Monday, 4 a.m.
It was lopsided. It was convincing. It was embarrassing.
Any questions?
The first-place Baltimore Orioles continued to run roughshod over the slumping Tampa Bay Rays Sunday, winning their third game of four in a 5-3 victory. That ran the O’s lead to two games in the AL East, and from the looks of it, they don’t intend on slowing down.
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The Rays managed just three hits on the day, two of them by Yandy Diaz. It continued a dry spell that has lasted all month. The Rays are hitting .214 in July.
In particular, the Rays were bad this series. In four games, they scored only 14 runs. They had 26 hits and with men in scoring position, they were just seven for 36 (a .194 average).
The Rays fell behind almost immediately as Gunnar Henderson beat out an infield single and scored on Adley Rutschman’s double. Before Taj Bradley could get an out, he was behind 1-0. A homer by Henderson in the second made it 3-0.
For the third time in the series, the Rays came back. Diaz hit a two-run homer in the fifth for the Rays’ first hit of the night to tie the game at 3.
That last three pitches before Ryan O’Hearn homered to give the O’s the lead.
The Rays fall has been sudden and deadly. In this series, Baltimore was the better hitting team, the better pitching team and the crisper base-running team.
The Rays are off today. They play at Miami on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. Tyler Glasnow will pitch for the Rays against Edward Cabrera.