Orioles Vs. Rays Recap: Tampa Bay Reclaims First Place With 8-4 Victory

The Tampa Bay Rays are back in first place after an impressive 8-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field Sunday afternoon.

The Rays were paced by starter Matt Moore who went six strong innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits while striking out four.

The Orioles struck first when Matt Wieters homered in the top of the second. The Rays took the game up in the fourth on a Matt Joyce sac fly and an error by Andruw Jones. A Mark Reynolds single in the top of the fifth put the Orioles back up 2-1, however, the Rays again had a counter punch, with B.J. Upton giving the Rays the lead on a two-run double to make the score 4-2.

The Orioles fell apart in the sixth, as two erros led to a four run inning for the Rays that put the game out of reach. Mark Reynolds would hit a home run for the O's in the eighth and Wieters would add an RBI single in the ninth, but it was not enough.

Read more about the Rays at DRaysBay. For more in-depth coverage on the other side, visit Orioles blog Camden Chat. Go to Baseball Nation for additional news and notes around the league.

Orioles Vs. Rays: With Series Win Tampa Bay Would Regain Sole Possession Of First Place In AL East

Tampa Bay slipped back into a first place tie in the AL East with the Orioles after Saturday's 2-1 loss to Baltimore, but a win Sunday would earn the Rays a series victory and even the season slate with the Orioles at three games apiece.

Youngster Matt Moore (1-5, 4.76 ERA) will take the mound for Tampa Bay. Since defeating the Mariners on May 1, Moore is 0-4 with a 5.40 ERA in five starts, though he did pitch well in his most recent outing on Monday against the Chicago White Sox. Moore struck out 10 in seven innings, but allowed an Adam Dun two run homer that was the difference.

Jake Arrieta (2-6, 5.37) will oppose Moore on Sunday. The Orioles right-hander has struggled mightily this year, and is 0-4 with an 8.00 ERA in five starts since beating the Yankees on May 2. In his career, Arrieta is 2-2 with a 5.46 ERA in five starts against Tampa Bay.

Read more about the Rays at DRaysBay. For more in-depth coverage on the other side, visit Orioles blog Camden Chat. Go to Baseball Nation for additional news and notes around the league.

Orioles Vs. Rays Final Score: Tampa Bay Offense Sputters In 2-1 Loss

The Tampa Bay Rays (30-23) could not find their rhythm against the lefty SP Brian Matusz and dropped back into a two-way tie for the AL East Division lead as the Baltimore Orioles (30-23) won 2-1.

Matusz pitched 7 and 1/3 innings while striking out 7 and walking only 3. The only run the Rays could manage off the young lefty came on an RBI ground out in the fifth inning after 2B Sean Rodriguez doubled to open the frame. The Tampa Bay offense collected a total of only two hits on the game, but SP Jeremy Hellickson pitched as well as he could in his 6 and 2/3 innings.

Hellickson struck out 8 and walked only 1, but he allowed a third inning home run to LF Endy Chavez, which gave the Orioles an early 1-0 lead. After the Rays scored to even the game, the Tampa Bay defense once again faltered as 3B Drew Sutton threw a ball sailing wide to 1B Carlos Pena, scoring the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.

Other highlights from the game:

• RF Ben Zobrist made a trio of impressive defensive plays, catching a warning track fly ball against the back wall, diving to snare a low liner and making a strong throw to the plate after the error that scored Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, Zobrist also hit into a crucial bases-loaded double play to end the 8th inning and end the Rays' best scoring chance of the game.
• RP Joel Peralta, RP Burke Badenhop, RP Jake McGee and RP J.P. Howell combined for 2 and 1/3 innings, allowing only 1 hit while collecting 3 strikeouts.
• The Rays hitters had only 2 line drives all game, according to Baseball Info Solutions' classifications (via FanGraphs), while the Orioles lineup hit a total of 8 line drives.

