Tampa Bay Rays edge past Baltimore Orioles 2-1 – MLB News
Tampa Bay Rays edged past the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday, June 7 in the opening game of their three-match series of the 2013 Major League Baseball regular season.
It was an important win for the Rays who were completed by the Detroit Tigers in their three-match series. A lot of credit should be given to the pitching rotation for dominating the Orioles’ batting lineup the way they did.
Starting pitcher Chris Archer led from the front as he allowed just two hits and one run in seven solid innings for his first win of the season. The right hander used his fastballs and sliders with great control to create all sorts
of problems for Orioles.
Relief pitchers Joel Peralta and Fernando Rodney also made their presence felt as they combined to pitch two scoreless innings of relief. Rodney pitched the perfect ninth under immense pressure but held on to his nerves to help
his side reach home safely.
"It was one of those special nights that you try to tap into every game, and I was able to tap into it from pitch one. ... I felt like I was in control the whole time, honestly. I was just sticking with what I felt and what was
working," Archer said. "My misses were very small, so I was able to stay within myself."
"Properly struck," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "That ball's like Manny Ramirez territory. Not many go there. When you hit a home run to dead center field and you know it the moment the ball is struck, you've hit it well."
Orioles’ starter Jason Hammel also had a decent time on the mound, allowing six hits and two runs in six plus innings but the batters just failed to put up enough runs on the board. After both teams failed to score runs in their
first two innings, Orioles’ Manny Machado singled to centre in the third inning to break the deadlock.
Rays responded in the seventh innings through Desmond Jennings’ two run home run to centre that helped his side come back from behind to clinch a thrilling win.
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