- Tampa Bay Rays/Skip Milos
- Stock photo
For the second night in a row, the Tampa bay Rays played the waiting game in Baltimore.
The Rays had a poor showing the evening prior in a rain-delayed 5-0 loss to the Orioles. But, after the West Coast sweep of the L.A. Angels of Anaheim, the Rays once again made it worth the wait to stay up, coming away with an 11-inning, 7-5 road win in Baltimore.
Having been limited to three hits the night before, Tampa Bay exploded at the plate with seven runs on 15 hits in the three-hour and 48-minute battle with the black birds.
Heroically hacking away at Orioles pitchers was Evan Longoria, going 3-for-5 at the plate and driving in a run with each of his hits. Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotchman—each 4-for-6 on the night—also swung the bat well, combining to drive in the other three earned runs of the evening (Zobrist scored on a throwing error following Kotchman's base hit in the seventh inning).
Saturday night told the tale of the boys from the Bay area battling back in Baltimore. Coming out with an early one-run lead, the Rays put up two more in the top of the fifth inning, notching four hits and sending seven men to the plate.
Baltimore matched that in that bottom half of the frame to pull within one.
A two-run homer by Mark Reynolds in the sixth inning gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead.
Tampa bay tied it up in the seventh when Zobrist scored on Kotchman's RBI single.
Baltimore answered by sending seven men to the plate in the bottom of the eighth but only managed a single run; Rays reliever Joel Peralta walked in the go-ahead tally.
