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Upton shakes off suspension, helps Rays pound O's

May 8, 2011 - 12:51 AM Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs, as the Tampa Bay Rays dominated the Baltimore Orioles, 8-2, in the middle installment of a three-game series at Camden Yards.

B.J. Upton also hit a three-run homer for the Rays, who have won seven in a row on the road to tie the club record for one season (June 2004). Tampa Bay is now one win shy of the overall team record (eight in 2009-10).

The performance by Upton came just hours after Major League Baseball suspended him two games for an incident in Wednesday's game. MLB's release said it disciplined Upton for "inappropriate conduct" in the bottom of the ninth inning of the 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays. Upton, who was also fined for the incident, appealed the ban. If the suspension holds up, Upton will likely sit out during next week's series against the Indians.

Johnny Damon drove in a run and scored a run for Tampa Bay, which has won three in a row overall. All eight of the Rays' runs came with two outs.

Jeremy Hellickson (3-2) tossed five scoreless innings to pick up the win. He gave up three hits to go with five walks and four strikeouts.

"I wish I would've threw more strikes," Hellickson said. "But I got the win, thanks to these guys."

Nick Markakis went 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Orioles, who have lost three straight.

Jeremy Guthrie (1-5) got blasted in five full frames, allowing seven runs on 10 hits. He has dropped five straight decisions since kicking off the year with a win over Tampa Bay on the road.

Tampa Bay started its offensive attack in the first inning. Ben Zobrist hit a one-out single to left and crossed the plate two batters later on Longoria's double to left.

Baltimore's best chance to score early on came in the second, when it loaded the bases with one out, but Robert Andino went down swinging and Brian Roberts popped out.

Longoria's three-run blast in the third made it a 4-0 game. John Jaso walked and Zobrist doubled before Longoria homered to left with two outs.

"I think baseball knows it's just a matter of time before Longoria gets going," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "We were just hoping it would be some other time."

The Rays tacked on three more runs in the fifth. With runners on the corners and two outs, Upton smacked Guthrie's offering over the wall in right for a 7-0 margin.

Damon's RBI double in the sixth gave Tampa Bay an eight-run cushion.

Baltimore finally got on the board in the seventh. Juan Cruz walked Mark Reynolds and Andino to start the frame. Reynolds moved to third on Roberts' fly out to center and scored on Markakis' infield single to make it an 8-1 game.

Markakis added a sac fly in the ninth to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

Last year, Tampa Bay -- which was swept by the Orioles in a three-game series during an 0-6 start to 2011 -- posted a 6-3 mark in Baltimore...Zobrist went 4-for-5 with three runs scored to extend his hitting streak to 13 games...Guthrie fell to 6-8 lifetime versus Tampa Bay...The Rays had 15 hits...Baltimore went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12...Markakis had three of Baltimore's five hits.