Corey Dickerson hit an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-6 victory over against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday at Tropicana Field.Tampa Bay (60-79) got home runs from center fielder Kevin Kiermaier and shortstop Nick Franklin in avoiding a three-game sweep.Rays right fielder Mikie Mahtook hit single off Orioles reliever Michael Givens and Dickerson followed with a two-out double to left center field that Adam Jones could not catch up to. TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MASN (Baltimore) PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Dylan Bundy (8-5, 3.47 ERA) vs. Rays LH Drew Smyly (6-11, 4.94) Bundy made amends after allowing five runs in four innings at Yankee Stadium on August 27 by scattering two hits over 5 2/3 frames in a 8-0 victory over NY six days later.
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Baltimore is one game ahead of Detroit for the second AL wild card and started the day one game back of AL East co-leaders Boston and Toronto. Logan Forsythe extended his hit streak to five straight games with a lead-off home run. He threw 114 pitches, 75 for strikes, and struck out six while giving up three runs and two hits. It also was the 20th anniversary of fellow Hall-of-Fame Oriole great Eddie Murray’s 500th home run.
Rays SS Matt Duffy will see a doctor Friday to finalize surgery addressing heel issues stemming from a strained left Achilles’ tendon that cost him two months this season. That wasn’t the case in his last outing, however, as he gave up eight earned runs, matching a career high, in five innings in a loss on June 26 that included a grand slam to Chris Davis and home runs to Mark Trumbo and Jonathan Schoop.
Tampa Bay may be without third baseman Evan Longoria, who is day-to-day with soreness in his right hand after being hit by a pitch Monday.
“I was trying to stay in the game as long as I could, but it kept getting tighter and tighter as the game went on”, Longoria said. Orioles RHP Chris Tillman is expected to return from the disabled list and start Sunday against the Tigers.
“At this point his focus is on making sure he’s healthy for 2017”, Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman said.
“Just overall control was bad really past the first inning”, said Odorizzi, who lost for the first time in 10 starts since the All-Star break. “It’s been fun the last couple of days”. “I felt like there was a sense of urgency on the field and the outfield to make the play when you see a guy battling like that and just continuing to go out there and throw strikes”.
Rays minor league hitting coordinator Chad Mottola replaced Shelton.
Orioles: RHP Dylan Bundy will start Wednesday’s series finale.
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The Orioles have scored 18 runs in two games here.
