Orioles 5, Rays 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Baltimore Orioles jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Tampa Bay Rays had their first hit, and the Orioles closed out a series win with a 5-2 victory Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field.
The Orioles (48-49) took two of three games from the Rays (49-51), who are now 9-21 since being a season-high 10 games over .500 on June 20. Tampa Bay continues to struggle with runners in scoring position, its only runs in the last two games coming on solo home runs.
The Orioles tagged Rays starter Matt Moore for three runs in the first and had a 5-0 lead in the third after a two-run home run by catcher Caleb Joseph. It was the second straight day Baltimore had an early lead to sit on, after jumping ahead 4-0 in the third in Saturday's win.
On Sunday, Baltimore had three hits with two outs in the first inning, with shortstop J.J. Hardy getting an RBI single and right fielder Nolan Reimold hitting a two-run double that was just out of the reach of diving Rays center fielder Brandon Guyer.
Joseph's seventh home run of the season made it 5-0 for Baltimore before the Rays had so much as their first hit against Orioles starter Wei-Tin Chen, who retired the first 11 batters he faced.
The Rays cut into the lead with back-to-back home runs in the fourth, as third baseman Evan Longoria hit his 10th and second baseman Logan Forsythe followed with his 11th to make it a 5-2 game.
Left fielder Joey Butler followed with a double off the wall but was stranded there, and the Rays had two hits in the fifth without scoring.
From the fourth to seventh innings, the Rays stranded seven runners, ending the eighth inning when first baseman James Loney was thrown out trying to leg out a two-out double.
Baltimore's bullpen threw 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, with four relievers holding the Rays to two hits. Zach Britton pitched the ninth for his 25th save.
NOTES: Florida State football coach Jimbo Fisher threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game, with former Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston, now with the Bucs as the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, catching on the other end. The Rays had a "Chop at the Trop" Florida State-themed promotion, complete with garnet-and-black Rays caps for fans purchasing certain tickets. ... Orioles C Matt Wieters got the day off with a sore back but is expected to be back in the starting lineup Monday. ... Rays LHP Drew Smyly was scheduled to make his first rehab appearance Sunday night for Triple-A Durham. He has been out since May 5 with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.