Rays explode for 16 runs in rout of Orioles

TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — Yandy Díaz drove in four runs and Junior Caminero homered and added four RBIs as the Tampa Bay Rays overwhelmed the Baltimore Orioles 16-6 on Monday night at George Steinbrenner Field.

Shane McClanahan earned his fifth win of the season, allowing four earned runs on six hits over five innings while striking out six. Trevor Rogers took the loss for Baltimore, dropping to 2-5. The Rays improved to 31-15, while the Orioles fell to 21-27 before a crowd of 13,633. The game lasted 2 hours, 54 minutes.

Tampa Bay struck first in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Díaz doubled to left field and advanced to third on a fielding error by shortstop Gunnar Henderson. Ryan Vilade then lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Díaz for a 1-0 lead.

The Rays broke the game open in the second. After back-to-back doubles by Chandler Simpson and Taylor Walls placed runners on second and third, Carson Williams struck out. Díaz then singled to right, scoring Nick Fortes and Walls to make it 3-0. Jonathan Aranda followed with a single, and Caminero’s line-drive single to left brought home Díaz, stretching the lead to 4-0. Vilade walked to load the bases, and Jonny DeLuca doubled off the glove of second baseman Jeremiah Jackson, clearing the bases and pushing the score to 6-0. The inning ended when Simpson grounded out.

Baltimore answered in the third. Taylor Ward led off with a double and later scored on a ground-ball single by Adley Rutschman, cutting the deficit to 6-1.

The Rays added two more in the fourth. Caminero walked, then Vilade tripled sharply to center field to score him. DeLuca followed with an infield single that drove in Vilade, extending the lead to 8-1.

The Orioles rallied in the top of the fifth. Weston Wilson led off with a home run to left field, his first of the season, making it 8-2. Blaze Alexander walked, and after two strikeouts, Rutschman also walked. Pete Alonso then doubled to center, scoring Alexander and Rutschman to pull Baltimore within 8-4.

Tampa Bay answered decisively in the bottom of the fifth. Walls doubled to right, and Richie Palacios walked. Díaz singled to load the bases. After Aranda grounded out to score Walls, Caminero launched a three-run homer to right-center field, his 13th of the year, making it 12-4. Vilade singled, but DeLuca grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The Rays kept pouring it on in the sixth. With two outs, Nick Fortes walked, Walls walked and Palacios singled to center, scoring Fortes. Díaz then doubled to center, driving in Walls and Palacios for a 15-4 lead. Vilade added a single to right to score Díaz, capping the scoring at 16-4.

Baltimore got a run back in the seventh when Rutschman homered to center field, his seventh of the season. The Orioles added another in the eighth on an RBI double by Blaze Alexander that scored Jeremiah Jackson, but it was not enough.

Díaz finished 4-for-5 with a double, two singles and four RBIs. Caminero went 2-for-4 with a home run, a single and four RBIs. Vilade was 3-for-3 with a triple, two singles and three RBIs. DeLuca added two hits and three RBIs. For Baltimore, Wilson homered and singled, Rutschman homered and singled, and Alonso had three hits and two RBIs.

Andrew Kittredge pitched a scoreless inning for Baltimore, allowing no hits and striking out one. Hunter Bigge did the same for Tampa Bay.

The two teams meet again Tuesday in the second game of the series. Baltimore then returns home to face Detroit on Friday, while Tampa Bay travels to New York to play the Yankees on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay 7, Baltimore 4, and its ELO system gave Tampa Bay a 59.20 percent probability of winning. Tampa Bay was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The combined total of 22 runs went under the over/under line of 7.5.