Field Level Media
Aug 29, 2021
The Tampa Bay Rays continued their winning ways Sunday afternoon as they swept their series from the host Baltimore Orioles with a 12-8 victory.
Joey Wendle paced the Rays offensively, hitting a pair of home runs -- including a grand slam in the seventh -- with six RBIs.
The AL East-leading Rays have won seven consecutive games, their second-longest winning streak of the season. Tampa Bay won 11 straight from May 13-24.
Baltimore, which has now lost 22 of its past 24 games, lost 18 of 19 to the Rays this season.
The Rays, who are 29-11 since the All-Star break, took an early lead and never trailed.
Brandon Lowe led off the game with a double and came home on a single from Randy Arozarena. After stealing second Arozarena scored on a single by Wendle.
Baltimore cut the deficit with a run in the bottom of the first on a two-out single from Austin Hays. Jordan Luplow homered to lead off the Rays' half of the second, and Ryan Mountcastle responded for the Orioles with his own solo shot in the third.
The Rays broke things open in the sixth, scoring three runs off a pair of home runs from Austin Meadows and Wendle. Wander Franco led off the inning with a single to left then came home on Meadows' shot to right.
Wendle made it 6-2 on a homer to right, chasing starter Spenser Watkins (2-7) from the game.
In the seventh, Tampa Bay loaded the bases when Franco and Meadows walked; Wendle then launched a 1-1 pitch from Paul Fry six rows into the right field seats.
After each of those two innings, Baltimore battled back with two runs of its own. In the sixth, the Orioles cut the score to 6-4 on a home run from Jorge Mateo; in the seventh, they got an RBI single from Trey Mancini and a run-scoring ground out by DJ Stewart.
Tampa Bay all but closed things out in the eighth on a two-out, two-run single from Franco. Baltimore scored two more in its half of the eighth on a Cedric Mullins home run, but it wasn't enough.
--Field Level Media