Nelson Cruz homered and drove in five as the Tampa Bay Rays rallied from a 5-2 sixth-inning to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 10-5 Friday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough fell behind in the bottom of the first inning as Cedric Mullins singled leading off the inning, stole second, and scored on a two-out base hit by Ryan Mountcastle.
Tampa Bay took the lead in the top of the second, with Manuel Margot singling to start the inning aginst John Means, and after Ji-Man Choi struck out, Mike Zunino doubled him to third, and Kevin Kiermaier‘s infield single not only tied the game, but when Means failed to catch the throw from Mountcastle, it allowed Zunino to score to make it 2-1.
But Baltimore immediately took the lead back with two outs in the bottom of the second, with Pedro Severino blasting a solo homer to right-center, his ninth of the season, and back-to-back doubles by Maikel Franco and Richie Martin put the Orioles back in front.
Austin Hays added a solo homer in the third to extend the deficit to 4-2, and a double by Trey Mancini, followed by a triple by Jorge Mateo in the fifth made it a 5-2 game.
But the Rays leapt back into the game in the sixth when Connor Greene took over for Means. Kevin Kiermaier drew a one-out walk from the reliever, and Jordan Luplow, playing in his first Rays game as Randy Arozarena went on the COVID injured list before the game, singled Kiermaier to third tp bring up Cruz, who took a 1-2 pitch and deposited it in the seats in left for his third homer with the Rays and 22nd of the year.
The game would remain 5-5 until the eighth, when the Rays loaded the bases on Paul Fry with nobody out, and Cruz followed with a double off Mateo’s glove at third and down the left field line, scoring pinch-runner Brett Phillips and Kiermaier.
Wander Franco followed with a two-run single that brought in Luplow and Cruz, and three batters later, a Manuel Margot base hit plated Franco to make it a 10-5 lead.
Drew Rasmussen, who worked a scoreless sixth and seventh in relief of Yarbrough, loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth and gave up a run on a sacrifice fly to Martin before Andrew Kittredge got Mullins to fly out and struck out Hays to end the threat.
Louis Head worked a perfect ninth inning to finish of the game.
The win, coupled with Boston’s loss in Toronto, stretched the Rays lead in the American League East to 2 1/2 games.
Tampa Bay will look for a third straight win Saturday, with Shane McClanahan (5-4, 3.74 ERA) taking on Spenser Watkins (2-2, 3.81 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
