The Tampa Bay Rays used a three-run rally in the first to jump out in front of the Baltimore Orioles, and Mike Zunino’s three-run homer in the seventh helped the Rays pull away from the Orioles for their 16th win in 17 games this season with a 6-3 victory at Camden Yards.
Tampa Bay jumped out to the lead thanks to a two-out rally against Matt Harvey that started with a walk by Wander Franco, which extended the 20-year-old shortstop’s streak of reaching base safely to 27 straight games. Austin Meadows moved Franco to third with a base hit, and Yandy Diaz made it 1-0 with a single of his own.
Joey Wendle loaded the bases with a single to left, and Manuel Margot throught he had driven in a run on a bases loaded walk on a 3-1 count. However, home plate umpire Bill Miller called Harbey’s pitch a strike, and on the next pitch, Margot lined a two-run single to center to make it 3-0.
Shane McClanahan kept Baltimore off the board until the fourth, when Trey Mancini singled with one out, and Austin Hays hit a two-run homer two batters later, cutting the lead back to a single run. Ramon Urias reached on an infield hit and Pedro Severino followed with a double to left to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. But McClanahan struck out Jahmai Jones to stay in the lead.
The Orioles nearly took the lead in the fifth, as Ryan Mountcastle followed a Cedric Mullins base hit by blasting a McClanahan pitch to center field, only to have Kevin Kiermaier make a leaping catch at the wall to rob him of a home run.
The Rays generated some breathing room after Harvey was relieved by Tanner Scott in the seventh, as Margot was hit by a pitch with one out and Kiermaier drew a walk in front of Zunino, who connected for his 27th home run of the season to extend the lead to 6-2.
McClanahan (9-4) would need just 78 pitches to get through the sixth inning, while Chris Mazza allowed just one run — on a Cedric Mullins solo homer in the ninth — to finish out the game for his first save, the 12th different Rays pitcher to record a save this season, tying the Major League record.
Thw win allows Tampa Bay to remain four games aead of the New York Yankees for the lead in the American League East.
The Rays will look to secure a fourth straight series win with a victory in Saturday’s middle game. Michael Wacha (2-4, 5.88 ERA) will get the start, taking on John Means (5-6, 3.50 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.
