The Baltimore Orioles took three of four from the Tampa Bay Rays much to the delight of the Mother’s Day weekend crowd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Baltimore (13-28) won the first two games of the series but the Rays (16-22) rallied to take the third game and were all set to even the series on Mother’s Day.
But the Birds had other ideas.
After struggling to score runs in the month of April they finally put up some big numbers in May and won the series finale by scoring two touchdowns and a field goal on there way to a 17-1 romp of the Rays.
Everyone got in on the act but the offensive hero ended up being seldom used outfielder Joey Rickard who had a career-day while going three for five with two homers and five RBI.
Danny Valencia went four for five with four RBI and a homerun. Trey Mancini ended the game with two hits in five at bats including a homer.
Manny Machado went three for five with two RBI. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop, back from the DL, has provided a real lift for the team and finished the game with two hits and two RBI.
Craig Gentry also finished the game with two RBI and Mark Trumbo, back in the lineup also provided a spark for the team while going two for five in the Baltimore slugfest.
Meanwhile, starter Dylan Bundy who starter the season on fire but has cooled off lately pitched a solid game.
He struck out seven, walked four and allowed two hits in seven innings of work. He improved to (2-5) with a 4.53 ERA.
Baltimore won the first game of the series 9-4 behind the bat of their offensive leader Machado. He leads the team with a .354 batting average and finished the game two for four with two homeruns and six RBI including a Grand Slam as part of a five run seventh inning which put the game away for the Birds.
Starter Kevin Gausman allowed 11 hits, struck out six while surrendering two runs in 7.1 innings of work. He improved to (3-2) and now has a 3.18 ERA.
The team split a doubleheader with the Birds winning the early game 6-3 behind the Major League pitching debut of David Hess.
He allowed a first inning three-run homer but then settled down. Hess allowed six hits while striking out three and earned his first ML win.
Schoop was the offensive spark and finished with two homeruns as Baltimore rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to plate three in the second, two in the third and a solo run in the sixth to rally and make it a happy day for Hess.
Tampa Bay rebounded to win the nightcap of the doubleheader 10-3. Baltimore starter Alex Cobb allowed seven hits, struck out five and allowed four runs in 5.2 innings of work. The Bullpen had a rough night surrendering six runs.
Mancini went two for three with two RBI and his fifth homer of the seasons as the O’s offense sputtered and was held to four hits.
