American League East rivals clash at Camden Yards this afternoon as the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays close out a three- game set.

The teams have split the first two contests in the series, with Baltimore blanking the Rays on Friday, 7-0, before the visitors bounced back with a 7-5 triumph of their own Saturday night in 11 innings.

Evan Longoria played the hero for the visitors last night as he singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th, finishing the meeting with three hits and three RBI. Ben Zobrist contributed three doubles and a triple along with four runs scored while Casey Kotchman added four hits and two RBI for the Rays, who have won four of five and are now four games out of first in the division.

“I think that we’ve learned over the past several years is that games like this are what get you in the playoffs,” said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. “It’s part of our culture in this club now.”

Juan Cruz was awarded the win for getting the final two outs of the 10th inning, while Kyle Farnsworth worked the final frame to pick up his 14th save of the campaign. Starter David Price went six innings and was charged with four runs on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

Jeremy Accardo was tagged with the loss for giving up two runs in the final inning for the Orioles, who had a four-game winning streak stopped and now find themselves seven games out in the standings. Jeremy Guthrie went six innings in the start and gave up three runs on eight hits.

Mark Reynolds belted both a two-run homer and a solo shot for the hosts, while Matt Wieters finished 3-for-4 with a run scored in the setback.

“You have to credit their guys cause they came up with the hits when they needed them,” said Reynolds. “But this was a tough loss to take. All we can do is come back tomorrow and try to take the series.”

Ready to take the mound against the Orioles for the fourth time already this season is Wade Davis. The right-hander, who is 1-2 this year and 4-3 in his career versus Baltimore, has gone winless now for more than a month with the Rays falling in his last five appearances.

Davis last threw a week ago when he allowed five runs on five hits, walking one and striking out four over the course of seven innings in a 9-6 loss to Seattle on the road.

Meanwhile, Brian Matusz has been penciled in as the starter for the Orioles this time around. Sporting a 3-1 career mark against Tampa Bay to go along with a 4.71 ERA in five all-time appearances, the left-hander is making just his third appearance at the major league level this season.

On Monday the Colorado native earned his first win by permitting just two runs on seven hits and a couple of walks, while striking out three through 5 1/3 innings in a 4-2 win over Oakland.

Despite the loss last night, the O’s still maintain a slight advantage in the season series against Tampa Bay at 6-5. However, in the previous three seasons Baltimore has been beaten and bruised by the Rays who won 36 of the 54 meetings during that stretch.

(Sports Network) – American League East rivals clash at Camden Yards this
afternoon as the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays close out a three-
game set.

The teams have split the first two contests in the series, with Baltimore
blanking the Rays on Friday, 7-0, before the visitors bounced back with a 7-5
triumph of their own Saturday night in 11 innings.

Evan Longoria played the hero for the visitors last night as he singled in the
go-ahead run in the top of the 11th, finishing the meeting with three hits and
three RBI. Ben Zobrist contributed three doubles and a triple along with four
runs scored while Casey Kotchman added four hits and two RBI for the Rays, who
have won four of five and are now four games out of first in the division.

“I think that we’ve learned over the past several years is that games like
this are what get you in the playoffs,” said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon.
“It’s part of our culture in this club now.”

Juan Cruz was awarded the win for getting the final two outs of the 10th
inning, while Kyle Farnsworth worked the final frame to pick up his 14th save
of the campaign. Starter David Price went six innings and was charged with
four runs on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

Jeremy Accardo was tagged with the loss for giving up two runs in the final
inning for the Orioles, who had a four-game winning streak stopped and now
find themselves seven games out in the standings. Jeremy Guthrie went six
innings in the start and gave up three runs on eight hits.

Mark Reynolds belted both a two-run homer and a solo shot for the hosts, while
Matt Wieters finished 3-for-4 with a run scored in the setback.

“You have to credit their guys cause they came up with the hits when they
needed them,” said Reynolds. “But this was a tough loss to take. All we can do
is come back tomorrow and try to take the series.”

