Shane Baz pitched seven splendid innings against his former team, Samuel Basallo drilled a three-run home run and the Baltimore Orioles made the most of their seven hits in a 6-1 victory against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.
Baz (2-5) allowed one run on seven hits while striking out nine and walking two. He was traded in the offseason from Tampa Bay to the Orioles, who have won four of their past five games.
Jackson Holliday and Leody Taveras each had two hits for Baltimore, which has won the first two games of the three-game series.
Tampa Bay has lost three games in a row for the first time since April 19-21. The Rays have yet to lose four straight this year.
All six of Baltimore’s runs were unearned as Tampa Bay committed three errors and a passed ball.
Baz also had a strong outing last week on the road against the Rays, but Tampa Bay rallied late against the Baltimore bullpen to pull out a win.
Following Baz on the mound Tuesday, Grant Wolfram and Andrew Kittredge each pitched a scoreless inning. Kittredge is another former Tampa Bay pitcher.
The Rays scored in the first inning on the first of Jonathan Aranda’s three hits. Aranda’s single drove in Chandler Simspon, who finished with two hits.
Tampa Bay starter Griffin Jax (1-3) allowed three unearned runs on three hits in two innings. He fanned three without issuing a walk.
The Orioles’ first run scored in the second inning on an error by Rays second baseman Richie Palacios. Holliday’s single knocked in the next run, and Taylor Ward followed with a sacrifice fly to cap the three-run rally.
Tampa Bay had six hits through the first three innings but trailed 3-1. Baltimore had three hits in that span.
Basallo belted his eighth homer of the season with two outs in the fifth inning off Trevor Martin.
