Davis, Wieters lead Orioles to sweep of Rays
BALTIMORE-- Chris Davis homered and later singled in the go-ahead run, and Matt Wieters banged out two homers as the Baltimore Orioles scored an 8-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, completing a sweep of Saturday's doubleheader.
The Orioles (44-30) have won four straight games, including the first three of this series. Tampa Bay (31-42) has dropped 10 in a row.
The Rays took an early 4-0 lead in this game against Baltimore starter Chris Tillman, who allowed six runs in five innings while going for his 10th straight victory, but could not hold it.
The first game saw the Orioles roll to a 5-0 victory over the Rays thanks to 7 2/3 innings of shutout pitching from right-hander Kevin Gausman.
Baltimore's power sparked another comeback victory as the Orioles homered four times in the nightcap.
The Orioles got a two-run homer plus a solo blast from Wieters. Davis and Adam Jones added solo homers as starter Jake Odorizzi and the Tampa Bay bullpen faded after the Rays took early leads of 4-0 and 6-3.
The Davis homer cut the Rays' lead to 6-5 in the sixth before Baltimore rallied for two in the seventh. Joey Rickard led off with a double off of Erasmo Ramirez (7-6) and scored on Jones' game-tying single.
Later in the inning, Davis greeted Xavier Cedeno with his RBI single to right that snapped the 6-6 tie. Wieters' second homer of the night, a solo shot off Danny Farquhar, gave the Orioles a little insurance one inning later. Wieters finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
T.J. McFarland (2-2) earned the victory with a scoreless sixth and seventh. Brad Brach worked out of a two-on, none-out jam in the eighth before Zach Britton closed it in the ninth.
Britton has posted saves in all 22 of his save opportunities.
Hank Conger homered for the Rays while Logan Morrison and Brad Miller each had three hits and an RBI to pace a 14-hit attack.
Tampa Bay scored a run in each of the first two innings and took a 2-0 lead. Morrison's RBI single made it 1-0 in the first inning, and Conger homered to right in the second.
The Rays added two more runs in the third, and it could have been more. Desmond Jennings got an RBI double, and Conger walked with the bases loaded to give the Rays a 4-0 lead.
Jaff Decker then lined a shot to right-center that Jones made a diving catch on, saving two or three runs. The Orioles scored in the bottom of the inning when Nolan Reimold led off with a double, and Rickard followed with a single to left.
Wieters hit a two-run homer in the fourth but the Rays bounced back with two in the fifth. Miller lined an RBI double, and Oswaldo Arcia celebrated his first start with Tampa Bay with a sacrifice fly that made it 6-3.
Jones then cut the lead to 6-4 with his 10th homer this month, which came with one out in the fifth.
NOTES: For the Orioles, the opener was just the seventh game at home this season without a home run. But Baltimore's done fine in them anyway, going 6-1. ... The Game 1 shutout of the Rays is the fourth for the Orioles against any team this season. The last came on June 8 versus Kansas City (4-0). ... Tampa Bay scored a run in the first inning of this game, breaking a streak of 17 consecutive innings without one. The Rays hadn't gotten on the scoreboard since the first inning of Friday's game and were shut out in the opener of this doubleheader. ... The Rays are hoping Drew Smyly can continue his dominance against Baltimore in the series finale Sunday. Smyly is 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA in eight career games (five starts) against the Orioles.