Ready to take the mound against the Orioles for the fourth time already this
season is Wade Davis. The right-hander, who is 1-2 this year and 4-3 in his
career versus Baltimore, has gone winless now for more than a month with the
Rays falling in his last five appearances.

Davis last threw a week ago when he allowed five runs on five hits, walking
one and striking out four over the course of seven innings in a 9-6 loss to
Seattle on the road.

Meanwhile, Brian Matusz has been penciled in as the starter for the Orioles
this time around. Sporting a 3-1 career mark against Tampa Bay to go along
with a 4.71 ERA in five all-time appearances, the left-hander is making just
his third appearance at the major league level this season.

On Monday the Colorado native earned his first win by permitting just two runs
on seven hits and a couple of walks, while striking out three through 5 1/3
innings in a 4-2 win over Oakland.

Despite the loss last night, the O’s still maintain a slight advantage in the
season series against Tampa Bay at 6-5. However, in the previous three seasons
Baltimore has been beaten and bruised by the Rays who won 36 of the 54
meetings during that stretch.

The Sports Network

BALTIMORE (AP) — It was all there for the Baltimore Orioles: a chance to get back to .500, climb out of last place in the AL East and match their longest winning streak of the season.

Unfortunately for the Orioles, Tampa Bay wouldn’t comply. The  Rays rallied from a one-run deficit in the seventh and ninth  innings, then scored twice in the 11th to pull out a 7-5 victory  Saturday night. 

“We couldn’t quite finish the deal,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. 

Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in the three runs for the Orioles, whose four-game winning streak ended. Baltimore would have passed Toronto with a victory, but instead remains in last place in the tightly packed AL East. 

“We had our chances. That’s what we are trying to do,” said starter Jeremy Guthrie, who left with a 4-3 lead. “We have been so good closing out games recently that it’s tough. We’re not going to always have everything go well for us and perfect. And tonight we let them back in the game.” 

Baltimore took a 5-4 lead in the eighth when Joel Peralta forced in a run by walking rookie Brandon Snyder with the bases loaded and two outs. 

But Tampa Bay tied it in the ninth against Kevin Gregg, who has four blown saves. After Ben Zobrist hit a one-out triple and Matt Joyce walked, Evan Longoria popped out. But Casey Kotchman followed with an RBI single up the middle. 

Zobrist had three doubles and a triple. He started the 11th with a double off Jeremy Accardo (3-2) and took third on a groundout. After Longoria hit a soft liner to center, Kotchman followed with an RBI double. 

Juan Cruz (4-0) got two outs in the 10th and Kyle Farnsworth worked the 11th for his 14th save. 

“We definitely missed out on a lot of chances,” Reynolds said. “We should have probably won the game. It’s a tough loss. It will test the character of the club.” 

Longoria had three RBIs, Kotchman had four hits and Johnny Damon got two hits and scored twice for the Rays. He has reached base in 36 consecutive games, a career high and one short of Ben Grieve’s club record. His fifth-inning double lifted him into a tie for 54th place on the career list with Al Kaline and Bill Buckner. 

Rays starter David Price gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings, striking out six and walking one. He lost a three-run lead and yielded both of Reynolds’ homers. 

Guthrie allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. He has only one win in his last 12 starts despite owning a respectable 3.77 ERA for the season. 

“We were battling a good club there,” Showalter said. “Down 3-0, worked our way back. Jeremy kept it close. Had a chance to beat Price.” 

Reynolds’ second home run, a drive to center with a man on, put Baltimore up 4-3 in the sixth. He has six homers in his last 11 games. 

“He’s starting to swing the bat like we thought that he had the potential to,” Showalter said. “He’s going to have his periods,
but he’s not missing many mistakes right now.” 

But the Rays pulled even with an unearned run in the seventh against Jim Johnson. Zobrist led off with a double and was at second with two outs when Kotchman hit a bouncer up the middle. Second baseman Robert Andino caught up to the ball, but his throw to first was wild, enabling Zobrist to score. 