Read more about the Rays at DRaysBay. For more in-depth coverage on the other side, visit Orioles blog Camden Chat. Go to Baseball Nation for additional news and notes around the league.

Rays Vs. Orioles Lineups: Matt Joyce Sick, Not In 'Rapper' Lineup

The Tampa Bay Rays (30-22) are sending out a special ensemble of hip hop stars on Saturday afternoon in hopes of extending their one-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles (29-23). Here is a look at the lineup, courtesy of MLB.com's Adam Berry:

#Rays LL Cool J/rapper-themed June 2 lineup. Maddon liked Joyce vs. O's Matusz, but he's a little under the weather. twitter.com/adamdberry/sta…

— Adam Berry (@adamdberry) June 2, 2012

LF Matt Joyce will sit, giving infielder Drew Sutton a chance to start at third base, which slides Sean Rodriguez to second base and Ben Zobrist to right field.

Meanwhile, the Orioles will send out a lineup slightly different from the order the Rays managed to shutout, 5-0, on Friday, slotting DH Chris Davis in the No. 3 hole for only the second time this season:

#Orioles lineup: Chavez 7, Hardy 6, Davis DH, Jones 8 Wieters 2 Reynolds 3 Betemit 5 Flaherty 9 Andino 4 Matusz Lhp

— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) June 2, 2012

Read more about the Rays at DRaysBay. For more in-depth coverage on the other side, visit Orioles blog Camden Chat. Go to Baseball Nation for additional news and notes around the league.

Orioles Vs. Rays: AL East-Leading Tampa Looks To Extend Baltimore's Losing Streak

The AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays (30-22) look to continue their winning ways Saturday when they host the reeling Baltimore Orioles (29-23) in game two of a three game weekend set at Tropicana Field. Tampa's 5-0 win over Baltimore on Friday night moved the Rays into first place, and was the Orioles sixth consecutive defeat.

Jeremy Hellickson (4-1, 2.83 ERA) takes the hill for Tampa on Saturday. Hellickson has allowed just two runs and 11 hits in 24 innings against the Orioles at home, going 3-0 over that span.

Brian Matusz (4-5, 4.82) will oppose Hellickson. Matusz is 3-1 with a 4.64 ERA at Tropicana Field in his career, but has not pitched there since September of 2010.

Tampa's Matt Joyce has been on fire at the plate of late, batting .429 (9 for 21) in his past seven games. In his last five ballgames against the Orioles Joyce is 7 for 17.

Read more about the Rays at DRaysBay. For more in-depth coverage on the other side, visit Orioles blog Camden Chat. Go to Baseball Nation for additional news and notes around the league.

Orioles Vs. Rays Recap: David Price Cruises In 5-0 Tampa Win

The Tampa Bay Rays moved into first place in the AL East on Friday night with a 5-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field. David Price pitched 7.1 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just three hits and striking out five. He was dominant all evening, setting the tone for a weekend series between the two top teams in the East.

On offense, it was the 6-7-8 hitters who did all the damage for Joe Maddon. Tampa put a five-spot on the board in the first inning and that closed the books on all the scoring for the night. It started with Luke Scott singling home B.J. Upton and Matt Joyce. Sean Rodriguez then brought home Ben Zobrist with a sacrifice back to the pitcher. And to cap it off, it was the new call-up Hideki Matsui, who ripped his second homer in the past three games. It was a two-run shot to left that ended the early rally off Wei-Yin Chen.

Tampa will look to clinch the series on Saturday with Jeremy Hellickson on the mound. Baltimore will counter with Brian Matusz.

Read more about the Rays at DRaysBay. For more in-depth coverage on the other side, visit Orioles blog Camden Chat. Go to Baseball Nation for additional news and notes around the league.

Rays Vs. Orioles: Tampa Bay Hosts Baltimore In A Battle For First

The Rays welcome the Orioles to Florida as the two sides begin a three-game series of AL East co-leaders.