A four run second inning helped Baltimore beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 at Camden Yards on Sunday afternoon. The Orioles, who won both games in the weather-shortened series, improved to 5-0 on the season while the Rays fell to 2-4.
Odorizzi put the Rays in an early hole during the 22-pitch second inning, although the shotty defensive work certainly didn’t help.
Pedro Alvarez led off the frame with a base hit to Logan Forsythe in shallow right-field. But a hurried throw by the typically dependable second baseman was too wide for the stretched-out Steve Pearce to field cleanly. Alvarez scored on a one-out double by Jonathan Schoop into the left-field corner. Corey Dickerson misplayed the ball when he slid to stop it from reaching the corner, which allowed Alvarez to cross the plate.
Hyun Soo Kim then followed with an infield hit to the third base side of the mound. Odorizzi tried to backhand the slow roller, but ultimately failed. Joey Rickard, the Rule-Five pick from Tampa Bay, plated Kim on a sac-fly to center. Finally, Manny Machado capped the uprising by lashing a two-run homer to left ― his second in as many games against Tampa Bay.
Odorizzi did settle in and got through the next four innings without allowing another. He also gave the Rays a chance to fight back, which they did.
Dickerson put the Rays on the board with a solo homer to center-field in the fourth inning.
They have now hit home runs in 20 consecutive games (extending back to 9/20/15). The Rays have also homered in the last nine games at Camden Yards (extending back to 8/28/14).
The Rays chased the O’s starter (Vance Worley) with two more runs in the fifth inning.
With Forsythe in scoring position, Evan Longoria singled home a run.
.@Evan3Longoria‘s RBI single halved the @Orioles lead in the #Rays 5th. #RaysUp
WATCH: https://t.co/bmHuKswqZl pic.twitter.com/soMhlUdNdr
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 10, 2016
Then, after Dickerson reached on catcher’s interference, former Oriole Steve Pearce singled in his first RBI of the season. Though Brad Miller came close to hitting his first homer of the season, which would have given the Rays the go-ahead lead, he flew out at the wall against reliever Brad Brach.
After the fifth, Tampa Bay got just two runners into scoring position in the final four innings.
Miller finally collected his first hit of the season on a hard hit, two out double off the wall in right in the eighth. Setup man Darren O’Day made things really interesting by walking Steven Souza Jr. and Kevin Kiermaier, subsequently loading the bases. Even though he was given a prime opportunity to make an huge impact on the outcome, pinch hitter Hank Conger went down swinging on a pitch that was well off the plate and down, ending both the threat and the inning.
Machado, who went 4-for-4 on the afternoon, doubled off Erasmo Ramirez to start the home half of the eighth, then moved to third on a Chris Davis groundout. He eventually came home on a two-out wild pitch, giving Baltimore a two-run lead.
In the end Tampa Bay dropped another game by a 5-3 margin, and was swept by the Orioles in the weather shortened two-game series. After an off-day Monday, the Rays will begin a three-game home series against Cleveland on Tuesday.
The New What Next
— Erasmo’s eighth inning wild pitch appeared to be blockable. Conger not only allowed the pitch to bound away, he also flubbed the throw toward Ramirez as he covered home.
— Something I noticed after the first week of play, Kevin Cash loves to put on the hit and run with Logan Forsythe at first and Logan Morrison at the plate. Perhaps the plan is to try to make the pitcher throw a fastball, or maybe Cash is trying to open a hole through the right side.
Whatever the case, there is one problem: Morrison has collected just one hit thus far. He is now 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts against right handed pitching, and 1-for-18 overall.