Orioles Beat Rays 4-1 After Losing 5-2 In Doubleheader
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Nelson Cruz and Nick Hundley homered to back a commanding pitching performance by Chris Tillman, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Friday night for a doubleheader split.
In the opener, rookie Alex Colome gave up two hits over 5 2-3 innings and Brandon Guyer hit three doubles to lift Tampa Bay to a 5-2 victory.
Tillman (7-4) gave up one run and four hits over eight innings to earn his first win in seven home starts this season. He was 0-4 with a 2.78 ERA.
Zach Britton got three outs for his 10th save.
Hundley connected in the sixth off Juan Carlos Oviedo (3-3) for a 2-1 lead, and Cruz hit his 25th home run -- tied for the major league lead -- in the seventh off Joel Peralta after Adam Jones led off with his fourth hit of the game.
Before Cruz's opposite-field shot to right, 18 of Peralta's previous 19 appearances had been scoreless.
Rays starter Jake Odorizzi allowed one run and six hits in five innings, striking out six.
Tampa Bay pitchers got nine strikeouts in the nightcap, giving them a major league record 261 in June. Cleveland had 253 in June 1964.
James Loney's fourth homer gave the last-place Rays a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but Baltimore matched that in the bottom half with an RBI single by Hundley. Odorizzi threw 31 pitches in the inning, the last a third strike to Manny Machado with the bases loaded.
Baltimore loaded the bases again in the fifth before J.J. Hardy fouled out and David Lough struck out. The Orioles stranded nine through five innings and were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
In the first game, Baltimore mustered only three hits -- one after the second inning.
Added to the roster for the doubleheader as the 26th man, Colome (1-0) gave up one run and walked four in his second big league victory. The first came against Miami in his debut on May 30, 2013.
It's been a strange year for Colome, who served a 50-game suspension until May 25 for violating the league's drug policy. He was activated by the Rays and pitched four innings of relief against Toronto on May 26 before being optioned to the minors after the game.
In his last start for Triple-A Durham, Colome gave up nine runs in 1 1-3 innings against Syracuse on June 21. He had far more success against the Orioles, holding them to one hit after Nick Markakis opened with a single.
Jake McGee worked the ninth for his second save.
Orioles starter Kevin Gausman (3-2) yielded five runs, seven hits and a career-high four walks in five-plus innings.
Baltimore got a first-inning run when Markakis singled and scored on a groundout by Chris Davis.
In the second, Guyer hit an RBI double and came home on a single by Matt Joyce.
A two-out RBI single by Jose Molina made it 3-1 in the fourth. Doubles by Guyer and Joyce, along with a single by Sean Rodriguez, added two runs in the sixth.
Machado connected off Brad Boxberger in the seventh.
NOTES: The first game was the makeup for an April 15 rainout. It drew a season-low crowd of 15,614. ... The Orioles put RHP Bud Norris (strained right groin) on the 15-day DL and recalled RHP Evan Meek from Triple-A Norfolk. ... TB SS Yunel Escobar tested his sore right shoulder by playing catch but was not yet ready to return. He last played Tuesday. ... Baltimore leads the majors with 38 HRs in June. ... Evan Longoria had three hits in the nightcap, two off Tillman, and is 13 for 30 (.433) lifetime against the right-hander. ... Jones' four hits tied a career high.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
