Orioles overtake Rays for 1st place in AL East
ORIOLES 4, RAYS 3 (10)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Baltimore Orioles are looking down at the rest of the AL East — and the All-Star break is in the rearview mirror.
Fun times for Colton Cowser and company.
Cowser hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, and the Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Thursday night in the opener of a fourgame series between the American League’s top teams.
“I think tonight was a great team win,” Cowser said after his 11th major league game.
Baltimore started the day in first place for the first time after the AllStar break since Aug, 15, 2016. The Orioles, who were 6½ games back at the beginning of July, now have a one-game lead.
“It’s just July, that’s kind of where I’m at right now,” Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde said. “This team [the Rays] is so good and so hard to play, especially here. We’ve been on the other side of those type of games I can’t tell you how many times.”
Aaron Hicks opened the 10th at second as the automatic runner. He advanced on pinch-hitter Adam Frazier’s sacrifice bunt and scampered home on Cowser’s fly ball to left against Robert Stephenson (1-4).
Felix Bautista (5-1) worked a perfect ninth for Baltimore and then stayed on for the 10th. He hit Luke Raley and struck out Randy Arozarena before Brandon Lowe bounced into a game-ending double play.
“How about Felix Bautista?” Hyde said. “I’m so lucky to have him. The reason why he pitched the 10th is because he had such an efficient ninth. … He’s amazing.”
Orioles second baseman Ramon Urias helped keep the game tied in the eighth when he made a diving stop on pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez’s grounder with two on and threw him out at first.
Tampa Bay has lost five in a row. It is tied with Pittsburgh for the majors’ worst July record at 3-12.
The announced crowd, which included a sizable turnout of Orioles fans, was 20,203. Tampa Bay entered averaging 17,849 at home.
Glasnow struck out nine in seven innings. Gibson struck out eight in six-plus innings.
“That was a big win not because of the standings or anything,” Gibson said. “It was big [because] it was the first game of the series and it set the tone.”
MARINERS 5, TWINS 0 George Kirby (9-8) matched his career high with 10 strikeouts over seven innings, helping Seattle defeat Minnesota. TIGERS 3, ROYALS 0 Michael Lorenzen (56) tossed seven innings of three-hit ball and Detroit wrapped up a series win against Kansas City.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BRAVES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 5 Austin Riley hit a three-run home run off Miguel Castro in the eighth inning, and Atlanta stopped a fourgame skid with a victory over Arizona. Matt Olson hit two more home runs for Atlanta, raising his NL-best total to 32.
BREWERS 4, PHILLIES 0 Corbin Burnes (9-5) struck out 10 in eight innings, leading Milwaukee to a victory over Philadelphia.
CARDINALS 7, CUBS 2 Jordan Walker and Paul DeJong each hit two-run home runs to power St. Louis over Chicago. Steven Matz (17) struck out six in five innings to earn his first victory of the season.
REDS 5, GIANTS 1 Andrew Abbott (5-2) pitched a career-high eight innings and Luke Maile homered, sending Cincinnati over San Francisco.
INTERLEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 4, PADRES 0 Chris Bassitt (10-5) combined with three relievers on a six-hitter, and Toronto avoided a three-game sweep by beating San Diego.
WHITE SOX 6, METS 2 Yasmani Grandal started a four-run sixth inning with a two-run double that followed Pete Alonso’s error, and Chicago defeated New York.