*Photo from the Baltimore Sun*
The Baltimore Orioles are simply a different team this year, a better team. Cedric Mullins homered, Ramon Urias hit the go ahead homer late, and the Orioles rallied to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday night in Baltimore.
After coming into Tuesday with a win in the series opening game, the Orioles found themselves trailing midway through the game, only to come back and win again. They improved to one game over .500 with their second straight win, and jumped into 4th place in the AL East in the process.
Orioles starter Spenser Watkins said that "I don't think there was a single time tonight where I thought we didn't have a chance to win that game, and I think everybody throughout the clubhouse thinks that as well. As long as there's an out available on the board, we have a chance. There's a ton of confidence in these guys. It's almost like you put that out into the world, that, 'Hey, we're going to win,' and these guys just do it."
The scoring started early for the Orioles, with leadoff man Mullins homering on the first pitch he saw, making it 1-0 Orioles quickly. In the 3rd inning, Randy Arozarena got the Rays on the board, singling in Yu Chang to tie the game up 1-1. A 4th inning solo homer from Isaac Paredes and RBI double from Roman Quinn made it a 3-1 Rays lead.
When the bottom of the 4th inning came around, Anthony Santander provided the answer for the Orioles, with a solo home run into the bullpen in left center field to cut the deficit to 3-2. With the score the same in the bottom of the 8th, Urias homered to deep left field, with his two run shot putting the Orioles ahead 4-3. A sac fly from Trey Mancini made it a 5-3 game.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said of Urias that "He is, really for this last month-plus, ever since he's come off the IL, really, it's huge hits in that bottom third of the order, too, where we've just never had a ton of production over the years. It's, really, a lot deeper lineup with him in the lineup."
Watkins got the start in this one for the Orioles, allowing 3 runs on 10 hits, striking out 4 hitters over 5 1/3 innings. Joey Krehbiel was next in and pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings, with Keegan Akin finishing the 8th. Jorge Lopez had the 9th and got his 19th save of the year to close it out.
Rays ace Shane McClanahan got the start in this one, allowing two runs on two hits and one walk, striking out 7 hitters over 7 innings pitched. Colin Poche only got one out while giving up 3 runs in the 8th, taking the loss as Shawn Armstrong had to come in to finish the inning.
Poche said that "Shane's been great for us every time he takes the mound, and we expect to win every time he's out there, and he gave us a great chance tonight. We were in a big advantage situation there with the lead going into the eighth. And as a bullpen and me, particularly myself, I expect us to nail that down. It's really disappointing, especially with the skid we've been on. We really needed a win today."
Up next, the Orioles and Rays continue the series on Wednesday night in Baltimore. Tyler Wells draws the start for the Orioles, while Drew Rasmussen goes for the Rays.
Comments
Post a Comment