Baltimore Orioles survive scare to beat Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in home stint - MLB Update
The Tampa Bay Rays came within touching distance of giving the Baltimore Orioles a major heartbreak but eventually went down 4-5 to give the O’s the early lead in the three game series on Tuesday, April 16, 2013.
The scare came at the top of the eighth when Rays were able to break away and score three runs. Michael Strop was tidy until he surrendered two long balls including a two run hit. The Tampa Bay ballclub looked to make amends for the earlier mistake at this
point.
This was Orioles’ 97th straight win in a scenario where they were in lead at the end of the seventh. The team also improved its record in single run games this year to 2-3. They had fantastic time last season in the one run games and had a 29-9
winning record.
Strop was pleased with his overall performance though he knows that he did miss his mark twice which did hurt the team’s cause.
"Before this game tonight, I was locating the ball well," Strop said. "I was feeling good. Tonight, I missed two pitches."
On the brighter side, the offence made a good comeback. They scored a single run in each of the first three innings and scored another two in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead that stayed until the end of the game.
Matt Wieters, the Orioles’ catcher who struggled this season came good as he smashed a solo home-run and broke away from the 2-for-21 form that he had on the road.
Matt was pleased to get the hit and put the horrors of the previous games behind.
"It's just a long at-bat and [I was] trying to get something I could get the barrel on, and the ball was carrying pretty good tonight," Wieters said. "It wasn't the best road trip, swinging the bat. It was nice to get a hit there."
Jake Arrieta, the birds’ pitcher, was also pleased to pick up a win. This was his first since mid of June last year. In the five plus innings in which he pitched, he gave away three hits and a single run.
The pitcher himself was pleased with the outcome of the game.
"They battled, but I had to do the same thing tonight," Arrieta said. ”I battled myself a little bit, but found a way to get some big strikeouts in key situations."
Joe Maddon, the manager for the Rays, believed that his offence was not productive enough as they could only muster a single run from 112 pitches that Jake threw in just over five innings.
The O’s have made a great start to their nine games home run. It is important that they keep their form going and continue the good work.
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