The Tampa Bay Rays hit a season best-tying five home runs Tuesday, with Brett Phillips and Austin Meadows blasting three-run shots, Mike Zunino hitting a pair of two-run homers, and Ji-Man Choi contributing his first of the year in a 13-6 beatdown of the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
After Orioles starter Matt Harvey put up a zero in the first, Tampa Bay’s bats went to work in the second, as Yandy Diaz and Joey Wendle led off the inning with base hits, and after Zunino struck out for the first out of the inning, Phillips put the Rays on the board with a blast nearly on to Eutaw Street, his second homer of the year.
The onslaught in the inning was not done, as harvey then gave up a double to Willy Adames and an infield hit to Randy Arozarena, allowing Meadows to come to the plate and make it 6-0 with his ninth home run of the year, this time to right-center.
Tyler Wells took over for Harvey in the second, but gave up Zunino’s first home run of the night and ninth of the year, making the game 8-0 in the third.
Rays starter Luis Patino kept Baltimore off the scoreboard in the first and second innings, but gave up an RBI single to Austin Hays in the third, then a run-scoring single to Stevie Wilkerson in the fourth before being lifted from the game. Andrew Kittredge allowed a run on a fielder’s choice grounde from Hays, then gave up an RBI single to Trey Mancini before getting out of the inning ahead 8-4.
Zunino’s second homer of the evening in the fifth, off reliever Travis Lakins Sr. extended the lead back to 10-4, and Brandon Lowe‘s RBI single extended the advantage to 11-4.
Choi’s two-run blast in the top of the eighth against Shawn Armstrong, his first of the season, made it 13-4.
Jeffrey Springs allowed two runs in the bottom of the ninth on singles by DJ Stewart and Pat Valaika, but got Ryan Mountcastle to ground out to end the game.
Ryan Yarbrough (2-3, 4.20 ERA) will look to extend the Rays current winning streak to a season-best six straight Wednesday, taking on John Means (4-0, 1.21 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.
