gibson),” manager Craig Albernaz said earlier today. “It’s really impressive what he can do. I love his attitude and makeup, how he goes about it on the mound. He’s a bulldog out there. He’s competing his butt off every single pitch, and the stuff is real. He has real stuff.”

*Albernaz is watching his players in the World Baseball Classic and trusting that they left the complex prepared for more intense competition with extra demands.

No fear of injuries. The thought hasn’t crossed his mind.

Dean Kremer will return to camp after throwing 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Team Israel against Nicaragua, and he’s stretched out to 63 pitches.

“If Dean went six innings I would be totally comfortable with it because of the workload (that) led up to it,” Albernaz said. “Team Israel gave him and us a great heads up for his buildup, so him going six, we’d be comfortable with it just  because of the work he put in.”

Enrique Bradfield Jr. had three hits Sunday for Team Panama, twice on bunts, and also is headed back to the Orioles. The speed was on display again, and for a much larger audience.

One of those bunts came with two outs and drove in a run.

“Yeah, that was sick,” Albernaz said.

“He’s showcasing his talent for the rest of the world to see, and by him showcasing that, he’s also showing he can impact a game in a lot of different areas. It was the bunts, right? He showed off the little stuff he can do. But also, it shows off his speed, which is close to 80, 70-grade speed. And it’s real.

“That’s what I love about what he did. It’s with two outs, he laid that bunt down with complete confidence that he was gonna get it down in the right spot and he was gonna beat it out. And to me, that just shows the caliber of player he is and also the maturity he has. He’s not a one-dimensional player. He can impact a game on multiple layers.”

*Jack Winkler had a three-run double off Andrew Magno in the sixth to give the Astros a 5-4 lead.

*The Orioles played a B game earlier today in Sarasota, allowing Zach Eflin and Shane Baz to build up their pitch counts against a collection of Pirates players.

The stats don’t count, leaving Eflin with one official exhibition start against the Rays in Port Charlotte, where he tossed two scoreless innings. Baz has allowed three runs and two hits with nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings in two starts.

Update: Geraldo Ogando loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, got a lineout to second base and gave up a sacrifice fly, with a close play at the plate, in a 7-6 loss to the Astros.

Albernaz on Wells: “The first inning was a little squirrely for him. He was leaning on the sinker a lot, which was eye opening and curious to us in the dugout, and he made the adjustment. There was one point where with no one on base he went to the stretch to kind of get more direction and it ended up working for him. So great feel on him knowing his own body. Levi did a great job rebounding after the first.”

Albernaz on whether Wells could start or relieve: “He’s a really good starting pitcher and he’s been as advertised coming in. The best part of guys like him, with the stuff he has, you can throw him wherever, like starter or reliever. But Levi’s a pretty electric starter.”

Albernaz on Mayo: “For me, I love the last at-bat, where he swung at two really good sliders, swung and missed. I wouldn’t say he made the adjustment but you can tell the approach changed a little bit and he drove the ball to right-center field right there. To me, that was a great at-bat and very telling of kind of where Kobe’s mindset is right now at the plate.”