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Guthrie fans 10 as O's top Rays

Sep 15, 2011 - 3:26 AM Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - Chris Davis hit a three-run home run to help the Baltimore Orioles take a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Matt Wieters homered for the third straight game, hitting a two-run shot in the eighth inning, while Vladimir Guerrero added three hits and two runs scored for the Orioles, who won the last two games of the series after dropping their previous three overall.

Jeremy Guthrie (8-17) won his second straight start after giving up just two runs on three hits and three walks in seven innings. He also matched a career high with 10 strikeouts.

"He's been hitting his marks these past couple of spots," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter. "There's no better pitch in baseball than a well-placed fastball and he had it going tonight."

Matt Joyce drove in both runs for the Rays, who had won five straight prior to dropping the past two games. Wade Davis (10-9) had a two-start winning streak snapped, as he gave up four runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Tampa remains four games back of the Red Sox, who lost to Toronto earlier Wednesday, for the AL wild card lead. The Rays start a four-game series in Boston on Thursday.

"We're in a position to do it and that's all we can ask for," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon about the upcoming series. "Go there for four and hopefully play very well and see what happens."

Nolan Reimold led off the third with his 10th home run of the season to give Baltimore the lead.

Tampa took the lead in the fourth as Joyce doubled home B.J. Upton and Ben Zobrist, both of whom reached base on walks, but it was a short-lived advantage.

With one out in the fourth, Guerrero singled and Wieters followed with a double. Davis followed with his fifth home run of the season for a 4-2 lead.

The score stayed that way until the eighth, when Wieters clubbed a two-out shot over the left field wall with Guerrero on base to make it a 6-2 contest.

Guthrie, meanwhile, set the Rays down in order in the fifth and sixth but ran into trouble in the seventh. Johnny Damon led off with a walk and Joyce followed with a single. However, Guthrie then struck out Casey Kotchman, induced a fly out from John Jaso and then got Reid Brignac to look at strike three to end the inning.

Jim Johnson pitched the final two innings to nail down the win for Baltimore.

Game Notes

The Orioles host the Angels for three games beginning on Friday...Each team won nine games in the series this season...Davis fell to 6-4 in 11 starts against the Orioles...Guthrie improved to 7-10 in 21 career games against Tampa.