In the Baltimore half, J.J. Hardy greeted J.P. Howell with a drive to left that a leaping Justin Ruggiano caught at the wall. 

That began a perfect inning for the struggling Howell, who came in with a 15.75 ERA. 

“I have nothing but praise for our guys,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “That game kept dragging out; I knew it was going to pull us down. But nevertheless they kept coming after them, coming after them.” 

Tampa Bay got a first-inning run when Damon singled and scored on a two-out double by Longoria. 

It became 3-0 in the fifth when Damon and Zobrist hit successive doubles and Longoria added an RBI single. 

Reynolds led off the bottom half with a drive over the wall in right-center and Adam Jones added a run-scoring double with two outs to bring Baltimore to 3-2. 

NOTES: After the game, the Rays activated infielder Elliott Johnson (left knee sprain) from the disabled list and designated infielder Felipe Lopez for assignment. … Baltimore has been outscored 29-14 in the first inning. … It was the 10th multihomer game of Reynolds’ career. He leads the Orioles with 12 homers for the season. 

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Ben Zobrist got four extra-base hits and scored four runs, including the tiebreaker in the 11th inning on a single by Evan Longoria, as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5.

Longoria had three RBIs and Casey Kotchman went 4-for-6 with two RBIs for the Rays, who forced extra innings with a run in the ninth off Baltimore closer Kevin Gregg.

Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in three runs for the Orioles, whose four-game winning streak ended.

Zobrist had three doubles and a triple. He started the 11th with a double off Jeremy Accardo (3-2) and took third on a groundout. After Longoria hit a soft liner to center, Kotchman followed with an RBI double.

Juan Cruz (4-0) got two outs in the 10th and Kyle Farnsworth worked the 11th for his 14th save.

Baltimore took a 5-4 lead in the eighth when Joel Peralta forced in a run by walking rookie Brandon Snyder with the bases loaded and two outs.

But Tampa Bay tied it in the ninth against Gregg, who has four blown saves. After Zobrist hit a one-out triple and Matt Joyce walked, Longoria popped out. But Kotchman followed with an RBI single up the middle.

Johnny Damon got two hits and scored twice for the Rays. He has reached base in 36 consecutive games, a career high and one short of Ben Grieve’s club record. His fifth-inning double lifted him into a tie for 54th place on the career list with Al Kaline and Bill Buckner.

Rays starter David Price gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings, striking out six and walking one. He lost a three-run lead and yielded both of Reynolds’ homers.

Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. He has only one win in his last 12 starts despite owning a respectable 3.77 ERA for the season.

Reynolds’ second home run, a drive to center with a man on, put Baltimore up 4-3 in the sixth.

But the Rays pulled even with an unearned run in the seventh against Jim Johnson. Zobrist led off with a double and was at second with two outs when Kotchman hit a bouncer up the middle. Second baseman Robert Andino caught up to the ball, but his throw to first was wild, enabling Zobrist to score.

In the Baltimore half, J.J. Hardy greeted J.P. Howell with a drive to left that a leaping Justin Ruggiano caught at the wall.

That began a perfect inning for the struggling Howell, who came in with a 15.75 ERA.

Tampa Bay got a first-inning run when Damon singled and scored on a two-out double by Longoria.

It became 3-0 in the fifth when Damon and Zobrist hit successive doubles and Longoria added an RBI single.

Reynolds led off the bottom half with a drive over the wall in right-center and Adam Jones added a run-scoring double with two outs to bring Baltimore to 3-2.

 

Yankees 4, Indians 0

Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch after he homered, Bartolo Colon tossed two-hit ball into the seventh inning before getting hurt and New York beat Cleveland on a misty, windy afternoon.

Curtis Granderson hit his 20th homer to tie for the major league lead and Rodriguez got plunked by Indians starter Mitch Talbot a day after the benches cleared, adding another chapter to what has been a testy homestand for the Yankees.

