Greetings.
Farewell.
Lefty Zach Britton—starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles—welcomed Brandon Guyer—Triple-A call-up for the Tampa Bay Rays—to the big show for his first major-league at-bat.
Guyer said hello and then bid a quick goodbye to Britton’s 3-1 pitch, homering to left-center field in his first at-bat in his major-league debut Friday night in Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The two-run shot capped the Rays’ second inning in Baltimore. The rookie’s rocket scored B.J. Upton from second base. Upton was aboard after doubling home the recently-returned Evan Longoria; Longoria had led off the bottom half of the frame with a double of his own.
The other big story of the 6-2 win is the fourth-consecutive quality outing by Rays starting righty James Shields, despite the rainy conditions, which can cause hell for a pitching game. Big Game James went seven and third innings, yielding a single run on just three hits; he struck out five Baltimore batters while walking three.
Joel Peralta came on for an inning and a third of relief work, yielding a run and a hit. Brandon Gomes picked up the final out of Friday night’s victory, getting Adam Jones to pop out to end the outing.
While perhaps not as dominant as his previous outings, I’m sure Jimmy, the rest of the club and Rays fans will be more than happy with the 6-2 road win. With the victory, the club climbed to four games over .500, just half a game back from the New York Yankees in the American League East.
This article appears in May 19-25, 2011.