Rays finally end 11-game skid
The Tampa Bay Rays ended their 11-game losing streak Monday night, using a 15-hit attack and an effective pitching performance by David Price to beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-4.
The Rays avoided becoming the first World Series team in history to lose 12 in a row the following year. Rookie Reid Brignac had a career-high four hits – his first big league homer, two doubles and a single – and B.J. Upton also connected for Tampa Bay.
Held to eight runs in their previous seven games, the Rays equaled that amount by the fifth inning. Tampa Bay, which batted .183 during its 11-game skid, hadn’t had as many as 15 hits in a game since Aug. 24 against Toronto.
Price (8-7) gave up four runs, three earned, and seven hits in seven innings. The left-hander allowed four runs and four hits in the first inning, then settled down. He retired 13 straight at one point.
Orioles rookie David Hernandez (4-8) was staked with a 4-1 lead, but immediately gave it away and fell to 0-4 in his last six starts. The right-hander yielded five runs and nine hits, including two homers, in three-plus innings. He has surrendered nine home runs over his last 9 2/3 innings.
After Tampa Bay got a first-inning run on a sacrifice fly by Ben Zobrist, Baltimore took a 4-1 lead in the bottom half. Price retired the first two batters, then allowed RBI singles to Melvin Mora, Matt Wieters and Luke Scott before another run scored on a throwing error by third baseman Evan Longoria.
The Rays tied it in the second. Upton broke a 2-for-21 skid with a two-single and Brignac homered, a no-doubt drive to right on a 1-0 pitch, before Jason Bartlett and Carl Crawford hit successive doubles.
Upton’s 10th homer gave Tampa Bay a 5-4 lead in the fourth, and a pair of Baltimore errors fueled a three-run fifth.