It was the sixth time a New York batter has been hit on this homestand.

Talbot (2-3) was ejected after hitting A-Rod, but the Yankees didn’t respond in kind.

Instead, they sent Cleveland to its 13th loss in 17 games and left the Indians barely clinging to first place in the AL Central.

Colon (5-3), famously traded in 2002 by the Indians for three minor leaguers who went on to become All-Stars, was working on a gem against his first big league team. He limped off in the seventh after straining his left hamstring while covering first base. (next page »)

Read More: Joel Peralta (P – TAM), Johnny Damon (DH – TAM), Kyle Farnsworth (P – TAM), Casey Kotchman (1B – TAM), J.P. Howell (P – TAM), Ben Zobrist (RF – TAM), Mark Reynolds (3B – BAL), Juan Cruz (P – TAM), Felix Pie (LF – BAL), J.J. Hardy (SS – BAL), Justin Ruggiano (LF – TAM), Evan Longoria (3B – TAM), David Price (P – TAM), Matt Joyce (DH – TAM), Cesar Ramos (P – TAM), Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles, Jun 11, 2011 7:05 PM EDT

The Tampa Bay Rays (34-30) managed to beat the Baltimore Orioles (30-32) in a late-inning affair on Saturday night, coming up big in the top of the 9th and 11th innings.

David Price pitched well, but proved to be no match for home plate umpire Tim Welke. Though Price pitched 6 innings, allowing 4 runs, his real obstacle was deciphering Welke’s zone, which took form of a wobbly ghost:

Welke’s zone stung worst in 6th inning, when David Price threw three straight balls to Mark Reynolds, who homered then on the 3-0 fastball. Further inspection, however, reveals the offending 3-0 count was dubious if not criminal:

Reynolds’s 6th inning homer — his second homer of the night — gave the Orioles their first lead of the evening. The Rays promptly tied the game on a Casey Kotchman RBI infield ground ball single/error combo. The tied game did not last long, as Joel Peralta hit trouble quick in the bottom of the 8th. Allowing two hits and then two consecutive walks, Peralta walked in the leading run for the Orioles, giving them a 5-4 lead going into the 9th.

Then, in a stroke of both luck and magic, Ben Zobrist hit a one-out triple off Felix Pie’s glove, and Casey Kotchman slashed an line-drive RBI single into right center field.

With the game tied, the Rays relief duo of Cesar Ramos (1.1 IP) and Juan Cruz (0.2 IP, W 4-0) made the extra innings look easy. In the top of the 11th, Ben Zobrist again sparked the Rays offense, hitting a lead-off double, coming home on Evan Longoria’s RBI single. Casey Kotchman then lazered yet another hit, an RBI double this time, into right center field, giving the Rays a 2-run advantage.

Kyle Farnsworth then collected his 14th save, several times making the Orioles hitters look like emo high schoolers, as is Farnsworth’s way.

Notes from the game:

• Justin Ruggiano made a near-Bugs-Bunny-climbing-the-Statue-of-Liberty catch, robbing J.J. Hardy from a 7th inning home run and starting a 1-2-3 inning for a much appreciative J.P. Howell.
• Matt Joyce, despite working some good at bats and taking a walk, went 0 for 5. The hitters around him, however, went crazy. Johnny Damon, Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, and Casey Kotchman put together a 13 for 23 night — good for 6 doubles, 1 triple, and a walk from Longo.
• The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees both won today, meaning the Rays remain 4.0 games out of first place and 2.0 games behind the 2nd-place Yankees.

Images courtesy of BrooksBaseball.net.

BALTIMORE –

 They could have wilted in the steamy night air. They could have given into the demands of this long road trip and the fatigue that has set in by now after crossing the country twice.

They could have packed it in after the Orioles rallied for the lead once against David Price, then took the lead again on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth.

Instead, the Tampa Bay Rays kept playing, and because they kept playing, they played another extra-inning ballgame before finally dealing Baltimore a 7-5 loss in 11 innings.

