Baltimore rallied from a four-run deficit to win 5-4 thanks to RBIs from JJ Hardy and Bourn in the eighth inning.
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Pedro Alvarez and Chris Davis homered for the Orioles, who began the day two games behind first-place Boston in the AL East and tied with Toronto for the two AL wild cards. The eighth inning saw the Orioles finally take the lead against Brad Boxberger (4-2). Zach Britton then earned his 44th save in 44 chances this season by closing it in the ninth.But he needed a break as Alexei Ramirez lined a two-out single down the left-field line that Bourn quickly fielded and threw to third baseman Manny Machado.
Evan Longoria hit his career-high 34th homer and Richie Shaffer also connected for the last-place Rays. So was Hyun Soo Kim, who had played left for the first eight innings.
METS 3, TWINS 0: Bartolo Colon limited Minnesota to three singles in seven innings while Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera hit consecutive home runs off rookie Jose Berrios in the third as NY won the opener of their final homestand this season.
“Just taking advantage of those pitches I should hit, ” he said. “I was on the move, he made a good play, and they were able to get me”. Baltimore fell behind by four runs early Friday as well before eighth-inning RBIs from Hardy and Bourn capped a five-run comeback and proved to be the difference this time around, helping the club improve to 12-5 against the Rays – including 7-1 at Camden Yards.
The Ubaldo Jimenez who has been helping carry the rotation for the past few weeks re-emerged after Shaffer’s no-out home run, giving up just a couple of ground-ball hits through the seventh. Since the Rays already have been eliminated from playoff contention, that strong effort has pleased manager Kevin Cash.
“You can say what you want about the Rays and the standings, but they’ve got a formidable major league team over there and they’re not just laying down dying and quitting and letting us win”. Jimenez allowed a high chopper over Davis at first that the speedy Kiermaier stretched into a double, and Longoria launched a towering home run in his first at-bat for the second night in a row. OF Mikie Mahtook getting thrown out at home to end Friday’s game was the second time in club history the Rays had the tying run thrown out at the plate for the last out.
Collmenter (2-0), acquired Wednesday from the Chicago Cubs, struck out eight in five innings and allowed two runs, four hits and three walks. His hit Saturday was the key in a two-run inning that gave the Rays (64-84) the lead they never lost. That cut the lead to 7-6, and the Birds had the winning run on base in the ninth however Chris Davis struck out to end the game.
Baltimore ace Chris Tillman (16-6) had a one-hitter and a 2-1 lead after five innings, but he failed to get out of the sixth.
Brad Miller usually plays shortstop or first base for the Rays.
It didn’t take long for Miller to get noticed: The second Baltimore batter of the game hit a pop to left that glanced off Miller’s glove for an error.
Rays UTIL Nick Franklin (hamstring) was held out of Friday’s game as well and is day-to-day.3.
The Orioles must regroup quickly as they face Jake Odorizzi (9-6, 3.81) on Sunday.
The Yankees fell six back in the division and are four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays and Orioles for the final AL Wild Card.
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“Not necessarily a must win”, Jones said in reference to Sunday’s series finale versus the Rays. He beat Detroit on Sunday.
