Perfect for 8 innings, Rays settle for win over Orioles
BALTIMORE >> The Tampa Bay Rays took a combined perfect game into the ninth inning before Hanser Alberto beat the shift with a leadoff single against Ryan Yarbrough, wrecking history in the making and taking some of the edge off their 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
Ryne Stanek pitched the first two innings before Yarbrough took over. Mixing a cut fastball with a sinker and a deceptive changeup, Yarbrough was literally unhittable — until the ninth.
Tampa Bay’s try for the first combo perfect game in the majors came two days after a pair of Los Angeles Angels pitchers teamed up for a no-hitter while wearing the jerseys of late teammate Tyler Skaggs.
The right-handed hitting Alberto — hitting around .400 against lefties — pushed a grounder to the right side, precisely where the second baseman usually stands. Stevie Wilkerson followed with a single, and an RBI single by Anthony Santander off Oliver Drake enabled Baltimore to break up the shutout.
Emilio Pagan struck out Trey Mancini for his sixth save, and the Rays followed with an obligatory celebration that could have been far more enthusiastic had the team completed the first combined perfect game in major league history.
The franchise’s only no-hitter was on July 26, 2010, by Matt Garza against Detroit.
Recalled from TripleA Durham before the game, Yarbrough had already had three stints with Tampa Bay this season while shuffling between the minors and big leagues. In his last outing before this one, the lefty yielded six runs in five innings for Durham against Gwinnett.
Yes, Gwinnett. This time, Yarbrough (8-3) was nearly perfect. Baltimore hit only five balls out of the infield against the 6-foot-5 southpaw, all of them becoming routine outs.
The only hard-hit balls against Stanek came in succession in the second inning. Pedro Severino hit a liner to second baseman Joey Wendle, who was standing behind the base as part of a shift to the left side of the infield
Chris Davis followed with a line drive to third baseman Michael Brosseau.
Brosseau and Austin Meadows homered off Tom Eshelman (0-2) as Rays won three of four from the Orioles, who own the worst record in the majors.
It’s been a tough season for Baltimore, but on this day the struggling team at least avoided the embarrassment of making 27 outs without getting a man on base. COLD IN JULY >> Mancini went 0 for 4 and is hitless in his last 24 at-bats, the longest drought of his career. He’s 3 for 33 in July after batting .308 in June.