The Tampa Bay Rays opened their weekend series against the Orioles on Friday night with a big 2-0 shutout win. The Rays took a series from the O's last week in Baltimore and their looking to duplicate the feat again this weekend. Matt Moore got things off on the right foot Friday to put the Tampa one game ahead in the standings. Moore went 5.1 innings, giving up six hits and issuing three walks but he danced around trouble to hand the ball off to his bullpen.
The pen came through for the young starter, as four relievers combined to keep the shutout in tact. Kyle Farnsworth and Joel Peralta each pitched an inning and were credited with holds. Peralta allowed two hits but struck out the side to keep Baltimore off the board. Fernando Rodney then came on to convert his 32nd save without incident.
On offense, the Rays struck twice with two solo homers that would be all Moore and the bullpen would need. B.J. Upton blasted career homer No. 100 in the bottom of the fourth. It was a mammoth 425-foot blast and incredibly enough, it came on the same night that his brother Justin smashed his 100th career shot. He also became just the 8th player to get 100 career homers and 200 career stolen bases before the age of 28.
Two innings later, Desmond Jennings caught a Tommy Hunter offering and drove it over the left field wall to make it 2-0. Hunter was solid for the Orioles but those two mistakes proved to be the difference.
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