Trumbo powers O's over Rays
BALTIMORE -- Mark Trumbo hit his league-leading 43rd home run in the eighth inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1, earning a split in the four-game series Sunday.
Baltimore won four of its past six games and holds one of the Wild Card spots for the playoffs entering the final two weeks of the season. The Orioles open a pivotal four-game series with the first-place Boston Red Sox on Monday
With the game tied 1-1, Trumbo hit the first pitch off Ryan Garton (1-1) 433 feet over the center-field fence. Zach Britton allowed a leadoff single to Steve Souza in the ninth, but he struck out pinch hitter Logan Forsythe and got Alexei Ramirez to ground out for his 45th save, best in the American League.
Manny Machado got his career-high 36th home run of the season for the Orioles. Reliever Brad Brach (10-3) picked up the win with a scoreless eighth.
Baltimore left-hander Wade Miley (8-13, 5.80) was having one of his best outings for the team before he had to leave after warming up in the fifth inning with "upper back cramps." He allowed one hit over four scoreless innings.
Miley entered the game 1-5 with an 8.41 ERA in eight starts for Baltimore since being acquired from Seattle non-waiver trade deadline.
Corey Dickerson got his 21st home run for the Rays. Baltimore finished the season series against Tampa Bay 13-6.
Miley retired nine consecutive batters before allowing a leadoff single to Mike Mahtook in the fourth. Miley then hit Kevin Kiermaier before striking out Evan Longoria and Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph threw out Mahtook trying to steal third.
When Miley left with the injury, Darren O'Day, who came off the DL earlier in the day, entered in the fifth and allowed a homer to Dickerson on his first pitch that gave the Rays a 1-0 lead. It was the first time in club history the Rays homered in every game of a road trip that consisted of 10 or more games.
Machado tied the game with a lead-off homer off Rays starter Jake Odorizzi in the sixth. Odorizzi allowed just one run on five hits with three strikeouts over six innings.
NOTES: Orioles 1B/OF Trey Mancini, who was the team's minor league Player of the Year in 2015, had his contract purchased from Triple-A Norfolk. To make room, OF Steve Pearce (strained flexor mass) was placed on the 60-day DL. ... Rays C Bobby Wilson missed the series finale because of a death on his wife's side of the family. Wilson is batting .240 with six homers and 32 RBIs in 69 games. ... Orioles OF Joe Rickard (thumb) has not shown enough improvement with his injury to rejoin the team this season. He could opt to have surgery, according to manager Buck Showalter.