“The story,” Ben Zobrist said, “was the way our team battled back there.”

And that’s coming from a guy who was a story himself, delivering an extra-base hit in each of his last four at-bats and scoring the tying run in the ninth and the winning run in the 11th.

“He really set the table for us,” Longoria said.

There were a lot of table-setters and busboys Saturday, from Johnny Damon, who singled and scored the game’s first run in the first inning, to Casey Kotchman, who drove in the tying run in the ninth and an insurance run in the 11th, to Longoria, who drove home Damon in the first inning and Zobrist in the ninth.

There were sparkling defensive plays by B.J. Upton, who did his Willie Mays impersonation and ran down a line drive by Adam Jones with an over-the-shoulder catch at the center field wall in the first inning, and Justin Ruggiano, who leaped above the left field wall in the seventh to rob J.J. Hardy of a home run. And Reid Brignac saved two runs in the eighth inning when he was spun around and knocked to the dirt while fielding a hard grounder by Hardy before turning it into the final out of the inning, leaving the bases loaded and the Orioles’ lead at 5-4.

“Just go around the field,” Joe Maddon said. “Somebody contributed.”

The Rays improved to 5-4 on this 11-game, four-city, coast-to-coast road trip that ends Monday with a makeup game in Detroit.

“We didn’t have a good game (Friday) and we knew (Saturday) we were going to come out and play better. It was just a matter of how we were going to do it,” Zobrist said.

“That’s just a good kind of win for us, to be able to come back late in the game and win in extras. That’s the second extra-inning game on this road trip, and that’s very good for our team confidence.”

The Rays took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning after Zobrist doubled home Damon and scored on a single by Kotchman in the top of the inning. Zobrist’s double was the first of his four extra-base hits.

But a leadoff home run by Mark Reynolds to start the bottom of the fifth started Baltimore’s comeback against Price, who admitted the humid night got to him.

“Sometimes we get spoiled playing in Tropicana Field,” Price said of the climate-controlled dome.

Reynolds capped the comeback with a two-run homer off Price in the sixth to grab a 4-3 lead.

Zobrist doubled again in the seventh and scored on a throwing error by Orioles second baseman Robert Andino.

The Orioles went back ahead in the eighth when Joel Peralta, who struggled, walked Brandon Snyder with two outs and the bases loaded.

Only the quick reaction by Brignac kept it a one-run game heading into the ninth.

“If Reid doesn’t make that play in the eight the game probably gets blown open and (closer Kevin) Gregg gets a little more comfortable trying to shut it down in the ninth,” Longoria said.

Gregg didn’t. Zobrist sliced a triple down the left-field line that nicked off the glove of a diving Felix Pie, then scored the tying run on Kotchman’s single.

The game moved to the 11th, which Mr. Extra-Base Hit himself, Zobrist, opened with a double. Longoria scored him with a single to center, then raced around the bases to make it 7-5 on Kotchman’s RBI double.

“I really think a couple of those were gifts from above, because Felix Pie usually makes that play on that dive,” Zobrist said. “It kicked away from him. That last one, the ball went right over the bag and hit right on the line, so it was a couple of gifts on the last two.

Zobrist’s four extra-base hits tied a team record now held by six players.

After that it was up to Kyle Farnsworth, who allowed a hit but nothing else for his 14th save in 15 tries.

Maddon harkened back to the 2008 season and days of 9=8 to categorize how the Rays won in extra-innings for the second time in their last three games.

“I really think it speaks to a professional attitude, I really do,” he said. “Our guys, when things aren’t going that well, they don’t get down. When things are going really well they don’t get too up about it. They keep grinding out the inning, keep grinding out the situation and I think we learned that over the last several years.

“Going to the playoffs two out of the last three years definitely teaches you that lesson. Winning an AL East title two out of the last three years teaches you that lesson. We talked about nine equals eight years ago; there’s a perfect example of it. Perfect.

“And now it’s a part of our culture.”