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Orioles avoid sweep by outslugging Rays

Jun 10, 2013 - 12:24 AM St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones both finished with three hits and two RBI as the Baltimore Orioles outslugged the Tampa Bay Rays, 10-7, in the finale of a three-game set from Tropicana Field.

Nick Markakis and Alexi Casilla also drove in a pair of runs, while Manny Machado added an RBI and scored twice for the Orioles, who avoided a sweep thanks to a 16-hit attack.

"The American League East is tough," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "You've got to play nine innings, which our guys did. They kept adding on, or trying to, because it's hard in the major leagues. Things are going to happen."

Chris Tillman (6-2) tossed six innings and gave up three runs -- two earned -- on four hits with five strikeouts. Jim Johnson recorded the final out of the ninth for his 21st save.

Sam Fuld hit a two-run homer, Ben Zobrist added a solo shot and Jose Lobaton knocked in a run in the ninth for the Rays, who won the first two in the series by a combined 10-1 count and nearly rallied from a 9-1 deficit on Sunday before falling short.

Matt Moore (8-2) was tagged in defeat for 12 hits and nine runs -- all but one earned -- in five full frames.

"The 8-0 start is obviously gone," Moore said of his early domination. "It's something that, maybe, was a bit misleading. My record is more indicative of how our whole team is playing."

The Rays trailed by a 10-3 score with two more turns at the plate, but managed to make things interesting.

In the eighth, Jose Molina greeted Brian Matusz with a single and Fuld followed with a blast to right which made it 10-5. Matt Joyce followed with a single, and Evan Longoria added a two-out hit in front of Luke Scott's base hit that brought in Joyce for a four-run spread.

Fuld then reached on a fielder's choice in the ninth against Tommy Hunter and Joyce singled, bringing on Baltimore's closer Johnson. Lobaton delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to bring the hosts within 10-7, but Kelly Johnson popped out to end the contest.

Baltimore jumped on top in the first inning thanks to back-to-back one-out RBI doubles from Hardy and Jones.

Danny Valencia began the second with a double, went to third on a Steve Pearce hit and scored on a Casilla fly to right. Machado and Hardy followed with consecutive run-scoring doubles once again as the O's took a 5-0 edge.

Desmond Jennings plated Longoria with a dribbler near the mound in the home second, but the Orioles added three more in the top of the third courtesy of a two-run single by Casilla and a sac fly from Markakis.

Both clubs hit a solo shot in the fourth, with Jones doing it with one out in the top half and Zobrist leading off the bottom portion.

Zobrist walked with two down in the home sixth, went to second on a passed ball and scored on a Kelly Johnson single for a 9-3 game.

The Orioles hit double digits in the seventh, as Casilla singled with two down and came in on a Markakis double.

"Today we decided to come out aggressive and it worked," Hardy noted.

Game Notes

Sunday's victory marked the fifth time that Baltimore scored at least 10 runs this season ... Zobrist's homer was his first since May 1, while Fuld's was his first since May 27, 2011 against Cleveland ... Pearce finished 3-for-4 and scored two runs ... Both clubs are back in action on Tuesday, as Baltimore kicks off a seven-game homestand with a matchup against the Angels and Tampa Bay welcomes Boston.