Baltimore second baseman Jonathan Schoop (6) helped the Orioles sweep away the Rays over the weekend. Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
BALTIMORE — Chris Davis hit a first-inning grand slam, and Jonathan Schoop and Mark Trumbo both homered later as the Baltimore Orioles wrapped up a four-game sweep of Tampa Bay with a 12-5 victory Sunday afternoon.
Baltimore (45-30) now heads out on a nine-game West Coast road trip on a five-game winning streak. Tampa Bay (31-43), meanwhile, has dropped 11 straight.
Power carried the Orioles yet again, as Davis’ homer in the first gave them a quick 4-0 lead.
Schoop’s solo homer and Trumbo’s two-run blast gave the Orioles some insurance as the Rays battled back to come within a run at one point.
Baltimore, however, scored the game’s final six runs.
Trumbo had three RBIs overall and Adam Jones led a 17-hit Baltimore attack by going 4-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Schoop extended his hitting streak to nine games with three hits, and Manny Machado also added three hits.
Desmond Jennings and Oswaldo Arcia both hit solo homers for Tampa Bay, which touched up Orioles starter Tyler Wilson for five runs on 10 hits in just five innings. Still, Wilson (4-5) came away with the victory.
Rookie Dylan Bundy gave the Orioles another strong effort out of the bullpen. He took over in the sixth and threw three shutout innings.
Rays starter Drew Smyly entered the game with a 4-0 career mark versus Baltimore, but his past performance was meaningless in this game as the Orioles scored six times in the first three innings.
Smyly lasted five innings but surrendered eight runs on 10 hits and fell to 2-8, now losing four straight.
The Rays did not help by missing several quality scoring chances. They finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.
The Orioles started quickly as Jones walked to open the bottom of the first while Joey Rickard and Machado both singled to load the bases. Davis then sliced a shot into the left-field seats for his seventh career slam.
Jennings homered to start the second for Tampa Bay, but the Orioles answered in the bottom half. Nolan Reimold doubled and went to third on Francisco Pena’s sacrifice bunt.
Jones then dropped a perfect bunt up the first-base line. He beat it out for an infield single, and Reimold scored from third on the squeeze as the Orioles took a 5-1 lead.
Schoop made it 6-1 with his solo shot to left in the third inning. Arcia followed suit in the fourth, his first homer with Tampa Bay, which acquired him Friday from Minnesota.
The Rays added three more in the fifth. Logan Morrison lined a two-out RBI double to left, and Arcia smashed a two-run double to right that cut the lead to 6-5.
Arcia went to third on the throw but Wilson got Tim Beckham on a grounder to keep the lead.
Trumbo then belted a two-run homer for an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the fifth. The Orioles then broke the game open with four runs in the eighth.
NOTES: The Orioles will be making at least one move after Sunday’s game due to paternity leave situations that RHP Mychal Givens (July 11) and LHP Ashur Tolliver (July 7) face in the next several days. … Orioles manager Buck Showalter said RHP Darren O’Day (right hamstring strain) threw well Saturday except for one small detail. Showalter said that if everything went right, O’Day could be activated during the West Coast trip which starts on Tuesday. … The Orioles will fly out of Baltimore after Sunday’s game so they can have a full day of rest in San Diego Monday. … Rays RHP Tyler Sturdevant was sent back to Triple-A Durham to make room for RHP Ryan Webb, out since May 27 with a right pectoral strain. … Baltimore also sent back Danny Farquhar to Durham after he was the team’s 26th man in Saturday’s doubleheader. Both Farquhar and Sturdevant pitched in the twinbill, which Baltimore swept.
