Tonight’s game September 6th was not only the second game of three between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays, but it was the 21st anniversary of all-time Hall-of-Fame Oriole great Cal Ripken’s history making 2,131st consecutive game played that surpassed Lou Gehrig’s record. It also was the 20th anniversary of fellow Hall-of-Fame Oriole great Eddie Murray’s 500th home run. The Orioles must have used those historic milestones as motivation because tonight they would destroy the Rays by a score of 11-2, clinching at least a series win.
Orioles starter Yovani Gallardo had been slumping since the All-Star Break with a 1-6 record and 5.47 ERA partly due to the fact that he gets the least amount of run support of any of the Oriole starters with 4.05 runs of support per start. With a 2-1 record in five career starts against Tampa Bay Gallardo hoped to get back on the right track. He would pitch five innings giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits with only one walk and five strikeouts; and thanks to seven runs of support by the offense would earn the win and improve to 5-7 on the season. Chris Davis went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and went yard tonight for the 5th time in his last 10 games. J.J. Hardy went 2-for-4 with two RBI’s on a double in the fourth, and Manny Machado went 3-for-6 with a grand slam later on in the fourth for his 3rd one this season alone; he drove in five total runs on the night. Adam Jones would also go yard in the eighth and Pedro Alvarez would drive in a run on a single in the ninth.
Rays starter Jake Odorizzi, who unlike Gallardo had been lights out since the All-Star Break with a 6-0 record and American League best 1.89 ERA, left the game after giving up seven runs in only four innings off six hits. Odorizzi (9-6) earned the loss and matched his season high for runs given up; the first time occurred back on July 5th against the Los Angeles Angels. Logan Forsythe extended his hit streak to five straight games with a lead-off home run. Logan Morrison went 2-for-3 with two doubles and Kevin Kiermaier extended his hit streak to 10 straight games.
Baltimore will try to go for a series sweep tomorrow in an afternoon game. Game time will be 1:10 PM/ET and probable pitchers will be: Dylan Bundy (BAL 8-5 3.47 ERA) vs. Drew Smyly (TB 6-11 4.94 ERA).
