Rays 12, Orioles 10
BALTIMORE -- Kelly Johnson homered and drove in four runs, and the Tampa Bay Rays outlasted the Baltimore Orioles 12-10 before an announced 38,061 Friday at Oriole Park.
The Rays led 12-4 heading into the eighth inning before the Orioles scored six times to cut into the margin. Chris Dickerson led the charge with a two-out, three-run homer. Joel Peralta, however, closed out the game for the Rays with a scoreless ninth.
Every player in the starting lineup for both teams had at least a hit.
Orioles starter Jason Hammel had another rough outing and failed to last six innings for the third time in his past four starts. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and two walks in just 4 2/3 innings. Hammel fell to 5-2 on the season and his ERA rose from 4.93 to 5.72.
Jeremy Hellickson also had uneven start for the Rays. He gave up seven runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and a walk in 7 2/3 innings. He evened his record to 2-2 and picked up his first victory since April 20.
The Orioles opened their eight-game homestand with two losses to San Diego and were swept for the first time this season. The Rays continued the Orioles' woes in the series opener by scoring a season-high 12 runs. The teams combined for 30 hits
Yunel Escobar, who entered the game batting .211, went 3-for-5 with three RBIs for Tampa Bay.
The Orioles lost for the fourth time in the past five games. Just two days after allowing a then season-high 17 hits to the Padres, Baltimore pitchers gave up another 17 hits to the Rays.
Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and Manny Machado each had two RBIs for the Orioles.
Friday was the opening contest of a six-game road trip for the Rays, who took a 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly by Evan Longoria.
Hellickson coughed it up in the bottom half of that inning by allowing a lead-off single to Nate McLouth and then a double to Manny Machado. After Hellickson retired the next two batters, Chris Davis lined a single to right field that scored both runners.
J.J. Hardy increased the Orioles' lead to 3-1 by leading off the second with his eighth home run of the season. Hardy also extended his hitting streak to 12 games, which is the longest by an Oriole this season.
Hammel, however, continued his season-long struggle to get through the early innings. He allowed the Rays to take a 5-3 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by James Loney and a three-run homer by Kelly Johnson that barely cleared the grounds crew shed in right field.
The Rays chased Hammel in the fifth with an RBI single by Johnson that increased their lead to 6-3. Hammel threw 99 pitches including 58 strikes. Alex Burnett entered and allowed two more runs on a single by Desmond Jennings.
The Orioles pulled to within 8-4 when Yamaico Navarro led off the fifth with a triple to right, and scored on a ground out by Machado.
NOTES: Second baseman Ben Zobrist doubled and singled in his first two-at bats, snapping an 0-for-12 slump while picking up his 12th multi-hit game of the season ... Longoria extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the third. ... Tampa Bay has not designated a starter for Monday's series opener at Toronto. ... Entering Friday, the 18 multi-hit games by Machado are the most by any player under age 21 in the live ball era (since 1921). ... Nate McLouth ended an 0-for-14 skid with a single in the first.
